POLITICAL MARKETING

Before learning the facts about political marketing it is mandatory to learn what marketing is and what its scope is. 1. Marketing Marketing is about identifying and meeting human and social needs. One of the shortest good definitions is meeting needs profitably. The American Marketing Association offers the following formal definition: Marketing is an organizational function and a set of process for creating, communicating, and delivering in ways value that to customers the and for managing and its

customer relationships

benefit

organization

stakeholders.Coping with these exchange process calls for a considerable amount of work and skill. The definition presented above reflects the managerial side of marketing. We can distinguish between a social and a managerial definition of marketing. A social definition shows the role marketing plays in society. Here is a social definition that serves our purpose: Marketing is a societal process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating, offering and freely exchanging products and services of value with others. Aim of marketing is to make selling superfluous. The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well that the product or service fits him and sells itself. Now the question arises what all things can be marketed. Marketing people market several types of entities such as goods, services, events, experiences, persons, places, properties, organizations, information and ideas. Now days in various democratic countries, political parties have started adopting marketing
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concepts and strategies. Political parties try to market persons (contestants), organizations (their own parties) and ideas (their philosophies).Let us discuss what is political marketing, its scope, characteristics, relevance etc.

2.1 Political Marketing: a definition Harrop (1990) perceives political marketing as being not just about Political advertising, party political broadcasts and electoral speeches but covering the whole area of party positioning in the electoral market. Kavanagh (1995, 1996) sees political marketing as electioneering, i.e. as a set of strategies and tools to trace and study public opinion before and during an election campaign, to develop campaign communications and to assess their impact. A similar view is expressed by Scammell(1995). Maarek (1995), Conceptualizes political marketing as a complex process, the outcome of a more global effort implicating all the factors of the politicians political communication and emphasizes that political marketing is the general method of political communication, one of its means. He considers the introduction of marketing in politics as an outcome of the elaboration of a policy of political communicationa global strategy of design, rationalization and conveyance of modern political communication

2.4 Political Communication: a definition In an overview of the field of political communication in the UK, Franklin (1995) points out the broadness of character, the range and the lack of clarity of what falls into the concept of political communication. Franklin, in an effort, to operational this vast field, provides the following, very comprehensive and detailed, definition:

The field of political communication studies the interactions between media and political systems, locally, nationally, and internationally. Franklin argues that political communication focuses on the analysis of: a) b) c) The political content of the media The actors and agencies involved in the production of that content The impact of political media content on the audience and/or on policy development d) e) The impact of the political system on the media system The impact of the media system on the political system

Commenting on that definition, Franklin (1995) emphasizes that it will need to accommodate even further diversity, expressing the varied analytical approaches, assumptions, and disciplinary backgrounds of communication scholars. These backgrounds range from political science to history, from cultural theory to sociology and to social psychology.

2.5 Political Marketing and Political Communication Scammell (1999) notes that the political communications literature tends to treat political marketing as only one aspect of broader processes. According to her, political communicators perceive political marketing as a response to developments in media and communication technologies and tend to view modern politics as intertwined with the media. The emergence of non ideological catch all parties and the role of the media as an autonomous major actor in the political process trouble political communication scholars who emphasize the potential consequences for civic engagement with politics and voice concerns over the quality of communication output and its influence on the democratic system as a whole.
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In Scammells (1995, 1999) view, marketings unique contribution is the introduction of strategic concern regarding the electorates wants and needs. The incorporation of strategy in election campaigning influences goals, priorities, policies and party behavior. At the same time, this strategy element is a very serious threat to democratic processes. Scammell (1995) notes though that political marketing should be discerned from propaganda as the former involves reciprocity which the latter lacks. Emphasis on strategy introduces a new focus, which shifts away from the use of promotional techniques and deals with the overall strategic objectives of parties and candidates. According to Scammell (1999), this new focus effectively reverses the perspective offered by campaign studies/political communications approaches. Political marketing is no longer a subset of broader processes: political communications becomes a subset of political marketing, tools of promotion within the overall marketing mix. Lees-Marshment (2001) argues that political communication focuses on the role of long-term communication while political marketing is more comprehensive binding together campaigning, political communication, market intelligence, and product design and product promotion. Butler and Collins (1994) present the structural characteristics of political marketing as follows (figure 2):

The Structural characteristics of political marketing

Through the prism of the aforementioned arguments it can be claimed that political communication can offer guidance to political marketing on how to improve its negative perception, on how to make its outcomes more substantial to voters, on how to improve its standards and on how to attract media attention. The aforementioned analysis shows quite clearly the shift in the focus and range of the concept of political marketing, which has taken place in the past decade.
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From being a set of theoretical and practical tools for the successful conduct of election campaigns, political marketing has expanded to a permanent strategic element of governance. Thus, from being a subset of a partys electoral communication, it has now grown so much that it hasannexed political communication as one of its components. Of course that is how political marketers perceive it. Political communication scholars clearly have a much different perception of the field. According to them, political communication is much wider in scope, focusing on the totality of communications and interactions taking place within the political process and is not just interested in voter behavior and campaign studies.

2.6 Functions of Political marketing Functions of political marketing are pre- requisites for successful political marketing management. According to political marketing theorist, there 8 generic functions of a successful political marketing which includes the following: 1. Product Function: In political marketing practice, there should be an exchange between political parties and electorate in the electoral market. Like mainstream marketing each political party has to offer some product which they wanted to sell in the market. Here party wants to market its product which is the promise of a good government. In some cases, the product may be image of the candidate, an ideology or certain specific foreign policies. Hence the entire marketing process is designed to market the product. In USA, the main product function of Democratic Party was to sell Obama Brand and good governance based on change.

2. Distribution Function: The distribution function refers to the conditions regarding the availability of exchange offer to the exchange partner. The function has two aspects campaign delivery and offering delivery. The campaign delivery function provides the primary exchange partner- the electorate-with access to all relevant information about the political product. This includes the dissemination of information regarding crucial party policies and programs, placing the candidates in right channels, making sure that medium of distribution fit the ideology of the party etc. 3. Cost Function: One of the main functions of main stream marketing is to sell a product which is cost effective compared to other products in the market so that customer gets greater monetary satisfaction. In political marketing, cost function refers to the management of attitudinal and behavioral barriers of voters through calculated campaign strategies. The voter should receive all the information regarding the product without spending money for it. 4. Communication Function: Communication involves the function of informing the primary exchange partner of the offer and its availability. It is often seen as the heart of political marketing. For a political party, it implies, providing political content, political ideas and future and sense making of a complex political world programs but also aiding the interpretation Often the communication function involves simplification of political messages, concise political stand etc. The communication function interacts with the campaign delivery aspects of the distribution function-the latter provides the medium while the former defines the content. The communication

function prescribes a dialogue with the exchange partners a multidirectional flow of information and shared agenda setting. 5. News Management Function: This function is closely linked to communication function. But news management function is targeted to secondary exchange partners or intermediaries of which media is an important part. In other words it is the management of publicity of the candidate and party. Public relation activities, media management, online advertising campaign management etc are news management functions. In the era of communication revolution news management plays a vital role in success of political marketing. 6. Fund Raising Function: In mainstream marketing fundraising is not an issue. But political marketing management cannot survive without fund raising. In fact the success of other functions largely depends on fund raising function. In order to provide the political actor with appropriate resources, a distinct fund raising function needs to be addressed. A political party depends to a varying extent on membership fee, donations, etc. 7. Parallel Campaign Management Function: This function describes the requirement of co-coordinating the campaign management activities of a political party with those of parallel organizations. Coordinated and synergic use of managerial activities allows for a more efficient deployment of campaign resources. Furthermore, the use of parallel campaigns and the endorsements by other organizations can increase the trustworthiness of the political messages.

