03-23-2005, 10:25 PM
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articl...281,curpg-1.cms
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Why Sonia Gandhi is a brand icon today
Way back in 1978, the ad agency Saatchi & Saatchi was entrusted with the task of creating the ad campaign for the Conservative Party, led by Margaret Thatcher, aimed at the upcoming elections in Britain. The agency came up with the print ad showing a picture of a long line outside an unemployment office. The headline read, Labour Isn't Working .
The campaign directly hit the Labour Party on the plank of non-functioning and catapulted Thatcher to victory.
Cut to year 2004 in India. The Congress party led by Sonia Gandhi hired Orchard Advertising (a Leo Burnett agency) and Perfect Relations to handle its advertising and public relations campaigns respectively for the upcoming general elections. The combination of party's media cell and agencies' think tanks came up with a multiple ad campaign raising a single question Aam Aadmi Ko Kya Mila? (What did the common man get?).
The party's ad campaign promised Congress Ke Haath, Aam Aadmi Ke Saath co-relating its symbol of hand with the common man's need and aspiration.
The media was strategically apprised of the ground realities of the economy. The simple yet very effective campaign took the sheen away from the NDA government's high voltage 'India Shining' campaign. In the marketer's parlance, the seven-year young political brand Sonia Gandhi dislodged the over five-decade old political brand Atal Bihari Vajpayee from the market leadership position.
Gandhi's cleverly spent $6.5 mn in promotions established her brand superiority over Vajpayee, despite $100 mn being pumped in for promotions by the NDA in various ways. (The figures are based on market estimates). A political marketing consultant says, "Broadly speaking, there is a little difference between the brand values of Congress and BJP. The success of Sonia Gandhi is highly appreciable in such a situation."
The success of brand Sonia Gandhi inspite of her drawbacks including political inexperience and foreign origin is an enigma for the marketers. She has emerged as the third most powerful women (as per Forbes magazine) globally, ahead of names including Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush. A film based on her life is also under production.
Talking of the strengths of the Sonia Gandhi brand, Nirvik Singh, chairman-South Asia, Grey Worldwide (the agency behind the India Shining campaign) says, "The brand Sonia Gandhi has many facets to it. The first one that comes to mind is focus - the ability to go through all the ups and downs and still remain firm. The other is the ability to adapt to the times - the Congress never had a policy of coalition earlier and the ability to invite people to come together is a sign of that.
The third facet is that as a brand she is inspirational and therefore commands a great deal of empathy. She appears to be warm and caring."
On the strategy behind the making of brand Sonia Gandhi, Dilip Cherian, co-founder & consulting partner, Perfect Relations, says, "The biggest advantage was that Sonia Gandhi was still a very 'new brand' (an unexploited brand as opposed to a somewhat played-out Vajpayee) in Indian politics despite spending six years (1998-2004) in it.
The mystique value worked to her advantage when she started coming into the open through her jan sampark yatras (mass contact programmes) and media interviews that were being carried out in a calibrated fashion. We always kept the weaknesses (foreign origin, lack of political experience, etc) in perspective while playing up the strengths."
Cherian believes that Sonia Gandhi has all the virtues of a leading brand as he says, "I think that Sonia Gandhi as a brand embodies all the core values of our nation such as the spirit of sacrifice, unity and diversity. India is quintessentially a woman. Sonia Gandhi represents a family that has sacrificed itself for the nation. Therefore, she has imbibed the values of courage and sacrifice. Brand Sonia was therefore, a modern day answer to the core issues that the Indian polity is facing."
But the big question is, did the strategic media exposure through advertising and editorial play the trick for her? Take this. "I don't think advertising can make or break a political brand. Only a small percentage of our population consumes media. I think it can influence people up to a point but as is clear even from the last elections, Indian elections are about caste, incumbency, alliances and what the party workers do or don't," says Singh.
