Cambridge Analytica & Data driven political marketing

Just because Cambridge Analytica has been credited with influencing the American voters in favor of successful flashy business magnate Trump it would be wrong to extrapolate the effects to explain the rise of Hindu Hero Narendra Modi in India. First unlike Trump, Narender has been continuously winning elections post Godhra riots 2002 that earned him the title of a Hindu hero. Agreed that Narender had never won any election before 2002 Gujarat riots. Mysteriously people tend to forget that Narender's mentor his senior LK Advani lost elections to Dr Manmohan Singh in 2009. Second the American mind has no resemblance to that of the Indian mind because the USA is extolled as the land of free & undisputed Global leader since the WW2 unlike India which have been ruled by people from all over the world hence can be described as the plaything of any who would dare to challenge the natives. The culture of people in an area is most critical resource than any other resource like minerals & location. The success or failure of an economy is also predicated on the characteristics of the people living in an area.

No one is born strong, rich & successful one has to plan and work for fulfillment in life.

If you wonder why the Hindu media in so called secular India has been wasting so much primetime TV on boring puppet shows on topic of the impact of political marketing on voters then shut your eyes observe two minute silence mourning 39 hardworking young Indians in Syria driven to death by Hindutva forces led by RSS.

Think why Indians have to go abroad to provide for their families back in India? Ask why RSS forces Indians to chant Bharat Mata ki jai while doing nothing to create jobs in India. Ask yourself who is forcing Indians to risk lives for earning a livelihood in dangerous places outside Indian subcontinent? Who would respect Bharat mata if she fails to take care of its progeny? The hindutva propaganda is the single biggest distraction, obstruction, away from the development politics in India. How can India grow when RSS want Indians to bend to tantra mantra of Hindu way of life? China and the west have grown by embracing liberal values, scientific temper assuring universal equality and justice for all which are anathema to RSS Hindutva lifestyle. How can India grow if continue to slide into abyss of ancient morality of bygone utopias?

Neither Narendra led RSS or Rahul’s Congress can win an election or influence substantial enough Indian minds even if they have access to adhaar database which is way more destructive a weapon than any databases generated thru some app or Facebook. Wont majority of Indians willingly sell their personal data for a ration card or food for work program? Hunger is maddening and unemployment fatal. Don’t we know how booze, money and gifts can get votes during election in India? Data driven marketing is just another tool among the vast array to influence consumers or voters to have a positive opinion about an offer in the market. Narender Modi as Hindu Hero has been sold to almost one third of India and 70 percent of Hindus by the mainstream media not which is owned by RSS inclined Hindus. Digital media may had one tenth of impact as mainstream media in the 2014 win of modi. Did you ever come across any journo or channel critical of dangers of a Hindu Rashtar? 

Never. Some political science puritans and academics keep worrying about an ideal world where people could live freely but that’s nothing but an utopia. If Trump had engaged Cambridge Analytica to collect data and use it to market his campaign in an open manner then it was no crime. Similarly if Narender or Rahul use their app to collect info of Indians to send them their messages it’s a fair game. Facebook and Twitter are media firms and like their ilk the brick & mortar avatar they wouldn’t mind maximizing their profitability at any cost. To all those who balk at involvement of foreign hands in their national affairs I would ask think again and note how their lives in India are directly controlled by other govts. Indian subcontinent has never been really free like USA and you know how expensive freedom is. Let’s worry about how to take India towards freedom than worry about use of digital tools for effective political marketing.

Performance versus Promise: Political Marketing in India

If you intend to find out which political party or leader are responsible for win loss in Delhi MCD elections then you could be disappointed to read this piece. But if you are interested in discovering the marketing insights underlying the recent political marketing events in India then you would have enough food for thought. Let’s hit the ground running, first things first. Why did RSS/BJP lost Bihar Punjab etc but won in UP & Delhi MC elections?

Anti incumbency isn’t always a burden in India or other places on earth due to voter fatigue and low trust in the political players. Many states in India have CMs who are returned back into power for multiple times.  Recently SAD-RSS alliance government lost Punjab despite a huge publicity campaign to showcase its achievements. How could Narendra-Amit duo lose Bihar but manage a thumping win in UP while contesting against the incumbent parties represented by similar caste combinations? There is no ambiguity in understanding why Narendra Modi don’t seems to be affected by the anti incumbency pains despite lack luster performance and deteriorating internal and external environment of India? Narendra seem to glide on promises than performance.

Political marketing in India have not yet to come of age. Most political parties continue to follow the trend than seek professional help despite recognizing the enormous critical influence of the communications strategy on the elections outcome. How could a market leader hire services of an agency which was employed by the challenger to dislodge it from the prime position? Ironically it is congress party which is credited with bringing in marketing professionals into the political communications.  Indians may have markedly different consumption habits but they don’t behave much differently than their counterparts worldwide. Indians living a difficult life in the developing economic conditions consume hopeful promises more eagerly than political claims of how much a politician contributed to their lives.

How could one miss the delphic scene at the residence of Delhi CM? Any shutterbug would find it amusing to note the absence of luxury vehicles at the residence of the CM of India’s richest state.  Well if you have missed it try going to Arvind Kejriwal residence and then following it up with a visit to the official accommodation of the PM of India. Did you notice how many luxury vehicles were parked at both the places? Delhi being richest state in India is home to the high-end luxury autos and moreover such products are meant to flaunt social class of the owner than acquired for the utility.  Point is why the rich guys who badly need the support of state machinery could maintain distance from a CM?

The privately held media in India have come under attack from various sides including the government at the centre which bestowed the titles of ‘bazaroo’ & ‘presstitues’ on some sections despite the fact that it lacks professional ethics of being the watchdog of the citizens against the excesses of governments. Media continues to blatantly hide the failures of the central government.  The recent attacks on Delhi AAP government by the media expose the helplessness of it due to dependency on huge advertising budget of the centre.  Had AAP focused more on poor performance of BJP in MCD rather than comparing it with its own work the results of elections would have been different. Indian citizens don’t vote on positive performance therefore it could be counterproductive to attempting to win elections on performance of the incumbent player. ABV failed to win in 2004 with help of  India-Shining campaign and TRS also was voted out despite transforming Andhra Pradesh into a premier destination. 

QED: It pays to promise moon than deliver LED lights to illuminate the night in India

Narendra D. Modi or its just modi Modi modi

This happens only in India. Although pandits may spun numerous twisted tales trying to prove that modi success story is a unique phenomenon never noticed in India. But its not true. Modi has achieved success by copying the classic Indian political strategy of divide & rule used by many like Indira Gandhi etc in the post 1947 era. You couldn't fault a politician for using weapons of mass destruction to obtain success, its the nature of beast. In my opinion the modi story has reached its ultimate point of diminishing marginal utility.

