Times of India's 'Teach India' Campaign Abstract:
This case is about The Times of India's (ToI) social marketing initiatives. Though TOI was one of the largest circulated newspapers in the wo rld, it was criticized for promoting 'yellow journalism'. In order to build its brand image, TOI adopted a social marketing strategy and projected itself as an agent of social change by launching a series of social campaigns highlighting social issues. One of them was 'Teach India'. The 'Teach India' campaign was launched on July 6, 2008, with the objective of providing education to the unprivileged children in India and a nd eradicating illiteracy. The campaign was inspired by TOI's earlier initiative 'Lead India' launched in August 2007. According to the feedback received from the 'Lead India' campaign, India would not be able to lead unless its populace was literate literate and that t hat there was a need for c itizens to come forward and contribute to the cause. It was for this purpose that the Teach India campaign was launched. The campaign was divided into t wo phases. The first phase invited citizens of the country to volunteer with a non-government organization o rganization (NGO) in their locality and spend two hours a week teaching underprivileged children. The second phase, which started at the end of 2008, selected students from top educational institutes all over t he country who were willing to dedicate two years to t eaching the underprivileged. To execute the ca mpaign, TOI tied up with select NGOs in the field o f education in multiple cities across India. Corporations, schools, and social organizations also lent t heir support to the campaign. The campaign was promoted through print, television, online, outdoor and on-ground events. While the campaign won so me of the most prestigious advertising awards, experts remained divided in their opinion on o n whether TOI had adopted a genuine approach to initiating initiating social changes in India or o r whether it was just a marketing gimmick to enhance the brand image of the Times Group Issues:
» Understand various issues and challenges is social marketing. » Study the social marketing campaigns launched by ToI and analyze whether ToI was successful in achieving the objectives o bjectives of its campaigns. » Understand the role of cause-related marketing in enhancing brand image. » Explore ways to make the Teach India initiative could be made sustainable
Teach India was a campaign that touched a chord in the lives of millions of educated people allowing them to make the constitutional right of every Indian child to an education a reality. It 1 transformed a nation into a gigantic classroom [...]" 2
- Media Asia , in October 2009.
"Teach India is certainly the largest campaign of its kind. It has given ordinary Indians the unique and spontaneous chance to channel their willingness and desire to do something good for 3 the country through volunteering." - Adeline Aubry, United Nations Volunteers India Program Officer, in July, 2008. Introductio n
On December 16, 2009, leading Indian English daily The T imes of India's (TOI) 'Teach India 4 Let's Learn to Teach' (Teach India) campaign won the prestigious Grand Effie award for the Best Integrated Campaign of the Year. The award was given to JWT India for successfully executing the campaign. On selecting the campaign for the award, a jury member said that it was "a truly outstanding campaign that drove a real sea change in social attitudes, 'Teach India' won the Grand Effie convincingly due to its boldness and creativity, delivering real cultural relevance and, above all, outstanding business 6 results." Launched on July 6, 2008, by the Times Foundation, the corporate social responsibility (CSR) wing of The Times of India group, in 7 association with United Nations Volunteers (UNV), the Teach India campaign was a social initiative whose objective was to build the nation by improving literacy and providing education to the unprivileged children in India. The idea behind the campaign was to bring together people who wanted to teach and those who wanted to learn. The campaign invited educated Indians to serve as volunteers and teach underprivileged children... Excerpts About Times of India
The TOI is a reputed English-language daily newspaper in India. It was launched on November 3, 1838, in Mumbai by a British syndicate as 'Bombay Times and
Journal
of Commerce'. In 1859, the Bombay Times
and Journal of Commerce was merged with the Bombay Standard and Chronicle of Western India to form the Bombay Times & Standard... Earlier Campaigns
During the mid-1990s, TOI was criticized for promoting 'yellow journalism' by sensationalizing news, exaggerating news events, promoting its own brands, plagiarism, etc. Critics charged that in a bid to improve its circulation, TOI was concentrating on efforts like introducing colored pages, celebrity articles, and film-related news rather than taking care of the deteriorating quality of its content... The 'Teach India' Campaign
Although the idea to launch the campaign was initiated in 2007, it took four months for TOI to develop the Teach India program. The campaign was launched on July 6, 2008. It was divided into two phases... Results
According to the Times Group, the 'Teach India' campaign created a lot of buzz and within three weeks of the program being launched in July 2008, a total of 88,710 people had responded. Of these, 55,035 applied for the program... Great Social Marketing or Just a Marketing Gimmick?
Experts remained divided in their op inions regarding the 'Teach India' campaign. Some social activists commended the campaign for its noble cause and opined that TOI had adopted a genuine approach in initiating social changes in India which was more than just a marketing campaign. A volunteer of Teach India Joshua Immanuel, said, the "Teach India campaign had already brought many changes... Looki ng
Ahead
The success of the Teach India campaign in 2008 led to its revival in 2009. The registration process for the second phase of the campaign began in December 2008 and continued till February 2009.
The Teach For India program planned to cover smaller cities like Lucknow, Jaipur, and Ahmedabad, other than major metro cities. Starting with Mumbai and Pune, Teach For India recruited outstanding college graduates and young professionals, from all academic majors and careers, to teach for two years in under-resourced schools...