THE MASTHEAD OF RESPECT

TitleTHE MASTHEAD OF RESPECT
BrandGOVERNMENT OF INDIA
Product / ServiceGOVERNMENT OF INDIA
CategoryA13. Not-for-profit / Charity / Government
EntrantCREATIVELAND ASIA Mumbai, INDIA
Idea Creation CREATIVELAND ASIA Mumbai, INDIA
Media Placement CREATIVELAND ASIA Mumbai, INDIA

Credits

Name Company Position
Sajan Raj Kurup Creativeland Asia Pvt. Ltd. Founder and Creative Chairman
Anu Joseph Creativeland Asia Pvt. Ltd. Chief Creative Officer
Neel Ashtikar Creativeland Asia Pvt. Ltd. Senior Executive Co-ordinator
Lishoy George Creativeland Asia Pvt. Ltd. Executive Creative Director - Art
Tejas Ravindranath Creativeland Asia Pvt. Ltd. Executive Creative Director - Copy
Disha Pinge Creativeland Asia Pvt. Ltd. Strategy Director
Adarsh Dora Creativeland Asia Pvt. Ltd. Young Creative Partner - Copy
Anand Dalvi Creativeland Asia Pvt. Ltd. Creative Partner - Art
Mukul Soni Creativeland Asia Pvt. Ltd. Creative Partner - Copy
Yash Prajapati Creativeland Asia Pvt. Ltd. Creative Partner - Art
Sahil Chhabra Creativeland Asia Pvt. Ltd. Young Creative Partner – Copy
Ritesh Rao Creativeland Asia Pvt. Ltd. Business Head
Royce Fernandes Creativeland Asia Pvt. Ltd. Social Media Manager

The Campaign

The creative idea was called 'The Masthead of Respect’. It involved several leading dailies changing their iconic mastheads into impactful statements about the spirit of the new Indian woman. Across India, on International Women’s Day, citizens of the country woke up to awe-inspiring messages merged into the nation’s voice with their daily newspaper. These messages spoke of the contribution, strength and power of the modern woman, highlighting India’s progression from Women’s Development to Women-Led Development. Media houses came forward to participate in this unique initiative in a grand token of respect for the women of India.

Creative Execution

Newspaper mastheads are instantly recognisable visual motifs for regular readers across the country. However, on International Women’s Day, Indians woke up to a delightful surprise. Nine major news publications, in English and Hindi languages, added a small twist to their iconic mastheads. A small twist which transformed the mastheads into inspiring headlines. Each publication added a unique flavour to their masthead, celebrating Indian women and their contribution to the society. For example, the ubiquitous ‘The Times of India’ transformed to ‘Women are Rewriting The Times of India’. And Hindi daily ‘Dainik Jagran’ (Daily Awakening) transformed to ‘Nari Shakti Mein Hi Unnati Ka Dainik Jagran’ (Women-led development leads to Daily Awakening of our nation). The campaign then went on to highlight all the achievements of the women-friendly policies of the Indian Government that have enabled women-led development.

The campaign caught public attention and went viral with the hashtag #MastheadOfRespect. The hashtag trended on Twitter and stayed active for over 5 hours on the day of the release. On digital, over 5.7 million people were reached, generating over 20 million impressions.

In a first-of-its-kind initiative, 9 leading Indian print publications came together with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (Government of India) to celebrate Indian women on International Women’s Day. As a tribute to Indian women, these publications tweaked their iconic mastheads that had remained unchanged for decades. These transformed mastheads became headlines that celebrated the indomitable spirit of Indian women while highlighting all the women-friendly policies and achievements of the Indian government.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

International Women’s Day as an occasion often sees a slew of gestures and tokens directed at women. The aim was to create a campaign that would be disruptive and meaningful as an ode to Indian women. This disruption came from tweaking one of the most iconic visual motifs Indians saw every day. The masthead of their morning paper.