8. Internal Cohesion Management Functions: Besides the external management aspects, internal structure and functions of the political party also needs to be managed professionally. The function is concerned with relationship with party members and activists as well as the spoke persons. The internal marketing functions play a critical role in creating internal stability and therefore the credibility of the party regarding its outside image. During the past decade even the Indian political parties realized the importance of marketing and advertising in elections. Parties started hiring political consultants and ad agencies, to develop their positioning strategy among different socioeconomic classes of Indian public. Before understanding the whole strategies and view point of political parties we must learn what political campaigning is and its various techniques. 3.1 Political campaign A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making process within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, wherein representatives are chosen or referenda are decided. Political campaigns also include organized efforts to alter policy within any institution or organization. Politics is as old as humankind and is not limited to democratic or governmental institutions. Some examples of political campaigns are: the effort to execute or banish Socrates from Athens in the 5th century BC, the uprising of petty nobility against John of England in the 13th century, or the 2005 push to remove Michael Eisner from the helm of The Walt Disney Company. 3.2 Techniques A campaign team (which may be as small as one inspired individual, or a heavilyresourced group of professionals) must consider how to communicate the message
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of the campaign, recruit volunteers, and raise money. Campaign advertising draws on techniques from commercial advertising and propaganda. The avenues available to political campaigns when distributing their messages is limited by the law, available resources, and the imagination of the campaigns' participants. These techniques are often combined into a formal strategy known as the campaign plan. The plan takes account of a campaign's goal, message, target audience, and resources available. The campaign will typically seek to identify supporters at the same time as getting its message across. Campaign advertising Campaign advertising is the use of paid media (newspapers, radio, television, etc.) to influence the decisions made for and by groups. These ads are designed by political consultants and the campaign's staff. Media management The public media (in 'free media' or 'earned media')may run the story that someone is trying to get elected or to do something about such and such. Mass meetings, rallies and protests Holding protests, rallies and other similar public events (if enough people can be persuaded to come) may be a very effective campaign tool. Holding mass meetings with speakers is powerful as it shows visually, through the number of people in attendance, the support that the campaign has. Modern technology and the internet The internet is now a core element of modern political campaigns. Communication technologies such as e-mail, websites and pod casts for various forms of activism to enable faster communications by citizen movements and deliver a message to a large audience. These Internet technologies are used for cause-related fundraising, lobbying, volunteering, and community building, and organizing.
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Other techniques Writing directly to members of the public (either via a professional marketing firm or, particularly on a small scale, by volunteers) By distributing leaflets or selling newspapers Through websites, online communities, and solicited or unsolicited bulk email Through a new technique known as Micro targeting that helps identify and target small demographic slices of voters. Through a whistle stop tour - a series of brief appearances in several small towns. Hampering the ability of political competitors to campaign, by such techniques as counter-rallies, picketing of rival parties meetings, or overwhelming rival candidates offices with mischievous phone calls (most political parties in representative democracies publicly distance themselves from such disruptive and morale-affecting tactics, with the exception of those parties self-identifying as activist). Organizing political house parties. Using endorsements of other celebrated party members to boost support. Remaining close to or at home to make speeches to supporters who come to visit as part of a front porch campaign. Vote-by-mail, previously known as 'absentee ballots' have grown significantly in importance as an election tool. Today, campaigns in most states must have a strategy in place to impact early voting. Parties want to reach to the maximum number of voters and earn largest share of their minds and hearts. Political parties indulge themselves into political communication to influence masses. The political campaigns though have existed
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since post independence era but it is only the recent times when parties have adopted modern techniques to reach maximum number of people .The various innovative techniques would be dealt in latter sections. 4. History of Indian politics Since the first elections held in 1952, there had been 14 Lok Sabha elections in India, including that held in 2004.The Congress has been a major political party and had formed the government maximum number of times. In 1977, the Congress was defeated by the Janata Party. Morarji Desai(Desai) became the first noncongress PM of India. However, his government did not last long and the Congress regained power in 1980 under the leadership of Indira Gandhi (Indira). Indira was the daughter of India's first PM, Jawaharlal Lal Nehru. Indira remained as PM till October 31, 1984 when she was assassinated by her personal bodyguard. Following her death, the Congress fielded Indira's son Rajiv Gandhi (Rajiv) as the Prime Ministerial candidate. Riding on the sympathy wave generated by Indira's assassination, the party won by a huge margin, bagging 415 of the 542 seats in the 1984 elections. In 1984, the BJP got only two seats in the Lok Sabha. The BJP consolidated its position in the 1989 elections and won86 seats. In 1989, though the Congress was the single largest party with 197 seats, the Janata Dal, which had won 142 seats, formed the government with the support of the BJP. The coalition government lasted for 15 months, after which mid-term elections were announced. During the election campaign, Rajiv was assassinated at an election rally in Sriperumbudur,Tamil Nadu. Again, a sympathy wave swept the country and the Congress returned to power with P V Narasimha Rao (Rao) as PM. The new government served its full term. However, the BJP had emerged stronger, winning 120 seats.

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5. Emergence of political advertising in India In India the major credit of introducing political advertising on large and programmed way goes to BJP which had launched an ad campaign on television. The 'India Shining' campaign that marked the beginning of a new age of political advertising in India. It discusses in depth the political advertising strategy of the erstwhile NDA government and examines how the campaign was aimed as a tool to win votes. The case also discusses the political advertising campaign of the present ruling party - Congress that mainly targeted the masses. The case ends with a debate on the efficacy of political advertising campaign in general, and explores reasons why the' India Shining' campaign was unsuccessful. 5.1 Introduction In mid January 2004, the former Prime Minister (PM) of India -Atal Bihari Vajpayee (Vajpayee) announced plans to dissolve the 13th Lok Sabha and go for early elections in April-May2004. The term of the Vajpayee government was scheduled to end in October 2004. The announcement of early dissolution did not surprise political analysts in the country. Analysts felt that the decision to go for early elections was maiden view of the booming Indian economy, encouraging state assembly election results, peaceful relationship with India's neighboring countries and the major opposition party the Indian National Congress (Congress) being in a demoralized state. They felt the popularity of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) was at its peak. A leading newspaper of India reported, "The popularity of the National Democratic Alliance and the standing of the PM himself have never been as high as they are currently."
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The BJP decided to leverage its popularity and initiated a major poll campaign with the slogan 'India Shining.' The campaign was aimed at highlighting the progress India had made during the tenure of Vajpayee as PM. The campaign was supported by another catch phrase 'Feel Good Factor.' By the end of January 2004, almost all leading television channels, newspapers and magazines in India had carried advertisements as part of the campaign. Reportedly, the BJP spent close to Rs 5 billion on the campaign. As the polls neared, the BJP gained more confidence. Several opinion polls conducted before the elections and exit polls on election days predicted that the NDA was coming back to power. The BJP's President, Venkaiah Naidu (Naidu) claimed the alliance would get more than 300 Lok Sabha seats. On the other hand, the Congress hoped it would win more than the 112 seats it had won in the last elections. Party leaders expressed the opinion that the maximum they could win was 135 seats. 5.2 The Campaign and its Response The genesis of the 'India Shining' campaign began in July 2003.The NDA government approached 20 advertising agencies in its efforts to get an advertisement campaign developed that would highlight India as a fast developing country. The campaign was aimed at highlighting India's achievements under the NDA government. The government reviewed all the proposals submitted by the agencies but was not satisfied. It then approached 11 other agencies in October 2003. Finally, Grey Worldwide-India (GWI), a part of the Grey Global Group, bagged the contract.

