i24NEWS in India: from social listening to a brand and a campaign

A news channel based in Israel wanted to grow among English-speaking audiences, and India was the market with the most potential and the least attention. Across two courses and four stages we went from listening to comments in Indian media to our own survey, an insight, a sub-brand (i24 News India) and a campaign: “From Noise to Knowledge”.

Role

Market research and positioning, creative concept and sub-brand: visual identity, content pillars, digital activation and the “India Lens” feature for the app and the site.

Year

2025–26

Stack

Social listeningSurveyPositioningIdentityContent

Where

MA coursework, Strategic and Digital Advertising, Ariel University

Team

Social listening in a group of 9; research, brief and campaign in a group of 4

Grade for the work

94 / 100

The final billboard: “From Noise to Knowledge: i24 News Decoded for You”. Tap to enlarge.

The brief

i24NEWS presents itself as “the heart of the new Middle East”: a multiplatform channel in four languages that explains the whole region, not only Israel. It wanted to grow its English-speaking audience. India is a digital, politically engaged market with real interest in the Middle East for security, economic and energy reasons. There were three barriers: suspicion of bias because of the channel’s origin, the idea that BBC and CNN are enough, and news fatigue.

The situation: brand voice, strengths (global broadcast from Israel, a four-language newsroom) and weaknesses (small digital footprint, suspicion of bias).

Perceptual map with the competitors on two axes: noise to knowledge, simplistic narrative to complex reality — The perceptual map: from noise to knowledge, from simplistic narrative to complex reality. The empty quadrant is the desired position.

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Social listening: what the comments on Indian media say

In a group of nine we read the public comments on three TV channels (Republic TV, CNN-News18, India Today), four newspapers (The Times of India, The Hindu, Hindustan Times, Indian Express), four digital-native outlets (Firstpost, The Wire, The Print, Newslaundry) and communities on Reddit and X. What we found about the Middle East: stances depend on the Indian political climate, support for Israel crosses with India’s own dispute with Pakistan, comments are more emotional than rational and are tied to religious beliefs. About the media: people do not criticize the outlet even when they disagree, they do not question the journalist’s authority, and side topics (sport, pop culture) add engagement.

Cover of the social listening report: Major English-Language News Media in India — The social listening report: 50 slides and a 16-page report.

Slide on Republic TV: where the audience comments and what is heard — One outlet per slide: where the audience comments and what is heard there.

Slide on journalists on X as mini-forums and visual platforms — Journalists on X as “mini-forums”, and what happens on Instagram and YouTube.

Slide Insights on the Middle East: five findings — Five findings on how the Middle East is read from India.

Slide Insights on Indian media: five findings — Five findings on how the audience relates to its media.

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The survey: 121 responses, 76 valid

With the hypotheses from the listening we built a questionnaire of about 40 questions in Fillout, with filters for age, language and location. Out of 121 responses, 76 were valid, half of them from people aged 25 to 34. India is not a news-avoiding market: 64% use social media to follow the news. About the Middle East, the strongest association is culture and history (24%), not conflict. What is missing in current coverage: clear explanations (45%), human stories (43%) and an Indian perspective (41%). The preferred format is long video (41%), followed by short video (25.6%). Conclusion: an open, non-polarized, globally oriented audience that asks for explanatory journalism in video.

Slide Research design and filtering logic: 40 questions, 121 responses, 76 valid — Design and filters: about 40 questions, 121 responses, 76 valid.

Charts of familiarity with the Middle East by age group — Familiarity with the Middle East by age: not experts, but not a blank audience either.

Chart of topics of interest: politics, India–Middle East relations, economy and energy — Topics of interest: politics, India–Middle East relations, economy and energy.

Chart of preferred format: long video 41%, short video 25.6% — Preferred format: long video 41%, short 25.6%.

Chart of what is missing in the coverage: clear explanations, human stories, Indian perspective — What is missing: clear explanations, human stories and an Indian perspective.

Conclusion slide: open, non-polarized audience; explanatory journalism in video — The survey’s conclusion.

