A campaign to rekindle love for the Hindi language “touched the right chord” with Amar Ujala readers, Neha Sikri says.

A senior manager with the Noida, India, publisher, she reports international participation as readers came on board to support one of the country’s most widely spoken languages.

“With approximately 580 million people using it for daily communication, Hindi is so popular that global giants like Google and Facebook invested in language tools to cater to the growing market, and Netflix has launched its entire interface in Hindi.”

Sikri says in an INMA blog, that with such wide usage and popularity, Amar Ujala wanted to rekindle and restore the “glory and pride” of the language which is so deeply rooted in India’s culture.

An initiative called ‘Hindi – Apno ki Bhasha, Sapno ki Bhasha – Hindi Hain Hum’ (or ‘Hindi – The language of our people, the language of our dreams – We are Hindi’) celebrated the love of the Hindi language.

“Hindi is a language in which we dream as it gives life to our emotions and adds soul to our expressions,” she says.

The narrative behind the campaign was to own the Hindi space in the minds of consumers for whom this language is their mother tongue. “More interestingly, the people of India are also referred to as ‘Hindi’ – the people of Hind. Hence, the name of the campaign represents a double dose of patriotism.”

An integrated high-decibel campaign was launched reflecting the publisher’s commitment to acknowledge and elevate the deep social and family connections of the people whose mother tongue is Hindi. This campaign targeted all ages –young children, youth, their parents and grandparents.

Audience engagement was strong among families, nationally, and even internationally.

The campaign was launched six weeks before Hindi Diwas (Day) on September 14, the day in 1949 on which the Constituent Assembly of India adopted Hindi written in Devanagri script as the official language of the Republic of India.

An audience engagement initiative included a request for the submission of 30-second videos in Hindi. Children were asked to read a newspaper article; youth were directed to talk about new experiences and perspectives; parents read from any beloved creator of Hindi literature; while grandparents were asked to share children’s stories and folklore.

“The promotional elements – online and offline – included print ads and social media engagement, as well as news articles emphasising the glorious history of the language and its key contributors and educating the readers on Hindi literature.

“One unique aspect of the campaign promotion was the dialogue series engaging both key city influencers and the readers. Prime stalwarts from the Hindi film industry and leading figures of the media industry also participated in these dialogue series to bring forth their views.”

Neha Sikri says the “stellar” participation results cemented the belief that the campaign not only touched the right chord with readers and the masses, but also showcased the enthusiasm with which people celebrate the mother tongue.