Times of India Group and Croma launch 3rd edition of ‘Power of Print’

Leveraging print campaign for proper eWaste disposal

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Times

After two successful editions of ‘Power of Print’ in 2017 and 2018, Times of India Group is back with the third edition of the competition. ‘Power of Print’ is a unique initiative by the Times Group, which invites creative minds to build an impactful print campaign for a real brief from a real client.

The Times of India Group and Croma are joining hands to invite all communication agencies to come up with award-winning campaigns for a cause – ‘eWaste Management.’ The winning team will get a fully paid trip for two team members to Cannes Lions, and win a trophy at the awards night by The Times Group, in a unique capsule where BCCL will have a panel discussion by industry experts about eWaste management and also talk about the immense possibilities for creativity and innovation in print.

Creative professionals can participate in teams of two while individual entry of students is acceptable. Submissions open on 12 November with final date of submission being 6 December. The entries will be judged on 18 December, with awards being given on 10 January 2020. The creative team that wins will see its campaign released in the pages of Times Group publications by Croma, which has a multi-crore budget for this initiative. The retail chain that runs 134 stores across 32 cities of India wants customers to stop hoarding old electronics.

The objective of the campaign is to activate consumers into giving up old electronic gadgets when they are buying a new one or upgrading to the latest gizmo as well as get people to consciously identify items of eWaste lying around in their homes and dispose them off. The organizers hope that the campaign should lead to tenfold increase in the volume of requests for eWaste pick-up.

The entries will be judged by a jury comprising of Ashish Chakravarty, Ashish Khazanchi, Garima Khandelwal, Harshad Rajadhyaksha, Hemant Shringy, Ritesh Ghosal, Santosh Padhi, Tista Sen and Sandipan Bhattacharya.

Through the ‘Power of Print’ competition, Times Group has been taking up important social causes. Last year’s competition, which Times Group organized in association with Nestle, dealt with the issue of right nutrition for kids. The objective was to inspire parents into action, to learn the basics of good food for better nutritious diets of their kids and establish. In the first edition of the competition in 2017, ‘Power of Print’ dealt with the issue of education of girl child.

Over the years, print has been a very powerful medium which has carried some of the most impactful and compelling campaigns across nations. These campaigns have been instrumental in changing consumer behavior and brand perception. Times Group believes that although digital media is making significant changes to how brands are communicating, print still has a very vital place in the whole scheme of things.

2023 promises an interesting ride for print in India

Indian Printer and Publisher founded in 1979 is the oldest B2B trade publication in the multi-platform and multi-channel IPPGroup. While the print and packaging industries have been resilient in the past 33 months since the pandemic lockdown of 25 March 2020, the commercial printing and newspaper industries have yet to recover their pre-Covid trajectory.

The fragmented commercial printing industry faces substantial challenges as does the newspaper industry. While digital short-run printing and the signage industry seem to be recovering a bit faster, ultimately their growth will also be moderated by the progress of the overall economy. On the other hand book printing exports are doing well but they too face several supply-chain and logistics challenges.

The price of publication papers including newsprint has been high in the past year while availability is diminished by several mills shutting down their publication paper and newsprint machines in the past four years. Indian paper mills are also exporting many types of paper and have raised prices for Indian printers. To some extent, this has helped in the recovery of the digital printing industry with its on-demand short-run and low-wastage paradigm.

Ultimately digital print and other digital channels will help print grow in a country where we are still far behind in our paper and print consumption and where digital is a leapfrog technology that will only increase the demand for print in the foreseeable future. For instance, there is no alternative to a rise in textbook consumption but this segment will only reach normality in the next financial year beginning on 1 April 2023.

Thus while the new normal is a moving target and many commercial printers look to diversification, we believe that our target audiences may shift and change. Like them, we will also have to adapt with agility to keep up with their business and technical information needs.

Our 2023 media kit is ready, and it is the right time to take stock and reconnect with your potential markets and customers. Print is the glue for the growth of liberal education, new industry, and an emerging economy. We seek your participation in what promises to be an interesting ride.

– Naresh Khanna

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