The Hindu Business Line : Selling dreams just got harder

The story is told of a man who promised clean, bottled mountain air by mail order to the residents of Toronto and sent empty bottles to the thousands who ordered with him. This year’s political campaigns seem to be similarly packaged.

Parties promise outcomes — fair and lovely — that cannot be achieved. The skill in political marketing lies in convincing people to the contrary.

If one looks at the basic characteristics of India’s political parties — venality, lack of probity, the tendency to loot people, to divide in order to rule, and such other admirable traits — they are like peas in a pod. Yet, each enjoys a niche market defined by one peculiarity, usually connected with identity. After nearly two decades of this, the market for politics has, in a manner of speaking, settled down. Election campaigns this year have no force in their punch despite the financial muscle the parties are flexing.

With increasing support from communication professionals, whether it’s advertising agencies or behind the scenes high-flying PR professionals, the task of putting out the message has become easier, but differentiating the message itself is now harder. The added problem is the parties’ insistence on selling candidates rather than the parties. After all, if all the parties are saying the same thing, how do you (in the jargon of economics) differentiate the product?

Thus, the Congress has the Sonia-Manmohan duo. According to a marketing professional helping the Congress, the two are not easy to sell. “Anti-incumbency works in different ways,” he says. “People have seen what they can do and can’t. They know.”

Selling parties instead of candidates isn’t much of an option with the kind of candidates who have been given tickets. The Tytler episode is a case in point. “It is like those mobile phone batteries exploding. You never know what will happen and when. It could open a Pandora’s box. It is best to hang out your clean linen,” he says.

For Brand BJP, the proposition clearly and solely is L. K. Advani. Sushil Pandit, CEO of The Hive, the agency working on BJP’s campaign, doesn’t see any risk in this approach. “At 82, Mr Advani is the most tech savvy of politicians, has the latest handset, makes his own schedule on an organiser on his Palmtop,” says Pandit. The BJP, he reminds us, was the first party to put up a Web site in 1998 to reach out to the BJP-Sangh Parivar’s NRI followers.

Online usage is at “saturation levels” this time. Advani, as the ‘majboot neta’, makes appearances on The Guardian, the Huffington Post, and on Indian portals, from news to matrimonials. Advani himself in his inaugural blog post says, “In my own political life spanning six decades, I have enthusiastically embraced every new communication technology — from the early simple Casio digital diary to i-pod and i-phone.”

The Congress is just as excited. Its video with the Jai Ho score was a super hit, claims Ignitee Digital Colutions’ Atul Hegde. “Within 3.5 days of its launch, the film had received 25,800 views and had become the most viewed and, more importantly, the most discussed video on the site,” he says.

Radio, which reaches 250 constituencies, is also playing a big role this time, says Tarun Katial, COO, Big FM. “Unlike TV or print, radio has no literacy barriers and provides quality reach to candidates who are already using the medium effectively with interactivity and testimonials,” he says. A great place to discuss local issues.

The medium stands to earn Rs 20 crore or about 10 per cent of total mass media spends, as opposed to the five per cent that’s reserved for it in an average campaign. Political mass media spends, though, are estimated at Rs 500-600 crore according to some media buyers. A big chunk of this would, of course, be spent on television.

Television, though highly fragmented today, is extremely important as a medium for these elections. “The reach (90 per cent in large cities) is incomparable,” says Pandit. General entertainment, music and bhakti channels will all be tapped.

The TV channels are, of course, charging a premium. “Elections are open season for them to ask for not just profitable but profiteering rates,” says Pandit.

The smaller political parties have an advantage because of their clearly defined appeals to caste groups and a lack of pretence in wanting to appeal to people of other castes Parties such as the BJP and the Congress that would like to believe they have an all-India following and have to market themselves accordingly, are forced to dilute the overall message. There is no unique selling point they have.

“It’s a bit like India and Pakistan who go up to their respective borders, shuffle in their shoes, but never attack. It’s a show of strength and both are painting rosy pictures, but have no serious proposition to offer to the country’s citizen,” says Prathap Suthan, National Creative Director, Cheil India, who devised the India Shining Campaign.

A reason no one dares step forward is also because of the lessons learnt from that 2004 BJP campaign. Originally commissioned by the Ministry of Finance to announce India’s arrival on the global arena, it backfired badly on the party. But naturally. “A boat is built to sail the seas and not fly the skies,” says Suthan. No party is now ready to commit itself for fear of exposing its flanks.

Others argue the lack of message is because the flexible arithmetic of coalition politics leaves individual parties with little to say for themselves.

On the use of the Internet, Sandeep Suvarna, Senior Marketing Manager, Myspace.com, says that a property created during the 26/11 terror attacks, ‘India fights back,’ allowed a lot of youth to talk about social issues confronting them. “Over a period of time there was lot of traction. Now, we are using elections for this property,” he says.

The blogs of the Congress candidate, Priya Dutt, and BJP youth leader, Ameet Satam, discuss various issues such as global warming, the importance of voting, and why it makes a difference if individuals vote, he adds. Brands too have jumped on the bandwagon. Tata Tea with Jannagraha, Bangalore-based NGO, initiated the movement called ’Jaago Re’ to enable citizens, especially the youth, to register for voting. Says Sangeeta Talwar, Executive Director, Marketing, Tata Tea, “We launched the Jaago Re campaign last year in line with our vision to transform tea from a medium of mere physical and mental rejuvenation to a medium of social awakening. We wanted to facilitate the election process through our portal.”

So, is this election going to be all about ‘virtual’ than real issues and style over substance?

Reporter Associate: Varada Bhat

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