NEW DELHI: Indiatimes.com has launched an aggressive ad campaign
that takes aim at a popular US rival.
It coincided with India's Independence Day and appealed to the country's
net users' sense of patriotism.
The full-page ad ran in India's dailies on India's anniversary of
independence from British rule. The tagline was "Quit USA, Enter India"
as the campaign was aimed at US portal usa.net.
Popular with Indian users, usa.net has moved to charging for its
service, which until recently was offered for free.
Owned by media house The Times of India Group, indiatimes.com faces
stiff competition from portals such as Rediff.com and sify.com. At the
same time, competition is also increasing from international portals
like Yahoo and MSN, which also offer Indian versions of their
services.
Indiatimes.com is hoping to capitalise on the strong brand name of the
Times Group, while leveraging its own content from its nationwide group
of reporters, who serve its numerous publications.
While Indiatimes.com has a name advantage over the other portals, it
also faces competition from indya.com, which was recently acquired by
the Star network.
