Non-metros: The road to recovery for Indian economy

Today, when India grapples with COVID 19, the nations’ metros are the worst hit by the pandemic. Extended lockdowns, increase in number of cases, crumbling healthcare have slowed down the economy. Whereas, the non metros seem to have embraced the ‘New Normal’ quite rapidly.
Perhaps this is due to the fact that topographically metros are vertical (big housing societies) as compared to non-metros which are horizontal (Standalone houses, smaller housing complex). The social fabric of non-metros is also very different than the metros.
Driving the recovery of Indian economy, the consumer activity in the non- metro markets have already picked up. During these times, it is important for brands to maintain a media investment strategy. Brands must prepare now for the rebound and gear up for the new normal.
Instead of waiting for metros to open up, markets with consumer activity need to be strengthened and fortified by brands. Brands must stay in conversation with the consumers in non-metros to accelerate their business growth and mine the potential that these cities are showing in the current times. Through this series, marketers to share insights and throw light on how the non-metros have been driving their business growth over last few years and in the current times.

Worlds # 3

Dainik Bhaskar has been declared as the world's No 3 circulated newspaper.

Jeeto 21 Crore

Jeeto 21 Crore is nation’s one of the biggest newspaper subscription drive. Dainik Bhaskar came with this campaign in 2019 and provided people with an opportunity to win gifts worth Rs. 21 Crore. The campaign was promoted through an integrated media campaign and to top it all, DB roped in bollywood star Salman Khan as the brand ambassador of this campaign. A huge number of people participated in the campaign and increased the reader base of the brand.

IRS Ahmedabad

As per the IRS 2019 Q3 AIR report, Divya Bhaskar- the Gujarati daily of the newspaper group surpassed the readership of Gujarati Samachar (one of the oldest newspaper in Gujarat) by 30%. On the occasion of this achievement, DB came up with the IRS Ahmedabad Campaign to thank its readers, employees, clients, circulation agents and hawkers. The campaign was promoted through multiple media like Print, Social Media, Radio etc.

Run Banao Karodon Ke Inaam Pao

Dainik Bhaskar came up with a unique circulation campaign called ‘Run Banao Karodon Ke Inaam Pao’ in line with the ongoing cricket season during IPL and ICC World Cup 2019. DB roped in renwoned cricketer Shikhar Dhawan as the brand ambassador of the campaign. The campaign was a hit witnessing the participation of a huge number of people.

Smart Soch Campaign

As per our editorial philosophy, 'Kendra mein Pathak', Our editorial teams puts in a lot of effort in content to give knowledge to our readers which is relevant, useful and interesting.This not only makes DB stand apart from competition but also adds a lot of value in readers life.
To communicate the same to our readers which highlights the essence of our product/newspaper content, DB came up with ‘Smart Soch’ campaign.
It was a 360 campaign executed across Print, Radio, Outdoor, Digital, Cinema, direct mailers.

MOST FOLLOWED RJs on FACEBOOK

3 MY FM RJs – RJ Kartik, RJ Archana & RJ Meenakshi are unstoppable on social media now. RJ Kartik is the most followed RJ on Facebook in India while RJ Archana is the most followed female RJ on Facebook in India. RJ Meenakshi, on the other hand, is unbeaten in the tri-cities of Punjab & Haryana.
The feat strengthens our claim of being unbeatable in Tier 2 & 3 markets along with highlighting our point of the importance of these markets. All these RJs are from non-metro cities but have a consolidated fan base of over 8 Million across all social media platforms with a consolidated video views figure reaching a whopping 700 Million +

MAFIA STORIES by Hussain Zaidi

Mafia stories is a compilation of various colourful characters which joined the underworld mafia hoping of building an empire out of crime. Written by India's most noted crime journalist S. Hussain Zaidi in his career spanning over 4 decades! He spoke to, met, interviewed, interrogated, went undercover, and sometimes out of generosity of the criminal, broke bread with them.
A series of audio dramas based on true incidents, eye witness accounts and testimonials of Hussain Zaidi - all done to enhance the listener experience and attempt appointment viewing on Radio.

