Popular brands are using political punchlines to market products. Ad gurus tell Karan Bhardwaj that these campaigns are short-lived but sustain public interest
Even though the definite answer to whether abki baar it is Modi sarkar or not will be declared today, the slogans crafted by BJP’s creative minds for their political campaigns refuse to die down. After creating a sort of storm in social media space, which led to countless jokes and spoofs on Twitter and Facebook, abki baar is aggressively being used by brands to market their products. Extending its Crazy Chair campaign, Fevicol recently launched its outdoor leg with the similar text. The large hoardings put up on popular streets read ‘Ab ki baar, Fevicol’ with a huge pack of the product on the side. The home appliances brand, Kenstar, has its radio campaign that revolves around three simple words, ‘Abki Baar Kenstar’. The company has launched three spots on radio offering solution to problems of power cuts and rising tariffs, all finishing with the same tag. The brand reach is widening for what the slogan has come to represent: solidity, durability, deliverance and change.
RECAll VAlUE
According to experts, the ad industry is cashing in on the buzz words which have already got the mass attention. All they are doing is infusing their creative inputs with the political jargon. “In image management, there’s an advantage for any brand which rides on the success of popular slogan. Creating and marketing a fresh campaign requires heavy investment in terms of money, time and labour. It is cheaper and faster to piggyback on an existing slogan particularly one that has caught the attention of the masses,” says image consultant Dilip Cherian. The BJP also invested heavily in publicising punch lines that shaped the public discourse of elections.
“Modi has spent a lot of time in outdoor campaigns outside the metro cities. So these are already outdoor slogans even in the far flung areas. It’s not just social media which is taking about it,” adds Cherian.
Adman Prahlad Kakkar says that such popular punchlines don’t come up often so it is natural to go with the flavour of season. “It adds to familiarity for brands among people. It’s fashionable to marry new ideas with popular ones in market. Modi and his army made sure the specific words rocked the public space for as long as possible,” he says.
REFlECTING IDEAS
Vineet Neb, VP of Delhi branch of Doosra Brand Communications, a group that conceptualised Kenstar’s radio spots, explains that the ‘ad gets a kicking drive’ if they are topical. Which is why brands like Amul pun regular sketches around the current affairs. “In communications, we have to topical. The punchlines must be relevant and should not appear as forced. During our research, we found tremendous affection for Abki Baar and Junta Maaf Nahi Karegi. Anything and everything was linked to these words. The slogans have gone viral on Internet. So we decided to integrate that in the script for our radio spots,” says Neb adding that in other words, like political appeal, “we addressed the problem of raising tariffs and issue of power cut and offered the solution in our products.”
SHORT-TERM GAINS
Campaigns like Airtel’s ‘Har ek friend zaroori hota hai’, Idea’s ‘No idea….Get idea’, Tata Sky’s ‘Poochne mein kya Jaata hai’, Pepsi’s ‘Yeh Dil Maange More’ among a few others remained fresh in the public memory for years even after they got over. However, the ad gurus suggest the abki baar craze may die soon as political campaigns have limited shelf life. “It is likely to die in three months. Filmy campaigns have longer life because movies are watched repeatedly. The life of a political campaign is short,” says Cherian. Agrees Kakkar who thinks that campaigns witness natural death owing to relevance. “One cannot live with it,” he says. Nonetheless, a lot of brands have already taken mileage out of the catchy lines.