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. 

Has India chosen a clever & lazy bunch of leaders in 2014?

 “In my business of research, economies of scale don’t exist” says Franz Huner CEO & Chairman of the Swiss Pharma giant Roche. According to Hurner, Competitive advantage lies in the ability to create an economy driven not by the cost efficiencies but by ideas and intellectual know-how. Therefore the task of a great leader is to create an environment in which ‘clever people’ can thrive. These people are the handful of persons whose ideas, knowledge and skills give them the potential to produce disproportionate value from the resources provided to them. [Source HBR]

Martin Sorrell, CEO WPP, a leading most communications services firm in the world also backs creativity over capital for greater returns on investment, says,”One of the biggest challenges is that there are diseconomies of scale in creative industries. If you double the number of creative people, it doesn’t mean you will be twice as creative.” Reminiscent of too many cooks spoil the broth? One defining characteristic of clever people is that they do not want to be led, a red alert for you leaders. Clever people don’t plan their pension; they know their value and expect everyone to recognize it.

The bad news is that all the resources and systems in the world are useless unless you have clever people to make the most of them.  As per Hammerstein-Equord view people can be divided into four groups based on their behavioral habits:

There are clever, diligent, stupid and lazy officers. Usually two characteristics are combined. So the groups are set as follows:

• Clever and diligent
• Stupid and lazy
• Clever & lazy
• Stupid and diligent 

Who would be the most undesirable group that must be avoided? Certainly the ‘stupid & diligent’ must be avoided and not entrusted with any responsibility as they will always cause only mischief. And the clever & lazy qualify to for the highest leadership duties, because the intellectual clarity and the composure necessary for challenging tasks would benefit for great positive outcomes.  Erich von Manstein was regarded as one of Germany’s best military strategist during World War II and Kurt Gebhard Adolf Philipp Freigerr von Hammerstein – Equord was Germany’s Chief of the Army High Command before Second World War.

India has twin advantage of political stability and relative democracy but faces enormous challenges of culture war led by Hindutva lobby, poverty, and population.  The rising inequality in incomes can’t be camouflaged with strident Hindu nationalism. Indian elections present an opportunity to people to select the desirable class of leaders to take India forward. 

The mass media due to its structure and the lack of knowledge & circumstances have never educated the voters about what type of leaders people should elect that would help India march forward and develop a competitive advantage. Justice Katju, head of Press Council had warned Indians about the poor quality of journalists in India and the need for citizens to avoid voting on identity factors and chose merit for sake of progress. But Indians & the mainstream media swept aside his views and got itself a new set of leaders. The quality of life in a country depends upon the leaders it elect. India has failed once again to elect a bunch that can take it forward. 

2014 Gen Elections: Politics of Anger Management

Bharat experienced slow economic & social progress, often described as a Hindu rate of growth, for most periods since 1947, when the British left India, until the present PM of India Dr Manmohan Singh, an economist, was discovered by distraught political leaders & handed over the critical task of managing economy.  Since 47, the caste-religion minded political class in India thought it imprudent to hand over the important ministries in union cabinet to professionals on merit alone without factoring in their social class.

The Chalta-hai & Aya-Ram-Gaya- Ram approach to politics in Bharat pushed it into turmoil by a staccato fix it style handling of economic policies. The trial & error attitude adopted by ruling elite led to chaos and brought it on the verge of exploding internally due to poverty, hunger & slow haphazard growth, as if the socio-political leaders had no choice available in front of them in operation in the West & Asia. Since the political elite were busy managing vote banks, the three other pillars of democracy decided to serve their own selfish interests than that of the citizens.

Bharat experienced rapid economic development much later than even south-Asian countries, due to reforms introduced by Dr Manmohan Singh & emulated by others. But this growth has tapered once again & may soon degenerate into pre-Manmohan- Singh- era level. Growth by itself is useless unless it is in right direction.  Cancerous growth looks amazing, in color pictures. A growth movement without direction does serious long term damage to a society because it can’t help one arrive at the desired destination.

