Congress, BJP eye TRP pie

After Barack Obama broke records by spending $60 million on more than 1,00,000 TV ads to win the Democratic presidential nomination, the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party are set to follow suit here. The nation’s biggest advertising war will be launched shortly as the two national parties gear up to unleash what is arguably the most expensive election ad campaign ever.

Since, unlike the United States, a declaration is not mandatory under India’s election laws, ad expenses have traditionally been a subject of speculation and guesswork. This time too neither party is willing to talk figures.

But political circles estimate the combined cost could be between Rs150 crore and Rs500 crore, giving advertising companies an unexpected windfall at a time when they are reeling under the impact of huge cuts in corporate ad budgets.

Almost all major ad companies are in the race to bag what are obviously the most sought after contracts these days. The Congress has zeroed in on Crayons, which handled its campaign in the recent state assembly polls, and J Walter Thompson.

The BJP has gone through presentations by agencies like Gray, which did the 1999 and 2004 campaigns, Percept, Iris, EuroRSCG and Graphics Ad. A senior party functionary will take a decision “very soon” after evaluating the ideas, the style and mass appeal of presentations.

Even as the parties make up their minds, the Brand Rahul versus Brand Advani blitzkrieg has started. From February 5, the Congress began dotting the landscape of cities and towns across India with hoardings, posters and banners showcasing Rahul, some on his own, some in the company of mother Sonia, with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as a token presence in the background.

A Congress leader said the party plans to put up five hoardings, 10,000 posters and 10,000 banners in each assembly constituency in the run-up to the election. Given that there are nearly 4,000 assembly constituencies in the country, it adds up to a staggering figure.

The BJP, on the other hand, has launched Brand Advani in cyberspace through Google. These days, you can’t hit a website without an Advani ad popping up. 

Though the Congreess claims that its 2004 aam aadmi slogan, which caught the imagination of the voter and propelled the United Progressive Alliance to power, will remain at the centre of its campaign, there is no mistaking the projection of Rahul Gandhi as the main bait this time.

He may not be the party’s prime ministerial candidate in these elections, but he is very definitely the party’s future. Change with continuity, continuity with change. The message that was used to sell Rajiv Gandhi to a traumatized nation in the aftermath of Indira Gandhi’s assassination in 1984 has resurfaced to package Rahul as the face of tomorrow.

The target audience of the ad campaigns is clearly the youth. With an estimated 40% voters said to be in age group of 18 to 30, this is an important segment to catch. It may be easier to package 38-year-old Rahul as the harbinger of change but the BJP is doing its best to match the Congress through blogs, Facebook sites, web chats and a personal website that seek to bridge the gap between Advani and young voters.

The general theme of the BJP’s ad campaign will be ‘suraksha, sushasan and viaks’ (security, good governance and development). It will run at the national and state levels. Advani will be the national face but the campaign will also highlight BJP chief ministers Narendra Modi, Raman Singh, Shivraj Singh Chauhan and BS Yeddyurappa.