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DNA
launched: Dancewithshadows.com review - click here
Archived feature:
DNA warfare rocks Mumbai
Dancewithshadows traces the DNA
campaign unleashed by the upcoming Zee-Bhaskar newspaper and
takes cover in a bomb shelter.
BY APPU
DNA
launched: Dancewithshadows.com review - click here
April 16: If you thought biological warfare was
waged only by Saddam Hussein & company, you were dead wrong.
Mumbai is the Ground Zero in a fierce battle fought over the
building block of life, DNA. For Times of India, which has
successfully taken the newspaper wars to enemy
fortresses, the battle has finally come home. Get me
some oxygen kits please!
 The
DNA campaign, unleashed by the ZEE-Bhaskar group in
early March for their upcoming Mumbai daily is on a
roll. The campaign, in its first leg, consisted of hoardings
featuring people from various walks of life with grey tapes
covering their mouths. In the second phase of the
campaign, the line "Speak up. It's in your DNA" was added.
Simultaneously, DNA strands appeared in Mid-Day
group-owned private radio channel GO 92.5 FM, fuelling public
curiosity. The stage seemed set for an exciting climax.
Suddenly, within the span of a couple of days, there
appeared a new series of DNA ads, this time in print form in
the Times of India. These ads had 5 people very similar
to those featured in the previous ads but
with two differences. The people were seen removing the grey
tapes from their mouths and the slogan said "Speak up.
It's in your DNA - Maharashtra Times". To many unsuspecting
people, this was the logical conclusion of the DNA campaign -
Bennett Coleman was celebrating the "victory" of its group
newspaper Maharashtra Times, for attaining the top slot
among Marathi dailies in Mumbai.
The only strange and somewhat confusing part was that the
outdoor ads from DNA phase 2 had not been removed. It seemed
like the campaign had the 3rd phase had run too fast and
bumped into the 2nd phase. That's when Diligent Media, the
joint venture set up by the Zee group and Dainik Bhaskar,
slapped a lawsuit on BCCL for copyright infringement.
The DNA campaign actually belonged to ZEE-Bhaskar and
Times had hijacked it without so much as a by-your-leave!
To add to this, the Indian Express Group ran a counter
campaign on March 31 and April 1 promoting their Marathi daily
Loksatta. This ad featured people tearing off the grey tapes
from over their mouths and saying "No one can stop me
from speaking up." Needless to say, they too, received a
similar notice from Diligent for the same.
Many people claimed they weren't surprised about what
had happened. After all, the mighty Times wasn't going to sit
back and watch the competition walk over its home base, right?
But although ZEE Bhaskar must be a bit sour over the fact that
their campaign was hijacked, and that too by such
prominent media houses, we feel they can take heart from the
old saying... imitation is the best form of flattery!
Read our
earlier story on the ZEE-Bhaskar Times of India lawsuit here
Anyway the next phase in the "real" DNA campaign,
(which, Dancewithshadows feels, may
have been speeded up now that curiosity had killed the kitty
cat) mentioned the word newspaper and giving the full form of
DNA i.e. Daily News & Analysis. These hoardings
threw up questions like "What's BMC digging for? Gold?
Oil? Fun? Speak up. It's in your DNA" or "Why can't pubs be
open all night? Speak up. It's in you DNA".
At the same time, the DNA radio commercials on GO 92.5
FM added to spice to the DNA buzz, spelling out the full form
of DNA. It now became clear that the name of the newspaper was
going to be DNA and not Sun as thought earlier. The DNA
campaign gave the impression
of being keen on serving the discerning Mumbai reader
that he wants to read rather than expecting him to
consume whatever is dished out.
Validating this, a senior DNA official speaking to an agency,
revealed that they have already rolled out a pre-launch survey
stretching across 11-lakh households in Mumbai. The survey, he
said would be on till mid-May and only after that will the
positioning of the paper become clear. The official
declined to comment on the duration of the campaign,
only stating that it will be running for some more time. The
actual launch of the newspaper is slated for sometime between
August-September this year and it is expected to be a
daily, covering general interest topics.
Some people feel that the DNA campaign ran out of steam
with Times and Express spilling the beans. However, with their
misguided ads, both have unwittingly increased public
awareness about DNA. Without paying a paisa, Zee-Bhaskar has
got both the media houses to highlight its product! Whichever
way the Diligent-Times-Express lawsuit goes, both newspapers
have given free publicity to DNA. In football, they call
this self-goal.
That is not all. Many senior-level editorial staff from
both Times and Express have latched their buggy with the DNA
bandwagon. Many more journalists from across the city are
learnt to have joined biology-in-a-day tuition classes
to pick up the elements of genetics to prepare for their DNA
interviews. DWS will keep you posted.
BY APPU |