The modi story can be explained in three distinct chapters titled modi Modi modi. It began as a rank outsider whom Advani foisted in Gujarat CM chair without being a sitting MLA. But it didn't take him long to emerge from shadows of his mentor when in 2002 he break ranks from the competition for the prized title Hindu Hero in 2002 post Godhra train burning & riots. But Narendra isn't the first politician to brandish the Hindu Hero trishul. Likes of Indira Gandhi wielded it earlier very successfully. Hindu supremacist RSS eulogized Indira as the Durga of Hindus, praised Thakrey as a iconic anti muslim crusader then and unabashedly flaunt Narendra as their current avatar. Therefore the strategy to win Hindu vote bank in not new but it works in post 47 India.

Second chapter in modi success story of 2014 was woven by two major strands of Hindu hero worship mixed with issues of rampant corruption. Majority of political scholars agree that the dominant factor in 2014 victory of modi was mainly due to his worship by hindus as their hero. Modi could not have won in 2014 unless the then UPA govt led by an incorruptible scholar Dr Manmohan Singh would have been discredited in the eyes of Indians. The dirty job was done using media which indulged in open mud slinging on the UPA govt. Majority media firms from the north half of India are owned by Hindus who back RSS hindu rashtar line unabashedly in a secular born India of 1947. Despite the defeat of Modi phenomena in Delhi, Bihar and decline of it in several other places the hindu media continue to back modi blindly. Media's bhakti of modi is so dark that they have abandoned the professional ethical role of being guardian of public opinion. in 2017 modi has began the third chapter of his hindu conquest of India.

Indian politics revolves around the hindu vote bank and RSS operates like a holding firm of majority such organizations tasked with the job of appropriating resources and political power for enjoyment of high caste Hindus. Minorities stand no chance against the might of hindu hegemony if hindus continue to worship hindu hero and ignore their own pains of poverty and insecurity. Therefore if hindus continue to sacrifice the economic & social security of India at the altar of Hinduism then modi story could well last many more years. Question is do hindus value goal of economic prosperity more than their religion? Its difficult to hazard a guess. People are essentially social animals hence given the choice they would not mind trading beliefs for material gains. In my opinion majority people would vote for food on the table than promise of a rainbow of religious achievement. Hence the 2017 UP elections may become the ultimate chapter of the story of modi.

Narendra modi story may soon become just like that of Ram temple at Ayodhya. A story which helped RSS immensely for sometime but can't be pushed too far without endangering the future of India. 

Can Politics be Marketed like Coke or Condom?

Consumers of political marketing in democracies run on vote-counts face torrents of counterfeit to completely fake assurances of services to garner their votes.  Going by the prevalent level of disgust for politicians in most democracies anyone can safely conclude that the majority consumers feel cheated and exploited by the politicians who enjoy comforts of a President, Prime Minister and other exalted offices way higher up the ladder than those which achiever citizens obtain through hard work and diligent education.

In the era of Societal Marketing orientation when consumers are motivated to experience only those pleasures which would not harm their present society but also ensure a safe future for the coming generations how could hazardous political products be allowed to be marketed in the name of so called adult franchise? If a seller can’t escape the consequences of dangerous products why not penalize politicians and political parties for non-delivery of adequate services? If telcos can be penalized for call dropping & lack of 

connectivity why not hold the Modi government, all governments, to similar test?

When a customer is free to change the service provider in case Airtel , Vodaphone etc fail to ensure call dropping then why demand compensation for lack of services?  Will the Indian politicians demand similar punishment for a political party & politicians for cheating them with fake promises during election campaign? Why have two standards for same crime. It’s wrong to assume that its moral to market everything from religion to insurance. Marketers the world over have accepted the principle of not extending marketing concepts, principles and tool to various category of goods and services to ensure safety of consumers. For example categories like insurance, healthcare are not allowed to be marketed like Condoms and Coke. Political advertising and marketing is too serious a tool to be left at the disposal of unscrupulous politicians who have no regard for ensuring the adequate delivery.

Isn’t it more difficult to get a driver’s job in India than acquire a gift of high political office?  Will it be fair for Rahul Gandhi to become next PM of India without working as a minister till now? What did Modi do before he was made the CM of Gujarat? How could Narendra Modi be expected to lead India to better future if he failed to find a job during his youth? Political offices need people with high degree of expertise and skills besides missionary zeal to do something for a country. Yes there are minimum standards for someone becoming a PM in India but are they enough? Any Donald Trump can charm the voters with a political marketing campaign designed and run by professionals like me but is it good for the health and future of any democracy? Its time India wakes up and lays down clear qualifications-skills and work experience, for the high political offices or be prepared to remain a poor and inconsequential country.

Political marketing is very effective and pervasive discipline having considerable impact on a society therefore it must be held to highest degree of consumer/citizen accountability in a democracy for sake for evolving it into a republic. Election manifestoes and other promises must be brought under consumer rights and the apex courts must old public trial before each election to help citizens make informed choices. Consumer can avoid Coke & condoms but not politics.

Why Mohan Bhagwat orders review of Gandhi-Ambedkar Reservation system only?

All reservation systems are naturally anti-merit and could only lead to eventual disaster for the people that they aim to protect. Reservations perpetuate hegemony, entitlement of few incompetent individuals over their competent contemporaries by threat of force that could emanate from religion, state or both.  A reservation system not only hurts the Eklavyas but also prepares ground for eventual annihilation of its practitioners like DronaCharyas (Mahabharat Epic). Mother Nature promotes and rewards freedom, equality, competition & rewards merit. Nature is both awesome & beautiful. But unfortunately the social reservation systems are an antithetical to the spirit of the Mother Nature.

There are two reservation systems, not one, prevalent in India which naturally impede meritocracy and consequently weaken the fight against equality, poverty and violence in society. Ironically the more pervasive & powerful reservation system in place is not the one enshrined into the Indian Constitution by MK Gandhi to placate Dr. BR Ambedkar who suffered heinous discrimination due to the mighty reservation system propounded by Hindu religious scholar Manu through Manu-Smriti. Just like an eye for an eye could make the whole world blind therefore a new reservation system to counter the older one could only lead to more darkness in India. Evidently China has galloped miles ahead of India in the fight against poverty and social injustice to become a great country. Merit has no substitute, hence reservation systems of all hues need to go in a global society.

