Kolkata echoes Only Bengal with TOI

The Times of India has launched an extremely spirited campaign in Kolkata on 6th of August. The campaign is termed as Only Bengal campaign and it is a soft demand for changing the name of West Bengal to just Bengal. Created by Taproot India, the campaign seeks the opinion of the people on whether the state should drop "West' from its name and rewrite history by becoming "Bengal' again. The ad film has been directed by Sujit Sarkar.

The ads feature different target groups ' the young and the old, discussing the relevance of a "West Bengal' today.

Talking about the need for this campaign, Rahul Kansal, Chief Marketing Officer, Bennett, Coleman and Co Ltd, tells Adgully, "The 'west' in the state's name is nothing but meaningless baggage from the past. The question is not 'why such a campaign now', but 'why was it not done all these years?"

Media experts say that the campaign will work well with the mass audiences in Kolkata, as the audiences are known for their sense of pride in their language and rich regional heritage. Experts also say that the campaign is important for TOI to strengthen and consolidate its position in the region where the publication for a long time has faced strong competition from the language press. | By Prabha Hegde [prabha(at)adgully.com]