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The insight and the concept

Everything converges in a first-person sentence: “In a world full of opinions about the Middle East, I want to truly understand what’s happening, so I can form my own perspective”. The promise: “Understand for yourself”. And the concept that turns it into a campaign: “From Noise to Knowledge: i24 News Decoded for You”. The strategy is not to change all the channel’s content but to reframe it: a space dedicated to India, built from what already exists and connected to the English-language programming.

Slide Social listening: people want context, not conflict; emotion, local context, clarity, relevance — From the listening: emotion, local context, clarity and relevance.

Slide Key insight: Understand for yourself — The insight and the promise.

Slide Creative concept: From Noise to Knowledge: i24 News Decoded for You — The creative concept.

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The sub-brand: i24 News India

A version of the logo in India’s colors, a system for social media, and a new feature in the app and on the site: “India Lens”, a layer that orders Middle East news by what matters to someone in Mumbai or Bangalore. The mockups follow the brand’s real visual language, one of the pieces of feedback we received midway.

The sub-brand’s logo: the white “i” outlined in orange, with the chakra of India’s flag as its dot, and its palette.

Mockups of i24 News India profiles on X, YouTube and Instagram — The sub-brand’s social channels.

Mockup of the i24 app and site for the Indian audience — The app and the site for India.

Mockup of India Lens in the app and on the site — “India Lens” in the app and on the site.

Screenshot of the site’s India Lens section with articles — Example of content on the web: the India Lens section.

Screenshot of India Lens with videos — India Lens with videos.

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Four pillars and three reframed programs

Four content pillars: Pocketbook Geopolitics (the Middle East versus your wallet: how an oil decision moves the price of fuel in India), Headline Decoded (three dry facts behind each headline), The Gulf–India Corridor (visas, work and the new Indian generation in Dubai and Riyadh) and The Explainer Blueprint (a glossary and a “who’s who” of the region). And three existing programs with a twist: “Middle East Now” starts each episode from an Indian reality; “Innov’Nation” moves from “Israel invented X” to “the cybersecurity protecting your bank app was developed here”; “The Rundown” adds an Indian co-host and an audio version for the two-hour commute.

Slide Content pillars with the four pillars and their concept, content and format — The four pillars, with concept, content and format.

Slide Content pillars with visual examples of each pillar — The pillars with examples.

Table with the three programs: what stays, what the problem is and what changes — Three programs: what stays, what fails and what changes.

Mockup of an organic i24news_india post on Instagram — An organic post: “Same brick. Different price. Why?”.

Slide Influencer: an Indian creator in collaboration with i24 News — Activation with an Indian creator, connected to the “Global Eye” program.

Mockup of the i24 India YouTube channel — The sub-brand’s YouTube channel.

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How it changed with each round of feedback

The presentation went through three versions. The first was dark blue and opened with the creative. The feedback was clear: tell a story (brand, challenge, research, insight, promise, strategy and only then the concept), light background, a single typeface, more images than words, and on the billboard the logo and the line have to be the most visible thing. The billboard is the best summary of the process: from “Why Gulf tensions matter” to “Too much news, too little clarity” to the final one.

Cover of the first version of the campaign, in dark blue — Version 1: dark blue, straight to the concept.

Billboard of the second version: Why Gulf tensions matter, Middle East decoded for you — Version 2 of the billboard: “Why Gulf tensions matter”.

Billboard under construction: Too much news. Too little clarity — Version 3, still “under construction”: “Too much news. Too little clarity”. The final one opens the case: the logo and the line are the most visible thing.

The final presentation: light background, one typeface.

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The seminar group with the i24NEWS team in front of the channel’s press backdrop, at the end of the presentation — At the end of the presentation, at the i24NEWS studio. Tap to enlarge.

What I took away

That a campaign stands on what people say when nobody asks them. The social listening and the survey did not decorate the concept: they produced it. And that a hard round of feedback midway (tell the story in order, light background, bigger logo) is worth more than ten new slides.

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