From hiring high-profile PR firms to revving up their political party's image worldwide, to floating positive stories in the print medium around their candidates, to championing interviews on TV channels and spicing up the buzz online through professionals — this time round, political campaigning in India has broken all conventions. Now that our leaders have taken their big step towards marrying smart techniques with traditional electioneering, Deebashree Mohanty tells you how the 2014 Election will be a game changer
Why do corporate houses need effective communication strategies to impact consumersIJ It’s simple. There is a need for them to celebrate their success with the media. A positive image in the market through well channelised media exposure has a huge impact on profits. Similarly, with political parties in India today. Candidates and parties are now aware that it is not enough to just do your work. There is an urgent need to interact with people, to let their voters know that they have worked hard and deserve to be winners. Thus, the need for public relations firms are on the rise,” says Rajat Guha, director PR Intel Advisory, a Delhi-based image and brand management firm with a clientele that boasts of big ticket corporates and politicos alike, says. Guha has been working closely with major political parties in Maharashtra and is vying to get last-minute accounts of various political parties.
According to a PR consultant, there are about 15 active agencies in Delhi NCR alone that are vying for political accounts. Of course money is a huge factor. “Popular parties are prepared to pay a hefty sum for a few months of campaigning but it is the individual image-building that rakes in the moolah for the PR firms. After the ouster of MK Alagiri from DMK, the Stalin-lead DMDK party needs a serious image uplift in the media. But the problem is that parties in the South have always been averse to English medium. But for this General Election, Stalin has realised that he desperately needs national coverage. Hence, the last-minute hunt for that perfect PR firm to boost his party’s health. He is about to finalise his machinery in the coming couple of months,” a consultant tells you.
But why hire a PR firm for a period of three-six months when simple Government advertisements could do the jobIJ Ad gurus tell you that this was true in 2009 but after BJP’s Narendra Modi decided to boost his image and that of Gujarat through an international PR firm, everyone realised that there was potential in this sort of indirect marketing. It is also a cost effective measure.
“Small to mid-level PR firms cost 1/30th of the total cost of placing an advertisement in a national newspaper with a decent print line. In that amount, an agency can get you a few news articles, some interviews and even handle your social media brand building exercises. The credibility factor plays a major role here. People are not generally convinced when they see an advertisement in a newspaper. But when they read an interview highlighting the positives about a particular candidate or the party at large, it sounds more believable. Indirect marketing has worked well in Western countries and India is slowly climbing that ladder,” ad guru Prahlad Kakkar says, adding that he wants more people to hire agencies to manage their image building.
It is believed that Maharashtra’s former Chief Minister Ashok Chavan who was chargesheeted in the Adarsh scam in 2013 is looking for a PR firm that will help boost his image. Even UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party is looking for a serious image re-branding. “They have been scouting for a mid-level PR firm to boost their personal image in the media for the past three months and are going to zero in on one Delhi-based firm by March-end. Apart from personal image branding, their parties are also looking to actively engage in public relation activities to better their chances in the upcoming elections,” says a source, not willing to be named. He adds that there is a mad race for projects and presentations.
Since New Delhi is the hub for media activities, most parties reach out to small-time PR firms here. It helps them to keep tab on the news that is being circulated. For major parties which can pay generously it is the Western PR giants they woo.
“It depends on what their political agenda is and how much money they are willing to spend. Most parties contend with small-time PR firms because they don’t want it to be known that they are taking the help of an outside agent to portray their positives in the media. Given time, this will change,” Ashok Dhamji, owner of Intelligentsia, a PR firm that operates from Jasola Vihar, tells you. He adds that the months of March/April are when most deals are struck and active PR campaigning starts.
Dhamji is at present closing on a deal for the Harayana Janhit Congress Party under the leadership of Kuldeep Bishnoi who is looking for some positive coverage to boost his personal image. His agenda is to peddle stories that will present him in a good light so that he can get an alliance with the BJP. Although Bishnoi is yet to zero in on a firm, sources say he is willing to spend Rs 1-3 crore just to propagate himself.
