TOI’s Chennai edition turns one

The Times of India is celebrating its first anniversary in Chennai. The much-hyped launch of TOI in Chennai last year had created a stir and had shaken the newspaper readership in the city.

As part of its first anniversary celebrations, TOI Chennai has launched its official website, focusing on local content. Rahul Kansal, CMO, The Times of India, said, ''In a culturally evolved market like Chennai, and with a strong competitor like Hindu, the last one year for us has been extremely gratifying. Among a breed of young readers, pro change readers, readers with a national and global outlook, the acceptance rate has been very high. We have been respectful of the city's cultural inclinations and rather than been a brash newcomer, we have tried to culturally integrate with the city and that has worked for us.''

Ninan Thariyan, assistant vice president, The Times of India, Chennai, said, ''Both in terms of readership and revenue, Chennai has been favourable for TOI. In a market dominated by some long existing players, TOI has redefined newspaper readership in the city. We will have a series of brand building activities in the coming year, and to start with, we have introduced the 'What's up Chennai' feature capturing the life of Chennai, which started on April 6 and will culminate on April 14, coinciding with the first anniversary of TOI Chennai.''

Extending its digital initiative, TOI Chennai is launching an official website on the occasion of the first anniversary in Chennai. The site will be user interactive and a fun networking site exclusively for the city of Chennai.

The site will have features like 'Click your Chennai', through which TOI will be inviting readers to send their mobile capture pictures of Chennai. Every week one winner would be chosen. 'Tag line for Chennai' is another feature where readers would be invited to coin a tag line for Chennai. These apart, there are features like 'The Great Wall of Chennai', where one can post anything and everything.