Veni, vidi, vici in Latin means – He came, he saw, he conquered! At least this has been the state of affairs in the case of two general elections in India held in 2009, 2014, and 2019. It is already being speculated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government may once again come back into power. The last two general elections saw the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) sweep itself into victory thanks to what is now touted to be a smart marketing strategy.
Ad insertions by political parties increased 190% on television in 2019 when compared with 2009, data from TAM Media Research revealed. While the ad insertions growth was just eight percent in 2019 over 2014. Even ad insertion on print increased by 25% in 2014 when compared with 2009, in 2019 ad insertions dropped to the level of 2009. Political ads on radio clocked a four-fold rise in 2014 over 2009 and a 4.7-time growth in 2019 over 2009. “One can surely expect political parties to spend on TV and print including regional print. However, there remains a sense of uncertainty when it comes to the government’s way of using digital based on the current backdrop of rise in misinformation and other factors,” Shashi Sinha, CEO, IPG Mediabrands told BrandWagon Online.
Interestingly, insertions on traditional media piqued in May 2009, 2014, and 2019, respectively, while political parties had taken to advertising from January. At a time when there is impending news of recession hitting the global economy, it is believed that general election spending by political parties might act as a saviour. “Understanding the ad-spend trend, the BJP will spend a lot of money and always plans. TV will play the most important role while print will play a significant role. Digital and Out-of-Home (OOH) media would be the new avenues,” said Jai Lala, CEO, Zenith.
Even as traditional media is expected to get its share of the ad budget, what perhaps cannot be ignored is the role played by social media in the previous elections. According to a Facebook Ads Library report, there were 51,810 political ads with total spending of more than Rs. 10.32 crore between February and March 30 in 2019. Furthermore, Google earlier in a report on political advertisement across its platforms – Google, YouTube, and partner properties had stated that Rs 3.76 crore was spent by advertisers since February 19, 2019. The tech giant also stated that a week before the first phase of elections the BJP took to advertise on platforms such as YouTube and spent about Rs 1.21 crore, while rival Congress spent only Rs 54,100. “There would be a huge sway towards print by the government since it is a double-edged sword in terms of reaching audiences as well as establishing control over media owners. TV, in any case, would be a reliable source for ad spending,” said Meenakshi Menon, chairperson, icogz, said.