In February, I had said that perhaps L K Advani’s online campaign was going a bit overboard in terms of visibility. The campaign started in January with banner ads in every possible website an Indian would visit. I remember seeing it in the online versions of Wired, Dawn Pakistan and even Smashing Magazine. The strategy: appeal to the youth of India – quite like HMT trying to appeal to the Fastrack audience, without changing it’s product, as I had said in (ahem!) Livemint. The online campaign was also aimed at the hardcore BJP supporters, the great Indian middle class. I admit that there was a time, when I was attracted to the BJP. But even for the staunch supporters, it was an overkill. They did have to be over-sold about BJP & Advani.
Both in the paid & unpaid media, what I remember of the BJP campaign was the tone of negativity. They called the PM names and generally rubbished everything. It could have worked if they had a credible story to offer and if the people felt that there was a huge shortcoming with the current government. And too much negativism can be tiring. Much like comparative advertising that hits below the belt in a category where the consumer doesn’t find too much wrong with the leading brand. Having said that, the online campaign was a concerted effort and it was refreshing to see Indian politicians take to new media. Of course, if the BJP had won, it would have been hailed in media (and blogs like these) as the next best thing to sliced bread. So while the online part of the campaign was well-orchestrated, did it help change the perception of the brand among the youth? Was it in sync with messages in other media? Do comment.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Though the BJP government tried their level best to appeal to the youth, they failed in every corner. Some reasons could be as follows:
1. Unlike the Congress, which is full of young bloods such as Rahul and Priyanka, the BJP comes off as a defecated old hag.
2. Despite the polishing BJP is like an old ambassador, no matter how much you polish and scrub, it would never become a Maruti per say.
3. Lets be more honest here, BJP’s history is also not exactly something we are so proud off.
4. Even though, at the end, the government is full of bureaucrats with dirty pasts and habits, we have people like Mr. Manmohan Singh, who by far are noble and respectable men, and ultimately it is these handful who are making the difference.
I’m sure their are plenty of arguments around what’s right and what’s not, all I know is we need people for the people. Simple.
On Advertising.
This stunt pulled by the BJP to sneak in every possible web space might have been a good idea, but if the product sucks – no one is buying. It clearly shows advertising as a stand alone doesn’t stand a chance.
http://www.cockybox.com/
Cheers
My views are close to yours
Check Zero For Advani 2.0
cheers
Hmmm… It seems the comments I added got lost in the digital world. Any how, here they are again.
I had just finished reading this post and http://rahuljauhari.com/2009/05/17/zero-for-advani-20/ came up.
Now that I have read both, here’s what I see:
1. Advertising alone doesn’t stand a chance. The product must be at par. So even though they were in every nook and corner on the web, it didn’t go down all that well.
2. Copying a western concept is all very well, but that alone is not the answer – Obama case.
3. All the negativity wasn’t exactly icing on the cake either.
4. And lastly – no matter how hard you scrub and polish an old defecated ambassador, it will not become a BMW
http://www.cockybox.com/
Rahul, HPS – thanks for the comments. Check out: this article from Swapan Seth
Nice article by Swapan Seth. I guess, at the end, everyone is saying the same thing.
http://www.cockybox.com/