The Campaign

The idea was fairly simple to have multiple activities across cities in the country, which became news pieces, and were picked up by national as well as the international print and electronic media outlets. Each activation was unique in itself and was based on the location and target audiences of the city. For example - the activation ‘Satyarthi Class’ on child sexual abuse at Jaipur set the Guinness World Record for the largest lesson on child safeguarding, - the activation in Bangalore lead to Chief Justice of Karnataka (State in India) setup a separate dedicated court, to fast-track all child abuse cases and more. We had over 150 such unique activities across the country in span of 22 days.

Execution

The media outreach plan was focused on the engagement of publications ranging from the premium to the vernacular throughout the country. The content team was instrumental in creating and placing original tailored content viz. seeded stories and thought leadership articles in target publications which added tremendous visibility to the India March. The cumulative media coverage of the 4-month campaign garnered 4000 unique coverage pieces spanning over 15 languages, across print, online, electronic and the digital space across 22 states. Over 100 on-ground interviews were facilitated which were instrumental in the sensitization of over 500 million citizens in the country. Over 50 front page stories and 10+ prime time interviews later, the Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation has been acknowledged as the leading crusader for children and their protection. Opinion Pieces and case studies placed across vernaculars along the march route, connected the local population to the cause in unprecedented ways

The India March garnered over 4000 unique coverages and was met by an overwhelmingly positive response. The coverage across the spectrum of online, print and electronic media spoke about the March, the cause it espoused and about Mr. Satyarthi’s vision for India and led to the sensitization of over 500 million citizens The March had a phenomenal effect on all governing and law-making bodies in the country. The strong mass mobilisation had spurred them to take concrete steps towards safeguarding the interests of children. The Union Cabinet cleared the Anti-trafficking bill, providing stringent punishment to perpetrators. 100+ Parliamentarians vowed to amend laws, the judiciary pledged to uphold and implement the law and work towards fast-tracking pending POCSO cases. Ministers in power, conglomerates, celebrities, religious heads and the youth to fight against the monster of child abuse and forge a country that allows its children to be children

The Strategy

To successfully execute the India March on a country wide scale, the march was strategically broken down into phases to ensure smooth operations and that maximum media visibility was awarded to the cause being championed. Cause based interviews, positioning Mr. Satyarthi as a crusader for child rights were scheduled while simultaneously strengthening his position as a thought leader through opinion pieces in leading dailies. The team was also responsible for creating and placing original content which ensured that highly controlled messaging reaching the intended stakeholders at every step of the way The first phase was engineered to build conversation around the cause, while phase two was a call to action for the country to join the fight. Post Yatra, the focus was on highlighting the immediate outcomes of the march and to keep motivating the country to never give up in its quest to eradicate the country of this menace.