Every brand has a life cycle. And the same applies to brand Sonia Gandhi. It will be interesting to watch out whether she has reached the peak of her life cycle already or she strengthens the brand (with the help of her spin doctors) before giving way to brand Rahul Gandhi. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Why Sonia Gandhi is a brand icon today
Way back in 1978, the ad agency Saatchi & Saatchi was entrusted with the task of creating the ad campaign for the Conservative Party, led by Margaret Thatcher, aimed at the upcoming elections in Britain. The agency came up with the print ad showing a picture of a long line outside an unemployment office. The headline read, Labour Isn't Working .
The campaign directly hit the Labour Party on the plank of non-functioning and catapulted Thatcher to victory.
Cut to year 2004 in India. The Congress party led by Sonia Gandhi hired Orchard Advertising (a Leo Burnett agency) and Perfect Relations to handle its advertising and public relations campaigns respectively for the upcoming general elections. The combination of party's media cell and agencies' think tanks came up with a multiple ad campaign raising a single question Aam Aadmi Ko Kya Mila? (What did the common man get?).
The party's ad campaign promised Congress Ke Haath, Aam Aadmi Ke Saath co-relating its symbol of hand with the common man's need and aspiration.
The media was strategically apprised of the ground realities of the economy. The simple yet very effective campaign took the sheen away from the NDA government's high voltage 'India Shining' campaign. In the marketer's parlance, the seven-year young political brand Sonia Gandhi dislodged the over five-decade old political brand Atal Bihari Vajpayee from the market leadership position.
Gandhi's cleverly spent $6.5 mn in promotions established her brand superiority over Vajpayee, despite $100 mn being pumped in for promotions by the NDA in various ways. (The figures are based on market estimates). A political marketing consultant says, "Broadly speaking, there is a little difference between the brand values of Congress and BJP. The success of Sonia Gandhi is highly appreciable in such a situation."
The success of brand Sonia Gandhi inspite of her drawbacks including political inexperience and foreign origin is an enigma for the marketers. She has emerged as the third most powerful women (as per Forbes magazine) globally, ahead of names including Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush. A film based on her life is also under production.
Talking of the strengths of the Sonia Gandhi brand, Nirvik Singh, chairman-South Asia, Grey Worldwide (the agency behind the India Shining campaign) says, "The brand Sonia Gandhi has many facets to it. The first one that comes to mind is focus - the ability to go through all the ups and downs and still remain firm. The other is the ability to adapt to the times - the Congress never had a policy of coalition earlier and the ability to invite people to come together is a sign of that.
The third facet is that as a brand she is inspirational and therefore commands a great deal of empathy. She appears to be warm and caring."
On the strategy behind the making of brand Sonia Gandhi, Dilip Cherian, co-founder & consulting partner, Perfect Relations, says, "The biggest advantage was that Sonia Gandhi was still a very 'new brand' (an unexploited brand as opposed to a somewhat played-out Vajpayee) in Indian politics despite spending six years (1998-2004) in it.
The mystique value worked to her advantage when she started coming into the open through her jan sampark yatras (mass contact programmes) and media interviews that were being carried out in a calibrated fashion. We always kept the weaknesses (foreign origin, lack of political experience, etc) in perspective while playing up the strengths."
Cherian believes that Sonia Gandhi has all the virtues of a leading brand as he says, "I think that Sonia Gandhi as a brand embodies all the core values of our nation such as the spirit of sacrifice, unity and diversity. India is quintessentially a woman. Sonia Gandhi represents a family that has sacrificed itself for the nation. Therefore, she has imbibed the values of courage and sacrifice. Brand Sonia was therefore, a modern day answer to the core issues that the Indian polity is facing."
But the big question is, did the strategic media exposure through advertising and editorial play the trick for her? Take this. "I don't think advertising can make or break a political brand. Only a small percentage of our population consumes media. I think it can influence people up to a point but as is clear even from the last elections, Indian elections are about caste, incumbency, alliances and what the party workers do or don't," says Singh.
Every brand has a life cycle. And the same applies to brand Sonia Gandhi. It will be interesting to watch out whether she has reached the peak of her life cycle already or she strengthens the brand (with the help of her spin doctors) before giving way to brand Rahul Gandhi. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->