The greatest principle in advertising is “perception is greater than reality’. The power of the product only translates into popularity when it reaches the mind of the consumer.
Once upon a time advertising was about USPs – Unique Selling Propositions. A tube light has a USP bigger than a bulb. But if you had to distinguish one tube light from the other, the USP factor doesn’t work. When a blanket of commonness overlaps similar products you require something more than a USP. That’s when it becomes a brand game. That’s when Positioning was born.
What’s Positioning? If there is a ‘belief’ that using a certain brand of tube light will get children to get better marks in their exams, and, if such an advertisement appears at the time of exams, the sales jump. That ‘belief’ is positioning.
In politics too, positioning plays a definitive role. Modi has positioned himself bigger than BJP. Rahul has positioned himself as the secular messiah. Likewise each politician has found a niche area in the minds of the people.
The fiery scorching politics in the two Telugu states have also got into the positioning war. CBN is positioning himself as the ‘experienced’ leader. YS Jagan has positioned himself as ‘Man of word’ leader. KCR is positioning himself as the ‘Rebuilder of Telangana’. Congress has positioned itself as ‘Giver of Telangana’ and BJP as the ‘Provider‘.
All the parties are on a roll with their advertising. The battle has become more pronounced. Every one of them knows how important, or how critical advertising can be in cropping votes. Unlike international political advertising, where negative advertising flourishes, in India the Election Commission is constantly checking use of such tactics. So what’s left is speaking for oneself.
In a challenging situation like this, YSRCP political ads have run eons ahead of the competitors.
The premise or environment YSRCP chose to communicate its message got them far ahead of the competitors. They have stuck to common human emotions and pan pain emotions as the foundation to build their campaign.
The approach is also fresh in conviction and construction. They take the situation of a ‘very loving’ ageing couple to communicate Jagan’s pension plan. They take a common Family platform where the Father is constantly egging on the uselessness of his Son to communicate conviction, and this is specially designed around a dining table – a common ground for conflict between Father and Son.
An inexperienced young Architect wants to present his idea for a modern city (more like Jagan making a pitch for the voter) and is refused by the seniors. Staccato cuts of this ad with constant moving camera presents the energy and the aggression of a young man who is raring to sell his dream. Or the film of friends chatting also closes on how conviction roots stronger than experience, using examples of Apple's Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook etc. to translate the message to a contemporary voter.
None of the other parties have tried a 360 degree communication plan. TDP sticks to a very boring narrative. There is nothing to munch over in their message. There are no layers that haunt you through or later. This is where YSRCP ads make a major difference, they are both human and experimental enough to hold on to you for a while and this makes the viewer eager to revisit the ads.
Having said all this, the intrinsic philosophy also plays a major role. The leadership of YS Jagan, his presence, his personal communication capabilities and oratory skills have a major influence. But to take a personality and his beliefs into the people you need skills that understand the human emotional layers.
Follow the link below for the YSRCP ads:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eW11v6yWHX8&list=PLKscMfCC2S13FqTDDY-4obTQeOXkR3aBP
