EXCLUSIVE: IPG Mediabrands gets Congress party's media planning and buying mandate for 2024 Elections
The account will be handled by BPN, a division of Initiative Media, which is part of IPG Mediabrands.
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IPG Mediabrands, the Indian media and marketing arm of the American advertising firm Interpublic Group, has bagged the media planning and buying mandate for the Indian National Congress for the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections, sources familiar with the matter have told Storyboard18. The account will be handled by BPN, a division of Initiative Media, which is part of IPG Mediabrands. Meanwhile, the ruling party Bharatiya Janata Party's media account has been managed by Sam Balsara-led Madison Media since 2014.
Apart from IPG Mediabrands, other leading ad agencies handling Congress's campaign mandates for the elections include DDB Mudra. Earlier reports from January 2024, as reported first by Storyboard18, confirmed Congress's collaboration with DDB Mudra for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. However, specific details regarding whether this partnership pertains to creative, outdoor, or digital accounts remain unconfirmed at present.
Read More: Madison Media retains BJP media planning and buying mandate for 2024 Elections: Exclusive
Like most other leading parties, the Congress party has engaged various political marketing agencies for its campaigns in the past. Some of them include the likes of Nixon Advertising and DesignBoxed. They also continue to work with many of these agencies alongside smaller and specialised agencies.
With the country gearing up for the crucial Lok Sabha elections in 2024, there's a lot of anticipation surrounding the projected advertising expenditures and their consequential impact on the advertising landscape.
Media reports indicated that close to Rs40 billion was spent on advertising in the 2019 general elections which was a significant 20-25 percent increase from the previous election season's expenditures. This time however there is a sharper growth.
Media planners are forecasting a wildly broad spectrum of political ad expenditures on mass media (newspapers, magazines, radio, television, and the internet), ranging from Rs 2000 crore to Rs 13,000 crore.
Coming to Congress’ spends specifically, there is no available data on spends on TV, print and radio however they have been spending generously on digital.
As per Meta Ad Library, Rahul Gandhi’s page Rs33 lakhs on 139 ads on Meta in the last 30 days. The Indian National Congress page spent Rs 5.09 lakh on 282 ads in the same period. The party’s Odisha page, Kerala page and affiliate pages like Congress Hai Na have also been actively spending on the platform. The party has also spent close to Rs25 lakh on Google ads in the last 30 days.
