The Ultimate Marketing Analysis of West Bengal Election Campaigns 2021

Marketers love analyzing communication. Be it TV ads, digital videos, social media campaigns, emails, push notifications from random apps, or billboards, anything that communicates is favorite to us!

There is always the excitement of unearthing information regarding marketing communication. Marketing is present in everything of this world, it's the mainframe to sell any product, information, idea, popularity, charisma, goodness, I mean every damn thing. If I leave across the political agenda for any state/central election for a democratic country, there are immense marketing lessons to ponder behind any election campaign.The result is the party wins votes in terms of winning consumer trust the very damn job that every marketer dreams and aspires for! Looming upon the facts,"Why, What, When, Where, Who and How" one party(as a collectible of human sentiments) get to win the Janata (in Marketing terms, the customers) is indispensable.

 Anyways, I decided that I would take the marketing tools that I have been taught in MBA to analyze the recent West Bengal Election Campaign of 2021. Before reading I urge the Marketing lovers to share their constructive feedback once you complete the read so that I too relearn or unlearn in the consequential process. Well, this is how you are reading this!

So let us start brewing this concoction of Marketing & Politics, shall I?

Simple, it is the communication that persuades Janata!!

The discussion centres around this main 5 parts :

Brief Five parts :

1. Context
2. TMC's Campaign Analysis
3. BJP's Campaign Analysis
4. Conclusion

Context:

Now, to analyze any brand communication, there is a framework that I call the Marketing DAGMAR Framework. This DAGMAR Marketing approach links out the marketing goals for the desired results, breaking up communication aspect of any campaign into its key elements.

West Bengal tops in Facebook political ad spend for the year Election 2021.

The DAGMAR is used to analyze the campaigns :

Define: West Bengal Election Campaign 2021

Advertising: Reach to every Banglalan, talk and understand the gap, win hearts

Goal: Win the Election,Rule the State

Marketing: Do, Campaigning like never before!

Advertising: Psychological(BJP) and Emotional(TMC) Marketing to win Bangla

Result: Winning of Votes (seats)

TMC's Campaign Analysis

The Trinamool Congress has spent the maximum amount among parties, around Rs 1.69 crore, of West Bengal during the period on campaigns such as "Banglar Gorbo Mamata" (Bengal's pride Mamata). It also has constituency level versions such as "Dum Dum-er Garbo Mamata".The TMC's digital advertisements are handled by the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) which runs other campaigns also for the party on the social media platform. The Facebook page of TMC has 1.3 million followers.

Target Viewer: Anti-TMC + Swing Voters(who are not any party loyalists) + Women Voters + Old Age Voters + Muslim Voters

Objective: Get these above shares of votes (last time election data reveals that TMC had 52% of women voters lead vote support)

Insight: Something oblivious to hindsight!

Here the task is to convince consumers of a single thing that manifests the communication challenge. It defines the direction of the entire ad creative. It is what a brand manager fills up in the blank below:

The one thing that I want to convince my Target Viewer of is that “………”

So what is the single most important thing that the TMC wanted to convince the Swing Voters of?

Means ....."Bangla demands her own daughter".Now did it convince the voters? That I don't have the data to back up my answer. But the result is known to all, but to what extent had this campaign credited quantitatively is a still skeptical number! Qualitatively, the campaign has its own fan following! The campaign wanted to convince its TG that… if you vote for BJP, all the good work that TMC (as the land's daughter) had done in government service delivery will go to waste and Bangla will going to lose her daughter.

