The Politics of Advertising

Share It

With just a few weeks to go before the general elections, social media is heating up with war cries and funny jibes by the two leading contenders – the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress-backed Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA). Last month, BJP took a dig at the alliance with its viral ‘Dulha Kaun Hai’ campaign, featuring look-alikes of senior leaders, including, Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, Arvind Kejriwal, Mamata Banerjee, Lalu Prasad Yadav, Tejashwi Yadav, and Akhilesh Yadav, fighting to marry a prospective match. On the other hand, the Indian National Congress (INC) has released bite-sized spoofs against the BJP, pointing out the failures of the party that has been in power for two terms. In one of the ads, the INC is seen hosting a press conference, showcasing the effective use of BJP laundry detergent and washing machine, which washes away all ‘frauds’ of its candidates.

This intense rivalry between the two largest national parties is not new. They have been at loggerheads since the late 80s, and early 90s when BJP found its footing, away from the shadow of Janata Dal, on the back of its strong Hindutva politics. Janata Dal, founded by Jayprakash Narayan, vehemently opposed the Indira Gandhi government during the tumultuous Emergency era.

The party won the 1977 elections but soon disintegrated due to internal rifts, leadership struggles, coalition dynamics, and corruption allegations, paving the way for BJP’s emergence as a national party. For most people in India, general elections have always been a straight fight between the two. Both parties have used mass media extensively to keep the battleground of public opinion constantly engaged – employing a mix of traditional and modern communication channels to sway voters and solidify their respective bases. But today, the story is a little different.

Where it all Began
The first major battle between the Congress and the BJP was fought during the elections of 1991. The saffron party, supported by Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) was gaining prominence in the political world on the back of its radical Hindutva ideology. Additionally, the economic reforms initiated in 1991 provided a fertile ground for the BJP to articulate its vision for development and governance, further enhancing its appeal to voters. According to reports, it was the first time that a party campaigned competitively on a national scale, close on the heels of the Congress party, which at the time was a behemoth.

In the 1991 elections, BJP worked with R K Swamy BBDO to catch the Hindu imagination with an elaborate print and on-ground campaign around Ram, Roti, Insaaf. The party further attacked Congress and other parties for corruption and promised to bring in Ram Rajya. Additionally, VHP supported the cause of Hindu unity and the construction of the temple at Ayodhya. Their advertisements also aimed at arousing the Hindus to unite and vote for the BJP.

On the other hand, Congress was also revamping its ad strategies after two high-decibel negative ad campaigns in previous Lok Sabha polls. One of the advisors to Rajiv Gandhi, Sam Pitroda, had written on his website, “We hired a new ad agency. In the previous election, which we had lost badly, we ran a series of negative ad campaigns depicting animals fighting, to convey how the other parties would never be able to create a stable government.” Congress spent upwards of INR 5.5cr on a print campaign created by Clarion Advertising Services, while Megacorp Advertising handled the magazine campaign. Graphisads was involved in the printing of posters, and Basic Four worked on other campaign material. The newspaper campaign used a testimonial approach representing the target segments testifying their need for Congress government. The concept was to use children, a theme commonly used in political advertising to provoke an emotional response.

However, after the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, the campaign shifted focus to his life and sacrifices for the country. The aim was to arouse sympathy for the party using press advertisements, posters, and a video film.

According to Operations Research Group (ORG), Congress spent INR 4.5cr. on press advertisements only, which was five times more than what the BJP had spent. As per several other reports, Congress would have spent more than INR 20cr. for the complete campaign that year.

While Congress came out triumphant in these elections, the BJP increased its vote share massively from 1984– from two seats to 120, in its first independent general election after the disintegration of the Janata Dal.

Fanning the Flames
What the country saw between 1984 and 1991 was just the tip of the ad-war saga that was to follow in the coming decades. BJP had already established itself as a capable national party and worthy opponent to Congress by the 1996 Lok Sabha elections. Under the leadership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the party shifted its focus from Hindutva to development-focused growth.

On the other hand, Congress, too, was blooming as it brought in landmark economic and social reforms under the leadership of PV Narasimha Rao. Yet, at the same time, the party was notoriously in the spotlight for multiple scams that came to light just ahead of the then-general elections. It was the first time that Congress was fighting an election without the leading presence of a member of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty. It was also the first time since the early 80s that INC walked into an election without the help of a professional ad agency.

For the BJP on the other hand, Vajpayee became the central theme for their electoral campaign, designed by Crayons Advertising along with others. A strategy we are all too familiar with in today’s time. The campaign had a focus on five major planks: ‘suchita, suraksha, swadeshi, samrasta, sanskritik rashtravad’ (cleanliness, national security, economic nationalism, social equality, and cultural nationalism). The war cry came in the form of the popular slogan ‘Bari Bari Sabki Bari, Abki Bari Atal Bihari,’ which was coined at a Lucknow political rally in 1996. The party launched a high-voltage media blitz using posters, pamphlets, banners, badges, TV clips and press advertisements, attacking Congress.