Hindu Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh, a Hindu Supremacist organization sworn to make India a Hindu Nation, have always eulogized the Manu’s reservation system but baulked at the Gandhian-Ambedkar one. It would be extremely rewarding to undertake several research projects to compare & contrast the impact of two reservation systems, Manu Smriti based & Gandhi-Ambedkar pact, on the Indian society after the transfer of power in 1947.Both seem to have outlived their utility in the modern world.

The Gandhi-Ambedkar reservation system gives some protection to the disadvantaged Hindus who have been tortured discriminated as per institutionalized religious tenets of Hinduism. It’s near impossible to fight religious biases with rational legal direct action. Wonder why Gandhi-Ambedkar didn’t take the time tested home grown Indian method to fight the menace of Hindu religious caste system? Guru Nanak Dev ji the founder of Sikhism eliminated the caste system in Punjab region in 15^th century itself thus making it the prosperous and honorable society to live in the entire sub-continent.

Sikhism not only made Sikhs a proud nation but also helped Hindus & Muslims to live with each other in spirit of harmony and brotherhood for a century in a region which have been tormented for ages due to caste religious confrontations. Sikhism eliminated the practice of reserving religious jobs to a particular section of Sikh society which led to the decimation of caste system. Unfortunately it seems MK Gandhi’s bias for ancient Hinduism and Ambedkar’s lack of courage led to their agreement which is nothing but seeking an eye for an eye to deal with the Hindu caste system. No wonder the monstrous caste discrimination has not only strengthened in Hindu society but also have spread its tentacles into other religions that strictly prohibits it.

Will Mohan Bhagwat the powerful chief of the Hindu Rashtriya outfit initiate a review of the more hurtful reservation system that reserves millions of jobs in Hindu temples for Brahmins only? The day Hindus begin to appoint temple priests on merit rather than on caste it would be impossible for anyone to discriminate against fellow humans and benefit from it. All Indians, Hindus particularly, need to work towards a future where each citizen competes on merit without any crutches of any kind of reservation quota system imposed either by Manu-Smriti in the name of Hinduism and the one of Gandhi-Ambedkar sort. No country can survive & win without embracing merit wholeheartedly and history of India provides ample proof of it. Hope Mohan Bhagwat will demand review of both the reservation systems prevalent concurrently in India for sake of its survival.

Sangh Parivaar or Gandhi-Nehru Parivaar- India has a choice

India was given independence by the British much ahead of the scheduled date of 1948. Shocked? Why the British left India in hurry than enjoy the benefits of ruling such a vast country? Well the British ruled many parts of India for almost 300 years. But the Raj was not allowed to rule Punjab by the native Sikhs for a long time & the famed empire ruled Punjab for the least times as compared to India.  Dogs and ordinary native Indians were forbidden to venture into areas that the British kept for their exclusive use. Point is the British had a low opinion about intellect & lifestyle of the natives that find expression in many a statement of the Raj politicians who doubted the ability of Indians to rule such a vast land. The Indians too agreed with the British view on the low intellect & poor competence of the natives by accepting the partition of India.

Pakistan was carved out of India in 1947 as the Islamic republic and remaining parts of India under Gandhi-Nehru persuaded the locals to pursue a ‘secular’ dream. The Sikhs who ruled Punjab when the British ruled Delhi also decided to walk on the path of secularism, rightly so as the Sikh religion is based on the core principle of universal ‘Brotherhood’. Pakistan that relished the dream of a religion based state has since been divided, unlike India which has survived intact. The truncated India, also called Bharat to appease the Hindutva lobby of Sangh parivaar, went on to pursue a hallowed tough path of ‘Secularism’ and has survived till today. But can India avoid another 1947, or Pakistan 1971, in the wake of Hindutva goal to make it a Hindu state? Can the sangh-parivaar or the politics of Hindu appeasement keep India united, through persuasion or by force? Many scholars are afraid that the truncated India is facing another 1947 moment.

Will India complete a century of self rule and remain a republic in current form till 2047? Your guess is as good as mine.  It depends upon the competence & performance of the majority natives. India that sacrificed a major part of its territory to the pursuit of religion based state to Pakistan is gasping for breath & struggling to keep the monster of Hindu aspirations and keep walking on the path of secular modern state.  Since Hindus form an overwhelming majority so the Hindu vote bank is most sought after group for the political parties to appease in order to grab the power. When was the first time that the President of USA reminded India of its Article 25? Barack Obama was on his second visit to India and had so much confidence in the strength of secular India that he called PM of India Dr Manmohan Singh as his idol while was on a visit to the Germany after his first visit to India.  Does the Hindu Media in India shared with Indians why the POTUS had to change his mind so drastically about India?

The Hindu supremacist RSS also known as the Sangh- parivaar have penetrated deep into most institution of India including the press & judiciary. Therefore it’s not uncommon to see the respect and acceptability given to the Hindutva ideology of sangh parivaar in truncated India that had decided to be a secular country not very long ago. It’s not the Hindutva lobby alone that dream of a religion/culture based state, Punjab also experienced the horrors when a political movement for the genuine rights of Punjab was turned into a struggle for the Sikh state of Khalistan during 80s. Escapism won’t help the Hindus, they have to decide if they want Hindutva based Bharat or work for a secular India. Both are 180 degrees apart antithetical to each other.

Market Orientation of Political Party

Political parties don’t want to be left behind in employing any means, fair or foul, to achieve the political goal of wresting & wielding power.  Use of marketing concepts & tools has become prevalent in many developing countries including India. Although most often the political players in India don’t trust professional judgment in planning their political marketing campaign but they realize critical importance of the discipline of marketing.

Political parties, understandably so, restrict the use of marketing to political communication field alone than use it in a comprehensive manner to align its behavior according to wants & needs of citizen voters. A political party in modern democracy needs to use marketing concepts to market itself effectively than limit itself to use of marketing techniques only.

Most political parties seek professional help in marketing their party & programs to the citizen voters during election campaign. Hardly any party realizes the need for regular marketing even in India which is called the land of perennial elections. Therefore most parties approach elections with intrepid fear and or exuberance. This piece is on a more fundamental issue of market orientation of political players than the theme of campaign strategy. A political party without suitable market orientation cannot win despite a great communication strategy.   

Political players, like firms, in a democracy require suitable market orientation to win & sustain trust of citizen voters. What is the type of market orientation every political party is seeking to compete with each other to capture the trust of citizen voters? MARKOR & MKTOR scales are inappropriate to unravel the nature of orientation of political parties, as these are designed for commercial firms.  A political party need to find out whether it has product, sales or market orientation and factor in the knowledge to customize it behavior in each electoral cycle. 

