Jaago Re! One Billion Votes

Jaago Re!

Founded	2008
Area served	Youth Voter Registration, Voting
Website	jaagore.com

Jaago Re! One Billion Votes is a non-partisan nationwide movement that aims to awaken and enable the citizens of India, especially the youth, to register to vote.^[1] It was launched by Tata Tea and Janaagraha (a non-profit organization.) ^[2] The communication was created by Lowe, Mumbai.

Jaago Re! One Billion Votes is an extension of Tata Tea's iconic Jaago Re! campaign, which focuses on social issues. In 2008, Tata Tea decided to take up youth voting as an issue, and created the One Billion Votes property in association with Janaagraha.

The mission is to register the entire of India for voting in the next 5 years, in order to better Indian democracy. In the launch year (2008–09), the campaign targets the top 35 cities of India, and aims to register millions of youth before the 2009 general elections.

Background

Tata Tea recently re-launched its flagship website. The portal which was, for the last one year, an online hot spot for aspiring voters to register and obtain all information related to Voter Registration, will now stand for social awakening in a broader sense. Jaago Re as a campaign has targeted the youth of the nation, urging them to take a stand on various issues such as voting and corruption and do their bit – thereby encouraging them to be the ‘change they want to see’.

The website is designed to be a portal which facilitates the flow of information and resources between individuals, groups, and organizations by bringing together, onto a common platform, those who possess information and resources and those who need them. The understanding behind the website is that people have the desire and the resources to contribute meaningfully to social causes that they believe in. However, often they are unable to channelize this desire into actual contributions due to lack of information about whom to contact or where to go. Similarly, NGOs have specific requirements for time, effort or special skills, but are at a loss to rope in the much-needed resources. This portal hopes to provide a platform for these two sets of people to interact and exchange information, time, effort, skills etc.

The website is simple with two key sections – Jaago and Jagaao. Jaago is the information section – a place where people can read up on various social issues – their causes, effects, solutions and how each individual can contribute to addressing the issue. People can post articles and documents related to any social issue, thus making this section of the website into an information and knowledge bank.

Jagaao is the direct engagement section of the website – a place where individuals and organizations (NGOs) register and create a profile. It is the social exchange wherein NGOs can post various requirements – in the form of projects requiring man-hours or specific skills etc. Similarly, individuals can post their interest areas and availability. Individuals can search for projects by location, dates, causes etc. NGOs can also actively search for people using the filters provided. Speaking about the portal, Ms. Sangeeta Talwar, Executive Director, Tata Tea Limited, said, “At its best, jaagore.com hopes to facilitate social awakening among the youth by providing them the platform and opportunities to channel their efforts and skills. With this initiative Tata Tea hopes to take its flagship campaign - Jaago Re! - beyond the rhetoric, from a level of creating awareness to a level where it actively facilitates action – another call to action.”

Outreach

• BLV
• City Team

Voter registration efforts are planned and executed by a group of passionate young volunteers. Cities covered for outreach activities under Jaago Re! One Billion Votes include Delhi, Jaipur, Lucknow, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore, Pune, Mumbai, Surat and Ahmedabad.

Beginning 1 November 2008, talks are organized in more than 200 of India's largest colleges and companies to spread the message of the movement, and to organize ON THE SPOT voter registration drives using innovative technology. The City team is the backbone of the outreach programme of Jaago Re! One Billion Votes and encourages youth participation, either by -

• Spending one working day per week in outreach activities
• Approaching Colleges and Companies to bring them on board as Host Institutes
• Conducting creative outreach events to get youth enrolled
• Being talk facilitators, to address audiences during outreach drives

Infection by Malware

The site was successfully infected by malware at one point.^[3]

Advertising

The Jaago Re! One Billion Votes campaign was conceptualised and executed by Lowe, Mumbai. Lowe created two commercials: the lead film that talked about the need for the youth to awaken, and a follow-up film which talked about what the website has to offer.

Several viral marketing ideas were also created and hosted on a separate website. Lowe developed 360-degree communication covering Internet advertising, radio, mall and multiplex ideas, etc.

In addition to this, Lowe created the communication for all the Outreach events planned by Janaagraha. This included activities at companies like Infosys and Wipro.

Advisory Group

The Jaago Re! One Billion Votes movement is led by an eminent Advisory Group comprising Mr N. R. Narayana Murthy (Chief Mentor, Infosys), Mr T S Krishnamurthy (Ex Chief Election Commissioner), Tariq Ansari (Midday Group) and Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra (Filmmaker and Director, Rang De Basanti)

Partners

Jaago re! One Billion Votes is being supported by multiple partners and sponsors, who believe in the cause of voting. Their message is a strong one and is built at the very root of participatory democracy. The outreach partners of Jaago Re! One Billion Votes include Lok Satta Andolan (West India), PRIA (North India), Yahoo! India, Radio One FM 94.3 and Midday.

References

1. ^ Tata Tea and NGO launch programme on right to vote for youth
2. ^ Tata Tea and Janaagraha come together to enable Indian Youth to vote
3. ^ Symantec blog "Jaago re Malware"

External links

• Jaago Re!
• TV advertisement