Brand Congress vs Brand BJP - General Election 2009

The ‘Aam Aadmi’ toppled the incumbent ‘India Shining’ in 2004, and history repeat itself in 2009, Congress's 'Jai Ho' trounces BJP’s 'Bhay Ho'.

It was a battle between ‘Jai Ho’ versus ‘Bhay Ho’. And the results clearly indicate that the congress campaign of India on the road to development won over thr BJP’s highlighting the shortcomings of the incumbent. These elections are considered to be the costliest elections in the history of independent India, the two national parties pulled out all the stops on their communication  campaigns. Even as the BJP moved aggressively in its campaign in the initial phases,

 it was a consistent branding strategy involving TV, print, radio, outdoor and even online which delivered the goods for the Congress. 

When it comes to television campaigns of the two national parties, according to a survey conducted by IMRB, the Congress campaign it seems is a hit with the viewing public. 

The study commissioned by BrandScience@IMRB International was conducted to assess the effect of communication by political parties amongst urban youth across Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Bangalore. The base panel were shown the Congress ‘Jai Ho’ and ‘Bharat Buland , Badte Kadam’ and BJP ‘Bhay Ho’ and ‘Dishaheen’ . 

The study reveals that the Congress ads were liked more across centres with Bangalore the only exception, where BJP ads scored higher. Across the four metros,

• ‘Jai Ho’ clocked 48% in ad liking, while Bhay Ho garnered 19% .
  
• Similarly the saffron party’s ‘Dishaheen’ polled 28 % on likeability whereas Congress’s ‘Bharat Buland, Badte Kadam’ had 40% saying ‘Jai Ho’ on the same parameter. 
  

Indeed the mood is reflected in the survey where

• 55% felt happy watching Congress ads versus 40% for BJP ads.
• 34% felt good watching Congress commercials against 22% for BJP TVCs.
• The Congress ads scored high on entertainment and enjoyment parameters with 72% voting in the Congress ads as very entertaining, compared to 51 % for the saffron party commercials. 
  

The survey also revels that

• The Congress ad campaign shows elements around women while BJP has no specific gender focus. 
  
• It’s the feel good and a sense of optimism generated by Congress ads which has found favour with the respondents as compared to the negative shades and ads projecting LK Advani as ‘Nidar Neta’ (fearless leader) and the promise of a change.
• ‘Bhay Ho’ , created as a parody to ‘Jai Ho’ by BJP highlights the failure of Congress in addressing issues like terrorism , unemployment, galloping inflation etc. 

The perception is that BJP was trying to show problems won’t be there, but they were not said how they will do it.

“The smartest thing of the Congress campaign was not to give BJP ammunitions to shoot back at the incumbent. The entire communication strategy didn’t gloat over achievements, it made the right soothing noises and didn’t push the envelope too much,” said Santosh Desai, CEO of Future brands and a former ad man.

Vivek Gupta, senior V-P, IMRB International, said the Congress communication gave a sense of hope in a scenario of inflation and unemployment. “At the national level, unemployment and inflation are two big issues that most concern the youth of India. Terrorism is a big concern, but the two issues affect the masses directly,” said Mr Gupta.

Realising the marketing potential during the mammoth election process,

• Various private companies had also started websites appealing voters to exercise their franchise. 
  
• To seize the opportunity, major TV news channels had also set up dedicated websites to provide information related to the mammoth election. 
  
• To cash on the opportunity Google India had set up an online elections centre in association with a leading daily. 
  
• Google had also launched an official community, The Voice of Youth, on its social networking site Orkut. 
  
• These elections had witnessed a massive online voter awareness programme as websites like Indian-Elections.com, IndiaNumbers.com, Jaagore.com, IndiaVoting.com were run the campaigns to encourage voters to vote. 
  

As per the estimates of CMS(Centre for Media Studies), about Rs 10,000 crore spent during the Lok Sabha elections, which includes about Rs 2,000 crore by the Election Commission and other government agencies and the remaining Rs 8,000 crore by the political parties and candidates for campaigning. Even most of the leading media houses have reported higher revenue generation in the fourth quarter of the previous financial year due to elections.

The total advertisement spending by the political parties will be around Rs 800 crore which is almost seven per cent of the total annual advertisement the media sector receives.