Rivalry Takes centre Stage
What seemed like a change in the political discourse for the country in the 90s, turned into a full-blown battle between Congress and the BJP at the turn of the century. In 1999, the political war had become a direct fight between the faces of both national parties – Sonia Gandhi (Congress) v/s Atal Bihari Vajpayee (BJP). In 2004, the dual-party system was well-established, with no other party nearing the dominion of these two. Their ad campaigns for the general elections displayed the same. It was BJP vs Congress.

While BJP led with the very popular ‘India Shining’ pitch – an accidental election campaign, as claimed by its creator at Grey Worldwide – Prathap Suthan. The campaign was created to promote Indian PSUs, months before the elections. But because the slogan became very popular, the party leadership decided to translate it into regional languages and use it as their main election campaign. In Hindi, it became ‘Bharat Uday’, which later turned into Bharat Uday Yatra led by BJP veteran, LK Advani.

Prathap Suthan, currently the Managing Partner & CCO of BangInTheMiddle tells us, “The India Shining campaign was done on the advice of a British finance company to boost the national economy. Back in 2003, we had all the macro-economic indicators in the right place yet the economy was not showing expected growth. That’s why, the idea was to inject optimism into the common people and boost the stock market. And it did deliver on that aspect.”

Congress used the moment to question the viability of this urban-focused campaign for the common people of the country. Created by Leo Burnett , the ‘Aam Aadmi Ko Kya Mila’ campaign highlighted the misses of the long-standing BJP government. The campaign was conjoined with the party slogan of ‘Congress Ka Haath Aam Aadmi Ke Saath.’

Arvind Sharma, who is currently an angel investor, independent director, and visiting faculty at IIT Bombay & IIMA had worked on this campaign at Leo Burnett. He shares, “In late February 2004, when we were summoned by Congress with elections just weeks away, the Congress was a profoundly demoralised party. Their request was simple – assist them in winning 110 seats and the UPA in securing 140 seats, so that they may live to fight another day. BJP’s ‘India Shining’ campaign was ubiquitous, brow-beating the public into believing that the UPA had excelled. What I had to do was recognise the disparity between the reality and the glossy façade of ‘India Shining.’ The ‘Aam Aadmi Ko Kya Mila?’ campaign was an easy and natural answer that popped into my head!”

In 2009, the parties locked horns once again, and they fought each other with personalised renditions of the Oscar-winning song ‘Jai Ho.’ The rights to the song were purchased from T-series, reportedly by their agency Percept, and recreated by JWT (electronic), and Crayons (print). While Congress officially bought the rights to the song to launch an eponymous campaign, BJP created a spoof video ‘Bhay Ho’ to counter the claims in a campaign created by Frank Simoes-Tag and Utopia.

The Rise of Brand Modi
The 2014 general elections completely transformed the way election campaigning is done by the parties. A clear-cut media strategy, amplified using the newfound power of social media, modern communication tools, sophisticated imagery, and a sharp focus on one personality – the sixteenth Lok Sabha polls became a marketing case study. BJP led this wave.

The ‘Abki Baar Modi Sarkar’ created by Soho Square from Ogilvy, led by the iconic adman Piyush Pandey became one of the prime reasons behind BJP’s landslide success during the elections. The campaign pushed Narendra Modi as the leader for tomorrow, riled with nationalistic fervour, and dedicated to development while criticising the misses of the previous Manmohan Singh-led Congress government. This campaign was created by TAG from McCann WorldGroup.

According to data by the Election Commission (EC), BJP had spent upwards of INR 714cr. on this campaign (along with assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha and Sikkim). Congress had spent INR 516cr.

The dynasty party used the 2014 election campaign to build on its promises of supporting the youth of the country along with other development-focused initiatives under the campaign ‘Main Nahi Hum.’ They also launched an anthem ‘Har Hath Shakti, Har Haath Tarakki.’ The advertisement also mocked Narendra Modi’s Gujarat model of development and spotted a punch line — ‘No hand has a magic wand that can be waived to achieve progress.’ US-based Burson-Marsteller, JWT and Dentsu India, a Japanese publicity agency, were given contracts to provide an image makeover for the party and its vice-president Rahul Gandhi.

In 2019, tables turned as Congress took a more aggressive approach against the ruling party, talking about their shortcomings in the previous term. Their ‘Ab Hoga Nya,’ the theme song, was penned by Javed Akhtar and the campaign video was filmed by Nikkhil Advani. Percept Edge was the main agency behind the high-decibel campaign while the campaign was designed by digital media firm Silver Push. All this, while the BJP promoted Narendra Modi on the back of work done in the previous tenure in the ‘Phir Ek Baar Modi Sarkar’ campaign. The agencies working on BJP’s accounts at that time were Ogilvy, Moving Pixels and McCann WorldGroup. The media mandate was with Madison.

Decoding the Transformational Journey
Looking at the last ten years and how political advertising has shifted is quite interesting. First of all, the general face of electoral wars has transformed with Congress losing its sheen as a worthy opponent to BJP. This eventually led to the formation of INDIA bloc last year with forty parties including Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, Communist Party of India (Marxist), All India Trinamool Congress, Communist Party of India, and Rashtriya Janata Dal to name a few. Overall, it’s one person, Modi and one party, BJP, standing against the rest.