The world has long accepted & imbibed the truth of best man for the job approach but Bharat continues to live by the rank opposite philosophy of any adult can do every job. That’s why you see exponents of yoga, a traditional physiotherapy regimen, lecture seasoned economists & industrialists on how to run economy & industry.  That is sure recipe for a long period of directionless Hindu rate of growth in Bharat.  Never been to school brand of swamis are not the major reason for chaos in Bharat. It’s the lack of right quantity of quality leaders that hurts most.

Though INC would have preferred to have another PM in 2009, in place of Dr Manmohan Singh, to balance various religious identities for compulsions of electoral politics, but Sonia Gandhi perhaps had limited choice to replace Dr Singh. But the second term as Prime Minister to a humble honest clean scholar from Sikh community has not helped political fortunes of Congress Party in mainly Hindu-heartland states in Bharat.

Political parties In Bharat seems to have divided along secular versus communal chasm. But this divide is facile as most political players keep trotting to either side as per convenience. The Congress party often calls its opponent BJP a communal party, but the majority population doesn't see much difference between the two. Bhajpa became a formidable political force by leveraging the Hindu pride. LK Advani led movement for construction of Hindu temple at the place of Mosque bore sweet fruits in India that prided itself of being a secular state different from religion based Pakistan & Nepal.  Advani & Vajpaye didn’t spend a single day in jail for leading the Hindu pride movement of Ram Temple and were rewarded by top leadership positions in the secular republic of Bharat. On the contrary, Shiromani Akali Dal, a party of Sikhs in Punjab, has not been lucky, as its leaders had to suffer a lot in the politics of Sikh pride.  

It is incorrect to credit BJP for resurrection of Hindu pride movement. The seeds of it were sown much earlier during the British raj. If triumvirate of Gandhi, Nehru & Patel had shown foresight by refusing to undertake construction of Somnath temple on priority in newly independent India and focused on economic matters alone perhaps India would have been a super power by now ahead of China? It confounds many why they took such a step when Europe & Asia were into thick of anti-religious sentiment fuelled by socialist revolution? Did India err in anger management of Hindus who were forced to live under non-Hindu empires for thousands of years?

Hindu supremacist organizations like RSS [Sangh] don’t condemn demolition of Babri mosque, Operation Bluestar, major riots of 84, 92 & 2002 etc in which minorities of Bharat suffered enormously. Most often such incidents are justified by Hindu political class as genuine acceptable reactions to atrocities inflicted on majority Hindus by minority Sikhs & Muslims. No Hindu politician has ever gone to jail for participating in such tragic carefully planned attacks on minorities in Bharat, though leaders & professionals from minorities have been routinely punished by various courts or mere suspicion alone. Chief Minister Punjab S Parkash Singh Badal has spent 17 years in jails as political prisoner, second only to Nobel laureate Nelson Mandela.

While India was busy managing the Hindu-angst, China raced ahead to become a global power of enormous magnitude. Despite huge population, equal to China, Bharat wins far few Olympic medals, Nobel awards and Oscars etc.  Wonder why don’t Bharat use available fora to stamp its strength on global scene?   The industry, with exception of few, still find it difficult to inculcate competencies required for success despite decades of protection, catalyzed further by liberalization ushered in by Dr Manmohan Singh. Failure of domestic industry majors, despite protections against global competition, in organized retail is clear proof of their lack of managerial strengths.

History is not created by those students who want stars on each page they write from every teacher no matter what. But by those who study very hard & work harder. Narendra Modi, CM Gujarat, a representative of RSS-BJP Hindu philosophy wants to be next PM of India in 2014 to, as he says so loudly and repeatedly, to rid India of economic mess created by Dr Manmohan Singh led government & put an end to pseudo-secular politics in India. He wants to make India like Gujarat that he claims is a model state in the world.

But is he the best man for the job or an average guy who will ask others to work for him & produce excellence? Can a good administrator be a great inventor or economist or engineer? Media has projected N Modi as a control freak, certainly not known for giving freedom to the team, a prerequisite for germination & nurture of excellence. Will Bharat once again opt for placating ‘outraged Hindus’ looking for suitable route for anger management by electing N. Modi? Could emergence of Aam Admi Party provide an alternative to India to vent its frustrations and take India forward towards a respectable image of a global democracy?  Perhaps the Congress party understands that India & Bharat are angry but it doesn't seem to appreciate who is more & why. 

