The New Kingmakers?

Share It

The 2008 American Presidential Election is sometimes referred to as the ‘Facebook Election’. It is an early example of election candidates reaching out directly to their target audience through social media. In this instance, it was the American youth. In India too, the BJP’s win in 2014 is often attributed to its spirited social media campaigns that were made possible with the help of illustrious Indian advertising and marketing professionals. We have come a long way since then, and with the palpable evolution of the Digital world, came the evolution of election campaigns. So, don’t be too surprised if you happen to see your favourite influencer alongside politician on social media.

It is common to see celebrities and actors posing beside netas during poll campaigns, but in the run up to the Karnataka elections, we are seeing far less celebrities, and a lot more social media influencers sharing the screen space with the candidates.

The importance of the upcoming Karnataka elections cannot be underplayed. It is being called the bugle for political parties in India to gear up for the 2024 General Elections. Political parties have stepped up their Digital strategies, and are roping in social media influencers to not only create content, but to also amplify their messaging among the fan base.

We have seen growth in marketing spends towards influencer-led campaigns in India, giving brands organic reach and increasing product sales. Looking at the current trend, politicians are now turning towards influencers to bank on their fan base. According to experts, political parties are gearing up for the upcoming 2024 General Elections where influencer marketing campaigns will likely be a game changer. There is no better way to reach out to varied groups of people in your constituency. You are pretty much entering their personal spaces, on their phones, reaching out directly to the person at the other end and asking him/her for votes.

For the very first time, we saw Rahul Gandhi being interviewed by two social media influencers and content creators, Siddhaarth Aalambayan for Mashable India, and Kamiya Jani for Curly Tales, while popular content creator and influencer Shraddha Jain aka ‘Aiyyo Shraddha’ met Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Similarly, regional party leaders such as Aaditya Thackeray of the Shiv Sena were featured on Curly Tales. With more influencers and content creators amassing followers, politicians are beginning to engage with them for both political and apolitical purposes.

ASCI’s Influencer Trust Report, a survey conducted on 820 respondents above 18 years of age revealed that 91% of people trust advertising in general, and 79% of respondents trust social media influencers. Transparency and honesty stood out as the key reasons why consumers trust influencers on social media (63%), followed by relatable content (57%), and personal stories (53%).

Sumeer Mathur, Chief Strategy Officer, Dentsu Creative India says, “Before Rahul Gandhi, we saw the whole of Bollywood with PM Modi. In fact, his 2014 campaign kick-started with kite flying featuring Salman Khan. Social Media influencers bring their audiences and their personal credibility into the mix, much like they do for brands. They are increasingly used to create perceptions of popularity, and to impart associations that may not be inherent in the candidate.”

Commenting on Rahul Gandhi’s 20-week Bharat Jodo Yatra that covered 4080 km across 12 states, and the Union Territories of Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir, Mathur further says, “It feels natural as you follow the influencer, and they in turn connect with the candidate. In Rahul Gandhi’s case, they were clearly used to drive visibility of his yatra as most mainstream news organizations did not cover it. So it found its audience on ground and on digital media.”

Shudeep Majumdar, Co-founder and CEO of Zefmo Media says, “In the lead-up to the 2024 elections, we will see an even greater emphasis on social media and digital marketing, as politicians look to leverage the power of these platforms to reach voters, build support, and drive engagement. This will include more partnerships with social media influencers, as well as other forms of Digital marketing and advertising.”

He further says, “Politicians have recognized the potential of social media influencers in reaching key voter demographics and driving engagement on social media. In recent years, we have seen politicians partnering with influencers to reach younger voters, promote their platforms and policies, and create engaging content that resonates with a wider audience.”

According to Redseer Strategy Consultants, the marketing spend on influencers in India reached about $400 million in 2022, and is expected to rise up to $3.5 billion by 2028. The novel influencer marketing is the hot new strategy for almost all sectors of business. Politicians stand to gain hugely from such a strategy as ‘influencing people’ is pretty much the means to win votes.

