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Election campaign: BJP vs Congress

As a keen marketing enthusiast and a regular follower of the election campaigns, I have noted certain points which could have a major impact on these election and thereby would like to share it with the mass through your esteemed publication.

How has BJP election campaign in Assam surpassed Congress in terms of marketing?

Outdoor AdvertisingCongress started aggressive outdoor advertising 3 months back and used national BJP leaders to put their point across the people of Assam. Negative Publicity strategy did not work for them and ultimately they increased popularity of BJP leaders with their funds. Gradually they reduced their outdoor advertising substantially whereas BJP outdoor campaign started at the right time and they used their leaders and created their brand rather than engaging much in negative publicity. They saved their funds for the right time and used them in the right manner.

Print Media: Congress did not put much effort in the print media earlier as it is one of the most expensive means of advertising but BJP very strategically used strip ads which is way cheaper and it definitely attracts reader’s attention as it is placed at the top most part of the front page. BJP however also used full-page advertisement targeting the 15years of Congress Government but either at the third page or back page thus saving funds to be deployed elsewhere. Congress also followed them and started publishing full-page advertisements but there was always a BJP strip advertisement present every time with quotes from all time national leaders.

Radio: Whichever station you tune to I am sure you must have heard one jingle “Oxomor Ananda – Sarbananda” and you would definitely remember it for a longer time as it is short and crisp but you will tend to forget the Congress radio jingle as it is much of a conversation. Thus, it captures a part of your mind and stays there for a longer time.

Social Media: BJP has not left any stones unturned while talking about social media as whenever I open Facebook the second newsfeed is of BJP and it says sponsored thus strategically targeting their audience and reiterating their message in every form of media. Talking about YouTube, 50% of ads we see on the videos are BJP campaign ads and Congress however tried to catch up with them and started their You Tube campaign subsequently.

Electronic Media: We all know by now that BJP and Congress both have complete influence over certain electronic media channel. But let’s talk about the one’s which they do not control and surprisingly they have also now joined the league to show more of BJP candidature’s campaign and thereby people see more of BJP everywhere. Opinion Polls by several national news channels have also predicted the BJP victory over others and thus strengthening peoples belief on BJP and creating insecurity amongst the Congress leaders.

On-site campaign: BJP has aggressively used the popularity of national leaders to increase the popularity of local candidates and surprisingly the top local leaders have very aggressively campaigned for their party everywhere irrespective of their constituency. If we talk about the influence of such rally and campaigns, BJP defeats Congress by huge margin as they have influencing speakers like PM Narendra Modi, Himanta Biswa Sharma, Sarbananda Sonowal and few more but when we talk about Congress we can just see one face that is Mr. Tarun Gogoi and he is the only face of Assam Congress Campaign.

If Congress wins, it is just Tarun Gogoi but if BJP wins, it is an integrated effort of the national and local leaders.

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