In my previous posts for the Global Voices special coverage on the 2009 Indian general elections [1], I have analyzed how Indian politicians and political parties are using internet and mobile tools for election campaigning [2] and civil society groups in India are using digital tools to run voter registration and transparency campaigns [3].
As interesting as these initiatives are, the three most effective election campaigns in the 2009 Indian general elections are run by corporate brands: Jaago Re [4] by Tata Tea [5], My Idea [6] from Idea Cellular [7] and Lead India [8]/ Bleed India [9] by The Times of India [10] (Live Mint [11]/ Thaindian [12]/ Exchange4Media [13]/ Hindustan Times [14]).
In my earlier avatar as the custodian of a large brand in India, I was convinced that online campaigns in India could stand on their own, without support from ad spends in mainstream media. The tactics employed by these three successful campaigns have made me realize that online brand campaigns in India will continue to be driven by heavy spending in mainstream media.
[4]The Jaago Re [4] campaign was launched by Tata Tea [5] and Janaagraha [15] in September 2008 (press release [16]) to start a voter registration drive in colleges and corporates in 35 cities across the country and register four million voters. The voter registration itself is driven through an interactive application on its website and kiosks, which helps users identify their constituency, prepares a ready to print voter registration form in five minutes, guides them to the nearest voter registration center and updates them via SMS when their names are added to the voting list.
The campaign, which is run by a small team of youngsters in their twenties (The Week [17]), has an advisory board that includes former Chief Election Commissioner T S Krishnamurthy, Infosys founder Narayan Murthy and Rang De Basanti director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra (Hindustan Times [18]/ Indian Express [19]/ TOI [20]). The campaign has convinced several large colleges and companies to become 100 percent registered (TOI [21]/ TOI [22]/ Mid Day [23]/ TOI [24]/ Deccan Herald [25]) and even convinced the election commission to allow bulk submission of registration forms.
Tata Tea has used a number of interesting ads [26] to engage the Indian youth into the Jaago Re campaign.
Jaago Re main ad: [27]
Jaago Re Use Your Finger! Use it to Vote! [28]
Tata Tea has also tied up with various TV channels to create micro campaigns like Bindass TV's iChange campaign [29] to support the Jagoo Re campaign.
Jaago Re Bindass TV Ungali Utha Vote Kar ad: [30]
Jaago Re Disney ‘If I Were a Prime Minister’ ad: [31]
Jaago Re Channel V VJ Juhi ‘Vote ya Vaat’ ad: [32]
Jaago Re also has an active social media presence with more than 15,000 members on Facebook [33] and almost 13,000 members on Orkut [34].
The campaign is now conducting free Shut Up & Vote [35] rock concerts by Bangalore-based band Thermal And A Quarter (TAAQ) [36] across 10 cities to to engage Indian youth in the electoral process (DNA [37]/ Indian Express [38]/ IBN Live [39]/ Indian Express [40]/ DNA [41]):
Jaago Re has turned out to be an extremely successful campaign. Not only has it been a topic of a huge number of news stories and blog posts, and resulted in much goodwill for Tata Tea (Business Standard [42]), it has also managed to register 531,395 voters so far, in spite of its run ins with a slow moving bureaucracy (TOI [43]).
The Indian blogosphere is in love with the Jaago Re campaign. Rashmi Bansal [44] believes that, with the campaign, Tata Tea has taken corporate social responsibility further than most brands do. Rajesh Kumar [45] wonders why only beverage companies do election themed social advertising. Indian Homemaker [46] and Chavvi Sachdev [47] share their experiences with voter registration. Sanjukta [48] has an interesting interview with Jaago Re campaign coordinator Jasmine Shah.
[6]Idea Cellular [7]‘s My Idea [6] campaign is a continuation of its participatory democracy [49] ad campaign [50] where a lady politician, aided by her tech-savvy assistant Abhishek Bachchan, gathers the views of the citizens in her constituency using mobile phones:
The campaign, run by Pinstorm [51], asks people to submit an idea that can change India and vote on the ideas submitted by others. So far, within one month, more than 2,000 ideas have been submitted and more than 140,000 votes have been cast (Indian Television [52]).
It's the Janus-faced Lead India [8]/ Bleed India [9] by The Times of India [10], however, which is likely to incite the most interesting discussions in the Indian blogosphere.
[53]The Lead India [8] campaign carries forward the theme of its 2007 campaign, in which it ran a nationwide ‘talent-hunt’ to search for the next generation of Indian leaders. In its new avatar [54], it wants to enable the Indian electorate to make the right voting decision in the upcoming elections, by providing a platform for meaningful political debate [55] and supporting the No Criminals in Politics [56] campaign.
[9]At the same time, TOI's Bleed India [9] campaign parodies Lead India and asks:
Lead India? Where to? Up the garden Path? Round the Bend? And by who? Our Leaders? Lol!
So while the Times Of India tries to find new leaders for a new age (good luck gentlemen!), we focus instead on those who Bleed India; Masters of the Scam, Tigers of the Tightrope: Surely they deserve some acknowledgement of their genius – in staying above the law, beyond the law, in making it and in breaking it..wah! wah! Ladies and gentlemen…you have led us and yes you have bled us.
It then creates an elaborate parody of the typical Indian politician, Pappu Raj [57], with his own Facebook profile [58] and Facebook page [59] (Exchange4Media [60]).
Anondan [61] tears apart the Lead India print ad while Rajiv Dingra [62] wonders what is cooking with the Lead India/ Bleed India dichotomy. On Twitter, several users like Deepak [63] and Kanika [64], find the Bleed India campaign “funny and creative”, while Sumant [65] and Aadisht [66] believe that Bleed India is “buzz gone wrong” and “badly done sarcasm”.
Opinion is divided on whether Jaago Re, My Idea and Lead India/ Bleed India are really socially conscious campaigns, or blatant attempts to generate buzz, but if engagement is the benchmark for success, these campaigns are the most effective ones running in the election season in India.
Cross-posted on Gauravonomics, my blog on social media and social change.