Why do you think TMC went for such a communication strategy?? which,

is so layered- is not as simple as how most Political Campaigns are - “We are brilliant, we have done amazing work”

More importantly, it does not attack BJP straight off- “BJP is evil”

Simple, attract the emotional part of the human beings, rationality will follow henceforth! and Bengalis love emotions (checking out the past 50 years' cultural recitals). When talking about one self-identity, aha, there is no alternative than to start with one's homeland, remember saying: "Hie I am...., belongs to.........".The same goes here, it's not the product, that a customer will deep delve into for features/specifications, it's the normal being whose mind will be only convinced when persuaded asking one's own motherland. Too High!! to gloomy on the desired mindset of resting one's own motherland into one's own native man. As simple as that! While rationality incorporated the good work done (as claimed) by the party in the last 5 years: Cash transfer to poor, widow pension, women self-help groups, student stipends, ration benefits, govt employee perks, and benefits, etc.

Benefits:

Functional Benefits: A promise of brilliant education, accessible health care, pension, a simple and peaceful life, and other government services for a family.

Emotional Benefits: A promise to secure a bright future for one's family, and one's own land, and this can only be done (as claimed) by Mamata Banerjee as this land's own Daughter

( TMC projected to show West Bengal as her parents thus no alternative to a daughter's love for the same).

Reason to Believe(RTB): While there was no reason to believe in this ad, there were some very strong RTBs that TMC had created throughout the campaign.

Campaign Listing:

The campaign is on point to the emotional front connect, simple, not distinctive mostly cluttered confused positioning.

Is it within the Personality of the Brand? Yes

Is Simple? No (like don't see anything but bring the daughter back looks insane)

Is Distinctive? Yes (compared to another party rational urge)

Does it keep the medium in mind? Yes (apt thoughtful strong persuasive slogans)

Connects to the Target Viewer? Yes

Has a call to action? Yes (too much overhyped, high on psychological based urge for votes)

BJP's Campaign Analysis

The state BJPs Facebook ad spend is around Rs 25.31 lakh. It is advertising campaigns such as Amar Paribar BJP Paribar (My family is BJP family) and Aar Noi Annay (No more injustice). According to an analyst, the total spending on digital advertisements of a political party would be more as they do not always pay directly for campaigns.

Target Viewer: Anti-TMC (for votes) and India (claiming strong that 'One Party One Election').

Objective: Convince the TG that BJP will bring the same development in West Bengal that it brought at the centre.

Benefits:

Functional: Promise of no corruption, Employment, Housing to the slum dwellers, Free and Accessible Health Services, Affordable Education, Religion Clashes Mitigation

Emotional: Confidence & Trust towards Growth

Reason to Believe (RTB): Well there is nothing for a Bengali to show their belief and I tell you why! They made claims for their future promises but do not substantiate it using any stats (which they could have using the central government’s record.).Well, they could have substantiated their promises with some RTBs. They can be stats of what they have been able to achieve in the other states in this term. Referring to some of the huge development problems that BJP has solved at the Centre like toilets, LPG, Housing, demonetisation etc., even if they are not the exact problems that West Bengal is facing, could have made the campaign more believable.

Campaign Listing:

Is it within the Personality of the Brand? Yes

Is Simple? Yes, simple language and simple logic of how they’ll make everything better (no drama)

Is Distinctive? No, pretty standard political narrative. (They could have brought local Bengali figures to substantiate the political claims. A Strong Bengali opposition figure took the advantage of this flaw)

Does it keep the medium in mind? Yes (partially, digital videos were too long)

Connects to the Target Viewer? NO

Has a call to action? No (was busier in mocking Mamata but then asking for votes)

Conclusion

In marketing, there is a P.C.M. rule.

It means that the Product is more important than the Communication, which in turn is more important than the Media. There is nothing truer than this rule. One who nails this game, climbs the victory wave!

While a marketer can communicate it better that in the long run, it is only a strong product that will keep one competitive. No amount of great communication or media strategy can help one out. Just what one can see happening with these political parties (fall and win), the same applies to a marketer's product or brand. This type of election campaign analysis can throw deep light on many things for a marketer like what to look upon, how to learn better, and apply the same in one's execution strategy!

Win votes, Naa, I mean, Win Customers!!

Marketing is a 24-hour job. Yeah right, very simple! 9-hour execution work of a marketer, implied by 15-hour self-thinking as a consumer!