Market Orientation is a business approach or philosophy that focuses on identifying and meeting the stated or hidden needs or wants of customers. A marketing orientated approach means a business reacts to what customers want. Since marketing has permeated into not-for-profit and social sector too, therefore it’s imperative that political party must be aware of its nature of orientation. It’s possible that Product Orientation of a political party may be obstructing the path to success. A Sales oriented party could fail to factor in current needs & wants into the new offer and may prefer to persuade the consumers.

Political parties in democracy are required to deliver better life to citizens. They can do it only if they try to understand what people want. And then behave in a unique manner that is appreciated by the masses. Their party policies, leaders, organization, members and symbols must align to the expectations of the masses. Political parties in democracy are required to provide leadership & vision to masses so they can’t just use marketing techniques or concept where it does not make sense. There is need to coalesce marketing & political science in a synergistic manner as both have many similarities than differences. 

Why Shoot the Messenger !

"No one loves the messenger who brings bad news" -Sophocles in Antigone

When the PM said lets revive the animal spirit of the Indian economy media let loose its dogs of war. Because last time the suave economist did it in early nineties there was an explosive growth of economy resulting in corresponding increase in the earnings/salaries of the working class. The two decade long growth gave birth to new middle class India which demands better control over their lives & freedom. 

Slowdown in global economy have made the capitalist class unsure of handsome returns on their money so they look forward to governments to make available tranches of cash to bail them out of the mess. How could the crony capitalist media let the wages grow further making it difficult for the corporate to ‘control’ the rising independent middle class? Media editorial line is dictated by the Board not he editorial head.

Spectacular success of China is visible worldwide. It has lifted a staggering part of its population out of grinding poverty & made their lives worth living. China achieved all this without taking over other economies by force to rip them of their wealth. China quietly worked hard and served the consumerism in the developed world. Quietly is the key to Chinese success. Though China held Olympics but it has managed to stay off the publicity radar globally.

China leveraged local wisdom mixed with global technology to earn a respectable place on the high table of world’s leading nations. The Great Wall of China remains the enduring metaphor of its wisdom & success. China didn't join internet revolution without tweaking it to suit its national needs. India on the other hand jumped onto the internet wagon lock stock & barrel without a second thought as to where it will take it.

India remained under foreign rule for centuries so in the middle class India feels exuberant & can't resist the temptation to have an opinion on all subjects under the Sun without regard to any exposure to the topic. Like other 'unsuccessful' people, India has also similar self defense mechanism. People suffering from inferiority complex are very touchy about criticism. Moment you point out an aberration they reject your argument by citing two unrelated facts. Truth is gold in India actually, its very expensive.

Privately run media in India represent view of powerful corporate lobby and particular cultural supremacist  group. Media like Bollywood film industry prefer to divorce truth & reality for pursuit of greed. Instead of challenging the ancient traditions for sake of a modern and more just society. Indian media contributes to perpetuation of  an ancient way of life without regard to the fact that the very same culture caused immense pain to majority of the Indians for thousand years. India has a home grown slave tradition based on work profile of individuals duly sanctioned by religion and Dharma- the caste system of sage Manu. Media subscribes & works to perpetuate the ancient order.

Chairman of Press council of India Justice M Katju has held a mirror to media lately which has forced media to close its ranks & attack the illustrious gentleman with vengeance. I see the class struggle in India getting out of hand due to size of the population. Brahmins, the upper caste group, has been attacked several times by Dalit movements successfully, second ranked caste Kashtriyas have also been targeted in Naxal movements of 70s but the third ranked & actually financially most powerful caste group of Vaishyas have never faced any direct challenge. Opening up of retail to FDI is single most critical challenge to this caste group. Trade & Industry is dominated by this caste group only in India. This is the main reason for anti government stance of the private media in India.      

Media holds a mirror to society and challenges status-quo of all shades rather than  the political establishment. Indian media has completely failed to challenge the prevalent socio-religious order which has led to sudden increase in crimes of greed & rapes. Any sociologist would infer that spurt in crimes is directly related to psychology & culture promoted by media. Its time the visionary leadership in India wakes up and allows global media into India to give India a fair & free media. India should open up news media & education to foreign players so that India could join the new world order. 

How the politicians find what people want ?

Political parties in a democracy are answerable to the electorate goes the cliche, but do our parties undertake any scientific research to enumerate the priorities of the masses? Well in India leaders assume that majority of the people do not vote on a rational basis. Those leaders are right as the results of elections indicate.

Majority still vote for caste, religion, regional and ideological orientations. Economic issues do not seem to motivate the masses to vote in large numbers. But how do the parties find out what the people are thinking in their constituency? Politician in India seems to go by judgement approach and expert panel opinion taken from experts from within the party.

I have undertaken a focus group exercise in the youth segment to unravel their mind and the issues that they think are extremely important for the nation. The list in the order of priority is given under;

1. Population: Surprisingly no political party has talked about it in 2009 elections. What can the electorate do? Population growth remains the most critical issue that is slowing down the growth of India.

2. Respect for talent: Most participants feel that there is no room for talent & talented individuals in India. Youth is perturbed that the talented individuals do not stand a fair chance of achievement in our society. People still give too much importance to other factors over the talent of an individual. Students believe that it stifles the growth of talent, consequently growth of country.

3. Corruption: Why we have accepted bribery and corruption as part of life in India?Corruption weakens the country but no party seem to make it as an election issue and has offered no solutions to curb corruption in public life.

4. Economic policy: Major political parties do not present a clear cut industrialisation plan that could create jobs for the educated. All parties make similar noise about their economic policy.

5. Removal of poverty: Youth do not find mention of how much growth in per capita income would the political party would like to achieve in their tenure of five years.

Political Giants & Media Monsters !

Media and the Political players are like married couple. Both understand each other’s temptations so readily forgive the flings unless it becomes damaging affair for either of the stakeholder.  They fight but make up soon for sake of continuation of the relationship with renewed vow to support each other every time.  Like most marriages this too is an unequal relationship wherein the political player can lose reputation and elections but the media firm can lose its existence. 

Politicians need media to put across their promotional communication to citizens at large and media need them for advertising money and sensational content. News Channels use no holds barred approach to find content that brings highest TRP to their business so that they could charge premium from advertisers. Therefore the so called Breaking News stories have not much to do with journalistic mission or nation building pronouncements for sake of audience benefit but a direct greedy tactic to get better TRP for raking in the moolah.