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During the conceptualization stage of the campaign, the government told GWI that the campaign should focus on the improving economic conditions and the rapid progress made by India in recent years. The 'India Shining' slogan was created by Prathap Suthan (Suthan), national creative director, GWI Before selecting this slogan, Suthan also considered some other lines such as 'India Alive,' 'India Rising' and 'India Dazzling.' However, he felt that none of these were as appropriate as 'India Shining.' Suthan said, "Each of them were wrong in certain ways. India Alive carries with it the implication of death or sickness. India Rising takes you back to the Independence era when we were just formulating an identity. India Dazzling was an over-claim." According to him, 'India Shining' conveyed a sense of health, prosperity and radiance. After finalizing the slogan, GWI's planning department gathered preliminary information including key statistics and information on Indian economy. The Ministry of Finance also provided the company with some relevant facts and figures to use in the campaign. Further, a search was done on the Internet to gather useful information. 5.3 The Debate The Congress, under the leadership of Sonia Gandhi (Sonia), the wife of the late Rajiv, vehemently opposed the claims made in the 'India Shining' campaign. In the initial days of the campaign, Congress opposed the campaign by terming it as 'India Cheated.' The party leaders said that in reality, the Indian economy was not booming and there was no reason for the country to feel good. It also ridiculed Advani's catch phrase by terming it as' Fail Good.' The campaign showed 10.4% growth in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of India in the third quarter of the fiscal year 2003-04, compared to the third quarter

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in the fiscal year 2002-03. However, the Congress- insisted that the increase in GDP was largely due to better monsoon. Jairam Ramesh (Ramesh), a senior leader of the Congress commented, "The large picture looks good only because the monsoon has been good in 2003. Otherwise, the Vajpayee era could have been written off." The Congress also said that the GDP growth for 2003-04 was high as it had been compared with a dismal growth of 4.2% during 2002-03. It also claimed that during the five years of the NDA government, the Indian economy had grown only by 5.7%.The 'India Shining' campaign claimed that 8.4 million new jobs were created every year... The Campaign of the Congress The Congress also took professional help to counter the "India Shining" campaign. It hired Orchard Advertising, an Indian subsidiary of Leo Burnett; a US- based advertising company. The company structured its campaign in the form of a question, which asked 'Aam Aadmi Ko Kya Mila?' (What did the common man get?). The campaign argued that the masses were not benefited by the' feel good' factor that the NDA was stressing. Orchard's advertisement strategy was to counter the mood set by the "India Shining" campaign. Most advertisements by the Congress did not use colors and concentrated more on the poor. One advertisement showed anold, poor man.The punch line said, "Woh hukumat kis kaam ki jisme gareeb ki zindgi mein sukh chain nahi hai? Sochiye! Congress ka haath,Gareeb ke Saath" ("What is a use of that government which cannot bring peace and prosperity in the lives of the poor. Think! "The hand of Congress is with the poor.

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5.4 The Result Various opinion polls and exit polls too suggested that the NDA government would be re-elected. However, the election results stunned all political parties in India as well as leading psychologists and political experts. The NDA managed to get only 188 seats with the leading party -the BJP getting 138 seats. The Congress and its allies got 219seats of which the Congress on its own bagged 145 seats. With the support of the Left parties, who bagged 53 seats, the Congress formed the next government. The defeat of the NDA's major allies the TDP and the AIADMK, meant that the NDA did not have any support to draw on. The defeat of the NDA in the Lok Sabha elections ignited a debate not only among its leaders but also among psychologists and other experts. They tried to draw conclusions on why the NDA had lost despite a major advertising campaign. A few analysts felt that the "India Shining" campaign made false claims since the whole of India was not shining. They said that the campaign alienated the common man for whom India was not shining at all. Salman Rushdie, a well-known writer in India, commented, "The gulf between India's rich and poor has never looked wider than it does today, and the government has fallen into that chasm." In India, political parties have to follow a certain code of conduct during the whole election campaign.

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6.

MODEL CODE OF CONDUCT FOR THE GUIDANCE OF POLITICAL PARTIES AND CANDIDATES

1. General Conduct (1) No party or candidate shall include in any activity which may aggravate existing differences or create mutual hatred or cause tension between different castes and communities, religious or linguistic. (2) Criticism of other political parties, when made, shall be confined to their policies and program, past record and work. Parties and Candidates shall refrain from criticism of all aspects of private life, not connected with the public activities of the leaders or workers of other parties. Criticism of other parties or their workers based on unverified allegations or distortion shall be avoided. (3) There shall be no appeal to caste or communal feelings for securing votes. Mosques, Churches, Temples or other places of worship shall not be used as forum for election propaganda. (4) All parties and candidates shall avoid scrupulously all activities which are corrupt practices and offences under the election law, such as bribing of voters, intimidation of voters, impersonation of voters, canvassing within 100 meters of polling stations, holding public meetings during the period of

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48hours ending with the hour fixed for the close of the poll, and the transport and conveyance of voters to and from polling station. (5) The right of every individual for peaceful and undisturbed home-life shall be respected, however much the political parties or candidates may resent his political opinions or activities. Organizing demonstrations or picketing before the houses of individuals by way of protesting against their opinions or activities shall not be resorted to under any circumstances. (6) No political party or candidate shall permit its or his followers to make use of any individuals land, building, compound wall etc., without his permission for erecting flag-staffs, suspending banners, pasting notices, writing slogans etc. (7) Political parties and candidates shall ensure that their supporters do not create obstructions in or break up meetings and processions organized by other parties. Workers or sympathizers of one political party shall not create disturbances at public meetings organized by another political party by putting questions orally or in writing or by distributing leaflets of their own party. Processions shall not be taken out by one party along places at which meetings are held by another party. Posters issued by one party shall not be removed by workers of another party.

II. Meetings (1) The party or candidate shall inform the local police authorities of the venue and time any proposed meeting well in time so as to enable the police to make necessary arrangements for controlling traffic and maintaining peace and order. (2) A Party or candidate shall ascertain in advance if there is any restrictive or prohibitory order in force in the place proposed for the meeting if such
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orders exist, they shall be followed strictly. If any exemption is required from such orders, it shall be applied for and obtained well in time. (3) If permission or license is to be obtained for the use of loudspeakers or any other facility in connection with any proposed meeting, the party or candidate shall apply to the authority concerned well in advance and obtain such permission or license. (4) Organizers of a meeting shall invariably seek the assistance of the police on duty for dealing with persons disturbing a meeting or otherwise attempting to create disorder. Organizers themselves shall not take action against such persons.