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WE MAKE IT EASIER FOR YOU

The objective of the campaign was to build the communication of our “Local understanding” to our TG and establish the thought that since we understand our “Local Markets”, we “Make it Easy” for our clients to connect with their TG. Tying this creative visualization to the idea that tapping local markets is as easy as spotting a difference between the images if the brand partners MY FM and leverages its deep understanding of tier 2 & 3 markets along with a local connect.

CHEERS with Engineer Dev

The ‘Cheers’ show featuring non-cliché on air friend ‘Dev’ treats the listeners with helping people deal with challenges, insecurities & complex human relations & situations thrown by life. Be it relationship conflicts, professional issues or personal problems, Dev gives a unique perspective on it.  The double dose of entertainment reflects in the way he speaks to the callers, shares anecdotes or the brief interactions with his secretary and his secret admirer Rina

FUN MEIN HAI VISHWAS with Dr. KUMAR VISHWAS

Hosted by ace poet and youth icon Dr. Kumar Vishwas, the humor capsule serves as a platform for listeners eyeing for natural flavor of comedy. Vishwas, known for being genuine, sarcastic and unfiltered, is our listeners’ stress buster airing every day, in hourly capsules.
Dr. Kumar Vishwas pulls inspiration from daily life, poetry, and Politics and gives listeners some puns and punches in his inimitable style, which is interspersed with interesting poetry recitations.

BRAND TUNE LAUNCH

Through this campaign we have tried to establish that no matter what situation one may be in, MY FM is always going to be there to uplift the mood and bring a person in a happy mind space. We wanted our listeners to not only register the new tune in their minds, but also engage and groove into it. Composed by renowned Bollywood music composer Rochak Kohli, written by Vayu and sung by Divya Kumar, the jingle had foot-tapping beats and catchy mnemonics.
Celeb choreographer Melvin Louis performed on our brand jingle and gave us the signature step that we had planned. The dancing hook was then shared by our team of RJs on their social media platforms and a viral chain of dance videos revolving around the signature step was formed creating over 5 Million impressions and garnering over 2.5 Million Views!

MY FM Ke RANGREZZ

An activity designed around school kids, ‘MY FM Ke Rangrezz’ provides a platform to reach and engage schools, kids, parents and listeners alike. The objective is to help build a grass root level connect in tier 2 cities and tap into MY FM’s core audience – families.
Subsequently, ‘MY FM Ke Rangrezz’- aimed around a particular theme to unite the states in one national thought and ignite a sense of responsibility in our future generation; garnered more 3.16 lac student participations and 4.8 Lac+ Parents’ participation from 620 schools in 30 cities across India making it the largest painting competition in Tier 2 & 3 markets!

Bihar No. 2

As per ABC's (Audit Bureau of Circulation) January- June 2019 report, with 6 lakhs copies, Dainik Bhaskar became the 2nd largest circulated newspaper of Bihar State . Dainik Bhaskar is just 6 years old in the state of Bihar and within this short span of time, DB became the 2nd largest circulated newspaper of the state. In order to promote this achievement, Dainik Bhaskar launched 'Bihar No. 2' campaign. Through this campaign, DB engaged all the stake holders- internal and external, for their contribution in achieving this milestone.

Rajasthan Campaign

As per the ABC report, with 15.94 lacs copies in Jan- June 2018 and with 16.25 lacs circulated copies in July- December 2018, Dainik Bhaskar became the number 1 newspaper of Rajasthan. This achievement is a collective effort of Dainik Bhaskar’s readers, employees, clients, circulation agents and hawkers. Dainik Bhaskar understands this and to acknowledge the contribution of all these key stake holders, DB came up with ‘Rajasthan Campaign’.

