Outdoor media is the most
important channel of communication for political campaigns, which mainly
rely on political marches, rallies, morchas, dharnas, and door-to-door
campaigns to get the message across. All forms of political campaigning
happen outdoors. Moreover, 2014 is particularly special because the campaigns are managed with unprecedented professionalism
and there is a marked corporate flavour in the way the campaigns are
being conceptualized, planned and executed.
These
factors are translating into good business. Our media properties played a
prominent part in campaigns of BJP, Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress
Party, Congress and Aam Aadmi Party.
What are some of the requirements from clients?
All
requirements from clients ultimately seek to accomplish one task -
scoring with the voters. They want advertising to be visible to voters.
They want the media to work its magic at the right time. Typically, an
election campaign follows four stages:
1) introduction
2) Meeting the
voters
3) Information about candidate/party USP and
4) Getting voters to
choose the candidate on the big day.
At every stage, we
offer our clients outdoor sites/ hoardings and other media to help them
achieve their goals. We hand-hold the client through the campaign, at
every step from concept, to campaign. From printing to mounting of flex,
and ultimately to providing post-campaign feedback.
What kind of strategies are required to stand out among hundreds of other outdoor campaigns?
Our strategy has been to coordinate very closely with clients, offer competitive rates,
select media carefully and dish up the right media mix. Above all, we
have been on our feet for 11 hours for the last three months to
accommodate changes in plan, content and sites.
That said, the secrets of standing out in a crowded marketplace are not really new.
Be
clear about what you set out to achieve. Be better at service, and with
the quality of billboards and other media. Be different from everyone
in the way you frame your message, offer tailor made solutions that work
within the budget and out innovate the competition.
What are some of the new types of outdoor advertising seen this election season?
More
mobile vans with mounted hoardings are being used in this campaign than
ever before. Parties used concepts like chai pe charcha and e-chaupal
and successfully harnessed cutting edge technology and offered it to
voters in different parts of the country, which created quite a buzz.
Even with traditional outdoor
advertising the complimentary role of online and mobile media has
increased several fold. These changes hint at the shape of things to
come.
This
time, there special creative content was designed for specific
locations for better impact. There were cut-outs, LED, back-lit, 3-D and
digital displays. The power of outdoor advertising was displayed like
never before in this election. We could deliver thanks to our super
competent media team, planners and mounters. You can see that the
approach has worked from the unusually high voter turnout this time.
In monetary terms, what is the kind of boost that your business gets in election season?
All
things remaining same, this election season, we expect business to grow
by 50 per cent compared to the same period in a non-election year. This
is, of course, a rough estimate.
On an average, how much do political parties spend on outdoor advertising?
I
cannot discuss figures without explicit permission of a client but if
you know the campaign expenses that are made public, you can safely
conclude that outdoors gets anywhere between 40 to 50 per cent of the
total outlay in a political campaign.
A question you did not ask:
How does outdoor score over other media when it comes to election campaigns?
People
who step out regularly either to commute, shop, visit friends or places
of worship are more likely to step out to vote on the big day too. It
therefore makes more sense to invest in outdoor advertising than any
other medium because the target demographic (voters) and the medium
(billboards and other outdoor media) and the desired outcome
(influencing voter behavior in favour of a particular candidate/party on
the day of voting) are 1) in the same geographical area, 2) are likely
to be the same people (people who are outdoors on other days are also
likely to vote on election day), and 3) the campaign, message, brand
positioning can be tailored to address the specific demographic in that
particular area.
Traditional
election campaigns focused on communicating achievements. This has
changed as this time the efforts were on convincing voters and not
merely communicating. Outdoor advertising has taken up this new
challenge and done an excellent job of it.
Adlabs
Imagica aims to make its summer celebration even more special and
memorable with 26 themed rides & attractions for the young and the
old, including the five new kiddie rides this summer.