III. Procession (1) A Party or candidate organizing a procession shall decide before hand the time and place of the starting of the procession, the route to be followed and the time and place at which the procession will terminate. There shall ordinary be on deviation from the program. (2) The organizers shall give advance intimation to the local police authorities of the program so as to enable the letter to make necessary arrangement. (3) The organizers shall ascertain if any restrictive orders are in force in the localities through which the procession has to pass, and shall comply with the restrictions unless exempted specially by the competent authority. Any traffic regulations or restrictions shall also be carefully adhered to. (4) The organizers shall take steps in advance to arrange for passage of the procession so that there is no block or hindrance to traffic. If the procession is very long, it shall be organized in segments of suitable lengths, so that at convenient intervals, especially at points where the procession has to pass

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road junctions, the passage of held up traffic could be allowed by stages thus avoiding heavy traffic congestion. (5) Processions shall be so regulated as to keep as much to the right of the road as possible and the direction and advice of the police on duty shall be strictly complied with. (6) If two or more political parties or candidates propose to take processions over the same route or parts thereof at about the same time, the organizers shall establish contact well in advance and decide upon the measures to be taken to see that the processions do not clash or cause hindrance to traffic. The assistance of the local police shall be availed of for arriving at a satisfactory arrangement. For this purpose the parties shall contact the police at the earliest opportunity. (7) The political parties or candidates shall exercise control to the maximum extent possible in the matter of precisionists carrying articles which may be put to misuse by undesirable elements especially in moments of excitement. (8) The carrying of effigies purporting to represent member of other political parties or their leaders, burning such effigies in public and such other forms demonstration shall not be countenanced by any political party or candidate. IV. Polling Day All Political parties and candidates shall (i) Co-operate with the officers on election duty to ensure peaceful and orderly polling and complete freedom to the voters to exercise their franchise without being subjected to any annoyance or obstruction. (ii) (iii) Supply to their authorized workers suitable badges or identity cards. Agree that the identity slip supplied by them to voter shall be on plain (white) paper and shall not contain any symbol, name of the candidate or the name of the party;
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(iv)

Refrain from serving or distributing liquor on polling day and during the forty eight hours preceding it

(v)

Not allow unnecessary crowd to be collected near the camps set up by the political parties and candidates near the polling booths so as to avoid Confrontation and tension among workers and sympathizers of the parties and the candidate. Ensure that the candidates camps shall be simple .The shall not display any posters, flags, symbols or any other propaganda material. No eatable shall be served or crowd allowed at the camps and

(vi)

(vii) Co-operate with the authorities in complying with the restrictions to be imposed on the plying of vehicles on the polling day and obtain permits for them which should be displayed prominently on those vehicles.

VI. Observers The Election Commission is appointing Observers. If the candidates or their agents have any specific complaint or problem regarding the conduct of elections they may bring the same to the notice of the Observer. VII. Party in Power The party in power whether at the Centre or in the State or States concerned, shall ensure that no cause is given for any complaint that it has used its official position for the purposes of its election campaign and in particular (i) (a) The Ministers shall not combine their official visit with electioneering work and shall not also make use of official machinery or personnel during the electioneering work.

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(b)

Government transport including official air-crafts, vehicles, machinery and personnel shall not be used for furtherance of the interest of the party in power;

(ii)

Public places such as maidans etc., for holding election meetings, and use of helipads for air-flights in connection with elections shall not be monopolized by itself. Other parties and candidates shall be allowed the use of such places and facilities on the same terms and conditions on which they are used by the party in power;

(iii)

Rest houses, dark bungalows or other Government accommodation shall not be monopolized by the party in power or its candidates and such accommodation shall be allowed to be used by other parties and candidates in a fair manner but no party or candidate shall use or be allowed to use such accommodation (including premises appertaining thereto) as a campaign office or for holding any public meeting for the purposes of election propaganda;

(iv)

Issue of advertisement at the cost of public exchequer in the newspapers and other media and the misuse of official mass media during the election period for partisan coverage of political news and publicity regarding achievements with a view to furthering the prospects of the party in power shall be scrupulously avoided.

(v)

Ministers and other authorities shall not sanction grants/payments out of discretionary funds from the time elections are announced by the Commission; and

(vi)

From the time elections are announced by Commission, Ministers and other authorities shall not

(a)

announce any financial grants in any form or promises there of; or

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(b)

(except civil servants) lay foundation stones etc. of projects or schemes of any kind; or

(c)

make any promise of construction of roads, provision of drinking water facilities etc.; or

(d)

make any ad-hoc appointments in Government, Public Undertakings etc. which may have the effect of influencing the voters in favor of the party in power.

Note: The Commission shall announce the date of any election which shall be a date ordinarily not more than three weeks prior to the date on which the notification is likely to be issued in respect of such elections.(vii) Ministers of Central or State Government shall not enter any polling station or place of counting except in their capacity as a candidate or voter or authorized agent.

7.

Different media strategies used for advertisements in recent elections.

During the recent assembly elections and ongoing Lok sabha elections many conventional and non-conventional mediaare used by various political parties. The biggest difference in recent and past elections is that all the parties hired their consultant ad agencies, planned a framework and laid aggressive ad campaigns. With political advertising crossing over Rs 600 crore in ad spends this year, all kinds of advertising agencies, big and small, shoved and pushed for a slice of the pie. For some like the JWT, advertising in the political arena is a first. The agency, that tasted success with its campaigns for Pepsi and Nike, now has the challenge of selling a party as old and as varied as the Congress to as complex a market as Electorate India. Let us discuss all those media types and their advantages.

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7.1 Television Only 15% of the total campaign budgets are spent on TV ads. Advertising experts believe it is because TV does not give political parties enough bang for the buck. A 10 second spot can sell for anywhere between Rs. 5,000 on a regional language channel to at least Rs. 1.5 lakh on a popular channel during prime time, say media buyers, while other platforms such as radio and outdoor are as effective and cheaper. Voter banks are not in big cities but in rural areas where posters, meetings and mobile vans reach out to more potential voters than a TV ad which costs 10 times the amount, says Sumira Roy, founder of Mumbai-based advertising agency Postscript. And spending so much on a political campaign like the BJP did with the India Shining campaign last elections, can actually backfire and work against the party. At a time when Indian advertising has become so creative and has set standards internationally, the quality of political campaigns on TV remains poor and reflects badly on the industry, says a senior advertising agency executive who didn't want to be named. Especially the BJP ads that featured politicians using the attacks in Mumbai to gain votes on TV and print was atrocious and will make them lose supporters. Adds Emmanuel Upputuru, National Creative Director, Public is India, Earlier, political ads on TV looked like an A/V (audio-visual), so at least now they look like an advertisement as the production has improved after advertising agencies were hired, but at the end of the day, the advertising will be just as good or bad as the product, so maybe product is bad. However with 400-Plus TV channels, 60-70% of which are regional language channels, the media does hold potential if used intelligently.