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Key Dates of Indian Elections History

For those of you who love parodies and comparative advertisingm, just go to youtube and watch

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4NodfiaetA

Flavourful World of MDH

He is no Shah Rukh Khan. But he has been the face of a well-known spices brand in India for decades. Meet 86-year-old Mahashay Dharampal Ji, the founder of MDH — a household brand name for spices in the country. The turbaned, bespectacled patriarch of the “Deggi Mirch people” has always kept MDH ahead of competition (The company has over 80 per cent market share in the spices business). MDH swears by its ad campaign that it says is a perfect blend of exclusivity, personal touch and credibility.

MDH - A journey starting from a small hatti (shop) in karol bagh in Delhi in 1948 to being the lord and master of a Rs 500 crore business empire today, it is hard to argue with Gulati’s decision to play brand ambassador. 

Dharampal Gulati take a bow. The name may not ring a bell, but he is the sprightly old man who’s seen in each and every ad of the spices brand, MDH and is now as ubiquitous on the telly as Shahrukh, Aamir or Saif. 

One might be tempted, given the presence in each ad — right from blessing the married couple to striking a regal pose on a horse carriage — to dismiss this as an ego trip or brand the man as a narcissist given that he owns the brand. But the truth is that Gulati and the MDH brand story are in many ways intertwined much like the ingredients of the brand’s popular garma masala

MDH stands for Mahashian Di Hatti (The respected man’s shop) and the Mahashian is what Gulati is popularly known. it’s not just ads where one can see Mahashian, but even the packaging has his face.

Mahashian Ji – the brand ambassador of a renowned brand and perhaps the oldest brand ambassador as well.

Gulati’s story is like million others who faced the trauma of partition but didn’t allow the fire of enterprise to die away. Gulati, a fifth grade drop out from school tried his luck in various business with little success. Post partition, Gulati moved to Delhi, where he ventured into his ancestral business of manufacturing and selling spices. It was that day and today . It was a gradual climb to creating a name for himself as Gulati sold his spices by the brand name ‘Pal di Mirch’ (chilly powder) and ‘Pal di Haldi’ (turmeric powder) and soon gained the sobriquet of Sialkot’s ‘Deggi Mirch wale’. And Today MDH exports its spices to countries all over the world and apart from dealing in spices, MDH has also ventured into manufacturing and selling incense sticks, hing, tooth powder and soya. Apart from Delhi the other most popular market for MDH spice is Ludhiana, Uttar Pradesh, Dehradun and Amritsar. 

In a day and age when brands, in their quest to project a younger and energetic image, gun for the hottest looking face, an octogenarian,  one would think, as the face of a brand is hardly appropriate . But chances are that more television viewers are likely to remember the brand that this senior citizen endorses than they would remember about Katrina Kaif.

Market Mantra : Barter when you can't buy

When Delhi housewife Lata Chauhan allowed a widow to live in her home in exchange for household work, she was simply trying to stretch a budget slashed by pay cuts and price rise. But in so doing, Chauhan had become part of a global trend towards barter, which is reviving the world's oldest form of payment — goods or services in lieu of cash.

Chauhan is part of the droves — homemakers, professionals, small traders and companies in India and abroad — who are holding on to precious cash reserves by doing business in kind. Ruby Agarwal, director of Mumbai firm Benefit Barter, says, "Companies are flooded with unsold goods because of low sales. Barter is a boon for them to reduce surplus stock."

She says, "Many companies which were on the verge of collapse have survived." But Anup Dutta, chief operating officer of Delhi Company BBX India, says "barter is still just a fraction of Indian trade". He says 30% of world business is barter; Indian barter is a mere 10-12% of trade. America's Universal Barter Group claims 65% of the companies on the New York Stock Exchange are involved in barter.


From an East London pub that accepts goods and services for a pint of beer to teens swapping clothes and books online, to ad executives in Singapore offering advice to hair salons in exchange for a perm, swap is the new global money. Just check out the client profile of Indian firms engaged in barter big companies, hotels, and travel firms. Indian professionals such as architects, doctors, web designers and tutors are also signing up.