Let us also resolve the conundrum of politics for nation and people or politics for pure self aggrandizement.  In my considered opinion all Political players work for themselves only and some of them are more open to sharing the windfall gains with some number of people. There is no political party that has worked for all the people of a country. Show me one and I’ll show you people the victimized and marginalized in some clear manner.

Let’s get back to the issue of how political parties should handle media or leverage the communication opportunities presented to them. Firstly in pays to have own dedicated mass media machine that is run professionally. Most parties in democracies have ‘close’ linkages with media houses but since last decade in India many parties own pretty powerful media monsters of their own to unleash at the opponents. The serious weakness in all those strategic assets is lack of professionalism as toadies generally lack competence to get audience interest. Such dedicated media firms must be run by professionals with Editorial policy control with the party. Aligning with an outside media firm is more expensive & less effective.

Political players generally get carried away by the media attention and tend to speak endlessly on any topic under the sun. Have you ever heard a politician say on camera that they need some time to answer the question if the muck racking seems to be working to their advantage? When you target the opponent it’s better to go prepared for your best shot. You must always depend on written prepared communication for better results and always desist from off the cuff shibboleths.

Political parties must plan the media rendezvous and must not exceed a given limit. Please note that more communication may lead to more confusion so in order to have positive impression on masses keep all political communication around few specific points that a binds your politics with your target audience.  A political player must avoid expressing views on topics that strengthen the opponent camp as bad publicity is also welcome publicity in politics.

Finally political parties would benefit if the work of communication management be left to professionals than party managers because the insiders can’t have a 360 degree view of a communication situation. 

Congress Vs BJP: Political Marketing 2002-14

If you tell a big enough lie, and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed-Adolf Hitler

India’s oldest strongest & most suitable political party is upset. Congress is upset by calumnious propaganda tirade let loose by the principal opposition party BJP. The party takes solace in its domestic & global achievements and expected a pat on the back from citizens as well as opposition parties in India.  

Congress wants BJP to be accepting & approve good work done by Cong & criticize wherever they go wrong.  It is upset over BJP’s frontal attack on the party & its leaders. On its part BJP, a Hindutva supremacist RSS backed organization, is completely consistent in behaving as per its DNA.  Did it walk any differently on the ramp in 2009? Perfect Competition is a Utopian economic concept that envisages that one must continuously keep working to have equilibrium state for level playing field. We live in real the world.

Congress has a convincing case against BJP but it has to do more as it’s not a two horse race. A secular Congress has been secure in the thought that since rightwing BJP is a Hindutva supremacist party therefore a diverse India has no choice but to vote for it. This deduction looks very attractive but is it enough? Now let us examine the fundamental premise of this logical conclusion.  

A Hindutva BJP has no chance of winning against modern secular Congress unless it discredits Congress on some serious secular all encompassing factor.  Well the BJP/RSS strategists got to work in their usual manner, which is to go back into past to discover something that they thought made a lot of sense to Hindutva ideology and then try recreate, rejuvenate & bring back that into present. Essentially dig up something from past to throw at people to embrace it for a better future.

Congress in its present avatar cannot be accused of being tough & undemocratic with state governments-Modi despite serious charges get to keep his job- therefore corruption seemed to be the other original idea for BJP. You would recall in 2004 & 2009 BJP failed to convince citizens that it has ‘strong’ & ‘nationalist’ leaders that can lead India in twenty first century. So the opposition party had no choice but to paint the incumbent party as corrupt.  

BJP cleverly orchestrated campaigns led by organization outside sangh privar to accuse the Congress. Anna, Kejriwal & Ramdev were mounted to launch attacks at the incumbent party to achieve their political objective. BJP plan is simple. Create a bigger specter of corruption to camouflage the demon of racial cultural supremacy so that masses begin to see it as foremost present danger from among various other general threats. It looks fairly simple game plan.

BJP thinks that since Congress led UPA is the incumbent coalition therefore corruption issue could not boomerang on them. Well incumbency in politics also referred to as ‘Winner’s curse’ has been investigated in depth & many papers are available on this premise in political marketing literature. As political marketing student let me say that ‘corruption’ as an election issue in India has limited appeal.

India is land of perennial elections. Elections are so frequent in India that you wonder why not outsource the work to some private corporation to lower the cost. There are large companies conducting test & research activities with six sigma accuracy, they certainly would be able to plan & execute election at much lower cost in these crunch times for governments all across the globe. If the government gets out of business of conducting elections it would bring more transparency & neutrality to the exercise.

Marketing concepts & tools are often used by political players to establish & grow their relationship with citizen voters.  Political players in India are no stranger to use of it. Let me flag some critical marketing issues related to current tug of war in India. BJP has succeeded in getting far higher SOV (share of voice) at present what is has to do now is to achieve similar SOH (share of heart) & SOM (Share of Mind). What the incumbent Congress need to do now?

Congress surely has greater SOH & SOM amongst all segments of India. It needs to recover the lost ground in SOV. But let me caution that it has been established beyond doubt that incumbent party would be better off without winning the race for higher SOV. Congress party should not get carried away by media’s need for 24x7 sensational entertainment and continuously work towards having greater acceptance among elderly & youth segments in India.

India has seen Anna & Ramdev events put up by BJP strategy team and is looking forward to a Congress show of strength outside Parliament to enable the masses to determine the winner.  Congress needs a new social media strategy to counter the opposition media war. A winning strategy should be clearly differentiated one so as to counter the challenger & present your brand equity rather than engage with opponent on their turf & conditions. Congress has to augment its current media strategy.

You shut up - Budget 2011

If you ask me to describe the budget in one sentence, I would say it could well be described as a ‘you shut up budget’. Budget 2011 has left opposition & media both bewildered & weak to find the kinks to criticize it from some angle. The budget proposal may not be great, but it certainly has virtually shut up the blaring media hollering which is nothing but a honking in the parking area. Good job Pranab babu!

Indian political parties have large number of journalists & advocates at the helm of affairs. Wonder if we have many doctors, engineers & professionals active in any political party for shaping the future of our poverty stricken, superstitious, divided and underdeveloped society. Although, as a ground rule in India, every parent dreams of making his child into a doctor or engineer and those who fail to study hard end up in other careers, some of them make it into the field of politics. Consequently, our political & media scene is dominated by empty talks and directionless speeches about the state of affairs in the nation. It’s only in last couple of decades that we have started to make any progress towards achieving out national goals.

