BJP's Marketing Campaign- An Analysis

I will admit it is easy to do this after the results are out. Cynical that we are, we don't believe anything before the event.

There were a few good things in the ad campaign run by the BJP. It used the name of the 'product' in the ad, like the Nirma ad does (multiple times). Even Alia Bhatt remembered the words, the jokes apart. This is a strategy recommended by many experts on communication, including David Ogilvy.

The campaign was easy to remember, and talked of a few things in simple Hindi, ending with- janata maaf nahi karegi (the voters will not pardon you), highlighting the competition's weak points. Comparative advertising adapted to politics.

By comparison, the Congress campaign was unable to portray the future too well, and kept harping on inane generalities (at least in retrospect). It also could not offer any convincing explanation for the perceived ills of its second term, such as inflation and corruption. The leadership also appeared weak, in comparison to the BJP's candidate for PM.

Of course, the Social media, and some combination of hi-tech and low tech elements of the campaign (like Chai pe charcha, and 'hologrammed' rallies of Mr. Modi) also proved that innovation can work. Integrated marketing communication in action.

The (good) product can sometimes sell itself, but good marketing helps multiply sales.




Learnings Over 40 Years

 The first step after my MBA in 1984 was into advertising, and then into Marketing Research. Followed by a trip to the U.S. that lasted 5 ye...

These Were Liked a Lot