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7.2 Outdoor advertisements While door-to-door campaigning and political rallies continue to be the mainstay of election campaigns, political parties in India are looking at advertising campaigns across media platforms to reach the elusive voter, especially in urban areas. Political parties are now more focused in their marketing strategies, and communication campaigns are going beyond reinforcing the party symbol. The proportion of poll budgets allocated to advertising has gone up and professional advertising agencies are being used. For advertising agencies, too, it has been a learning curvethe target group is diffused and most ads take the regional language route. Outdoor media, with its banners, hoardings and pamphlets, is the most obvious choice in political campaigns, with print ads a close second. The digital media has gained significance because of its ability to interact with urban voters; radio ads made their debut in the ongoing assembly elections. Television, despite its potential, has failed to click with parties and voters alike, mainly due to the poor quality of the ads. Campaign looks at how political parties are using these mediums to spread the word-and how effective each is. Hoarding, bus stands, mobile vans and floats have proved to be most effective forms of communication and are used extensively by political parties. In fact, the outdoor medium gets a higher budget than television. According to a media buyers, 20% of the Rs. 400 crore advertising budget was spent on outdoor, while 15% was spent on television.Outdoor advertising is the first indication that elections are coming up because all of a sudden, streets and parks in cities and villages across the country are filled with banners and hoardings of politicians, says Sumira Roy of Postscript.
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This platform connects with the rural populations on the best because it talks to them in the language they understand and is effective in delivering results. Adds Gullu Sen of Dentsu India, We know the leaders of political parties such as Sonia Gandhi or Manmohan Singh but how many of us know the other politicians standing for elections in the states? So outdoor advertising helps spread awareness and educate people on who is who. Apart from effectiveness and recall, outdoor media is more cost-effective than advertising in the main stream media. According to a leading outdoor advertising agency in Delhi, hoardings in a city such as Delhi cost political parties Rs.2.5-5 lakh for a month depending on the location and can be as low as Rs. 50,000 a month in smaller towns. The cost of advertising in bus shelters for a month can be between Rs.80, 000 and Rs. 1.5 lakh for digital print banners. Compare this to approximately Rs. 1.5 lakh for a 10second TV spot ad during prime time on a general entertainment channel or a fullpage advertisement across all editions of a national newspaper that can cost up to Rs. 1.7 crore a day.

7.3 Print The lions share has traditionally gone to newspapers, and even though platforms such as digital and radio have gained significance, loyalties have not shifted yet. According to a media buying agency, print accounts for 4050% of the Rs.400 crore budget in the latest assembly elections.Newspapers account for 50% of our spends because it reaches out to the masses, yet it is a very localized form of advertising that gets the message across to the lowest loca denominator, says Ranjan Bargotra, President of Crayons Advertising Ltd., the agency handling the Congress account. According to the latest figures of the Registrar of Newspapers in India, or RNI, India had 64,998 registered newspapers as of March 2007, with a total circulation
27

of 190 million. A political party can pay anywhere between Rs. 5 lakh andRs. 45 lakh for one full-page advertisement in a newspaper, depending on the reach it has, says a senior media buyer who did not want to be identified. Print ads also allow parties to respond to unexpected situations.Yes, print is a localized from of advertising but the main reason for using so much of this media is because these political campaigns are all developed (at the) last minute and print is the fastest way to do it. All it needs is some script, party symbol and mug shots of the politicians, says Gullu Sen, Executive Vice Chairman and Creative Director of advertising agency Dentsu, India. Despite all this, experts believe the entire efforts may be a waste. The Quality of print Advertisements is still very tacky and seem like a big sham to me, says Anil Madan, founder and creative director, Aqua Communications. Adds Sen, They are bad leaflets, not advertisements-all it does is familiarize voters to their faces, so when someone does go to the poll booth, they might just recall the face and make a connection."

7.4 Radio On 21 November, The Election Commission allowed political campaigns on airwaves. From the very next day, radio stations in Delhi and other states going to the polls aired political advertisements, mainly from the BJP and Congress. Analysts say the speed with which parties integrated radio into their campaigns is indicative of the potential it has to reach out locally. Radio is a localized medium that reaches out to19 crore listeners (above the age of 12) and unlike print and TV, where there are time and space restrictions, radio allows parties to actually communicate to listeners in their language says Sunil Kumar, Managing Director at Radio Business Consultancy Big River Radio (India) Pvt. Ltd.

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With the poll panel putting restrictions on the expenditure for campaigns, parties are looking at less expensive outlets. It isnatural for political parties to use radio channels which are popular among youngsters, says BJP spokesperson RajivPratap Rudy. According to a senior executive from a media buying agency, who did not want to be identified, radio accounted for Rs.20 crore of the Rs. 400 crore political advertising budget. The Congress took six radio spots, the BJP took three. The ads ranged from 1050 seconds and cost the parties between Rs. 250 and Rs. 1,200. Reaching out to 23% of the population, radio may be a more effective and cheaper medium, but experts say political parties will have to learn how to use it to debate and discus opposing viewpoints instead of using it as a platform for mud-slinging. In Delhi where Congress is the ruling party, radio ads highlighted the work done so farno promises were made. But in Rajasthan, where the Congress is in the opposition, the ads looked at the inefficiency of the government and pointed out what could have been done better. Similarly, BJP's campaign warned voters about the shortcomings of the government and rhetorically asked voters if they would make the same mistake. These ads were not fancy and did not need much production work as they basically had voice-overs communicating to voters. So the ads were probably developed in a span of two days and were all set to air as soon as the government gave the green light," says Prathap Suthan, Creative Director of Cheil Communications. Confirms Ashit Kukian, Executive Vice President of Radio city91.1FM, The commercials were ready. We were waiting for the Election Commission For the broadcast certificate and as soon as the formality was met, the ads were aired on our station.

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The growing reach of private FM radio is expected to find political expression for the first time in India as parties tap it for their campaigns, bringing in welcome revenue to the Rs.8.3 billion/$165 million radio industry in the country. Many political parties realize the reach of the radio and the play that the ads would get and are warming up to the idea of broadcasting their ads on radio," Panday, who is also senior vice president of the Association of Radio Operators for India (AROI), told IANS. Broadcasting of political ads was not allowed on private radio stations until 2005 when the second phase of FM radio privatization was rolled out. This is the first time general elections will be held after that. Prior to this, only stations like the All India Radio (AIR) or BBC's Hindi station used to air such campaigns. Taking advantage of the new development, most major parties like the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress, SamajwadiParty and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) as well as a few regional parties are already making use of the facility. While the Congress has roped in three known ad agencies -Percept, Crayons and James Walter Thompson (JWT) - to prepare the party's campaign strategy, the BJP has hired the services of Frank Simoes-Tag and Utopia Consulting. Nisheeth Sharan of Utopia Consulting told IANS: "We have placed BJP campaigns on all private FM channels as well as on All India Radio because any means of communication during the elections only helps. There is no debating that the radio is the best local media available to connect with people even in far-flung areas. And it makes more sense to campaign through it rather than print because it is cost effective and is a mass medium; it cuts across all literacy levels. According to report compiled jointly by global consultancy KPMG and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), the country's radio industry is set to grow at 14.2 percent per annum and reach the size of Rs.16.3 billion by
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2013.NEW DELHI: The growing reach of private FM radio is expected to find political expression for the first time in India as parties tap it for their campaigns, bringing in welcome revenue to theRs.8.3 billion/$165 million radio industry in the country.