It’s generally said that if you happen to fall sick in India, you will have more prescriptions than the visitors. And most of the visitors would tell you that the doctor knows nothing as compared to their expertise in the medicine. Well a similar scene pervades our national life too. Semi literate journalists know all experts & self appointed Gurus take it upon themselves to occupy news studios and pontificate over serious national issues. Baba Ramdev thinks that he knows more than Manmohan Singh about economics and leading the country, what a joke?

Budget 2011 is a smart political budget that shows the great political management by the Congress party & UPA. The FM has carefully tried to keep the ship in the same direction which has served them politically in last elections too. The opposition has to devise a new agenda focused away from the middle class, to convince the large numbers of people that come out in large numbers to vote.

Media needs to shed its traditional old fashioned role of an anti-government critic for democratic functioning of our society. Media would do well by taking a balanced view wherein it highlights good work done by the government and criticize it for what more could be done. Similar treatment shall be given to opposition parties. The unsavory & unintelligent attacks by media on Manmohan Singh’s comments during the press meeting happen to accentuate the lack of maturity on the part of media. PM’s remarks were quoted out of the contest and twisted meaning that lay in the mind of media was ascribed to his clear statements. Manmohan Singh is respected globally for nothing. He is a gentleman and India is lucky to have him.

The constant harangue of nailing the corrupt could only upset the corrupt in our midst. The media & BJP may first set its own house in order. Secondly how can you arrest someone without any proof? And if BJP & sections of media has proof against the guilty why don’t they approach the courts to nail the guilty? Just to inform you that despite large scale fraud in Banking & financial sector in USA, no one has yet been punished as the process of law is going on.  The UPA government has taken strong measures by throwing out a CM, a Cabinet Minister Etc, which is unprecedented. Let’s strengthen them by supporting them rather than annoying them with pot shots and innuendoes. 

A jingle for Sh. Ram Krishan

Nadwai mein Bhagwan hai!

1. Ram bhi aur Krishan bhi

Nadwai mein bhagwan hain

Hum sare uski santan

Nadwai mein bhagwan hain

2. Ram hamara Krishan hamara

Who apni pahchan hai

Bhai bhai hum sare hain

Nadwai mein bhagwan hain

3. Seedhay sahdhy hum log yahan

koi chotta barha nahin

magar na humse tum takrana

Nadwai mein bhagwan hain

4. Apni behno aur bachon ko

Ijjat aur piar miley

Gandi baten door rakho tum

Nadwai mein bhagwan hain

5. Bina bajurgon ke kia karna

Unke agay sir hai jhukana

Yahi hamari maryada hain

Nadwai mein bhagwan hain

Poll strategies for Punjab assembly elections

Political parties in Punjab India have started preparing for the assembly elections two years away. While SAD and BJP alliance would be contesting under the leadership of Sukhbir Singh Badal  having  the senior Badal as the chairman. This allaince would be presenting its performance record to the voters and hope to engineer a better on the ground poll management. From the Marketing perspective, SAD would have to offer something NEW to attract the floating voters in Punjab known for changing loyalties every five years. SAD would do well to engage a profesional market research company to find out the mood of the masses while going into elections.

Indian National Congress in Punjab has yet to decide its state ledership. Perhaps the party belives that it can win elections in Punjab on the strength of Manmohan Singh and the Gandhis' chrisma coupled with the anti incumbancy factor. It would be very naive to go for state elections without a powerful leader. Congress certainly would have learnt some lessons from their defeat in Gujrat and victory in Andhra pradesh. Strong state leadership is imperative in Indian scenario to win elections. Congress could hope to defeat Modi by offering a NEW leader in Gujrat who has the chrisma.

I believe the state congress would do well by offering a NEW package to the people to enhance its chance of victory in Punjab polls. Punjab and India has changed and moved on from the segmentations based on rigid caste and religion lines. It would make a better marketing sense if Congress in Punjab opens up the leadership role to every community and declare that anyone from any community could be the next Chief Minister of Punjab.

The choices are many infront of the PPCC for the next Chief Minister of Punjab. Its time we have a new face in the driver's seat in Punjab. As a political marketing profesional my research indicates that such a move could ensure the congress government in the next term in Punjab.

Beware of No.1 Advertising

The Haryana number one campaign by the state government may hurt its prospects of winning the next election scheduled for October 13. Though the incumbent Congress government led by Mr. Bhupinder Singh Hooda may have done good work in the state and also the disarray in the opposition ranks certainly would work in favor of party victory but lack of professional handling of political advertising may jeopardize its chances of an election victory. The late august advertising campaign by the public relations department of Hooda government goes against the time tested principles of advertising. Marketing thrives on innovation and freshness of the campaign theme. The present campaign lacked both. It was no different than ‘India shining’ campaign of NDA government.

There are approximately 1.20 Crore eligible voters in the state for ninety assembly constituencies. The august advertising campaign tried to target all of them in the crude mass marketing manner by employing all the traditional media of print, television and the radio waves. The marketing agency responsible for planning and execution of the campaign followed one-size-fits-all approach by bombarding all the sub segments of the electorate with the same message and frequency.

There have been many studies that suggest that the incumbent party should spend less than the challenger party for success in elections. A vast majority of such studies have been carried in America that has two party systems. Similar researches in the European democracies that have multi party systems like India also point to the same outcome. The winner’s curse or what’s otherwise known as anti incumbency also puts the burden of proof of delivering good governance and economic progress for a majority squarely at the incumbent party’s doorstep. Anti incumbency in Indian context operates majorly at the level of party in government than for an individual politician. Study of various factors that influence the probability winning in India reveals that for an election victory the candidate’s own appeal has less role to play in comparison to the party appeal. Similarly the anti incumbency also works more severely at the party level than at the candidate level.

Does the Hooda government think that all sub segments of Haryana population have benefitted equally in the 

last five years of their government? If the answer is how it could be so, then why not take a carefully calibrated approach to segmentation and message appeal and frequency. Large number of eligible voters may have benefitted from the current government but surely a vast majority would still have been left out. And those who are left out may react negatively to the claims of prosperity in the neighborhood and express their disapproval by voting against the incumbent government. Such voters tend to react less sharply if they hear less stories of development and may vote for future promise of good governance. Moreover opening critical message appeal card well ahead of the elections gives the challenger to prepare better in their rebuttal of the government claims. Therefore Congress party in Haryana would do well by focusing less on their past and talk about future plans.

It happened to NDA government too in 2004. The NDA government lost despite good performance and the ‘India Shining’ campaign. Mr. Vajpayee led government had a reasonably good track record of performance but they went overboard in their advertising proclamations of their achievements without regard to the fact that it is not really possible for a government at the centre or states to bring some benefits of progress to a majority of the voter citizens in a five year term. And when the governments go on claiming their high achievements, they actually end up adding insult to the injury, because for the larger segment of the voters the life is not comfortable.

