The creative idea was called “The Masthead of Respect’. It focussed on the mastheads of leading newspapers in India. The Masthead of Respect creatively imbibed the name of the daily to fit in the message in the most creative and impactful manner. Across India, on International Women’s Day, people of India would wake up to awe-inspiring messages merged into the nation’s voice with their daily newspaper. These messages spoke of the contribution, strength and power of the modern women highlighting India’s progression from Women’s Development to Women-Led development. Media houses came forward to participate in this unique initiative in a grand token of respect for women in India.

Newspaper mastheads are instantly recognisable visual motifs for regular readers across the country. However, on International Women’s Day, Indians woke up to a delightful surprise. Across India, 9 major news publications in both English and Hindi languages added a small twist to their iconic mastheads. These mastheads transformed into inspiring headlines.

Each publication added a unique twist to their masthead celebrating Indian women and their contribution to society. For example, the ubiquitous ‘The Times of India’ transformed to ‘Women are Rewriting The Times of India’. And Hindi daily ‘Dainik Jagran’ (The Daily Awakening) transformed to ‘Nari Shakti Mein Hi Unnati Ka Dainik Jagran’ (Only Women Empowerment Can Lead to Awakening).

The campaign then went on to highlight all the achievements of the women-friendly policies of the Indian Government that have enabled women-led development.

The campaign caught public attention and #TheMastheadOfRespect went viral on Twitter. The hashtag trended on twitter and stayed active for over 5 hours on the day of the release. On digital, over 5.7 million people were reached, generating over 20 million impressions.