When asked whether Mashable India has seen multiple interview requests from politicians, Siddhaarth Aalambayan, Head of Content, Videos and Brand Solutions - Fork Media Group, who has 13.3K followers on his Instagram page, while the Digital media platform has 367K subscribers on YouTube, says, “We have watched political journalists take the lead on political reporting. With the recent paradigm shift in audience behaviour, politicians, among other public figures, are now open to experimenting with new formats of content that can leverage a different side to their public personalities. We bring people’s lifestyles to the forefront at Fork Media Group.”

“Our teams coordinate as per identified schedules, which are often not set to a particular time period. Our interviews, whether it’s a request that comes to us or one that we make, intends on delivering fresh content to the masses,” he added.

Interestingly, unlike speeches and road shows, collaborating with a social media influencer unveils the humane side of a politician. Social media influencers have the ability to bring out the personal sides of these heavyweights, who are otherwise only seen through a political lens. This leads to reliability, likeability, and widens the scope of a politician’s personality. Case in point, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s conversation with Akshay Kumar, where the two spoke of eating mangos, among other things.

Will reach convert into votes?
The recent Pitch Madison Advertising Report projected that Digital medium (41%) will add Rs 8600cr to the AdEx, taking it up to Rs 43,000cr by the end of the year. According to experts who spoke to IMPACT, Rs 15,000-20,000 cr were spent by political parties in 2019 on advertisements. Political parties from Karnataka elections onwards are likely to invest 3-5% of their Digital spends on influencer marketing campaigns year-on-year, in order to bank upon the popularity of social media influencers based on demography and niche audiences.

Anup Sharma, Independent PR and Communications Strategy Consultant, says that regional influencers and apps will play a crucial role for politicians during the 2024 General elections. “There is an information overload and mistrust associated with traditional news media. The Digital natives spend long hours online watching other people/creator’s daily lives as they relate and engage with them. Some of these creators with a huge follower base have the influence to change the culture and create a movement.”

He adds, “Elections are won on perceptions; when people see a politician as one among them. But the young generation has little interest in politics, and to connect with these Digital natives, it is necessary for political parties to create perceptions in the present day by adopting new formats and platform-specific content, and aligning their approach, content, and tone with that of the creator’s. By collaborating with these influencers, politicians get to be part of organic conversations as creators bring out relevant topics that their followers care about, thus broadening the politician’s appeal.”

Naresh Gupta, Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Bang in the Middle cited examples of actor Akshay Kumar interviewing Narendra Modi, and the PM’s appearance in the show, ‘Man vs Wild’ hosted by Bear Grylls. He says, “The younger lot has stopped watching news or reading newspapers; it has moved online. The youth reads and listens to multiple people to form their opinion. Most of these are neither journalists nor thought leaders. They are people who simply have a channel that consumers connect with. With diminishing space that mass media is giving to divergent voices, parties are reaching out to influencers. At least in the short term, I see the same trend continuing.”

Often political interviews can backfire on the social media influencer due to ideological differences. Aalambayan says, “We have witnessed it in our recent interviews. Serving content to large audience cohorts makes us think twice, but it also keeps us on our toes in order to deliver what we as media are here for – bringing voices and perspectives that don’t always align with any particular ideology.

He adds, “From automobiles to technology, entertainment, and pop culture, we cover a range of topics that are our core content pillars at Mashable India. Pop culture has multiple legs and does get a fair share of backlash, but we are in the content business, so we know that the videos we create will draw multiple opinions, and we are open to hearing everyone out.”

Interactive Avenues handled paid Digital media for the national BJP campaign in 2014 and multiple state elections in 2014 – 2015. Shantanu Sirohi, COO, Interactive Avenues (A Reprise Network Company) says, “I would evaluate a social media influencer like any other celebrity campaigning for a party or candidate – they bring their own fan following. It doesn’t necessarily translate into votes as the Indian voter is well-informed, and the direction in which he/she swings has always flummoxed pollsters, journalists, and seasoned politicians alike.”