BIHAR CAMPAIGN

We did a door to door survey of 20 Lac households and establishments in Bihar to create an ideal newspaper for Bihar. We are pleased to inform you that 7 Lac households and establishments in Bihar have become part of the Dainik Bhaskar family. Now Dainik Bhaskar offers 100% coverage across all 38 districts of Bihar.

ABC Campaign

ABC JJ'16 declared Dainik Bhaskar as India's largest circulated newspaper with 38,12,599 copies. A high octane campaign conveying the brand's leadership was launched to share our success. The campaign registered more than 80% visibility among marketers and trade.

Divya Marathi - Maharashtra's Only Independent Daily

Divya Marathi is Maharashtra's first credible & unbiased newspaper. With no affiliation to religious groups, communities, political parties or clients; the newspaper is 'MAHARASHTRA'S ONLY INDEPENDENT DAILY'. The group's editorial philosophy; 'READER AT THE HEART OF EVERYTHING WE DO' has constantly been exemplified through the unsurpassed journalistic values of Divya Marathi.

Divya Marathi organised the first ever Marathi Literature festival at Kusumagraj Smarak in Nashik in November, 2016. A three day festival of power packed sessions; it was one of the most prestigious and high impact initiatives undertaken in the 'Literature' & 'Journalism' space in Maharashtra.

Zidd Karo Duniya Badlo

Dainik Bhaskar's 'Zidd Karo Duniya Badlo' corporate campaign celebrates how positive persistence can change the world around you. The campaign was launched on 29th April, 2016 and celebrates the spirit of stubbornness and persistence that can lead to a larger good for all.

Brand Dainik Bhaskar embodies 'zidd' (stubbornness) in its growth story, from being a single newspaper which was launched in Bhopal, to being the largest circulated newspaper today with a presence across 14 states, is steeped in 'zidd'. Zidd is the clarion call of the brand; the resilience, the determination, the strength to change and be at the helm of change.

Happy Rajasthan Campaign

Dainik Bhaskar has been the most preferred news vehicle for its readers in Rajasthan since the last 19 years. Nearly two decades of sustained leadership is linked to our deep understanding of the readers' needs, desires and expectations. The Happy Rajasthan initiative is our way of celebrating our wonderful association with the state with all our partners.

Known as the 'Land of the Kings', the state retains the glory and richness of historical significance with its marvellous monuments, colourful traditions and customs, striking landscape and wondrous locales at every corner. All of these put together, Rajasthan is the perfect destination to create lasting memories. The contest asked participants to upload their 'Happy Rajasthan' pictures and videos, on the microsite. The most voted entry won an iPhone 6 and other super exciting prizes.

Live No Negative

The 'Live No Negative' movement drives the people to have a positive outlook to life. At DBCL one of the key initiatives undertaken to build this philosophy forward is 'No Negative Monday'.

The Group follows the 'No Negative News on Monday' policy, across all its newspapers and carries only positive news to ensure that readers start their week with positivity. If there is negative news which is significant for readers, it is carried in a separate pull-out or page with a disclaimer.

This helps generate hope, inspiration, delight and a sense of pride besides being a great start to the week. Being a first-of-its-kind initiative, this initiative received wide acclaim in the industry, and very positive reception from readers.

Brand Trust Campaign

'The Brand Trust Campaign', celebrated the nation's trust in 'Dainik Bhaskar'. The brand is now recognised as India's most trusted language (Hindi) newspaper by the Brand Trust Report India Study, 2015. The survey highlights the brand's commitment of bringing unbiased, hyper local news to the readers. The survey was conducted across 16 cities and across 20,000 unique brands.

