Times of India celebrates youth with an #Unstoppable campaign
Ideas Blog | 03 February 2025
It seems like an idea tailor-made for the young: Dream big. The Times of India embraced that concept and came up with a campaign to celebrate the young people who are turning their dreams into actual achievements.
The news company knew that to stay relevant, it needed to figure out how to speak to the next generation of readers. The country has a median age of 28 and a total population of 512 million people who are under the age of 21. This number is greater than the population of any country in the world except China.
Seeing a great opportunity to connect with this generation, The Times of India created a way to directly reach out to and connect with young India.
Reaching the next generation
Its target was to showcase young Indian achievers who would be considered role models for their country’s millions of young and ambitious people.
The Times of India wanted to create an environment that raised the bar for young folks and got them to dream big for their future. At the same time, the publisher wanted to make its brand aspirational and make reading their newspaper a habit for the younger generation.
Launching on the 76th anniversary of India’s Independence Day — August 15, 2023 — The Times of India introduced the #Unstoppable21 campaign. The programme celebrates 21 youngsters who represent the spirit of this new and exciting India.
The company took a multi-media approach with content about these inspiring young people, producing print and digital content, videos, interactive social posts, and engaging articles. The winners were chosen by a jury of influential people across the fields of humanities, science, sports, fine arts, performing arts, social impact, and entrepreneurship.
The winners were introduced to readers through in-depth newspaper profiles and online video stories. They ranged from an international chess grandmaster to a 16-year-old who used her love for Minecraft to develop a game-based learning tool that helps students understand any subject.
The right sounds
The campaign also needed a soundtrack, one that inspired and captured the spirit of today’s youth.
In the 1990s, Pete Seeger’s anthem “We Shall Overcome,” originally released in 1963, was reworked into a popular song in India named “Hum Honge Kaamyaab” (“We Shall Succeed”).
For this campaign, The Times of India unveiled a new version called “Hum Ho Rahe Kaamyab,” or “We Are Succeeding.” The music video featured artists across India who are under 21 and was released to widespread popularity. The video received more than 100 million views in two weeks; half were organic views, and 60% came from the 18- to 34-year-old age group.
Overall, the #Unstoppable21 campaign reached 106 million online users and had more than 157 million total video views. Schools began adopting the anthem, and the idea behind #Unstoppable21 is now a movement across the entire country.