What politicians should learn from Bollywood and advertising

Hindi films don’t work in Arunachal Pradesh, for example, or in Kochi or Chennai. Amitabh Bhachhan’s baritone and rich Hindi collapse in Guwahati or in Coimbatore. As a brand ambassador, Shatrughan Sinha delivers nothing in south India or an India east of Kolkata. Neither Ranveer nor Ranbir delivers south of the Vindhyas. [caption id=“attachment_1405875” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Bollywood superstar Amitabh and BJP’s PM candidate Modi[/caption] Both Bollywood and brands have learnt that there are very few truly ‘national’ insights, and very few truly ‘national’ stars, models, heroes, role models. Both Bollywood and brands have learnt that there is a limit to the reach of Hindi. Bollywood, by definition tries to maximise returns in the ‘Hindi’ market. For the rest of India, they dub their films in those languages where they believe the storyline would be received well. In advertising, there are those categories and brands which decide that dubbing is enough; then there are those which feel that dubbing would not deliver large enough audiences that their brands need, in which case they create communication for each market that justifies the additional spend. Virtually all the brands in the FMCG sector create communication in many languages, using brand ambassadors and models that a region would be able to understand and appreciate. To be a truly national brand, there are no short cuts. Yet political parties that call themselves ‘national’, like the Congress or the BJP, and even the AAP, with ‘national’ aspirations, remain stubbornly ‘Hindi’ and ‘English’. Which explains why, over the past couple of decades, the ‘national’ parties have lost out of most of south India and many parts of east India. In these parts of the country, voters fail to connect with ‘national’ leaders, they fail to connect with the languages that political speeches are delivered in. Indeed, in many states in India, even the most captivating speeches made in Hindi, and broadcast on Hindi and English news channels, would not even have been noticed. It’s time for national parties to re-look at the way they project themselves. It is no longer enough for parties to have strong central leaders; they will need to get strong and visible local leaders as well, much as brands use both a ‘main’ ambassador and ‘local’ ambassadors. Till they do so, national parties will see increasing parts of India where they have little or no influence – which will make the ability to form a government at the centre on one’s own more difficult with each passing day. Carrying on as they are doing currently will see these ‘national’ parties reduced to merely strong north Indian parties – only a little more powerful than the regional parties.