Influencing The Right Way
Apart from Mashable India and Curly Tales, Unfiltered by Samdish, a YouTube channel hosted by Samdish Bhatia, interviewed NCP leader Supriya Sule, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi during ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’, and multiple other state leaders such as Jignesh Mevani, Hardik Patel, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, MP Raghav Chadha of AAP, and MP Manoj Tiwari of BJP, among others. Bhatia is known for his unique freewheeling style of interviews that blurs the line between professional and personal, and is apt for the new-age, digitally inclined audience.

Tushar Panchal, Founder and CEO of War Room Strategies, an agency that actively works with national political parties in India, opines that spends on print will move towards Digital, from which 3-5% Digital spends will move towards influencer marketing campaigns. Panchal says, “Man vs Wild with Narendra Modi’ was a complete waste of time and resources. It did not show Narendra Modi as a real individual. He is a mass leader, but the entire exercise of showcasing him in the jungle did not bear any fruits. It was a bad selection of influencer and it was not a good idea.”

“Being a mass leader, neither Narendra Modi nor Rahul Gandhi need credibility from social media influencers. In a nutshell, social media influencers are a good vehicle to carry forward the messages, they add value by increasing the reach, but it will not help to convert people’s ideology or thought process. Much in the same way as political parties advertise on multiple news channels, social media influencers should also be used as another channel to take their message forward,” he adds.

When asked if the use of social media influencers by politicians will help gain organic reach and contribute to an image makeover, Surbhi Arora, Strategy Director - North, DDB Mudra Group says, “The likes of Samdish keep it authentic, and that makes the likes of me (who consumes mounds of content online) watch him, even if it is for a bit. A far more authentic alternative to a television ad where the presence of an influencer simply builds credibility.”

Arora adds, “With the collective that I see here, it’s a highly targeted group of Genzennials that Rahul Gandhi is going after, along with other untapped audiences. Their nationwide following will help extend his narrative to their followers, across platforms. As for an image makeover, it’s a bit much for Digital to solve that. Perceptions are built in real time and on a national scale.”

Often, agencies refrain from being directly associated with political parties in India due to ideological clashes, and being tagged as right or left wing supporters. Rohit Agarwal, Founder and Director of Alpha Zegus, says, “Politicians interacting with a social media influencer does not necessarily mean that the influencer is promoting the political party. The politician is using the influencers’ communication channels to share his or her thoughts and opinions, and connect with their audience. They have been doing the same over decades through talk shows, news debates, etc.” Agarwal then goes on to add that given the opportunity, he would love to have his influencers interact with politicians. However, he believes that it is important to keep it very clear that the influencer is not endorsing any party in particular.

Aanchal Arora, Co-founder of 1702 Digital, sums up social media strategies of political parties and says “Social media has become a powerful election campaign tool, both for collecting information and customizing messages to voters. To sum up the social media strategies, BJP and AAP have quite a strong and active presence. Even Congress has managed to build an extensive presence in a short span.”

“The Digital channels of BJP never run out of unique strategies, and keep followers and volunteers active. The content is spread in such a way that it returns to its point of origin. Congress follows a very simple and straightforward strategy on social media. They are very selective in terms of promoting leaders. AAP on the other hand has launched several initiatives on Digital media, and the party communicates with its followers with transparency. Today, successful strategies rest on the innovative use of social media, a trend that has driven voters increasingly invested in politics and parties,” she adds.

Manisha Singh, Co-founder and Director of Maximus Collabs says, “Influencers should put forth what is important to know in the form of information to the masses in an unbiased manner. There is a very big difference between an Influencer and a Promoter. Any influencer trying to become a promoter with biased opinions is bound to either lose credibility or a share of the audience.”

IMPACT reached out to BJP, Congress, and AAP regarding their strategies for using social media influencers during political campaigns. The spokespersons remained unavailable for comment.

India has become the most populated country in the world, overtaking China, which indicates that over the coming years, Digital platforms will be flooded with more and more Indians. It is only a matter of time before the majority of election campaign budgets move to Digital, with Social Media Influencers as the neo-celebrities, joining political camps, and disseminating political promises.