By Amit Mukherjee
In the Lok Sabha elections held in May 2014, Mr. Narendra Modi and his party came to power with a sweeping victory over the incumbents. One of the major reasons for the win was the vast array of marketing strategies adopted by Modi’s team, which were unparalleled to the ones adopted by any Indian Prime Minister until then.
Mr. Narendra Modi pictured during one of his live “3D hologram” speeches, as part of his parliamentary election campaign strategies | Photo Courtesy: YouTubePersonality over party
[su_pullquote align=”right”]The client was the BJP and they asked themselvesif the BJP was any other brand, how would they sell it?[/su_pullquote]
Modi’s campaign strategy team was made up of the best-known names in Indian advertisingSam Balsara, Prasoon Joshi and Piyush Pandey. Their approach was unsentimental and business-like. The client was the BJP and they asked themselvesif the BJP was any other brand, how would they sell it? This trio and their collective experience were one of the key factors that contributed to the success of the BJP.
The choice of marketing strategies should be based on consumer insights. This stems from getting to know your consumer (in this case, electoral) base. Narendra Modi’s marketing and brand manager found that the value of his individual personality was much higher than that of the party as a whole. Therefore, they decided to project Narendra Modi rather than BJP in their election campaign.
[su_pullquote]‘Abki baar, Modi Sarkar’ was chosen as it appeared different and it also gave Modi’s personality a brand value.[/su_pullquote]
The BJP understood that a catchy slogan was the foundation of any successful campaign strategy. ‘Abki baar, Modi Sarkar’ was chosen as it appeared different and it also gave Modi’s personality a brand value. As it was easy to remember, people could easily chant the line too. As a result, the slogan resonated with everybody.
A spectrum of communication channels
The BJP ran television, print and radio advertisements. They simultaneously used the digital mediaYouTube, Facebook and Twitter. Each communication channel was used to target different segments of the audience. Specifically, in important states like the UP and Bihar, the campaign managers collected a huge database which helped them reach out directly to the people. Furthermore, they also tracked the flaws in the opposition parties’ campaigns.
Television was used to reach “the common man”. They spread their reach to rural people through road shows and rallies.
Modi used his oratory skills and addressed hundreds of rallies across the country. By focusing on the inefficiencies of the incumbent government, Modi’s team was able to successfully project the image of him as an efficient administrator. This perception went viral without much effort. Furthermore, many migrant labourers from Bihar and UP, who had worked in Gujarat, went back home and managed to create a good impact by spreading positive ideas about Modi and his methods.
The significance of social media
Modi’s marketing team focused excessively on social media campaigning in an effort to reach out to the urban youth. Every platform was used to serve a separate purpose.
- Twitter: Modi has the third largest number of followers on Twitter in India, after Amitabh Bachchan and Shahrukh Khan. During the campaign, he made maximum use of this platform to succeed in resolute target lots. Nearly every hashtag associated with Modi and the BJP trended until the election results were declared.
- Facebook: Modi has over 29 million likes on his page. It is interesting to note that every post on his Facebook page is written in the English language rather than Hindi.
- YouTube: During the campaign, he consistently uploaded videos of his rallies for the benefit of viewers across the country. The primary purpose of using the digital media was to convey their message and vision to the massive target audience or voters.
Modi’s successful use of social media platforms as a campaign tool helped him to not only inspire the youth to participate, but also create public support for the party’s plan of growth and spread information about party’s policies. Thus, his plan was not restricted to only digital promotion, but also included the effort to create a sense of synergy.
Focus, consistency and orchestration
[su_pullquote align=”right”]At the end of the day, Modi’s team succeeded because of the consistency they maintained throughout the election campaign.[/su_pullquote]
At the end of the day, Modi’s team succeeded because of the consistency they maintained throughout the election campaign. The repetition of ideas such as governance; anti-corruption and pro-business; and their connection to Modi’s personalityled to the emergence of a very clear and unambiguous image. Instead of focusing on broad aspects, the entire campaign was delineated across a few dimensionsthe chosen leader; his track record; and the likely future performance of India under his leadership.
In all, the team understood that a political campaign must be orchestrated through multiple channels. From the grassroots level to social media to political rallies and face-to-face encounters, all possible aspects were covered by the team. The BJP discovered a communication juggernaut that orchestrated an enormous amount of content and eventually raced towards their historic victory.