Students who offer prayers and sweets to the goddess of knowledge during India’s Saraswati Puja festival, had an extra resource this year.

The Times of India launched a podcast challenge to help it connect with younger audiences, establish itself as a thought leader in the city and promote education through technology.

Kolkata general manager Debadyuti Karan says in an INMA Ideas Blog that the contest – launched under its Phirey Esho Kolkata branding for cultural campaigns – presented an innovative new method of learning to the West Bengal student community.

She says ‘poda shona’ is a colloquial term in Bangla which translates to ‘reading and listening’. “With podcasts, TOI invited students to explore and learn in an unconventional manner – by creating and listening.

“Through the Ei Samay Gold platform, students of classes eight through 12 in West Bengal shared their podcasts across various topics – including financial education, poetry, storytelling and space facts – for two or three minutes in English and Bangla.

“This leveraged a print-first digital interaction with the students.”

With the challenge, the brand also wanted to create an imagery of a brand for the youth using brand ambassadors who are role models for this audience – Riddhi Sen, winner of the National Award for acting, and the musician and actor Rwitobroto.

In an online workshop, the icons shared their insights and experience on the art of podcast creation. “They offered various ways to get creative with its elements, including topic selection, modulation, music, and tonality,” says Karan.

“It was a huge success, with more than 2,000 people tuning in to join the conversation, further emphasising the growing popularity of podcasting.”

With a combined digital reach of 9.31 million people, the challenge successfully sparked a love for podcasting and technology among youth, as evidenced by the high engagement it generated, with 4.56 million video views and 2.14 million interactions.

Karan says an interactive stall (pictured) was also set up at the International Kolkata Book Fair, Asia’s largest. “The event attracted many student registrations, with 900 students signing up to demonstrate podcasts’ potential as a creative medium. The impressive response to the challenge, with over 350 podcast submissions, further proves this trend.”

Results of the campaign, combined with the high level of student engagement and the success of the online workshop, highlight the importance of promoting podcasting and encouraging young people to explore this medium, she says. “The campaign resonated deeply with students, and its strength grew with each piece of editorial coverage. Topics such as new methods of learning and innovation in education were emphasised.”