Another Election Season in India. 2013-2014.

A republic is based on equality of citizens rather than domination of majority over minority or vice a versa.  

Modi campaign strategy of direct attack, commonly used in American electioneering, doesn’t suit a developing country with a diverse & fractured society. It may win over many semi-educated urban middle class voters, but it would surely aggravate the fissures in society. Besides it lacks the potential to benefit the rural voters.

Marketing strategists in India often sing the paeans of how an upstart Nirma took on mighty MNC brand Surf and took away a large market from right under its feet. To drive the point succinctly & with more emphasis, the citation is followed by another case that of Kwality -Walls vs the rest of India.  The audience & students feel motivated to know the outcome, though a little bewildered. The victory of home grown brands over the European empires on Indian soil or anywhere else is a rarity. Both the cases depict defeat of the behemoth HUL, which continues to be market leader in fmcg sector in India.

Political marketing borrows concepts, tools and strategies from commercial marketing and apply them to field of politics.  Cornerstone of political strategy is the campaign theme & communication strategy. The incumbent & challengers need to craft the political strategy in a manner that it could attain strategic balance between discrediting the opponents & creating positive image and goodwill for its programs and leadership. It looks easy on paper but its complex to design and implement with success.

Campaign theme must be designed keeping in focus the political agenda and profile of the citizen voters.  In a large diverse country like India, one theme doesn’t fit all, so a political player would do well to segment carefully and then make a suitable promise to convince the citizen voters to come out and vote. A great strategy would also require assessment of position of a player in the total market. A rank outsider can gain by adopting frontal attack strategy aimed at the market leader or the incumbent political party. But close competitors must avoid a direct confrontation because usually the lower positioned guy would lose more naturally. So what can number two do to become the leader? Go the Avis way, work hard & promise less. 

Education, Life & Change.

When a student from Chandigarh won Singapore Airlines Youth scholarship, few years back, it made a news.Many other bright Punjabis head abroad in search of good higher education as well as to escape the cut throat competition in India. You would agree that many Punjabis go to study abroad with an aim of completing education in the place they wish to work & live. Many bright Indians who enroll in IITs also head for foreign shores for further studies or employment. It would not be out of place to mention that none of Indian higher education universities figure of world's top 200 anymore. Perhaps the decay in India is not limited to quality of education only.

Education has long been considered as the most potent elixir for social mobility in a hierarchical society of India. Therefore middle class Indians, spend huge sums on higher education with hope to improve their employment prospects and consequent standing in the society. Almost 15 percent Indians go for higher education, part of that, a small section, head abroad to all sorts of countries & universities. The reasons could be rational, emotional or social for deciding upon the country or university one may chose to attend abroad.

As a child i recall visiting uncles & aunties to our home as an annual feature. It would be joyous occasion for all children as every visitors would bring some gifts that were not available in India. Although visiting relatives from Europe would bring more gifts than those from Africa. Punjab may geographically lie in India & Pakistan but Punjabis are found in almost every nook & corner of the world, including fastest growing country on Earth, Mongolia. You would be amused to know people from a couple of villages near Phagwara Punjab go to Philippines in large numbers to work as Money lenders. Many of them have been killed due to the nature of business and other social factors.

Most Punjabi boys want to go abroad for studies & work and the girls prefer to marry such men over the ones left behind to sit idle in Punjab. Actually most Punjabi boys who head abroad for studies join nondescript courses in unknown colleges. People don't go abroad for education, neither the join colleges here for sake of studies. Most would prefer to avoid the 'burden' of studies if they could. Visits any college in Punjab and you would know the sorry state of education here. Private colleges & universities particularly prefer to entertain the students than give them an opportunity to master a field of study.

