INDIA WAS AN IDEA LONG BEFORE IT BECAME A FREE NATION. It was the song from a thousand years ago. It was the spirit of thousands of freedom-fighters. It was the same thread of unity in diversity and adversity and festivity. It is the same thread that continues to bind us as one nation, in spite of diverse differences. It was time to bring alive the musical thread of the invisible ektara (one string instrument) to elevate our ekta (unity) through the timeline of song and speech and entertain every national emotion to express the idea of India.

Situation: India is the world’s most populous democracy and one of the most religious and ethnically diverse nations. Historically, this diversity has been its strength. However, today, these are becoming differences and threatening to question the idea of India. Against this backdrop, the core Indian principle of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ (meaning ‘One Earth One Family One Future’) is more relevant than ever.

In the 75th year of India’s Independence, The Times of India (TOI), India’s largest circulating English daily, decided to not just chronicle but to shine a spotlight on the beauty of the unity in India’s diversity.

Brief: Remind the people of India that a common thread continues to bind everyone as one nation, despite diverse differences.

Objective: Drive engagement by sparking conversations about what India means to its people, across all platforms.

Our Audience: TOI, as the national daily and market leader, was speaking to all of India. This meant capturing the hearts and minds of Indians across generations, from the young tech-savvy millennials to the wise elderly citizens who have witnessed the country's evolution over the last 75 years. Whether urban centres or emerging rural hubs, all of India is TOI’s audience. But the audience being so different meant finding a common thread to unite India.

The Insight: The Indian demographic is sliced and diced by people, organisations, and reports when required. But what has been forgotten is the paradox of the country, which is enshrined in the constitution – of unity in diversity. This common thread is hidden in plain sight.

The creative idea: #WhatMakesUsOne

• Born with the aim to reinvigorate the many reasons that make the people of India one.

• Highlighting the many unifying threads through song and speech.

• Inspiring every Indian to share their words/views and spark conversations.

The narrative reveals the invisible thread of unity in diversity through the visible thread of light in the video timeline and stitches a billion voices into one song in an audio timeline.

This thread of light binds all of India as one family, connecting the dots between multiple religions, regions, cultures, languages, and festivals and dissolving our differences and distances at the speed of light. The thread of light travels across the country from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, from Mumbai to Meghalaya, cinematically and metaphorically capturing a day in the life of India through timelapse and timeless transitions. The musical narrative binds over a billion voices into one song.

Over a thousand forms of the travelling thread of light transform Temples, Churches, Mosques, Gurudwaras, Monasteries, Monuments, Gods, Idols and Statues across India. Light travels through trains, trucks, boats, and rickshaws from one location to another occasion, from one region to another religion, dissolving our differences at the speed of light. The Visual Thread for this film is the travelling flickering festival of lights captured by multiple camera crews and hundreds of commissioned cinematographers and drone photographers and timelapse content creators throughout the festive season from Navaratri Lights in October to Diwali Lights in November, Christmas Lights in December to Sankranti Lights in January at multiple locations across the country.

The musical narrative travels through a historical timeline of India through song and speech, powered by the voices of National leaders: Mahatma Gandhi, Subash Chandra Bose, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel, Indira Gandhi, AB Vajpayee, and current Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

#WhatMakesUsOne sparked conversations across national news media, social media, and various digital video and music platforms. The primary KPI of engagement was overachieved, at 90M.

• Views: Since January 20, the music video and timeline of films have garnered 87.5M views, the highest by a media house.

• Reach: The combined might of the campaign generated a reach of 150M+.

A surround print and online campaign, leveraging TOI’s unmatched 51 editions, featuring AR-themed print ads with built-in QR codes and One-Word Contest, drove 230,000 respondents across 720+ cities.

With these results, The Times of India reminded the country it doesn’t just chronicle the times but shapes the times India lives in through the power of popular culture.

India was an idea long before it became a free nation. It was the song from a thousand years ago. It was the spirit of thousands of freedom fighters. It was the same thread of unity in diversity and adversity and festivity. It is the same thread that continues to bind us as one nation, despite diverse differences.

But in today’s polarised environment, people look for unifiers to reconfirm their belief in ‘ekta’ (meaning ‘unity’). On this 75th Year of Independence, from India’s Republic Day (marks and celebrates the date on which the Constitution of India came into effect on 26 January 1950) to Independence Day, TOI launched #WhatMakesUsOne. This platform enabled people to celebrate the idea of India in their own words, such as unity, constitution, culture, cricket, and so on – a united family, blurring boundaries between religions, cultures, and languages.