MAM
O&M works on new campaign for ‘HT Next’
NEW DELHI: The Hindustan Times has initiated a multi-media campaign for its recently introduced youth-centric edition HT Next. Beginning with a series of print advertisements, the campaign will soon be extended to outdoor and radio mediums as well.
Ogilvy & Mather Delhi office, which had bagged The Hindustan Times advertising account last year, has worked on the new campaign. The agency had also worked on Delhi-based publishing company’s new communication strategy for the flagship daily and Brunch edition.
On the new campaign, O&M creative consultant Ajay Gahlaut said, “HT Next edition has been developed for youngsters in their teens, who are experiencing those wonder years between childhood and full adulthood. This is the insight the communication attempts to leverage.”
For instance, one of the print advertisement says: ‘Run to mommy’ on the left and ‘Run from mommy’ on the right, with a line connecting the two which says: ‘A newspaper for those in-between years.’ Another says ‘Party ends at 6 pm’ on the left and ‘Party ends at 6 am’ on the right with the same connecting line.
While outdoor is an extension of the print work, the agency has also worked upon one spot for radio. “It’s a 30-second spot, which is basically a youthful peppy song. Through this music-based approach, we decided to communicate the fact that it’s a youth-centric edition,” he said.
“As it is completely typographical and based on a strong insight, this campaign has the merit of being clutter breaking yet relevant. The campaign is different from the Hindustan Times and Brunch campaigns in that it is completely typo led. The other two were visual campaigns,” says Gahlaut.
According to media reports, Hindustan Times had conducted a research and the new edition’s content has been shaped up on the basis of the findings, in which the target audience didn’t show much inclination towards politics and business or finance news.
The editorial, according to HT, contains sports news, nuggets on celebrities, world news etc. The website Htnext.com, in addition to the print content, also has two sections – Trendy Teens and Juniors in order to cater to specific segments of the youth. Trendy Teens has sections such as career tips, space trek, e-humor, mixed bag and fight it out. Juniors, on the other hand, has sections such as summer camps, around the world and other sections that are targeted to audiences below the age of 12.
The agency has stressed on the fact that HT Next is especially for young audience. “Since HT Next as a newspaper edition for youngsters is a first for India, it was important to highlight the age band of its target audience in the communication. People needed to know that it was a newspaper exclusively for teens,” says Gahlaut.
MAM
Axel Springer to acquire Telegraph Media Group in £575 million deal
Deal sidelines rival bid from Daily Mail owner DMGT
BERLIN: German media conglomerate Axel Springer has agreed to acquire the UK-based Telegraph Media Group in a deal valued at about £575 million, marking one of the most significant cross-border investments in the British news industry in recent years.
The agreement involves an all-cash purchase of the Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph, bringing months of uncertainty over the ownership of the historic newspaper titles to an end. The move also sidelines a rival proposal from Daily Mail and General Trust, the parent company of the Daily Mail.
Axel Springer chief executive Mathias Döpfner said the acquisition reflects the company’s long-standing interest in the publication and its legacy in British journalism. Owning The Telegraph, he said, is both a privilege and a responsibility.
Döpfner noted that Axel Springer had attempted to buy the newspaper more than two decades ago but failed at the time. The new agreement, he added, finally fulfils that ambition.
The Berlin-based media group plans to launch an investment programme aimed at strengthening the Telegraph’s operations and expanding its business footprint. As part of the strategy, the company intends to grow the publication’s presence in the United States and broaden its international reach.
Telegraph Media Group was put up for sale in 2023 after its former owners, the Barclay brothers, ran into mounting debt obligations. Several takeover efforts have since collapsed before reaching completion.
In 2025, a bid from Daily Mail and General Trust had been agreed but later faced regulatory scrutiny.
UK culture secretary Lisa Nandy said the government has initiated a review of the proposed ownership change, citing concerns that the deal could affect the diversity of viewpoints in Britain’s media landscape.
She added that the Competition and Markets Authority will examine potential competition implications, while communications regulator Ofcom will assess broader public-interest considerations related to the transaction.