7.5 Internet In 2004 the Internet accounted for less than 1% of the advertising budget of political parties. Today however, the digital media makes up at least 10% of the budget, says Atul Hegde, Chief Executive, Ignite India Pvt. Ltd., the agency handling digital advertising for the Congress. With 40 million Internet users and Internet penetration in urban India at around 9% the importance of digital media in political campaigns cannot be ignored. Add to that the fact that 100 million youngsters, half of whom live in urban India are expected to cast their voters for the first time in the Lok Sabha polls next Year, and the Internet emerges as very useful tool to engage with young people. The focus on digital and mobile media is to engage the urban youth in India who make up a large voters base, says HirenPandit, managing partner of GroupM ESP, the entertainment, sports and partnerships division of media buyer GroupM. While they are involved in political affairs, they may not be interested or inclined to vote, so these digital initiatives aim at interacting with them and getting the message out The BJP and congress have tracked US President-elect Barack Obamas successful online campaign-social networking sites such as Facebook, Orkut and MySpace have communities built around the two parties and

individual politicians. On Facebook, for instance, a BJP group has 275members who engage in discussions and post information on important dates and events related to the elections, while Congress Leader Sonia Gandhi and Prime
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Minister Manmohan Singh have their own communities built on the site with 358 and 1,310 supporters respectively. It's the success of Obama's campaign we are trying to replicate here, says Hegde.

The BJP has launched a website for its prime-ministerial candidate L.K Advani. It had one, too, for V.K Malhotra, its chief ministerial candidate for Delhi. The Congress opted for a dedicated Internet campaign for the Rajasthan assembly elections. In addition, the two parties have engaged voters through video-sharing sites such as YouTube and video ads on popular websites such as MSN and Rediffmail. The approximate cost for an extensive online campaign can be Rs.1 crore over a month. 40% of a typical advertising campaign goes towards contextual search and advertising networking and 60% is spent on popular websites such as Yahoo, MSN and Rediff, among others, says Sidharth Rao, chief Executive and cofounder of Web chutney, a leading digital marketing company.

7.6 Mobiles Around 29 crore Indians use mobile phones. Therefore political parties are targeting these voters through SMS and tele-calling voters directly. This way of targeting people has all the advantages of Direct marketing. During these Lok sabha elections all the parties have used this medium but definitely BJP raced much ahead. The attempt to reach voters who usually do not turn up at polling booths is driven by an estimate that many of them might share BJPs vision for a strong Centre and a "nationalist" approach to security that includes "hard" views on anti-terror laws and illegal infiltration. These groups could motivate people to shed both their cynicism and lethargy to actually go to the polling stations.
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Party sources said this would be accompanied by a massive SMS campaign which hopes to ultimately reach 10 crore voters. BJP managers claim that with close to half the voting population connected by mobiles, this campaign is now a must. They agreed that the party was looking forward to a sustained effort by Sangh organizations to reach and motive both the faithful and sympathizers. The saffron party BJP used state-of-the-art campaigning, including the recorded telephonic voice of its election candidates.

2. Political Marketing strategies in India.

A sound communications strategy could backfire without astute media planning. Vajpaye led NDA government had lost elections due to bad media planning. In fact there was nothing wrong with the communication strategy of India Shining campaign. Probably the segmentation was also done meticulously. The party managers had faltered on establishing a correct level of advertising spend believing that if they spend more on communication the result would be in their favor. How could one assume that when most research indicate otherwise. India shining campaign has been considered a flop show as the party lost elections. A closer study would reveal that there was real merit in the communication strategy adopted as election theme. Most experts also agreed that the campaign was generally good and effective before the election results were out. The devil did lie in the media planning. From political marketing viewpoint

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no one tried to look at the desired level of media reach for an incumbent party. The overkill in media cost them elections. The Samajwadi party in Uttar Pradesh used the most powerful brand endorser in India combined with messages that had top grade production values, but that was not enough to keep the party in power. Did the political advertising campaign worked in this case? There are major differences between the American and European way of conducting advertising campaigns. In USA you have candidate centered, repetitive, and short advertising messages as against the European way that features party centric, longer duration, and single shot advertisements. If the Labor party in UK could use professional help and successfully re-brand itself as New Labor and go on to win successive elections. Why cant political parties in India learn from their experience and seek professional help in place of some in house experts who could be susceptible to the phenomenon of tunnel vision. If congress party in Punjab assembly elections 2007 had succeeded in reminding the loyal voters of Shromani Akal Dal in towns about thei r differences with hardcore Hindutva forces then the election results outcome would have been different. If the media experts in congress party had targeted advertisements on the basic differences within the loyal cadres and voters of SAD and BJP it may have continued to rule Punjab. The hardcore Akali and RSS/BJP do not seem to have resolved their ideological differences over major issues like Punjabi language, river waters, Chandigarh, and attitude towards religions etc. Therefore Congress party in Punjab had a cut out task of reminding the core voters in both camps about their past. It was that core Akali voters who for the first time polled votes in favor of BJP that made the difference to the unprecedented BJP victory in the state. The credit
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went to the young leadership of SAD for engineering a shift in the voting behavior of traditional Akali voter by very successfully mobilizing and convincing them to cast the votes in favor of Akali BJP combine. SAD & BJP are parties with a strong core. These kinds of parties can win an election on the basis of a strong wave only. It is very important for these parties to appeal to the floating voters to vote in their favor. In the last Punjab elections there were other strong reasons for the victory of SAD BJP alliance. Use of marketing instruments, concepts and techniques is on the rise in India with every new election. Most political parties realizing the importance of political communications have created in house teams, often named as media cell, to establish, maintain and improve the image of their party and advise the party on professional political communications. These media divisions within parties generally consist of current and former journalists and a smattering of political communications experts. Well-planned political marketing helps to influence the election outcome by convincing the electorate about real effective issues. Elections and political management remains under tight control of the in-party specialists who claim to understand the political scenario better than the marketing expert who generally gets involved in elections during election time only. The politicians and parties in India have yet to get onto the perpetual political marketing mode as undertaken in democracies in western world and the ASEAN countries. The war room mentality remains the favorite style for leveraging the political marketing process in developed world. Punjab elections in 2007 featured high decibel advertising campaigns, public election broadcasts, road shows, exit polls, news management and a more organized campaign management to get the voters out to vote. The reverberations continue to be felt in the form of daily dose of news coverage about the arrest & trial of high profile previous chief minister and his associates.
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The role of media and the media advisors have never had attracted such attention in election campaigns in particular and managing a political party in general. Can we conclude that astute media handling and overall use of marketing tools has become a necessary feature for the success of a political party? The application of marketing techniques and strategies to the political marketplace is a paradigm shift that will continue to change politics, as we know it today. Media in Punjab, India too, has long been associated with social and political movements. It has been considered as an instrument with the potential to usher in a socio-political change in society. Till recently, major media in India could have been identified with distinct religious, political, social and economic interest groups having a definite agenda to promote without regard to the overall health of our democratic nation. In the current democratic set up media openly seems to side with political parties and other vested interest groups to sway the public opinion in a particular direction. Therefore news management has become a full time activity for the political players. Success in politics is measured by the ability of a party to move the public opinion in a direction it wants it to move. Since vast majority of Indians are religious and God fearing therefore it has become a general practice amongst politicians of every hue to be seen to be seeking blessings from religious leaders more during the time of elections so as to impress upon their followers to vote in favor of their party and candidate. But for the first time in Punjab, a Baba from the neighboring state of Haryana took out series of advertisements impressing upon his followers to vote in favor of a Congress party. This cocktail of religion and politics seem to work all over India and has produced enormous aftershocks long after the polls have gone. A professional approach in handling such communications could reduce the unsavory aftershocks in the country. The intensity of the competition could be gauged from the fact that socio36