Further with digital media reigning supreme, mobile phones have become the biggest political battlegrounds. Parties are continuously creating digital content, even when there are no elections. Their motive is purely to challenge the competitors. BJP has also creatively associated with influencers extensively to target the GenZ audience. As per a GroupM report, political parties will spend 55% of the funds on digital media during the election campaign 2024.

Both BJP and Congress have used animated toons, spoofs, and caricatures to promote themselves. In the run-up to the 2024 elections, BJP has created a funny digital property called ‘Ghamandia Mushaira’ showing opposition leaders from the INDIA bloc reciting poetry in mushaira style, talking about the various scams. They also run caricature videos telling humorous stories of BJP leaders fighting the opposition leaders to safeguard common people. Congress too is taking digs at the ruling party with spoofs like Modi Washing Machine, along with reigniting its ‘Nyay’ song created by Javed Akhtar for the last general elections.

Memes, roasts, and other social media channels are becoming increasingly popular in both parties’ campaigning arsenals.

Speaking about the transformation, Sharma shares, “Until the year 2000, election campaigning was confined to a window of three to six months before the elections. A rule in the Prasar Bharti Act prohibited political parties from advertising on TV and Radio. So, advertising was mainly limited to Print and Outdoor media. To the best of my knowledge, towards the end of 2003, the NDA ran the first pre-election TV campaign, titled ‘India Shining.’ Since then, we have been witnessing a profound transformation in election campaigns.”

He adds, “Campaigning now spans the entirety of a government’s tenure, operating 365 days a year, round the clock. Social media has emerged as a dominant force, with armies of ‘influencers’ generating content day and night. Fake news and fake videos attacking opponents has become commonplace, and national history is being reshaped through numerous ‘WhatsApp universities.’ Radio has become a regular campaign tool with formats like ‘conversations/Q&As with the government.’ Massive yatras and political rallies attended by lakhs of people have become routine, often supplemented by celebrity appearances. Events such as leaders visiting temples, religious gatherings, and melas receive extensive pre-planned media coverage. Political parties and their supporters now own a significant share of the media outlets which no longer strive to present all sides of a news story. Instead, many outlets blatantly promote a single party’s agenda 24X7.”

The parties have also become quite adept at strategising and navigating the public nerve using modern tools and technologies. They have developed their in-house teams to work on campaign briefs and data points too.

But certain things remain unchanged. As per Ranjan Bargotra, Former President, Crayons Advertising who worked with several political parties in the past two decades, the messaging remains stagnant for both the leading party and the opposition, “The ruling government continues to promote what they have done for the country, what their achievements are, while the opposition keeps talking about unemployment, women issues, law, power, and poverty, etc. Unfortunately, the basic issues remain the same.”

However, he feels that leaders have become a lot smarter and so have the communication. “After the Modi government’s ‘Abki Baar Modi Sarkar,’ the communication has become crisper, and brevity has come in. The campaigns are now colour-coded, there are no more long copies in print to drive home the message, and the audio-visual medium has become quite prominent. Social media has become a potent tool. Think of ‘Chowkidar Chor Hai’ and ‘Modi Parivaar’ campaigns. BJP rode on both of them so successfully and without spending any money. It has become a tool to address practical issues.”

But Suthan feels that the election campaigns have lost objectivity, “I feel no one is talking about what the government has done for its people, what does the common person even want. They all are just peddling their own ideologies, creating a communal environment, and the objectivity, have been completely lost. No one knows anything and people are forced to believe what the people in power want to tell us.”

Nanda further shares that it seems like the political life cycle has come full circle, “If you think of it, what we did in 1984 and 1989 for Congress, everything is coming true now. What we said that the reality of modern times could be, is actually happening. Further, it has become everyone vs Modi. No one is talking about the issues on ground. No one is challenging the policies, but a person.”

Not just creativity, but media spends too have grown in mammoth proportions over the years. The political ad spending ahead of general elections of 1991 was approximately INR 7.49cr., which would be equivalent to INR 68.79cr. in 2024 after adjusting for inflation. As per a GroupM report, political parties are likely to spend 1500-2000 crores in ads for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. A great portion of this spend is directed to digital media.

But there is no way to check the authenticity of the numbers attributed to traditional media spends. As per a senior industry leader whose agency has worked with Congress in the past, a huge chunk of the money is dealt in cash with the agencies.

However, Bargotra feels that times have changed, “It was the case earlier where a lot of political campaigns were dealt with in cash. But now the system has become quite organised. Everything happens fairly and in the right manner.”

The bitter rivalry continues as India is all set to go to the polls on April 19, 2024 for the biggest elections in the world. In a bid to lure the 969 million eligible to vote this year, both the parties have already started a scathing media biltzkrieg across platforms. The agencies chosen to man the ad frontier this year are McCann WorldGroup and Scarecrow, and a few more for BJP, and DDB Mudra for Congress.

As the intensity looms before the country votes, the ad-wars are getting more interesting. Something to enjoy until the after-effects of voters’ decisions set in.