Unmetro your mind

Unmetro is an economic terrain that is fast reaching critical mass. It's here that India's 21st century growth story is being written. Dainik Bhaskar Group is helping marketers gather critical information about this rapidly changing segment of the Indian population, beyond top metros. There are about 8,000 cities & towns across the country, beyond the traditional top metros also referred to as the rest of Urban India, Middle India, or Tier II / III / IV cities. Unmetro includes 45 cities with a population of more than 1 million and another 480 cities with a population of 100,000 or more. Dainik Bhaskar's Unmetro initiative is aimed at breaking the paradigm of metro-centric advertising, by making marketers think out-of-the-box and shift their focus to the cities beyond metros that's fuelling the real growth. New opportunities are raising affluence levels and change in consumption patterns are opening doors for marketers to service new markets. This has created numerous opportunities for both national and international brands in India. To continue this endeavor Unmetro - 'The Action Is Elsewhere' a brand new campaign aimed at the marketers, advertisers and the media planner/buyer was launched beginning this year. The campaign idea revolves around the fact that, so far we've ve all been enamored by the going-ons of metros, while the real action is in the Unmetro heartland of India, i.e. the 'Action Is Elsewhere'. The campaign was crafted by an animated digital film and supported by print ads, outdoor, web banners, conclaves, social media and above all the Unmetro website www.unmetro.in

View the film here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4a3YbbZvb0AxtSnMKaM6Ww
Connect with Unmetro on www.facebook.com/unmetroIndia.
You can also write to us on [email protected]

Jeeto 10 crore drive

A high impact engagement drive conducted across markets that the group operates in. The proposition 'Jeeto 10 crore' drew record participation of more than 1 million readers.

Bihar Launch

The Dainik Bhaskar Group's foray in Bihar is an embodiment of our relentless spirit to provide the best-in-class product to our readers. Bihar was a 3 player 'Hindi' newspaper market with only 44% penetration highlighting the market potential for a right product and of market expansion opportunities. With the launch of Dainik Bhaskar's Patna edition, the Group now covers 14 Indian states. Unique, deep-rooted research and survey of 3,37,578 households marked the Bihar launch as one of our most iconic introductions into a new Hindi market.

We entered Bihar with our signature twin-program survey and an aim to outstrip the competing newspaper brands by 10-15% market share. 'Speak Up Bihar' campaign encouraged Bihar's readers to express their views and redefine the way they received the news every day. With an overwhelming 1,70,000 copies distributed, Dainik Bhaskar claimed the position of No. 1 from Day 1.

The Great Gujarat Jalsa

We conceptualized an umbrella property called 'The Great Gujarat Jalsa' owing to Gujarat being the land of celebrations. We believed 'The Great Gujarat Jalsa' to be an effective platform for Divya Bhaskar to engage with media planners, buyers and marketers. Two highly engaging contests were rolled out under this umbrella - The Great Gujarat Selfie and The Great Gujarat Crossword.

While the former was the first of its kind initiative in the B2B space, it also sparked off a cascading effect on the campaign awareness with selfies going viral and demands for likes hitting the roof.

On the other hand, The Great Gujarat Crossword also made huge inroads with its promise of gratifying 10 lucky winners. The Great Gujarat contest was not only engaging but it also disseminated information about the Gujarat market and the brand Divya Bhaskar.

Dainik Bhaskar Group Campaign

With an unparalleled readership in the Tier II & Tier III cities of India, publications in multiple languages and its impact across the country; the Dainik Bhaskar Group has a host of facts to be proud of.

We designed an advertising campaign that highlighted our strengths and the uniqueness of our brand. Readership strength, language diversity and coverage were highlighted through the data.

Junior Editor

Junior Editor is a unique initiative from the Dainik Bhaskar Group that uses innovation, creativity and engagement to build a strong connection with the young population of India. The campaign encourages tomorrow's generation to come forth and express its views. It is implemented under the Bhaskar Champs Club.

unior Editor has been a ground-breaking activity that holds the Guinness World Record for largest writing competition, the Limca World Record for largest countrywide newspaper-making competition for children and a record in the India Book of Records for largest number of manually-prepared newspapers by Kids.