religious leaders are prompted to appeal to their followers to influence voting. It is not the media companies alone who take recourse to the pre poll surveys to assess the mood of the voters and pump up their TRP. The political parties also resort to use of market research to fine-tune their campaign strategy. Since these surveys make catchy headlines therefore their impact on the voters and the party workers is powerful. A positive survey finding motivates the party worker to get out work to get all the votes polled on the Election Day. A pre poll survey predicting a negative outcome could de motivate the party rank & file and also convince the floating undecided voter to form a negative opinion about the projected looser party. These surveys provide new debating points to the media and do seem to color their own news analysis also. The Parties employed below the line media to reach out to the rural voter. Music videos and election songs have become a major tool of communicating a political message to the rural audience. Terrestrial television in the form of state owned Doordarshan has an extensive reach in the rural areas and therefore used for the purpose of public election broadcast to disseminate the message to the people who otherwise depend upon vernacular print media. The cap on election expenditure also restricts the political parties from involving professional advertising organizations to execute a political campaign on their behalf. Because the political party would not want to disclose their actual advertising spend to the election commission. Persuasion remains the main objective of the political players. The parties stop short of finding out what the electorate wants from them; instead they claim to know what people must expect from them. The parties have generally ignored the need for marketing research to list the issues facing the public. There has been an extensive use of negative advertising during the election campaigning. Some of the advertisements do have advocacy tone also. But
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nothing that could be called a creative advertising campaign capable of producing measurable effects. The media cells in parties continue to believe that voters would buy everything that they have to tell them. When would these media experts accept that we live in times when creating credibility of the messages is a challenge. There has been plethora of research suggesting that incumbent party does not gain from higher share of voice. Though it gains remarkably from share of mind and share of heart. This would require limited use advertising and leveraging the other promotion vehicles. But most incumbent parties do not seem to take lessons and keep on wasting resources on government advertising. It is believed by many that there are no upper limits to the quantity of communication to strengthen the appeal of a political party. More the merrier, but thats certainly not true. Several studies in political marketing have established beyond doubt that there is a non-linear relationship between the spending and net marginal benefit to the advertiser. Particularly for the incumbent party it has been generally accepted that low level of spending, than the challenger, may be better for producing a positive effect for an incumbent party. Most political pundits seem to have concluded that advertising and other marketing devices have almost negligible effective role to play in Indian elections. But several parties have tried to deploy sophisticated political marketing tools to convince the voter to elect them to power. But the results may not have been turned out in their favour. While most political parties use sophisticated technology to get across their message to the voters, they still rely on party old timers, journalists and bureaucrats to work out a communications strategy. Professional advice in election management is still not a very popular way. Therefore, most of the times, the quantity and quality of communication is way off the mark. Some political
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parties in India have recently begun consulting outside professional marketing experts to understand the mood of the electorate, plan communications /advertising, & manage news media in order to mobilize public opinion in its favor. Definitely they see wisdom in using marketing for victory in the elections though political pundits may not agree with the effectiveness of the political marketing process.

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OBJECTIVES OF STUDY
To study about the different strategies use by Political parties to win elections. To explore the political marketing strategies in India. To examine the role of political marketing strategies upon the voting public, and its ability to change the opinions and sway the allegiance of the public. To explore the role of political marketing in usage of marketing tools, techniques and methods in political process. The need of political marketing is inevitable in Indian democracy given the political competition at local, regional and national level to combat the game of coalitions and mid-term crisis.

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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research in common parlance refers to a search for knowledge. Once can also define research as a scientific and systematic search for pertinent information on a specific topic. In fact, research is an art of scientific investigation. The Advanced Learners Dictionary of Current English lays down the meaning of research as a careful investigation or inquiry especially through search for new facts in any branch of knowledge. Research is regarded as systematic process of Identifying market problems and then gathering, recording and analyzing data about the problems and ordered to get a justify solution for the problems. The research methodology enumerates the description of the sampling plan, research instruments used for the collection of data, protesting questionnaire, the use of statistical tools and techniques for the analysis of collectives data. Research Methodology Instrumentation Primary: Primary data has been collected from questionnaire, Observation, Interviews, analysis of records and case studies. Secondary: the secondary data has been collected from following modes: Newspapers Articles Books Through internet sources Journals
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Research plan : For completing my study, I have used case studies, Internet sources, recent marketing strategies used by political parties, Interviews with people related in political world, various political marketing books and political websites. ( as mentioned in the reference section ). Sampling plan : A sample design is a definite plan for obtaining a sample from a given population. It refers to the technique or the procedure that researcher would adopt in selecting items from sample. Sampling plan may as well lay down the member of items to the inched in the sample i.e. the size of sample. Sampling plan is determined before data are collected. Field work: I have collected data through questionnaire, Interviews, Observation, case studies, newspapers and articles. I started my project at very first educating the voters about my entire project and some interviews. Most of the respondent and people involve in political world were aware of this type of surveys. So I didnt face any type of difficulty during my project.

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LIMITATIONS

1. Lack of professional approach, as the subject of the study is on political marketing strategy. 2. It cannot be accepted as a piece of excellence and is limited to knowledge and experience of student. 3. Have to rely upon the information given by respondents, which may not be fully true.

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DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION

The data that was delivered to and collected by the respondents had included four parts relevant to this research study. The first part includes a loyalty and a time of voting decision making question. The loyalty question was asked in order to classify the respondents in the following four categories: 1) hard loyalists, 2) soft loyalists, 3) swingers or floating voters and 4) non voters. In addition the time of voting decision making question was asked in order that the respondents groups would be further divided in: 1) those voters who decide which party to vote before the beginning of the election period, 2) those who decide during the election period and 3) those that make their voting decision at the last minute.

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1.

The respondents have been asked to answer if they vote every time for the same party and when is the time that they decide in favor of which party to vote? Loyalty No. of Respondents 25 20 5 %age 50% 40% 10%

Hard-loyalists Soft-loyalists Swingers

Loyalty
10% 50% 40%

Hard-loyalists Soft-loyalists Swingers

Interpretation: In regard with the loyalty question, 50% of the total sample consider themselves as hard loyalists, since they vote the same party in every election, 40% are the soft loyalists, while 10% are the swingers, which are people who vote for different party in every election.

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2. What time do you decide your voting decision making?

Voting decision Before election period During election period Last moment

No. of Respondents 30 15 5

%age 60% 30% 10%

Time of voting decision making

10%

Before election period 30% 60% During election period Last moment

Interpretation: In regard with the time of voting decision making, 60% of the sample make their voting decision before the beginning of the election period, 30% during it and 10% at the last moments before voting.

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3. Analyzing, the final segment of voters criteria.

Voters criteria H- I before H- I during H- I last minute S- I before S- I during S- I last minute Swingers before Swingers during Swingers last-min
30% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% 2% 4%

No. of Respondents 15 1 2 9 4 3 6 7 3

%age 30% 2% 4% 18% 8% 6% 12% 14% 6%

18% 12% 8% 6% 14%

6%

Interpretation As it is mentioned above, the intention of this research is to separate each loyalty group according to the time of voting decision making and to analyze their voting behavior. Therefore, hard- loyalists, soft-loyalists and floating voters were divided in three segments each one.

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4. Analyzing the Hard loyalists voters Segments.

