NDA v/s Others: A Marketer's Perspective on the Election Outcome

As election results trickled in from across the country, I couldn't help myself but dive into the marketing and branding side of things. Since we all know the election results, we will save the readers' time by avoiding the mention of those surprising, and yet not-so-surprising outcomes, as that is not the purview of the blog. If you're expecting savage political undertones, let me disclaim this: It is not at all a political blog, but simply highlights a marketer's understanding pertaining to the dynamics of marketing and branding. Let's streamline the build-up of the copy, and come straight to the point(s):

1. A negative campaign doesn't deliver
Right from the onset of the elections, the opposition was on a negative overdrive for the ruling dispensation. While criticizing your competition's product is considered a somewhat witty approach nowadays, it doesn't really translate into your product being sold. Instead, the key focus must remain on the vision of your brand, your values, and your aspirations. The audience wants to know what difference you will make to their lives. Instead of telling them why they should not choose product B, the focus could have been on why to choose product C.

2. Only highlighting competitor flaws doesn't get you anywhere
Even if what you say stands true, you'll just end up passing on a message that your own brand has nothing substantial to showcase, and hence, you're constantly cribbing about a brand that has more market share. This is the very reason why campaign strategists must carefully analyze what worked in their favor previously and decide upon the focus points, tailoring them to the rapidly changing demographics.

3. Consistency in communication is a must
The winning strategy for any good marketing campaign is consistency in communication across all mediums. While the subject-matter can change, the key message has to remain constant. This is a sure-shot strategy to campaign success as it engraves your message in the minds of the masses so strongly, that it enables favorable action for your brand. Changing campaign names, deviation from key points of focus, diving into petty blame-games can all contribute into losing the plot, missing out on the bigger picture and as a result, burning of your very own Iron Throne.

4. Adapt your communication to influence specific geographical regions
You can't talk to a foreigner in Sanskrit now, can you? India is a country where after every few kilometers, the dialect changes. Hence, region-specific communication remains a crucial aspect of cumulating the credibility of your target audience. Kindly note: When I say “region-specific communication?, I don't just mean language. The region-specific communication that I am talking about is that of empathy, and understanding of where your target audience is coming from. Both - the psychographics and demographics of your target audience matters.

5. Communication should be relevant in the context of the target audience's expectation
Businesses succeed mainly because they listen to their consumers. Marketers who take the trouble of conducting frequent market visits—and talk to retailers, consumers and distributors—have a better sense of what the marketplace looks like. We all know that the Prime Minister remains incredibly popular amongst the masses. As most voters clearly identified him as the reason they were voting for BJP, the party's campaign was singularly focused on him, to the extent that Modi - and Modi alone - stared back from most of the party's billboards.

The Bottom Line
From a communication perspective, the fundamental nature of a democracy is perhaps best understood as a civic dialogue, an ongoing conversation between and among candidates or elected leaders and the citizens they lead or wish to lead. In this scenario, the only takeaway is to play your strengths and minimize your weakness.