So most Punjabi youth end up wasting their education years in useless colleges within India and abroad. This has led to creation of huge unskilled work force in India with fancy diplomas & degrees in their name. Those who head abroad, struggle there, for long years before finding their feet and majority of those who remain here end up on menial call center or front end sales jobs. Govt of India has launched an ambitious Skill Development scheme to arm the youth with necessary skills need for work but such initiatives would also fall flat like the Industrial Training Institutes set up earlier.

Education has the power to open the human mind and make a person lead a purposeful life so that s/he could change the world in which we live.  But absence of good education leads to perpetuation of status quo and decay of a nation. Can the call for changes in education system become top priority for India? Can political parties make it an issue of national survival? Well my guess is as good as yours. India faces more challenges from within that externally and good solid education can save it.

BJP- The Baggage Party !

2014 would be a watershed year for the BJP. Not for the RSS. Rival Congress may also escape unaffected by any outcome of 2014 elections too, as it has had a long tryst with India. If BJP wins 2014 national elections it may turn to hardcore Hindutva agenda and shower its proud parents with many gifts including a Grand Temple at Babri Mosque site. But if it loses the election then it may disintegrate before emerging into a new avatar.

India has definitely changed since 2009, but is it any different now than what it was in 2009? Though some vehemently would like us to believe that, but the facts need examination. According to the BJP, & opposition camp political parties, the UPA2 has failed to manage India completely. BJP want everyone to agree & approve their thesis that India is poor & faltering whereas Gujarat is rich and exponentially growing.  Well a part of body can’t be declared healthy if the heart & brains stop functioning. The heart & brains of an economy lie with the union government in Delhi.  Few strings pulled wrongly in Delhi could ruin any or all states’ economies.

BJP has to carry the load of its founding ideology, unlike Congress which has no such burden. BJP is an ideological party that exists to promote Hindutva agenda of RSS. Its core values of Hindutva simultaneously propel it forward and also obstruct its way to make an acceptable set of appeals to all sections of society in India. But the BJP hasn’t changed much over the years. BJP don’t have the freedom to micromanage & customize its core appeal at constituency level. Wise ABV knew the solution so he ruled India for a longtime by customizing the core ideology of RSS.

BJP steadfastly believe in strong leaders & leadership style. BJP behaves like a right wing masculine outfit and such behavior satisfies the emotional need of its loyal cadres. But such an appeal has limited scope only.  Some believe that passing on the baton from LK Advani to N Modi is a distinct change. But actually there is not real difference between LKA & NM, except the age gap. Ask any political marketing analyst to know that majority India feels threatened by Strong leaders & would like to avoid them.

INC, on the other hand, does not carry any burden to promote one ideology over the other. Congress is free to leverage even the Hindutva agenda, if it suits a situation in some constituencies.  Actually Congress uses many different appeals in various constituencies spread over length & breadth of India to enhance its prospects of grabbing power in each particular constituency. Congress under Sonia Gandhi is a different party than what it was under previous leaders. Moreover Sonia Gandhi cautiously avoids projecting Congress as a dominating & strong political force, which the INC actually is.

A political party with market orientation has greater chance of success in a democracy.  Selling and product oriented parties find it difficult to adjust their ‘offer’ to the dynamic needs of the citizen voters as they have to carry the burden of ideology & fixed image. If BJP could rebrand itself like Tony Blair's rebrand of Britain's Labour Party then it can reap the benefits. 

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. 

2013 would be a better year than the previous!

For God's sake hold your tongue, and let me love – John Donne

Well I am no astrologer but New Year has to be better than the previous or India could have its very own Indian Spring. Population growth of India is running far ahead of the GDP numbers. The unprecedented growth phase stretched roughly from 90s to 2010 has ended leaving far more people clueless about their future. The Hindu Right-Wing political groups represented by RSS clones like BJP are fast losing their patience to get another bite into power at Delhi. Never before youthful India fed & brought up on large doses of glamorous dreams through a lifestyle of entertainment want money for acquiring gadgets that it can’t seem to live without. The soup is further spiked by large number of youths from the destitute class struggling to live like their friends in the upper echelons as they too have access to same media as the consuming class.

