Havas India's Soham Ghosh, Ravindra Kumar win Times of India Print Contest

With over 15.8 crore Indians eligible to cast their votes in the ongoing General Elections of the world’s largest democracy, two young creatives of Havas Worldwide India have crafted a groundbreaking campaign, to remind citizens of their democratic rights and responsibilities. 

The Power of Print Contest 2024 is run by The Times of India Group in collaboration with the Election Commission of India. Havas Worldwide India's creative talents, Soham Ghosh, Creative Supervisor (Copy), and Ravinder Kumar, Associate Creative Director, have won the coveted award, and will be representing the agency at Cannes Lions 2025.

The winning entry, selected from over 560 entries from across the country on the theme ‘I Vote For Sure’, is aimed at inspiring greater voter turnout by highlighting the significance of every individual's vote. 

Unveiled in The Economic Times, Bengaluru edition on April 26, 2024, coinciding with the city's voting day for the second phase of the 18th Lok Sabha Elections, the winning concept employs a striking visual metaphor. The entire newspaper page has been rendered in purple ink, symbolizing the unused electoral ink from the 2019 elections. This innovative approach serves as a hard-hitting reminder of the wasted potential inherent in unmarked fingers and uncast votes. To motivate people from across the country to vote, the campaign will be published in most important markets of the publication over the next two weeks.

Sagnik Ghosh, Head Creative Strategy, Innovation, Branded Content and Trade Marketing for BCCL Response, Times of India said, “After a tough competition and intense evaluation by the eminent jury, the fifth edition of The Times Power of Print, supported by the Election Commission of India, has its winners. Among the many strong entries, the winning ad stood out for its effective portrayal of the urgency of the issue of low voter turnout and masterful use of print as a versatile medium, open to innovative possibilities. We hope that this ad is inspiring to the readers and motivates them to exercise their right to vote on D-Day.”

Speaking about the idea, Anupama Ramaswamy, Chief Creative Officer, Havas Worldwide India said, “At Havas Worldwide India, we truly believe in the power of ideas to drive meaningful change. Soham and Ravinder’s powerful idea exemplifies our commitment to leveraging creativity for social good, empowering citizens to shape the future of our nation.”

Soham Ghosh said, “Our idea stemmed from the low voter count in the last Lok Sabha Elections. The insight was simple yet powerful – if people are not getting their fingers marked with purple ink, then they’re not just wasting the electoral ink, they’re also wasting the power of democracy. So, we suggested printing an entire page of the newspaper using purple ink for people to take notice of the unused electoral ink.”

For Ravinder Kumar, this campaign is much more important than just winning tickets to Cannes Lions next year. He said, “Going to Cannes Lions Festival has been a life-long dream but with this newspaper innovation using purple ink, if we can inspire even one person to step out and vote this time, it will be a bigger victory for us.”