ITV

Tag: Hear the Human Story

  • Indian stories compliment Al Jazeera’s campaign

    Indian stories compliment Al Jazeera’s campaign

    MUMBAI: Al Jazeera has always taken pride in being one of the few channels that focuses on showcasing human centric stories rather than the commercial or business ones. Operating its Arabic and English channels from Qatar, a location unusual for a worldwide TV channel, it has now embarked on a campaign ‘Hear the Human Story’ (HTHS) to highlight its ideology.

     

    Spread across 12 countries globally, but focusing on key areas of Al Jazeera English (AJE) such as UK, South Africa and Australia, it is a six week long campaign which will run till mid December, after which a number of new smaller bursts are planned for the next year.

     

    Designed by Memac Ogilvy Dubai, the campaign has been tailored to suit different market dynamics with primary focus on print, digital and outdoor media. Launch events were held in Johannesburg, London and Sydney, in line with its core markets.

     

    While India is a priority market both in terms of editorial coverage and also viewership, it hasn’t been a focus for HTHS. Says AJE marketing head Kayoko Nidsaid, “India has not been a focus for this particular campaign; however we used stories from India to show the human stories of Al Jazeera. The reason why India was not included in this year’s campaign was because Al Jazeera had only launched its distribution programme and marketing and PR directives last year to coincide with the increased availability of the channel on TV platforms.” 2015 will see more promotional efforts in India.

     

    Speaking about the concept of HTHS, Nidsaid says, “The idea of ‘human stories’ was always built into the ethos and DNA of the channel, the campaign was a natural progression of the Al Jazeera English brand. HTHS is a testament of our commitment to covering people caught up in events in all corners of the globe and aims to reinforce one of our key strengths for our audiences worldwide. We take pride on the human story and fearless journalism.”

     

    India is a rich pool of stories for AJE. In November itself, stories of India marking world toilet day as well as a bank that teaches impoverished children in Ahmedabad on how to save for a crisis, made headlines.

     

    Nisaid says that the AJE workforce has many Indian staff both in editorial as well as non-editorial while the campaign itself saw two Indian stories (the school under the bridge and the Gulabi Gang) being told across its launch areas.

     

    Once the campaign concludes, the results will be analysed by agency TNS.

     

  • Indian campaigners at centre of Al Jazeera global brand campaign

    Indian campaigners at centre of Al Jazeera global brand campaign

    MUMBAI: Al Jazeera English has made virtue of putting real people on its billboards and television commercials rather than its own star presenters and correspondents.

     

    The channel’s new brand campaign is its largest marketing push to-date, and the slogan “Hear the Human Story” was unveiled at its global launch in South Africa today. The brand film featured at the special event was about the Gulabi Gang, also known as “vigilantes in pink”, who tackle issues such as violence against women and corruption in northern India.

     

    Al Anstey, managing director of Al Jazeera English, said that the channel covered all the big themes and issues facing the world today, but did so from the perspective of real people: “We believe everyone has a story worth hearing. There are seven billion people to listen to on the planet right now. Al Jazeera exists to cover the people often ignored. People whose voices must be heard – but who are so often neglected by mainstream media.”

    “Our editorial mission is to cover the world without a perspective. What that means is not seeing the globe through a geographical or cultural prism,by not weighting our coverage towards West, the rich nations, or anywhere else. We cover the developing world as much as the developed. So person in Bangui is given as much humanity as a person in Boston or Birmingham.”

     

    Commenting on the choice of Johannesburg as the location for the launch, rather than the traditional financial centres favoured by other channels, AlJazeera executive director for marketing and distribution Abdulla Alnajjar said: “In a world where the truth is everywhere under attack, Al Jazeera puts the human being at the centre of its news agenda, giving a voice to the voiceless.  This campaign is about human stories and we’re proud that theglobal launch for the campaign is here from South Africa, a region rich with history and human stories.”

     

     “There is a common perception that the media are mainly interested in covering those in power, or the rich and famous. Our campaign gives a voice to the many people around the world who feel that they have been leftbehind.

     

    “Our coverage is not about only about portraying difficult situations – its about the triumph of the human spirit and the ability for people in the most difficult of situations to make change. It’s on that foundation that we built this campaign honouring their lives and struggles. This campaign showcases incredible human stories and the humanity that unites us all.”

     

    Some of the others featured in the campaign include: Kiki Katese who started a group of female drummers in the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide; and Illac Diaz who brought lighting to slums in the Philippines using plastic bottles.

     

    Al Jazeera English also point out that they aired a film about MalalaYousafzai, the Nobel Peace Prize winning teenager who campaigns for the right of girls to go to school, two years before she hit the headlines when she was shot by the Taliban. “We have extraordinary people like Malalaon our screens every single day. Their stories are inspiring and must also receive attention,” said Anstey.