NASDAQ is the largest U.S. electronic stock market. With approximately 3,300 companies, it lists more companies and, on average, trades more shares per day than any other U.S. market. It is home to companies that are leaders across all areas of business including technology, retail, communications, financial services, transportation, media and biotechnology. As one of the world’s fastest growing economies, India is an important target market for NASDAQ. A large number of Indian companies are expected to raise capital from US markets, and NASDAQ is keen to be chosen for their listing. Being a relative newcomer compared to its competitor NYSE, NASDAQ was anxious to raise its profile in India and be perceived as the ‘Market of Choice’ by Indian companies. One of the tasks entrusted to the agency is to identify suitable opportunities for securing quality media exposure for NASDAQ.

With just three Indian companies listed on NASDAQ, opportunities for routine editorial coverage for NASDAQ in the Indian media were few and far between. The agency team and the client’s corporate communications team (at New York, London and Bangalore) were constantly looking out for innovative and unconventional ways to gain visibility for NASDAQ and raise its profile in the Indian media.

Located in Times Square, New York, NASDAQ’s MarketSite soars seven stories high and sports one of the world's largest video screen, illuminating market highlights and advertisements.

A few days before India’s Republic Day (26th January, 2005), the agency proposed the idea of flashing the Indian Republic Day message on the MarketSite, and using the photograph to secure mileage for NASDAQ in the Indian print media.

The image of the Indian flag, with a Republic Day message, was flashed on the giant screen at the MarketSite in Times Square, New York, on Wednesday, 26th January, 2005 morning. The agency sent out the stunning photograph to various publications, and followed up with personal meetings with their editors.

The 'feel-good’ factor of the image was undeniable. NASDAQ celebrates India's Republic Day, in the heart of Times Square in New York! It strongly stirred feelings of patriotism and pride, and many senior editors were convinced that it would be a winner.

The essential leap of creativity on the agency's part was to perceive - and thereby project - NASDAQ not just as a business entity, but as an organisation with a positive and friendly attitude towards India.

The outcome of a single great idea was unprecedented. The photograph captioned “NASDAQ celebrates Indian Republic Day” was the lead photograph on the front page in Times of India, the largest circulated English daily in India. The photograph was also published in various other English dailies including Indian Express, Asian Age, Deccan Herald, Financial Express; a weekly, Finance Today and a host of Indian language publications with a combined reach of over 75 million readers and an advertising value equivalence of over US$ 1.5 million.

More importantly, since then, the image has acquired a life and symbolism of its own. Several leading publications and business channels see it as a convenient icon and use it as a visual to depict India's growing economic strength and prestige in global markets, and it is often used as an accompaniment to features and news dealing with Indian resurgence and achievement, especially in technological and emergent business domains. The hits for NASDAQ keep piling up.

The image of the NASDAQ MarketSite in many leading newspapers dramatically raised the profile and public perception of NASDAQ. The agency receives numerous requests for information relating to NASDAQ. The exercise demonstrated the value of a good idea; more importantly, it proved that great ideas needn’t cost a fortune.