Hard loyalist H-I before H-I during H-I last minute

No. of Respondents 35 10 5 Figure 4 Hard loyalists segments

%age 70% 20% 10%

10%

20%

H-I before H-I during H-I last minute 70%

Interpretation: As it is shown below (Figure 4), most of the hard loyalists (80.68%) tend to make their voting decision before the beginning of the election period, while only 13.84% during and 5.48% the last minute of it. That means that the big majority of the hard loyalists do not change their mind because of the election campaign of the political parties.
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5. Analyzing the Soft-loyalists Segments. Soft loyalist S-I before S-I during S-I last minute No. of Respondents 25 18 7 %age 50% 36% 14%

Self-loyalist's Segment
14% 50% 36% S-I before S-I during S-I last minute

Interpretation

Furthermore, more than 50% of the soft loyalists tend to make their voting decision before the election period. However, the important to mention here is the increase of the people who decide during the election period for which party to vote, who reach 36%. Finally, only a 14% of the soft loyalists wait until the last minute of the election campaign in order to decide which party to vote for figure.

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6. Analyzing the structure of swinging voters segment.

Swingers segments Swingers before Swingers during Swinger last-min

No. of Respondents 20 25 5

%age 40% 50% 10%

Swingers' segment
10%

40%

Swingers before Swingers during Swinger last-min

50%

Interpretation: On the other hand, swingers are split in two big segments; those who make their voting decision before the election period 40% and those who decide the last minute 50%. The people who make their voting decision during the election period represent only the 10% of the swingers.

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7. Criteria for voting decision making.

Interpretation

The criteria used by respondents appear to fall into two categories. The first one includes those criteria that are considered to be of medium or high importance and the second category those that have low importance. The most important criteria are: the program of the parties about socio economic and national issues; ideology; and the personality of the partys leader.
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8. Trust of information provided by the sources for elections.

Interpretation:

In regard with the sources that provide information to the electorate during the election period, the respondents in general seem not to trust the information they receive by most of them. In this question also the soft loyalists who make their voting decision during the election period seem generally to show more trust on the information they get by the sources than all the other segments.

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9. What is the political marketing influence on the electorate segment?

Interpretation:

The analysis of the responses in the relevant, to the research objective 1 questions, has shown that there is one market segment that is by far the most influenced of all by political marketing. This group is the one which includes the people that are soft loyalists and make their voting decision during the election campaign. In the first question its influence by political marketing is ranked with 3.7/6 while the second most influential segment is ranked.

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SUGGESTIONS AND CONCLUSION

In conclusion, given the general findings of the study, there should be several actions taken by political candidates and political parties to maintain a positive message and to foster connections with the voting public. Overall, the study presented the collective opinions of several experts in applicable fields and a review of literature of political marketing. Of course, political marketing is a treacherous field, inspiring passion and strong opinions in the majority of individuals. Political campaigns are notorious for their sweeping claims and bold promises, but if candidates can remain truthful, and make strong positive impressions on people and emotional connections, their chances to become the elected official vastly improve. The study serves as a guide and educational tool for classical marketing, political science, communications, and journalism professionals who are interested in political marketing and the role of the media, or someone who is considering a potential political campaign, either on a local, or even national level. Consumers buy benefits; voters are buying confidence that the candidate will deliver what they want essentially, the benefit(s) they want the elected official to deliver. They change the voters behavior and therefore win elections when they connect emotionally with the voting public. They overcome the effect of media bias when they connect with, speak directly to, and interact with their potential voters. Voter behavior has been studied much in the same manner as consumer behavior, namely as a decision making process to engage in a certain action (voting, purchasing), including processes which proceed and follow that act. Both the voter and the consumer are viewed as individuals receiving information, and possibly
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seeking out information, processing this information to reach predispositions to respond, and finally responding toward the product and the candidate in question. Consequently, the principles of well known models and frameworks of consumer behavior can be effectively applied to voter behavior and vice versa. Accordingly, in applying the general approach of consumer behavior models to voter behavior, one can point out the following components that are part of the decision process.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Arun Kumar, Regal Publications (2009).- Political Marketing in India. Political Marketing The Indian Experience, by Dilip M. Sarwate

Political Marketing in India, an article by Prof. Gurinder Singh Ahluwalia (GJIMT, Mohali )

Emergence of political Marketing, an article by Anand Tajpuria, Omkar Deshpande & Anurag Thakurta, from NMIMS Mumbai.

Introduction to political Marketing ,an article by Vijaykaran

Political marketing game , - by Jennifer Lees-Marshment

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QUESTIONARE
Name: - _____________ Age - Below 20 20 30 20 40 40 above

Q1. Do you vote every time for the same party?

I am a Swinger I am a Hard Loyalist I am a Soft Loyalist

Q2. What time do you decide your voting decision making?

Last Moment Before Election Period During Election Period

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Q3. What are your Criteria of voting decision making (Importance)? Socioeconomic Program Leader personality National Issues Program Ideology Regional Program MP Personality Party Image Personal Benefits Election Campaign Win Possibilities

Q4. What sources of information do you trust for elections? Newspapers Articles Friends Opinion Poll Results Parties Programs TV News TV Talk Shows Politician Statements Radio Shows TV Ads Post Ads
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Q5. Do you think Political Marketing affects your voting decision making?

Yes

NO

Q.6 Any Suggestions on Political Marketing used by Political parties?

Thank you By Kangan Bhandari

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PROJECT REPORT ON MARKETING STRATEGIES USED BY POLITICAL PARTIES TO WIN ELECTIONS

In partial fulfillment of requirement for the degree of

BACHELOR OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

(SESSION: 2012-13)

Submitted to: Ms. Pooja Chatley H.O.D.

Submitted by: Kangan Bhandari BBA (3rd year) Pupin No.14310000443

KHALSA COLLEGE FOR WOMEN LUDHIANA

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

It gives me tremendous pleasure in acknowledging the valuable assistant extended to me by various personalities in the successful completion of this project. Above, I render my gratitude from core of my heart to the almighty God who bestowed confidence, ability and strength in me to complete this project. My project could not have been fruitful without the able guidance of Ms. Pooja Chatley (Project Guide). I extend my deepest gratitude to all the persons who gave full support during the project. I am also thankful to all the employees of AMCO Groups who cooperated with me every time.

Kangan Bhandari

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CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the project work on Marketing Strategies used by Political Parties to Win Elections is based on the views of the students. This project id submitted by KANGAN BHANDARI, a student of B.B.A. Final Year of Khalsa College for Women, Ludhiana (Punjab university), under the supervision of Ms. Pooja Chatley. It is further certified that this is bonafide work the candidate and matter embedded in this project has not been submitted to any other university earlier for the award of any degree to the best of my knowledge. The data sources have been duly acknowledged.

Ms. Pooja Chatley H.O.D.

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DECLARATION

I, Kangan Bhandari, student of Bachelor of Business Administration from Khalsa College for Women, Ludhiana hereby declare that I have completed my project on Marketing Strategies used by Political Parties to Win Elections as a part of the course requirement. I further declare that the information presented in this project is true and original to the best of my knowledge.

Kangan Bhandari

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER

CONTENTS

PAGE NO.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

INTRODUCTION OBJECTIVE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY LIMITATION DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION SUGGESTION AND CONCLUSION BIBLIOGRAPHY ANNEXURES

1-39 40 41-42 43 44-53 54-55 56 57-59

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 MARKETING STRATEGIES USED BY POLITICAL PARTIES TO WIN ELECTIONS

65

66

67

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AND

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