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Tatas, SBI, Infosys among world's top 50 reputed firms

The Tata Group, State Bank of India (SBI) and Infosys Technologies are among 17 Indian firms that figure among the top 50 in a list of the world’s 200 most reputable companies.

Italy-based chocolate producer Ferrero was ranked as the most reputable company on the planet right now while IKEA ranked second.

The US-based Reputation Institute ranked the Tata Group 11th above global giants like Google, Microsoft, General electric, Toyota, Coca-Cola, Intel and Unilever. SBI, India's largest bank, is ranked 29^th. India's second largest software exporter Infosys is at 39^th. Larsen & Toubro comes next at 47th position, while India's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki has been ranked 49^th.

Other Indian firms in the top 200 are: Hindustan Unilever (69), ITC Ltd (95), Canara Bank (102); Hindustan Petroleum (111); Indian Oil (112); Wipro (116); Mahindra & Mahindra (137); Bharti Airtel (163); Bank of Baroda(174); Bharat Petroleum(175) and Punjab National Bank (177).

Johnson & Johnson, which placed first in the US for reputation, lands third globally. Kraft Foods places eighth, making the US one of only two countries with two businesses in the global top 10. Brazil is the other. Its Petrobras and Sadia landed fourth and fifth respectively.

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Greenwashing

Everyone’s heard the expression “whitewashing” — it’s defined as “a coordinated attempt to hide unpleasant facts, especially in a political context.”

“Greenwashing” is the same premise, but in an environmental context.

It’s greenwashing when a company or organization spends more time and money claiming to be “green” through advertising and marketing than actually implementing business practices that minimize environmental impact. It’s whitewashing, but with a green brush. It is a deceptive use of green PR or green marketing.

The U.S.-based watchdog group CorpWatch defines greenwash as "the phenomena of socially and environmentally destructive corporations, attempting to preserve and expand their markets or power by posing as friends of the environment." This definition was shaped by the group's focus on corporate behavior and the rise of corporate green advertising at the time. However, governments, political candidates, trade associations and non-government organizations have also been accused of greenwashing. Regardless of the strategy employed, the main objective of greenwashing is to give consumers and policy makers the impression that the company is taking the necessary steps to manage its ecological footprint. .

Corporations are falling all over themselves to demonstrate to current and potential customers that they are not only ecologically conscious, but also environmentally correct. The average citizen is finding it more and more difficult to tell the difference between those companies genuinely dedicated to making a difference and those that are using a green curtain to conceal dark motives.

A classic example might be an energy company that runs an advertising campaign touting a “green” technology they’re working on — but that “green” technology represents only a sliver of the company’s otherwise not-so-green business, or may be marketed on the heels of an oil spill or plant explosion.

Or a hotel chain that calls itself “green” because it allows guests to choose to sleep on the same sheets and reuse towels, but actually does very little to save water and energy where it counts — on its grounds, with its appliances and lighting, in its kitchens and with its vehicle fleet.

What’s wrong with greenwashing?

1. Most obviously greenwashing is misleading. It attempts to deceive us, making us think that a company with an awful environment track record actually has a great one. Not all environmental advertising is dishonest, of course. But any advertising legitimately labelled as “greenwashing” is dishonest, and that’s a problem.

2. Greenwashing may also endanger cynicism: if consumers come to expect self congratulatory ads from even the most environmentally backward corporations, this could render consumers skeptical of even sincere portrayals of legitimate corporate environmental successes. Thus well-meaning companies, companies committed to responsible behavior with regard to environment, have every reason to be critical of companies that greenwash.

Opposition to greenwash

Organizations and individuals are making attempts to reduce the impact of greenwashing by exposing it to the public. CHOICE in Australia offers a chance to report greenwash claims. Greenwashing Index, operated by the University of Oregon, allows cases of greenwashing to be rated. Greenpeace, the international environmental organisation, has a blog that allows greenwashing claims to be rated. Greenwashing blogs also exist to reveal any untruths in claims that are made.

Some businesses are genuinely committed to making the world a better, greener place. But for far too many others, environmentalism is little more than a convenient slogan. Buy our products, they say, and you will end global warming, improve air quality, and save the oceans. At best, such statements stretch the truth; at worst, they help conceal corporate behavior that is environmentally harmful by any standard.

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