So, what is it that these parties or leaders want from their agenciesIJ “Mostly they are looking at utilising the agency in a two-pronged manner. First, they want to clean up their image (if it has been tainted in the public in recent times) within the party to get a ticket or to make themselves look appealing to other major political parties who could seek them out. The second approach is to directly reach out to the public and make them aware of all the good work they have done in recent times. The platforms they want to exploit are myriad — print, TV, rallies, ad campaigns et al,” Guha says.
Sometimes, politicians hire PR professionals to get their share of voice in relevant news articles for influencing their seniors. For example, before the Delhi elections, ticket seekers would engage PR experts to influence Rahul Gandhi.
Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, for instance, is all set for a complete image makeover after he was bashed by TV channels (NDTV in particular) post the Muzzafarnagar riots in 2013. According to sources, the SP stalwart is on the lookout for a PR firm which can project him as a benevolent and principled leader. Apparently, the search is still on but beta Akhilesh has set his sights on a popular agency from Mumbai to take care of his agenda.
The eastern belt sans Mamata Banerjee is also gung ho about hiring PRs. Naveen Patnaik has already engaged a PR agency in Bhubaneswar to highlight his achievements and help him make a statement. Buzz is that Patnaik, who has spent a whopping Rs 70 lakh for a month-long exercise, is also hoping for a personality makeover in rallies and other engagements.
“There is nothing wrong in getting behaviourial tips from an agency. They should guide you in how you should dress and conduct yourself in rallies too. That is an important component. Many voters would be attracted to a leader who can speak well and dress appropriately,” Kakkar states, pointing out that it was APPO, the American PR firm which worked with Narendra Modi to get him the right image for the elusive UK visa in 2011.
But is hiring a PR firm the only mantra for successIJ In the run-up to the Delhi elections, many Congress and BJP MlAs had hired PR and image management experts for pre-election branding. Most of them were hired for a few weeks just before the elections and asked to keep tabs on the social networking sites.
After facing ignominy in their respective States in the November elections, both Ashok Gehlot and Sheila Dikshit are in soul searching mode and looking for professional advice to stage a comeback. While Dikshit is looking at freelance communities who can help her better her image, Gehlot may be considering professional advice on how to bounce back into the big ticket game.
“Timing is a factor in all this. When we start preparing only a few days ahead of our annual exams, the result may not be that satisfactory. Similarly, politocs willing to engage in this kind of support must follow the Modi rule. Start planning and peddling positive stories in the media few years before the actual elections begin. That way, you are in a better position to access your position vis a vis your voters,” Guha points out, adding that for the General Election it is the English media that most parties will be wooing. “Hindi and vernacular newspapers are targeted to woo mass vote banks. The English media is targeted for elite and also because it gets read by people who matter in political circles,” he explains.
Apart from Modi, Raman Singh, third-time Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, should be lauded for a thought-through communication strategy he developed with profession agencies prior to the recent State elections. And, that paved the way for him to go on to the oath-taking podium.
Then there are a few parties that are willing to adopt the multiple approach and hire many agencies to look into their public relations. Pradesh Congress Committees of the Congress, for instance, are frantically taking the help of PR professionals in every State. The Bihar Congress is in close talks with a Delhi-based middle rung PR agency. Their mandate is to counter the Modi wave through effective communication. And they want PR agencies to shepherd these ideas.
In Maharashtra, there is a huge AAP factor which has the Congress on tenterhooks. To counter this new wave, the party is seeking help from seven agencies who are working at various levels. The main agenda is to canvass the achievements of their people and to start shooting out positive articles and conducting fruitful interviews ahead of the Vidhan Sabha elections.
Apart from hawking articles in the print, political parties are also looking at influencing the social media platforms. “In 2009, it was still a new phenomenon but in 2014, social networking will play a huge role in deciding who gets what share. likes and comments on these websites are crucial benchmarks in ascertaining who is getting the support and who may have to work harder,” Guha tells you.
Ask him whether creating individual domain space is the next big thing to happen in the Indian election space and he is quick to reply. “If the individual has a leader with a lot to share then it may work. But for not well-known members of small political parties, a website to your name is not going to be of much help,” he states.