YUVA – Connecting Youth 1.  Name of the Programme: YUVA – Connecting Youth ,

Malayala Manorama’s platform to connect with the youth and increase youth readership.

2.  Category of the Entry - Special Categories for 2010 – Connecting with Mobile

3.  Sponsoring Newspaper - Malayala Manorama 4.  Complete Address – Malayala Manorama , P.B.No.26 ,

K.K.Road , Kottayam , Kerala , India – 686 001 5.  Project Director - Mathews Varghese ,

mathewsvarghese@manorama.com , Associate Editor, Malayala Manorama. Ph.+919846061302

6.  Contact person preparing the Entry – Mathews Varghese , mathewsvarghese@manorama.com , Associate Editor, Malayala Manorama. Ph.+919846061302

7.  Circulation and Frequency of the Newspaper – 1.8 Million ; Daily.

8.  One Sentence Description of the Project – YUVA (which means ‘the youth’ in Malayalam language ) for the past 2 years , has been effectively using Mobile Phone based innovative , interesting and interactive activities to woo the young generation towards newspaper reading

9.  Target Group of the Project - Age Category 18 - 25

1. ‘Haiku’ Film Contest for Youth

  A Contest for the Best Micro Film of duration below 5 minutes, shot on Mobile Phone Camera on any socially relevant theme of their choice was conducted during 2009.

  The goal was to provide an opportunity for the youth to express their creativity in visual communication without the usual budget constraints.

  A total of 483 entries were made out of which 10 best short films were short listed by a panel of eminent personalities. Multiple platforms were used as these 10 short listed films were posted on Malayala Manorama Online and the viewers were asked to vote the best which elicited wide response.

  The timeline was for a total of 2 months.   The best 10 can be viewed at :

http://www.manoramaonline.com/advt/Specials/Yuva_Fest/index.htm

2. 'ParayuPranayam‘ (Express your Love) Contest

- Valentine's day Special   In 2009 and 2010 , on 14th of February , the

youth of Kerala was given a golden opportunity to express their love over mobile phones whereby their voices were recorded and the Best Love Message was rewarded. The Message can take any form , i.e., a poem , a narration , a joke , a riddle etc not exceeding a time limit of 2 minutes.

  Such a Contest was the first of its kind in Kerala.

  While 18000 voice messages were recorded in 2009 the number exceeded to 25000 in 2010.

  Announcement of such an innovative contest was made in the Daily and Online just a few days before the Valentine’s Day and thus the total timeline was for 2 weeks.

3. Select the ‘Stars’

  The young generation of Kerala was given a chance to get an entry into the tinsel world when YUVA gave an opportunity to send their recent full size photographs through Mobile Phones to appear in the upcoming movie of the National Award winning Malayalam Director Jayaraaj.

  The photographs of the short listed 10 were exhibited in the Newspaper and an SMS Poll was conducted to make the final Choice.

  The goal was to give an opportunity to all those talented youth who have nurtured their dreams to become actors and actresses.

  Around 5000 entries were received .   The Movie was released in July 2008.

4. Guess the Name of the State School Youth

Festival Special Section   The State School Youth Festival , hosted by the

Government of Kerala is considered to be Asia’s largest School level Arts Competition.

  Manorama came out with Special section entirely dedicated to the Youth Festival Events ,for a period of one week.

  Leading actor of Malayalam Movies , Mr.Mammootty was asked to give a suitable name for the Section. A Contest was held to guess and SMS the name given by the popular actor.

  The goal was to enhance creativity and visibility of the page and give an ownership feeling.’

  10000 entries were received.   The Contest was announced on 9th of January 2010 and

the result was published on 10th of January 2010.

Wish them Good Luck

  Wish them Good Luck – Send wishes to the Youth festival participants

  The young readers were given an opportunity to send their wishes to the participants of the youth festival through Short Message Service (SMS).

  All the wishes were displayed on Manorama Online and the selected few were exhibited in the Daily.

  The goal was to boost the morale of the Youth Festival Participants.

  5000 entries were received.

5. Youth Pick – Select the Song , Movie

and Actor of the year

  An expert panel of young , well known personalities who have proved their mettle in various art forms were asked to shortlist :   Best 5 movie songs of the year   Best 5 movies of the year   Favourite 5 Actors of the year

  An SMS Poll was conducted to select the best movie song , best movie and best actor from the short listed options.

  This event was conducted in 2008 and 2009.   The goal was to understand the current tastes

and trends of youth.   28000 entries were made.

6.The name is Bond – An opportunity to christen the

promising actors of tomorrow

  In the South Indian movie world , it is a common practice for the actors and the actresses to adopt a ‘Name’ other than their original name which in turn will be the name in which they will be known as, thereafter.

  A contest was organized to give a suitable name for four new male actors of an upcoming movie. An SMS Campaign was organized for the same.

  The goal was to initiate creative thinking among youth.

  32000 entries were made.   The Contest was announced on 31st of

January 2010 and the results were published on 28th of February 2010.

7. Pen / Text a Love Poem

  The youth of Kerala was overjoyed when YUVA announced a Contest to SMS a Love Poem on Valentine’s Day.

  The selected poems were displayed on the Daily and the winners were given Mobile Phones.

  There were 1600 entries.   The goal was to give the youth the

freedom to express their love for their dear ones.

Financing and Partners

  ‘Haiku’ Film Contest for Youth , Select the ‘Stars’ , Guess the Name of the State School Youth Festival Special Page, Youth Pick – Select the Song , Movie and Actor of the year, Pen / Text a Love Poem : These activities were totally sponsored by Malayala Manorama and the winners were given mobile phones.

  'Parayu Pranayam‘(Express your Love) Contest - Valentine's day Special : The activity was sponsored by Malayala Manorama and Vodafone.

  The name is Bond – An opportunity to christen the promising actors of tomorrow : The activity was sponsored by the Producers of the movie and the winners were given laptops and i- pods.

Marketing

  All the Contests were announced through Malayala Manorama Daily. Several reminders were also posted.

  Publicity was made through Malayala Manorama Online too.

  The Pictures attached with each slide of this Power Point Presentation within the ‘mobile icon ‘ are scanned copies of the announcements of respective contests.

Evaluation and Results   YUVA , the logo of which itself is that of a Mobile Screen

( displayed in the opening slide) , through its innovative , interesting and interactive contests , was able to bring back the youth of Kerala towards newspaper reading.

  In the current scenario , interest of youth towards newspaper is receding whereas Mobile Phones are becoming their all time favorite along with laptops , I pods , MP3 players and internet.

  The last two years , ie , 2008 - 2009 and 2009 – 2010 , YUVA was highly successful in cashing in on youth interest towards mobile phones to newspaper reading through the above mentioned activities.

  Given below are the figures published by The Audit Bureau of Circulation ( ABC) , the appellate and authorized body to publish Circulation Figures:   Jan – Jun 2008 - 1620849

copies   Jan – Jun 2009 - 1705221

copies   Jul – Dec 2009 - 1760167

copies   The rise in Circulation can be partly attributed to the rise in youth

readership.   Jul – Dec 2008 - 1700192

copies   Moreover , much revenue was generated from SMS as a result

of the revenue sharing agreement with Malayala Manorama and the local Telecom Service Providers.