Mediums, and the message
Political parties are using a mix of mediums to communicate with different voter segments…
While door-to-door campaigning and political rallies continue to be the mainstay of election campaigns, political parties in India are looking at advertising campaigns across media platforms to reach the elusive voter, especially in urban areas.Political parties are now more focused in their marketing strategies, and communication campaigns are going beyond reinforcing the party symbol.Effectiveness of using various mediums for the political parties in India:
Television
Although India’s 115 million television households (75 million of them cable and satellite homes) make TV an ideal platform for any advertiser who wants to reach a mass audience, the medium has failed to click for political advertising campaigns.
The combined spending of the two major political parties—Congress and BJP—on TV is Rs60 crore, or 15% of the Rs400 crore advertising budget (for all political parties in the fray), for the ongoing assembly elections in six states.Advertising experts believe it is because TV does not give political parties enough bang for the buck. A 10-second spot can sell for anywhere between Rs5,000 on a regional language channel to at least Rs1.5 lakh on a popular channel during prime time, say media buyers, while other platforms such as radio and outdoor are as effective and cheaper.
With 400-plus TV channels, 60-70% of which are regional language channels, TV does hold potential—if used intelligently.
Radio
Radio is a localized medium that reaches out to 19 crore listeners (above the age of 12) and unlike print and TV, where there are time and space restrictions, radio allows parties to actually communicate to listeners in their language.
Radio accounted for Rs20 crore of the Rs400 crore political advertising budget. The Congress took six radio spots, the BJP took three.
Reaching out to 23% of the population, radio may be a more effective and cheaper medium.
Digital
The digital media makes up at least 10% of the advertising budget of political parties.
With 40 million Internet users and Internet penetration in urban India at around 9%, the importance of digital media in political campaigns cannot be ignored. Add to that the fact that 100 million youngsters, half of whom live in urban India, are expected to cast their votes for the first time in the Lok Sabha polls next year, and the Internet emerges as a very useful tool to engage with young people.
On Facebook, for instance, a BJP group has 275 members who engage in discussions and post information on important dates and events related to the elections, while Congress leader Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh have their own communities built on the site, with 358 and 1,310 supporters respectively.
In addition, the two parties have engaged voters through video-sharing sites such as YouTube and video ads on popular websites such as MSN and Rediffmail.
The approximate cost for an extensive online campaign can be Rs1 crore over a month.
Print accounts for 40-50% of the Rs400 crore budget in the latest assembly elections.
India had 64,998 registered newspapers as of March 2007, with a total circulation of 190 million.
Experts believe the entire effort may be a waste. The quality of print advertisements is still very tacky. All it does is familiarize voters to their faces, so when someone does go to the poll booth, they might just recall the face and make a connection.
Outdoor
Hoardings, bus stands, mobile vans and floats have proved to be the most effective forms of communication and are used extensively by political parties. In fact, the outdoor medium gets a higher budget than television.
20% of the Rs400 crore advertising budget was spent on outdoor, while 15% was spent on television.
This platform connects with the rural population the best because it talks to them in the language they understand and is effective in delivering results.
Apart from effectiveness and recall, outdoor media is more cost-effective than advertising in the mainstream media.
For reading the full story on this, read the descriptive article by Priyanka Mehra in Mint here.
1 year ago