The Elections in a democracy is like a game season. Politicians would be readying for 2014 which would put the affairs of the country on back burner. Political class disconnected from majority of population seeks to segment people on the basis of caste/religion than economic or regional factors. This results in obfuscation of economic issues and emergence of identity politics to garner the votes.  Political class in India is not media savvy so the fall into trap of Bollywood style image building depicting them as super humans capable of solving ALL problems facing the region and country. Religion in India is very entrenched in everyday life so use of religion in politics is customary in an election year.

Although India has time & again refused to elect leaders who present themselves as strong & powerful but politicians continue to project them as most powerful lords. I am sure no person with basic knowledge of marketing would believe that N. Modi’s victory in Gujarat elections has anything to do with his projection as the only ‘strong & able’ person alive in India. Modi victory is assertion of Hindu pride than his personal appeal. Such phenomena are prevalent in Punjab, J&K & many other states formed on culture identity of the people.

The 2012 could well be called as the year of Media-Manipulations rather than organic civil protests. It’s customary for media to go where the news is but in India media has demonstrated its ugly power of creating news where it wasn’t.  Taking a cue from Cyrus Barocha show 2012 was ‘the- year- that- wasn’t’ from the news media perspective. People would never have known Anna or Ramdev unless media provided them relentless coverage. Media funded by vested interests & need for sensationalism went on to organize many people protests on Dehi roads. The opposition parties also leveraged their right to oppose the govt by distract the ruling coalition from task of economic development. Therefore Indian audience had to face the double whammy of useless news & economic slowdown. The media & politicians played havoc with happiness & economic health of average Indians in 2012. Current year being closer to elections would not be any better though we pray to these monsters to let us leave alone. The UPA government didn’t allow full FDI in Newsmedia and attempted to control it which is not possible due to nature of the beast. So let’s hope that India may have a quieter 2013 so that people could get to live their life away from these monsters.

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.

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.

Political Advertising

Political advertising came into focus as a major determinant in political campaigning ever since Rajiv Gandhi’s advertising campaign designed by one of India’s leading advertising agency Lintas Bombay. Some of the popular campaigns such as that of Samajwadi Party’s campaign featuring Amitabh Bachchan & ‘Shining India’ of NDA failed to see the party through in elections. Generally political players when in power project their achievements & opposition takes to criticizing their work and make new promises.

As a political marketing researcher, may I suggest you the following;

1. One size do not fits all? Generally parties go for ‘one message’ for all the segments in the state. Please avoid this trap and carefully segment Punjab into rural or urban and other segmentation variables and have different suitable message for each segment. ‘India Shining’ campaign was good one but it was wrongly targeted at the unrelated segments. ‘Shining’ campaign was actually meant for urban audience but it was targeted on the rural population too with disastrous results.

2. Good work leads to good results! Chander babu Naidu’s government had done good work & had very encouraging media feedback too on his work but he lost. NDA under Atal jee had also done good work but could not hold on to power. Well, the research reveals that advertisements focused more on achievements may not be a good strategy. Therefore please see the weakness of ‘achievement argument’ and go for a new suitable communication strategy. SAD may focus on new promises rather discussing about past achievements in advertising campaign.

3. Winner’s curse: It’s better to start second to win the battle. Generally the incumbent party would begin the advertising campaign in right earnest before the challenger. Please wait for the challenger campaign to begin and then enter fray. Any student of psychographic profile of Punjabis would tell you that we have a serious issue of trust deficit. So when you claim success others immediately start searching for their share in the achievement & may develop a negative orientation. Therefore greater share of voice, without equivalent share of mind & heart may not lead to desired positive outcomes.

4. Floating versus Core? It has been established beyond doubts that a political player would do well in elections if they focus more on the floating voters against narrow concerns of the core followers. 

Political Marketing & might of salwar kameez

India is maturing into a reasonably functioning parliamentary system. Like other places the system would evolve organically to fulfill the desires of the people. As a student of political marketing i would like to point out the vacancy available for a secular national level party to keep the nation on track.

