Abstract

This case is about The Times of India’s (TOI) and Jang Group’s (Jang) concept marketing initiative ‘Aman ki Asha: Destination Peace’ (AKA). Launched on January 1, 2010, the joint Indo-Pak peace campaign aimed to promote peace and develop stronger diplomatic and cultural relations between the two countries. The campaign was executed through a large-scale multimedia platform that included print, television, radio, online, and other on-ground events. As part of the campaign, a series of cross-border cultural gatherings, business seminars, music and literary festivals and citizen meets were organized across the two countries. The case discusses how the campaign changed the perceptions of people about each other in both countries. While the campaign won some of the most prestigious advertising awards, experts remained divided in their opinion on whether ‘Aman ki Asha’ was a genuine approach to initiate the peace process between the two countries, or whether it was just a marketing gimmick by the two media groups to enhance their brand image. This case is meant for MBA/MS students as a part of the Marketing Communications/ Marketing Management curriculum.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Understand the various issues and challenges in concept marketing
• Analyze whether the ‘Aman ki Asha’ initiative was successful in achieving its objectives
• Understand the role of cause-related marketing in enhancing brand image
• Explore ways in which the campaign could be made more effective.

Keywords

Concept marketing, Cause-related marketing, Marketing Communications, Perception-changing communication, World's best news industry marketing campaigns, Social marketing, Corporate Social Responsibility, Lead India Campaign, Teach India Campaign, Newspaper industry, Jang, The Times of India