Elections 2009: Ad campaigns finally making politics ‘cool’ in India

With the country in the grip of election fever, it’s not just political parties that are busy with their campaign plans. Various media and corporate houses have joined the poll bandwagon with ad campaigns specifically aimed to draw out the voters and shed their apathy. exchange4media attempts to evaluate these campaigns.

e4m by exchange4media Staff
Published: Mar 9, 2009 8:13 AM  | 4 min read
Elections 2009: Ad campaigns finally making politics ‘cool’ in India

What is common among the Lead India 09 campaign, the Idea cellular ‘Janta ki Awaaz’ campaign, and Tata Tea’s ‘Jaagore’ campaign? No prizes for the right answer. All the three campaigns are aimed at motivating Indians to vote in the coming elections and voice their opinions.

Given the importance of the participation of every Indian in the nation-building process, and the fact that a huge chunk prefers to stay away from the polling booths, these campaigns have assumed significance. How much the political parties will use these strategically to their advantage in their own campaign plans remains to be seen. exchange4media takes a look at these campaigns that aim to make politics ‘cool’, especially for Gen Next.

The big idea

Elections in India, especially Lok Sabha elections, assume blockbuster proportions. Hence, any ad campaign launched around the idea of elections, gives it tremendous mileage. If an issue like exercising one’s voting rights is popularised as part of a social awareness campaign, the brand gets a very high top of the mind recall and also gets to connect with the vast milieu of consumers through the voters.

As put across by an experienced media professional, “The whole idea of reminding people about their only chance to change things for the better binds them together, and thus gives the brand a better consumer connect.”

A changing mindset

The next obvious question is, why now? There definitely has been a change in people’s mindset, where they have a growing urge to be more participative, especially after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, and it is this desire for interactivity that is getting reflected in today’s ads. It is this desire for participation as a consumer or a citizen that is being captured by most of today’s marketers and advertisers.

Then there is the growing dominance of the youth population of the country, who are being actively pursued by not just marketers but politicians as well. Even the octogenarian politicians have overnight donned the roles of netizens and bloggers to have a better connect with the youth.

Today’s youth needs to be reached through their media – the New Media – and that is perhaps the reason for the success of Jaagore.com. MTV’s programme on youth, called ‘Youngistaan’, is also seen popularising the voting issue.

Besides the youth, there is a discerning mass of young affluent Indians belonging to the SEC A and SEC B categories, who are been targeted through these campaigns.

Party campaigners join the youth bandwagon

A massive turnout of first time voters along with the growing popularity of politics itself had led US President Barack Obama make history with his “Yes we can” campaign. In India, too, parties have started stressing on the youth factor and voter turnout issue in a big way. Both these issues have been bolstered in a big way by the ad campaigns. In order to reach this huge voter group, political parties are slowly beginning to experiment with New Media for the first time.

Ranjan Bargotra, President, Crayons, noted, “All the parties have joined the youth bandwagon. The parties do see a point in campaigning in line with this growing urge for participation. As an agency for the Congress party, we will work on the issue of youth connect. There is definitely a credibility factor attached to the party youth icon, and to some extent everybody is trying to make that connect irrespective of the age of their leaders.”

Whether these ad campaigns and political campaigns in the process of capturing the changing mindset and shifting the momentum towards greater participation have been able to create a better brand connect or not remains to be seen. But, they have definitely given politics an image makeover and made it ‘cool’ to talk politics.

Also read:

Elections 2009: Congress gets its war cry in ‘Jai Ho’, thanks to Percept

Elections 2009: News channels gear up for the great Indian poll show

Elections 2009: Big budgets, big tie-ups, big stakes

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E4M Our strategy is to target younger audiences through Sports: Rajiv Dubey, Dabur

The Head of Media at Dabur India spoke exclusively to exchange4media on the World Cup, associating with Indian Idol, the company’s digital spending and much more

e4m by e4m Staff
Published: Oct 27, 2023 6:15 PM  | 1 min read
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With quirky campaigns, memes and moment marketing, timed with the ongoing World Cup and particularly the India-Pakistan matches, Dabur India has got considerable consumer attention for its popular brands – Red Paste, Cool King Hair Oil, Chyawanprash, Dabur Vita and the recently launched Bae Fresh Gel toothpaste.

The 140-year-old company is going big on key sporting events, World Television Premiere (WTP) movies and reality shows. It is now gearing up to become the title sponsor of popular talent show ‘Indian Idol’ on Sony TV for the first time, shared Rajiv Dubey, who leads the media strategy at Dabur.

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Swapan Seth's new book 'COOL' is out

The book is a reflection of the author's 'eclectic taste across categories'

e4m by e4m Staff
Published: Oct 27, 2023 6:07 PM  | 1 min read
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Advertising professional and art collector Swapan Seth has announced the launch of his new book COOL. The book is described as "a ready reckoner to the hip and the happening, of the known and the very unknown."

The book is a reflection of the author's "eclectic taste across categories: from boltholes to exotic hideaways."

COOL has been published by Simon & Schuster India and is available on Amazon.