We have seen that whenever a secular alternative is offered to the citizens they have grabbed it with tons of hope. Recent elections like that in Orissa, Tamil Nadu & Bihar indicates towards same reality. So far as the right & left wing parties they would always have a marginal role to play before they dissolve into oblivion. Religion/Culture based parties would loose their already shrinking base with spread of scientific temper as a consequence of education. 

Congress seems to have given too much importance to Ramdev but i hope that the Congress knows fully well that Ramdev combined with RSS & rightist voters pose no significant threat to political fortune of congress. But if Ramdev gets together with a new secular party then congress would be under real existential threat. There is place for a second national level secular party in India as per the marketing logic and three years is a long period for an outfit to make a difference in our media soaked society. A saffron Ramdev is a lesser threat  to the political power of Congress but a salwar- kammez  wearing Ramdev would present a real a present danger to Congress. At least the marketing logic says so! 

Election forecast 2011

Market research in India faces many hurdles due to size, literacy, culture, & economic factors that lead to trust deficit which is difficult to manage statistically.  Political parties must go for long term behavior research to arrive at more accurate findings about the voting behavior of the citizens. But we have attempted a preliminary research through students in 5 states going for polls and the outcome looks like the following;

1. Left-wing parties would be voted out from Kerala & WB
2. Congress would remain in Assam & Puducherry
3. DMK has close contest but would get more seats than AIADMK
4. TMC would win WB

Voter Mobilization in State Elections

Five states are going for polls in April-May 2011 in India. Once again we shall see different pattern of voters turn out. Many believe that a high voter turn out during elections confers greater legitimacy to election results but specialists have different opinions about the subject.  In a first pass the pole system freedom to vote becomes a major issue than the percentage turn out.

Lower strata of society in India generally votes in greater numbers as compared to the other. There are many reasons for this, including ease of  management in getting these section out to vote. Middle class in villages tend to vote in larger numbers than in urban areas. Stake holders and experts feel satisfied with a turnover of around 60 percent in India. Though assembly elections generally have greater turn out than the general elections for the parliament.

Tamil Nadu would have higher turn out amongst the states. Let's not miss the point that dictators produce higher turn out in their countries during elections whereas democracies have moderate turnouts of around 50-60 percent.  Despite average age getting lower due to the demographic characteristics of India political parties still prefer to put greater stress on meetings & road shows as against mass media advertising.

Mass media adverting & marketing has the potential of changing the landscape of results in elections but no party gives prime priority to the use of marketing concepts & tools during elections. Political players still swear by traditional micro management of the elections despite drastic change in the profile of the voters.

Therefore we are deprived of great election advertising that could set a more consumer oriented agenda for the parties. Political players do not wish to change their feudal outlook and archaic behavior even in a youthful India of 21st century. They must be prepared for shock results in elections. The voter profile has changed and elections management has not which results into unexpected outcomes in elections. Its necessary for political players to give prime priority to marketing & advertising to get a desired outcome in elections.

Most election pundits have written an obituary  for the left parties rule in West Bengal but the results could be different. It would be a very close contest. scene is TN is no different, despite so much focus on corruption DMK alliance may get another chance to form a coalition government. AIADMK has nothing new in its plate for the voters, which could seriously hurt its chances. Challenger parties must offer new promises to attract voters to approve their agenda. Old agendas pandered about by equally ancient leaders would have limited appeal in a mass market. A party with sound core strategy built around 'New Promise' would attract greater number of fence sitters in an elections.

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. 

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.

Political advertising lessons from Haryana

Communications is part of the product experience. But still you millions of smart products failing in the market due to poor communications. And sometime poor products succeed on the basis of some great communications. Political parties also face the same situation in their pursuit of influencing the voters’ mind.

Before October 13 election day in Haryana most political pundits, and all Congress men, were talking about the sure shot victory of Hooda government. Strategically speaking Hooda government would have won the elections by better tally if they had not messed up their own campaign.

On September 1, 2009 my opinion on the possible defeat of Hooda government had appeared in the Times of India Chandigarh edition. And it has been proven. I still insist that political marketing should be left to political marketing professionals otherwise the political parties could lose a perfectly winnable election.

