The company, which also owns national daily The Hindustan Times, has launched www.Htnext.com to complement the print version, which retails at about three US cents, and features an all-colour layout, comprising short stories, larger visuals and interactive sections.
Anand Bhardwaj, vice-president of marketing at HT Media, said: "HT Next is the result of an extensive research on the reading habits of the youth in India. We aim to fill a gap in the industry"
HT Media developed a multimedia campaign comprising print, outdoor, radio, internet and on-ground signage. Ogilvy & Mather Delhi, which handled creative strategy, created the brand proposition 'My world, my paper', along with the strapline, 'A newspaper for those in-between years'.
Internet media included general portals such as Yahoo India and Rediff, along with trade portals such as exchange4media.com (E4M) and agencyfaqs.
Online executions comprised of floaters and interstitials, banners, mouse trails, pop-ups, logout monsters and mailers.
"We are targeting readers through Rediff and Yahoo, where the banners and logout monsters etc. are being served only to those falling in the age group of 12 to 24. Portals like agencyfaqs and E4M are being used to target the advertisers, informing them of the new product and the fact that now they have a new vehicle to reach the much sought after target group of teenagers," said Bhardwaj.
General portals are also being used to drive traffic on to HTNext.com for an online contest.
"The idea is to get them hooked on to the interactive version of the paper and increase bonding with the product," added Bhardwaj.
The online edition, in addition to the print content, also has two additional sections - 'Trendy teens', which features career tips and e-humour, and 'Juniors' for readers below the age of 12.
"In the medium-term, HTNext.com will be further developed for increasing interactivity with the brand HT Next. The site will be used for interactives like contest zones, p2p chats, games, celebrity chats and customised email IDs; these will be integrated with the offline edition as well," said Bhardwaj.