 "Ad brief: This is what Congress should be telling its agency")
As we near a general election, we wondered what the Congress party’s communication experts would ask their creative partners to do. We requested a few professionals from leading advertising and communication companies to imagine the brief that would be the basis for all Congress advertising leading up to the elections. Here’s the first, from Ajai Jhala, CEO, BBDO INDIA and CEO Proximity India.
Communication brief issued by the Congress High Command - 16th Sept 2013
Context:
After 2 consecutive terms in India, any government should expect to spend time in opposition purely on the basis of the anti-incumbency factor.But with the recent corruption scandals, rape cases and economic crisis there is a more than fair chance that we could be staring at a landslide defeat.
So realistically we should focus on reducing to as great an extent as possible this heavy defeat while still holding out hope that that our single-minded focus in creating equal opportunity for everyone will start showing dividends just before elections are called.
Winning seems wishful thinking but there is always an outside chance that if we get the right message out to the right people at the right time we may pull off the impossible.
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The Congress has to be realistic about its chances: Naresh Sharma/Firstpost[/caption]
Three important points:
Strategy is about sacrifice - we will not talk to the urban middle/upper middle class voter. We have already lost them.
Focus. Focus. Focus: We have to have one mantra and keep repeating it. This has to revolve around our landmark programs to create equal opportunity for all Indians.
Emotion: We have to own these programs in an emotional context.
We have to create an overarching idea that threads a narrative across these programs that is easy to understand, transformational and emotionally compelling.
The Brief
Get: rural, semi urban and marginal urban voters occupying the lower half of the pyramid
Who: are currently being influenced by media and right wing rhetoric to focus on current issues like inflationary food prices and corruption
To : give credit to and vote for the Congress for laying a long term L.I.F.E foundation to ensure equal opportunity for all
By : creating a unified symbol + slogan + identity + mass media campaign around these 4 programs
* Land Bill.
* Identity Program (Aadhar).
* Food Bill.
* Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGA).
The Evaluation Filter: L.I.F.E. is our only lifeline. So the sum has to be greater than its parts.
We will be looking for powerful singular story based on a theme idea rooted in 3 Acts.
* Resonance - Secular and inclusive party.
* Reversal - Mea Culpa- Corruption, economic and social crisis.
* Redemption - L.I.F.E.
What would you do if you were in charge of the Congress campaign? Use the comments option to share your views.
Anant Rangaswami was, until recently, the editor of Campaign India magazine, of which Anant was also the founding editor. Campaign India is now arguably India's most respected publication in the advertising and media space. Anant has over 20 years experience in media and advertising. He began in Madras, for STAR TV, moving on as Regional Manager, South for Sony’s SET and finally as Chief Manager at BCCL’s Times Television and Times FM. He then moved to advertising, rising to the post of Associate Vice President at TBWA India. Anant then made the leap into journalism, taking over as editor of what is now Campaign India's competitive publication, Impact. Anant teaches regularly and is a prolific blogger and author of Watching from the sidelines.