Hooda government had done good work and could have managed a better election result only if they had not gone for the ill advised Haryana No 1 campaign and would have maintained a low profile.

'Shining Claims' would not work in elections

World’s largest exercise in democracy 2009 edition

Month long exercise, having 5 phases, Indian General Elections 2009, to the 15th Lok Sabha- the Indian parliament, began on April 16 and closed on May 13, could rightly be called the greatest spectacle of democracy in the world. It was an opportunity for 714 Million eligible citizen consumers to exercise their franchise at 828,804 polling stations using 1,368,430 electronic voting machines across India to elect 543 Members of Parliament to sit in the lower house of parliament called the Lok Sabha. India’s first elections in 1952 had only 176 Million eligible voters. Whew.

Imagine 7 national political parties along with some 22 state level parties and a smattering of 1000 odd registered unrecognized political parties in the fray for voters’ approval. That’s some competition. Moreover the consumer side is no less amazing scenario for a marketing strategist responsible for the task of succeeding in such a market. The linguistic profile of India is as colorful as it gets. It has 22 officially recognized languages and 1500-2000 spoken dialects. This becomes a real challenge to the media professionals and political parties to bridge them all into few groups so as to target the advertising messages to the appropriate segments.

Literacy in India has been on the rise ever since first election. Compared to only 15 percent of the eligible voters during those times we had a much respectable figure of 54 percent for the 2009. Besides you have six major religions, caste divides, and few hundred very influential religio-cultural groupings that follow the community chief’s command as gospel truth and vote together as per the chief’s dictates. Even in more economically developed and globalised states like Punjab major political parties shudder at the idea of earning disfavor of such ‘Dera’ (literally translated as a settlement) Chief.

The election exercise involved an estimated expenditure of close to $ 3 billion by the political parties and the candidates. Don’t be surprised if the figure seems more than that of recently concluded elections in the United States. Well in the US you don’t have many astrologers to pay off to propitiate the Gods for a favorable outcome in the elections. And there were those mundane affairs like political advertising, transportation including air travel bills of the leaders, and off course some loose cash to share with the voters who eagerly wait for elections to bring some work and money into their lives. One survey indicated that even in the national capital of Delhi some 25 percent voters received the money for votes.

The Election Commission of India conducts and regulates the election process. They have implemented a model code of conduct for the political parties and politicians that include caps on election expenditure and the general conduct of campaigning. The restriction on media translates into a major expenditure allocation moving towards the television, away from the traditional print and other below the line media. The use of internet, mobile phone advertising and other digital media has been on the rise. The 400 million mobile phone base in presented a ready target for the short text based messages to the ever eager voters. There have been several technological innovations in the 2009 elections such as use of social media like Orkut, Facebook etc by the leading parties to attract and satisfy the younger interactive generation of voters. Lal Krishan Advani of the Hindu ultra nationalist BJP went on to leverage digital media with dedicated website a la Obama complete with a blog and blogger outreach program. In the din of election fever he conveniently forgot that media is the message. Digital space is not a suitable media fit for any narrow parochial message based on religion, culture, caste or national orientation. It is pure democratic space for all of us who find it easy to accept each other with open arms.

Main political parties Indian National Congress (INC) and Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) did not contest elections individually but as a group of parties with pre-poll alliance as most thought that none of them can expect to form a government on their own without forming some sort of a coalition with others.INC led the United Progressive Alliance whereas the BJP contested as National Democratic Alliance. It presented interesting communications challenges. Besides the plight of the marketing researchers who predict the elections outcome has been no less miserable. It is customary that in a country with powerful independent media the press would like to have their opinion on such issues like politics and elections with great zeal.

The Election Commission does not allow the media to broadcast or publish any opinion or exit polls during the election process to safeguard the possibility of swaying the public sentiment. But still media organizations as well as the political parties commission such polls to feed the 24x7 news channels. This time too, like in the 2004, most polls went completely way off the mark. Not even the Exit polls could predict the results with some degree of success despite being carried out by the world’s leading marketing research firms like AC Nielsen.

