The Brief

The brief was to capture the unusual, the irreverent, the bizarre, the inspiring, the crazy, the heart-touching side of this crazy contrast in cultures, religion, food, language and more that goes by the name of India. It targeted every single Indian from across the length and breath of the 2nd most populated country in the world. The strategy was to start the largest crowd-sourcing initiative this country has ever seen to amass the sights, smells and sounds that vaguely depict A Day in the Life of India.

Creative Execution

Because no one else could put this ambitious initiative in motion other than the very people of this sense-boggling country. So why not create a place, virtually, where everything that's Indian and yet out of the normal can be stored and found in one place. For Indians, by Indians. Started by Indians. And who else could have sponsored it but The Times of India - the widest-read English newspaper from the largest democracy in the world.

Describe the creative solution to the brief/objective.

No one understands the crazy side of India better than we do. What's normal to us is crazy to the outsiders. And thus began a nationwide call to action to upload pictures, videos, cartoons, slogans, songs and more that best captured the chaotic reality of modern-day India. With many campaigns targeted at amateur and professional photographers and movie makers, cartoonists, musicians, poets, advertising agencies and most of all, the common man.

Results

www.day.in, the main campaign website, received over 150,000 video, audio and audio-visual entries at the times of going to press. Naturally, the contests had to result in the world's longest shortlist - over 5,000 nominations and by the time all the winners were chosen, the site became the go-to place for everything that's quirkily yet quintessentially Indian. Check it all out on www.day.in