India still remains a developing country with vast majority of poor population having access to mass media that regularly reminds them of their real condition in comparison to the others within the country and globally. The success of saas-bahu serials has queered the pitch for such brash self projection political advertising. The citizen voters’ exposure to saas-bahu serials reminds them of their own poverty and living conditions. Such programming due to its own compulsions has to be about the economically well off strata of our society, so that the viewers could aspire for that living style. It is not the behavior or the moral values of these saas-bahus characters that keeps these serial rolling endlessly for years but their projected life style that attracts the viewers who aspire to live like them. A rich household, expansive saaris and lots of gold jewellery are enough for most of our Indian women to die for.

India has distinction of consuming almost of twenty five percent of the global production of gold every year. But how many Indian households have gold in their possession? So please remember that when you are claiming big in your mass advertising it could lead to severe negative reaction amongst the targeted audience. Had the NDA government used the ‘India Shining’ campaign with a lower frequency and after a careful segmentation of the voters the results would have been much better. The Haryana government could learn from history and also from the Congress party campaign of 2009.

It has become a routine for the union and the state governments in India to release advertisement campaign in the media to showcase the achievements of the party in power. Such campaigns are funded by the public relations department or some other such constituent of the government that has been allocated funds for promotion. Most often the incumbent party goes overboard in its claims of achievements to positively influence the eligible voter citizens. They are being no different than an average commercial advertiser that promises a lot more than they could deliver. But how many products get a successful reception in the market is anybody’s guess. How could an election promise have a different outcome under the same conditions?

Though political and social organizations have taken to advertising for marketing themselves and to promote their programs. But most such organizations have not learnt the technique and skills to use such a potent marketing tool. Therefore even when the party or the individual invests a significant part of their budget on promotions still they have no clue to estimate its effect. Several measurement techniques are available in the business management literature to estimate the impact of advertising campaign effects in the market. The political parties and individuals hardly take the trouble to go for such a study post elections.

An advertising campaign needs to be designed on the basis of carefully laid out qualitative and quantitative criteria for achievement of the planned objectives. Therefore a seasoned professional would be required to manage the promotions. Unfortunately a politician would rather believe the judgments of the party based media managers or professional journalists who certainly may not have any specialist expertise of how the advertising works. Political organizations would do well by outsourcing their marketing completely to an independent agency. That would ensure an optimally calibrated approach to quality and quantity parameters in the communications. It would also lead to a greater efficiency in advertising and fixation of responsibility.

Gurinder S Ahluwalia is a marketing consultant and Director GNAIMT, Phagwara, Punjab. guriahluwalia@gmail.com

NewClear India!

Thank God, The deal is done. We are a recognized nuclear state, or shall we say a newclear power? INC has been saying that it would help us seek more high technology collaborations with the rest of the world besides providing a clean source of energy. Left parties are doing their harmless regular stuff. The BJP is in a fix, so it is talking about the restrictions on tests. But how much this deal would impact the fortunes of Congress party in the coming election the jury is still out?

India is warming up for another national election in early 2009. So you see the politicians and parties making suitable poses & noises to allure the voters to select them for the plush jobs in the government. Some of them have announced their candidature too without waiting for the vacancy advertisement. Why does Mr Advani thinks he is most eligible for the job of the PM this time around?

Going into elections the BJP or NDA may consider that since he has worked for long period, and have aspired for even longer, so why not let a senior leader to fulfill his desire. Do the majority of the workers in BJP approve of his candidature? And what if the voters did not approve of his candidature? Wouldn’t that be really embarrassing situation to be in for him post elections? After all he has been a fighter, or shall we say a Rath Yatri, all his life.

But well into 21st century now would it be good for us to have a leader as PM who loves Chairman Mao style homegrown cultural revolution in India? China has long moved on from Cultural Revolution to economic revolution why should we not? What would India do with a PM who knows more about cultural and religious matters than the fundamentals of economy? Surely BJP has many leaders like Modi, Jaitley, Jaswant etc who while talking about the religio-cultural harangue never lose focus from the economic agenda for our poor country?

Let us forget about the last NDA finance minister who had starting jumping wildly in his chair shouting India Shining, India Shining, when all we had got was a faint hope of prosperity that we may achieve with our persistent efforts in another 30-40 years. Our India needs, like other countries like China, Russia, Brazil, Malaysia have got, a hard working, growth minded, unassuming, silent worker as a PM who should keep working tirelessly without getting carried away by small victories on our hard road to economic development that we all need badly. How can India become great if Indians do not have enough to eat?

Let Nirvik singh of Grey India go gung ho about India Shining because he made the moolah by crafting a communication strategy without qualms about advertising ethics. Nirvik can surely defend his position by saying that if he had not done it someone else would have, but a political party should be careful about its credibility and must not take us for granted. Let us be clear that once BJP have used that shining thing what would they do in the next elections? Without doubt, Nirvik would definitely find new accounts.

Political Marketing in india

Winner’s curse in Political Advertising

A sound communications strategy could backfire without astute media planning. Vajpaye led NDA government had lost elections due to bad media planning. In fact there was nothing wrong with the communication strategy of India Shining campaign. Probably the segmentation was also done meticulously. The party managers had faltered on establishing a correct level of advertising spend believing that if they spend more on communication the result would be in their favour. How could one assume that when most research indicate otherwise.

India shining campaign has been considered a flop show as the party lost elections. A closer study would reveal that there was real merit in the communication strategy adopted as election theme. Most experts also agreed that the campaign was generally good and effective before the election results were out. The devil did lie in the media planning. From political marketing viewpoint no one tried to look at the desired level of media reach for an incumbent party. The overkill in media cost them elections.

The Samajwadi party in Uttar Pradesh used the most powerful brand endorser in India combined with messages that had top grade production values, but that was not enough to keep the party in power. Did the political advertising campaign worked in this case?

There are major differences between the American and European way of conducting advertising campaigns. In USA you have candidate centered, repetitive, and short advertising messages as against the European way that features party centric, longer duration, and single shot advertisements.

If the Labour party in UK could use professional help and successfully re-brand itself as New Labour and go on to win successive elections. Why can’t political parties in India learn from their experience and seek professional help in place of some inhouse experts who could be susceptible to the phenomenon of tunnel vision.

