Results and Effectiveness

While opinion polls were nothing new, this was the first time that anyone had created a physical opinion poll that reflected the sentiments of the people instantaneously. During the duration of the campaign, more than 0.98 million people participated in the opinion poll. Almost 61% people voted that India should not play cricket with Pakistan, while 39% countered that. The instantaneous nature of the counters (Poll results were displayed instantaneously for each person that passed through the poll gates) emphasized HT as a newspaper with its finger on the pulse of the people.

Creative Execution

A basic campaign strategy was designed keeping the needs of the client as well as our own in mind. The campaign was based on three need factors: a) Maximize participation, b) Minimize inconvenience to the public, c) Do not influence the outcome of the poll(the media strategy had to not only be creative but also non intrusive). We placed physical opinion polls across 8 of the largest Delhi Metro stations. People had to answer a simple question-“Should India play cricket with Pakistan?”. As they walked through the ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ gates, an infrared proximity detector triggered an LED counter on top of the respective gate, reflecting the count, and the opinion, of the people. Promoters placed at the poll clarified any doubts the target audience might have had as to the working of the poll. They were trained not to respond in any way that would affect the opinion of the person.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

The 2008 Mumbai Terrorist attacks, which lasted from 26th Nov to 29th Nov, left more than 170 people dead and an entire country in shock. An immediate outpouring of grief and rage followed, but surprisingly, the main source of this outburst was not political, but an outpouring of grief and anger by the general public. As a pre-independence era newspaper, Hindustan Times (HT) believed that the roots of its culture lay in reflecting the voice of the people. HT wanted to give people an opportunity to ‘Walk their talk’. We created physical opinion polls, an entirely new concept in opinion polling. In answer to a posted question, readers could voice their opinion by simply walking through a poll gate placed just before the security gates.