Lessons from the Polls

For its sheer intensity, scale and audience size, India’s Lok Sabha Elections currently underway are easily the world’s biggest marketing campaign.  As the seven phases of this mega exercise reaching out to nearly 1 billion voters across a million + polling stations unfolds, what are the lessons from business marketers that politicians can benefit from?

It is estimated that ₹75,000 crore (₹750 billion| $9.5 billion) will be spent on the elections in 2024. This is more expensive than the US presidential elections of 2020 which is estimated to have cost $8 billion. 

In this gargantuan exercise are there some lessons for politicians to learn from the world of marketing? Conversely are there things that Marketers can learn from the world’s largest marketing jamboorie?

Most successful businesses and marketers spend a lot of time, resources and effort in understanding the consumer: What really drives purchase intention, or in the case of elections, voter preference? What are the key issues that concern the voter? Often genuine consumer insights are gathered not by passively accepting all that is publicly voiced by party insiders but by closely observing behavior.  True insights emerge from unspoken desires.  And as brands have realized, reorienting the product is often far more effective than changing the messaging.  Often, politicians choose to ignore this.

In the US elections of 2016, Donald Trump was able to pick upon the concerns of middle America who were impacted by the great financial crisis and felt left out of the gains of globalization and high growth in the new economy. Trump’s message: “Make America Great Again” was a powerful position because it tapped into a belief that America is headed in the wrong direction. His appeal to this concern among Americans with the slogan resonated well, further supported by his being an outsider with little self-interest as he cleaned up “the swamp”.

Next is the ability to see the commonality among groups of consumers and differences between various groups - what marketers call segmentation.  This can be demographic – segmenting consumers by age, gender, geography or ethnicity; Behavioral or Attitudinal -loyalty to a party, single issue-based voters or undecided voters. Clearly most politicians get this intuitively, but instead of recognizing the differences and addressing specific concerns, they approach this with divisive messaging. 

Demographic segmentation is easiest to address with specific actions based on the segment’s needs. For example, it is easy to target voters who live in a particular state. However, demographic segmentation tends to be less powerful than other methods of market segmentation. Just because two voters or two consumers live in the same state does not mean they share beliefs or are moved by similar messaging. By contrast, behavioral segmentation can tap into factors that really matter and not easily discernible. In the 2004 polls when many economic parameters seemed positive and it seemed like India was shining, there clearly was a large swathe of India’s masses who felt unsure and responded to “Congress ka haath, Aam aadmi ke saath”.

Positioning is another tool marketers rely on to attract customers. Positioning refers to the place that a brand occupies in the minds of customers and how is it distinguished from the products of the competitors. Obviously positioning to nearly 900 million voters is far more difficult than positioning products with much smaller audience sizes. However good positioning signals clarity of thought and involves making sharp choices about what the brand will and will not stand for.  Politicians like brands need to internalize that it is not always practical to please all.

Positioning is less about changing minds but using what is already in the prospect’s mind and positioning your product in a way that is attractive to that person - while negatively positioning your competitor at the same time. This is critical because it’s very difficult to change people’s minds. Therefore, it’s better to use what is already there and build a short, simple, and clear positioning that works to your advantage. Smart positioning can help persuade.

Marketers focus deeply on messaging development. This is the route to get across your proposition to the consumer. Slogans and taglines are the most memorable part of the marketing message often relying on humor or popular catch phrases but always playing on underlying sentiment. Indira Gandhi recognized that poverty was a big issue and her slogan garibi hatao in the buildup to the 1971 polls resonated across the country giving her a resounding victory. The BJP used "Ab ki baar, Modi sarkar" to good effect in 2014; and then "Phir ek baar, Modi sarkar" in 2019.

Post-World War II, Rosser Reeves the legendary advertising executive who first coined the term USP, created the iconic “Eisenhower Answers America” ensuring Dwight Eisenhower’s path to the American presidency.  In 1979, Saatchi & Saatchi built a campaign around the tagline “Labour Isn’t Working” for the UK’s Conservative party, that perfectly captured the angst of Britons facing rising unemployment and instability and helped vote out James Callaghan of the Labour Party ushering in Margaret Thatcher.  Great taglines, spring off deep insight, and give voice to voters' aspirations while motivating core supporters and at the same time are able to draw the attention and support of the undecided.

After understanding the consumer, segmenting the market, positioning your offering, and developing a great message it finally boils down to communicating and amplifying your message. Having a consistent and uniform message that is reinforced at every level imparts clarity to the consumer and the voter. Brands take great care to never stray off message and guidelines are developed and closely monitored. Something that India’s political parties are still to internalize.

Brand Ambassadors, influencers and key opinion leaders are assiduously cultivated by marketers to help build credibility and amplify the message.  During an election campaign political parties don’t only need to build the persona of their leaders, but also highlight key opinion makers to help sway many undecided voters. Voters, like buyers, prefer the comfort of the majority, thereby subliminally minimizing their accountability.

One of the things most marketers hold sacrosanct is the importance of post-purchase dissonance or simply minimizing buyer’s remorse. For politicians this really means going back to voters after the polls to assure them – especially in areas where they have lower vote shares- that they will continue to look after their constituents' interests and will represent them well. Simply put – nurture the constituency.

Now there are a few things our politicians can teach marketers too: the ability to motivate masses, the outreach, grassroot mobilization and micromanagement. The booth/panna pramukhs are a great example of last mile mobilization and empowered delegation.  The ability to pull huge crowds through mass rallies where politicians through hype and oratory leave audiences spell bound.  Something that is most marketers' envy.

Lastly, there is the whole issue of ethics in elections and marketing. But that, sadly, cannot be learnt.

Tushar Panchal Sandip Ghose Amitabh Tiwari Raj Chengappa Rakesh Khar Rakshit Ravindranathan Sanjay Jha Ruben Mascarenhas Rahul Kanwal Rajdeep Sardesai Abhimanyu Singh Rana Yashwant Deshmukh Susheel Arya Annurag Batra Madhavdas Gopalakrishnan Mihir Bhatt The Economic Times Delshad Irani #Elections2024 #LokSabhaPolls #2024Elections #LokSabha2024

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