Seth is an ad veteran with a long and illustrious career in the industry. He became the youngest-ever Creative Director at Clarion at age 24. He was VP at 26 at Trikaya Grey. Two years later, he started his agency Equus.

He writes for publications such as The Economic Times, Hindustan Times and India Today. This is his second book and he has previously published THIS IS ALL I HAVE TO SAY.

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Disney Star signs 9 sponsors for Asia Cup PAK

Charged by Thums Up, Nerolac Paint+, Amazon Pay, Jindal Panther, My11Circle, MRF, Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5, Wild Stone and Thums Up come on board

e4m by exchange4media Staff
Published: Aug 26, 2023 11:48 AM  | 1 min read
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e4m Staff Disney Star has signed nine broadcast and digital streaming sponsors for the upcoming Asia Cup.

Charged by Thums Up, Nerolac Paint+, Amazon Pay, Jindal Panther, My11Circle, MRF, Samsung Galaxy Z Flip5, Wild Stone and Thums Up have come on board for the upcoming tournament.
As reported earlier by exchange4media, Disney Star has sought Rs 26 crore for the co-presenting sponsorship on TV and Rs 30 crore for Disney+ Hotstar.

According to industry sources, the associate sponsorship on Star Sports has been priced at Rs 19.66 crore, whereas for the ‘powered by’ sponsorship on Disney+ Hotstar, the broadcaster is seeking Rs 18 crore.

As per the information available with exchange4media, Disney+ Hotstar has three sponsorship tiers-- co-presenting (Rs 30 crore), powered by (Rs 18 crore) and associate sponsorship (Rs 12 crore). The broadcaster is offering an estimated reach of 120-140 million for co-presenting sponsors, 90-100 million for powered by and 60-70 million for associate sponsorship.

A spot buy for 10 seconds has been priced at Rs 25 lakh for the India vs Pakistan matches, while for the non-India matches, the ad rate for 10 second is Rs 2.3 lakh. The India matches plus the final for ODIs has been priced at Rs 17 lakh per 10 seconds.

Asia Cup is scheduled to be held from 30 August, 2023, to September 17, 2023.

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Sorted 360 wins creative & social media mandate of Reliance Mall

The agency will manage offline and online campaigns for Reliance Mall

e4m by exchange4media Staff
Published: Aug 26, 2023 10:54 AM  | 1 min read
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Sorted 360, an integrated creative and social media agency, has won the mandate to providing brand solutions for Reliance Malls across India.

“Sorted 360 is set to enhance Reliance Malls' market presence with their unparalleled creative prowess and strategic thinking,” read a press release.

“Sorted 360's commitment to pushing the boundaries of creative communication aligns perfectly with Reliance Malls' ethos. With a pan-India presence spanning across 19 cities and growing, Reliance Malls has consistently captivated customers by offering an array of Reliance brands and third-party fashion & lifestyle brands. The mall has established an unparalleled connection with its patrons through superior quality, a remarkable value proposition, and an unmatched shopping experience,” it read further.

"We are thrilled to welcome Sorted 360 as our trusted partner in advancing our brand presence across the nation," said the Head of Marketing at Relaice Malls. "Their proven expertise in retail, shopping center management, and innovative creative strategies make them the perfect fit for our vision."

"Partnering with Reliance Malls is a testament to our commitment to shaping extraordinary brand experiences," remarked Prerana Anatharam, Co-founder of Sorted 360. "We are excited to leverage our strategic and creative acumen to further elevate Reliance Malls as the epitome of convenience, choice, and excellence."

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e4m by exchange4media Staff
Published: Aug 25, 2023 4:39 PM  | 1 min read

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e4m by exchange4media Staff
Published: Aug 25, 2023 4:38 PM  | 1 min read

KlugKlug onboards Hemang Mehta as Country Manager for Indias

Mehta was most recently Head of Agency Relationships at Network 18 Media & Investments

e4m by exchange4media Staff
Published: Aug 24, 2023 3:35 PM  | 1 min read
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KlugKlug has appointed Hemang Mehta as its Country Manager for India.

Mehta will play a pivotal role in driving KlugKlug's growth and expansion within the Indian market and be responsible for Sales & GTM Strategy

Prior to that, he has also represented organisations like Exponential (now VDX.tv), India Today Digital and Rediff.com. His expertise spans various domains including digital media sales, mobile marketing, media planning, and buying, social media marketing, and more.

Hemang Mehta expressed his enthusiasm about joining KlugKlug, saying, "I am thrilled to be a part of KlugKlug, a forward-thinking platform that is reshaping the influencer marketing landscape. As much as I look forward to collaborating with the exuberant team at KlugKlug, I am super excited to interact with the brands to deliver powerful data-backed Influencer solutions that will guarantee business outcomes."

Commenting on the appointment, Kalyan Kumar, Co-Founder and CEO of KlugKlug, stated, "We are excited to welcome Hemang Mehta to our team as the Country Manager for India. His extensive experience in digital media sales and marketing will be instrumental in driving our efforts to provide influencer marketing solutions to our clients. We believe Hemang's leadership will be key in scaling our operations and expanding our reach within the Indian market."

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