The Indian National Congress was the first political party in India to use a professional advertising agency for political advertising in 1989. Similarly leading advertising agencies were engaged by the political parties in these elections too. The Congress party had hired two advertising agencies namely John Walter Thompson (JWT) and Crayons to design its advertising campaign whereas BJP engaged Frank Simoes-Tag and Utopia for their campaign. The challenger BJP led NDA alliance went on attack with a negative advertising campaign. The incumbent stuck to largely defensive low profile positive messages.

The BJP talked about its ability to govern better and tried once again its Hindutva (Hindu Nationalism) based rhetoric but without much success. There were glaring contradictions in the message content and selection of media to disseminate the messages on the part of media strategist in the BJP’s war room. They used digital media profusely to convey its ultra nationalist agenda without any regard to the profile of the target audience. Educated Indians, particularly the youth, has global outlook and modern perspective on life. It is not possible to sell them such ultra nationalist policies as they are already living or aspire to live a modern materialistic globalised life without prejudices. Therefore it resulted in defeat of the party in major metros like Mumbai, New Delhi etc. In fact the political parties that broke away from BJP alliance or did not share their ultra nationalistic agenda have done significantly better than BJP or INC.

BJP had nothing ‘new’ in its message therefore it failed to excite the fence sitters. The congress party had a defensive low profile campaign with substantially ‘new’ offers in its promise to the voters in form of projecting Rahul Gandhi as genuine youth leader and the incumbent Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as the next prime minister. Well the economist Manmohan Singh with impeccable credentials of sincerity & humility, coming from a minority Sikh community does not fit the traditional profile of an Indian politician fit for PM’s office, offers quite newness in the promise to the electorate. INC did not even try to repeat the mistake of projecting India as a country on the threshold of becoming a super power as was done by previous NDA government in 2004 though its ‘India Shining’ campaign. Persuasion remains the objective for the political players during elections. The parties in general stop short of finding out what the electorate wants from them; instead they claim to know what people must expect from them.

The elections were unique in more than one way. Three leading commercial brands released social advertising campaigns to motivate voters to exercise their franchise and consequently build their own brands. Tata Tea’s Jagoo re (Wake Up) campaign, Idea cellular’s ‘Janta ki Awaz’ (Voice of people) and Lead India campaign of The Times of India group were directed to motivate the voters to cast their votes. Because large sections of middle class in India refrain from casting their vote due one reason or the other, major one being their lack of faith in the electoral process and its impact on their lives.

Indian elections are not contested on serious national issues alone. Different regions have their own local issues that take precedence over the so called national issues. The previous incumbent government of the UPA was subject to show of strength on the floor of the parliament when the major part of alliance represented by leftist parties choose to withdraw support as a consequence to the signing of the Indo-US civil nuclear cooperation agreement by the Congress led alliance. But still this crisis did not form the major issue in the elections. Cheap food rations still remain a vote catcher in this developing country more important than the deal. Some political parties openly distribute television sets other items and even cash to win the support of the electorate.

Another facet of Indian elections in the last few decades has been the rise of elite political families. BJP generally accuses the INC party for being led by the Nehru-Gandhi family. Current president of the INC is Sonia Gandhi whose husband, mother in law, grandfather has been the Prime Minister. Her son Rahul Gandhi and daughter Priyanka are tipped to be the next political elite. Although BJP has several leaders in its top positions who are promoting their children to inherit their political space. There are several political parties that operate like private family dominated organizations such as Shiromani Akali Dal led by Badal family that is in power in Punjab, AIADMK in southern state of Tamil Nadu is led by Karunanidhi, his sons, daughter and other relatives. INLD in Haryana belongs to Chautala family. Samajwadi party of UP is dominated by father son and uncle triumvirate of Mulayam yadav. RJD operates like personal property of Lallu yadav his wife and other family members. Shiv Sena of Bal Thakeray has his son in command. There are others parties that swear by one or other leader’s legacy making elections in India as more of a personality dominated affair rather than issue based service organizations. This leads to almost complete obfuscation of people’s issues and their genuine needs.