If congress party in Punjab assembly elections 2007 had succeeded in reminding the loyal voters of Shromani Akal Dal in towns about their ‘differences’ with hardcore Hindutva forces then the election results outcome would have been different. If the media experts in congress party had targeted advertisements on the basic differences within the loyal cadres and voters of SAD and BJP it may have continued to rule Punjab.

The hardcore Akali and RSS/BJP do not seem to have resolved their ideological differences over major issues like Punjabi language, river waters, Chandigarh, and attitude towards religions etc. Therefore Congress party in Punjab had a cut out task of reminding the core voters in both camps about their past.

It was that core Akali voters who for the first time polled votes in favour of BJP that made the difference to the unprecedented BJP victory in the state. The credit went to the young leadership of SAD for engineering a shift in the voting behavior of traditional Akali voter by very successfully mobilising and convincing them to cast the votes in favour of Akali BJP combine.

SAD & BJP are parties with a strong core. These kinds of parties can win an election on the basis of a strong wave only. It is very important for these parties to appeal to the floating voters to vote in their favour. In the last Punjab elections there were other strong reasons for the victory of SAD BJP alliance.

Use of marketing instruments, concepts and techniques is on the rise in India with every new election. Most political parties realizing the importance of political communications have created in house teams, often named as media cell, to establish, maintain and improve the image of their party and advise the party on professional political communications. These media divisions within parties generally consist of current and former journalists and a smattering of political communications experts. Well-planned political marketing helps to influence the election outcome by convincing the electorate about real effective issues.

Elections and political management remains under tight control of the in-party specialists who claim to understand the political scenario better than the marketing expert who generally gets involved in elections during election time only. The politicians and parties in India have yet to get onto the perpetual political marketing mode as undertaken in democracies in western world and the ASEAN countries. The war room mentality remains the favorite style for leveraging the political marketing process in developed world.

Punjab elections in 2007 featured high decibel advertising campaigns, public election broadcasts, road shows, exit polls, news management and a more organized campaign management to get the voters out to vote. The reverberations continue to be felt in the form of daily dose of news coverage about the arrest & trial of high profile previous chief minister and his associates.

The role of media and the media advisors have never had attracted such attention in election campaigns in particular and managing a political party in general. Can we conclude that astute media handling, and overall use of marketing tools have become a necessary feature for the success of a political party? The application of marketing techniques and strategies to the political marketplace is a paradigm shift that will continue to change politics, as we know it today.

Media in Punjab, India too, has long been associated with social and political movements. It has been considered as an instrument with the potential to usher in a socio-political change in society. Till recently, major media in India could have been identified with distinct religious, political, social and economic interest groups having a definite agenda to promote without regard to the overall health of our democratic nation. In the current democratic set up media openly seems to side with political parties and other vested interest groups to sway the public opinion in a particular direction. Therefore news management has become a full time activity for the political players. Success in politics is measured by the ability of a party to move the public opinion in a direction it wants it to move.

Since vast majority of Indians are religious and God fearing therefore it has become a general practice amongst politicians of every hue to be seen to be seeking blessings from religious leaders more during the time of elections so as to impress upon their followers to vote in favour of their party and candidate. But for the first time in Punjab, a Baba from the neighboring state of Haryana took out series of advertisements impressing upon his followers to vote in favour of a Congress party.

This cocktail of religion and politics seem to work all over India and has produced enormous aftershocks long after the polls have gone. A professional approach in handling such communications could reduce the unsavoury aftershocks in the country. The intensity of the competition could be gauged from the fact that socio-religious leaders are prompted to appeal to their followers to influence voting.

It is not the media companies alone who take recourse to the pre poll surveys to assess the mood of the voters and pump up their TRP. The political parties also resort to use of market research to fine-tune their campaign strategy. Since these surveys make catchy headlines therefore their impact on the voters and the party workers is powerful. A positive survey finding motivates the party worker to get out work to get all the votes polled on the Election Day.

A pre poll survey predicting a negative outcome could demotivate the party rank & file and also convince the floating undecided voter to form a negative opinion about the projected looser party. These surveys provide new debating points to the media and do seem to colour their own news analysis also.

The Parties employed below the line media to reach out to the rural voter. Music videos and election songs have become a major tool of communicating a political message to the rural audience. Terrestrial television in the form of state owned Doordarshan has an extensive reach in the rural areas and therefore used for the purpose of public election broadcast to disseminate the message to the people who otherwise depend upon vernacular print media.

The cap on election expenditure also restricts the political parties from involving professional advertising organizations to execute a political campaign on their behalf. Because the political party would not want to disclose their actual advertising spend to the election commission.

Persuasion remains the main objective of the political players. The parties stop short of finding out what the electorate wants from them; instead they claim to know what people must expect from them. The parties have generally ignored the need for marketing research to list the issues facing the public.

There has been an extensive use of negative advertising during the election campaigning. Some of the advertisements do have advocacy tone also. But nothing that could be called a creative advertising campaign capable of producing measurable effects. The media cells in parties continue to believe that voters would buy everything that they have to tell them. When would these media experts accept that we live in times when creating credibility of the messages is a challenge.

There has been plethora of research suggesting that incumbent party does not gain from higher share of voice. Though it gains remarkably from share of mind and share of heart. This would require limited use advertising and leveraging the other promotion vehicles. But most incumbent parties do not seem to take lessons and keep on wasting resources on government advertising.

It is believed by many that there are no upper limits to the quantity of communication to strengthen the appeal of a political party. More the merrier, but that’s certainly not true. Several studies in political marketing have established beyond doubt that there is a non-linear relationship between the spending and net marginal benefit to the advertiser. Particularly for the incumbent party it has been generally accepted that low level of spending, than the challenger, may be better for producing a positive effect for an incumbent party.

Most political pundits seem to have concluded that advertising and other marketing devices have almost negligible effective role to play in Indian elections. But several parties have tried to deploy sophisticated political marketing tools to convince the voter to elect them to power. But the results may not have been turned out in their favour.

While most political parties use sophisticated technology to get across their message to the voters, they still rely on party old timers, journalists and bureaucrats to work out a communications strategy. Professional advise in election management is still not a very popular way. Therefore, most of the times, the quantity and quality of communication is way off the mark. Some political parties in India have recently begun consulting outside professional marketing experts to understand the mood of the electorate, plan communications/advertising, & manage news media in order to mobilize public opinion in its favour. Definitely they see wisdom in using marketing for victory in the elections though political pundits may not agree with the effectiveness of the political marketing process.

Gurinder Singh Ahluwalia
Marketing Consultant
Chandigarh
anahadmc@gmail.com