The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has removed 5,20,042 political advertisements spread across its 12 zones following the announcement of the Lok Sabha election schedule. The Model Code of Conduct (MCC) comes into effect when elections are announced, and it restricts political advertising in public spaces.

The MCD has 12 zones -- Rohini Zone, City SP Zone, Civil Lines Zone, Karol Bagh Zone, Narela Zone, Keshavpurm Zone, South Zone, West Zone, Najafgarh Zone, Central Zone, Shahadara North Zone and Shahadara South Zone.

As per as official document released earlier this week, the advertisements removed by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi comprised hoardings, posters, banners, wall paintings, signages, and flags.

Delhi is scheduled to cast its votes on May 25 during the sixth phase of the seven-phase polls. Vote counting is slated for June 4.

According to the document, the civic body removed a total of 2,57,280 hoardings, 1,92,601 banners or wall paintings and posters, 40,022 removable signages, and 30,139 removable flags.

MCD removes over half a million political ads in Delhi before Lok Sabha elections

The advertisements removed by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi comprised hoardings, posters, banners, wall paintings, signages, and flags.

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Virat Kohli is a name that resonates with cricket fans worldwide. From his audacious stroke play to his fiery on-field demeanor, Kohli has redefined the game with his sheer passion and commitment. However, Kohli’s is a story of controversy and confrontation, a narrative that has shaped his journey to greatness. Whether it's his heated exchanges with fellow cricketers or his outspoken nature off the field, controversies are no stranger to him. 

Clash with Gautam Gambhir: One of the most memorable incidents involving Virat Kohli occurred during the 2013 IPL match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore. As the captain of RCB, Kohli engaged in a heated argument with Kolkata's skipper Gautam Gambhir, resulting in a tense standoff that was eventually diffused by umpires and players.

Middle Finger Incident: During his early days in international cricket, Kohli courted controversy during a tour to Australia when he was seen showing the middle finger to the Sydney crowd. Kohli later explained that his actions were in response to abusive language directed at his family, highlighting his fiercely protective nature off the field.


Outburst at Journalist: The 2015 Cricket World Cup saw Kohli embroiled in another controversy when he lashed out at a journalist whom he believed had written an unfavourable article about him and his then-girlfriend, now wife, Anushka Sharma. 

Umpiring Controversy: In a Test match against Australia in 2017, Kohli accused Australian captain Steve Smith of seeking illegal assistance from the dressing room for a review.


Sunil Gavaskar Controversy: During the 2020 IPL, Sunil Gavaskar made a comment about Kohli’s performance, suggesting that he only practiced batting during the lockdown with Anushka Sharma bowling to him. Sharma’s public response underscored the challenges of being a public figure in the age of social media scrutiny.


As Virat Kohli continues to etch his name in the annals of cricketing history, his journey serves as a reminder of the complexities of success. While controversies may have punctuated his career, they have also been a testament to his unwavering spirit and fierce determination. Kohli's story is not just about cricket; it's about resilience, passion, and the relentless pursuit of excellence. As he continues to push the boundaries of the game, Kohli remains a symbol of inspiration for aspiring cricketers and sports enthusiasts around the world. His legacy is not just in the runs he scores or the matches he wins, but in the indelible mark he leaves on the hearts of fans everywhere.


Virat Kohli: A brief history of controversies and confrontations

Microsoft owned LinkedIn was down for a brief period, impacting thousands of users on Wednesday after a brief outage.


According to outage tracking website Downdetector.com, there were 48,000 reports of outages related to LinkedIn in the US.


March 5 saw the global outage of social media platforms Facebook and Instagram. Following the outage, as per multiple reports, parent company Meta’s chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg net worth declined by $ 2.79 billion, in a day, to hit $ 176 billion on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.


However, he continued to maintain his position as the world’s fourth richest person.


The global outage of Meta-owned apps Facebook and Instagram sent users rushing to Twitter now known as X to check about the outage. The apps were not working for users across the globe who experienced problems with Meta's popular apps. #InstagramDown started trending.


Elon Musk, the owner of X (formerly known as Twitter) and Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg’s rival, shared a series of tweets about the outage stating, “we know why you’re all here now”.


<strong>Read More:</strong> <a href="https://www.storyboard18.com/digital/metas-facebook-instagram-down-for-thousands-of-users-worldwide-25534.htm">Elon Musk reacts to Instagram and Facebook outage</a> 

After Facebook and Instagram, LinkedIn sees brief outage

<em><strong>Note to readers: Our latest column Marketing Mocktail breaks down and explains the big ideas, new disruptions and old concepts and marketing practices that matter in the modern age.</strong></em>


The creative brief is one of the most integral parts of advertising.


Yet, of late, briefs have become griefs - sterile and unimaginative.


We keep indulging in the over optimism of giving a bland brief and hoping for exciting creative work in return. Garbage-in, garbage-out.


Putting together a good brief is a dying art which needs to be revived.


<strong>From logic to magic</strong>


A brief is the inflection point in creating advertising and communication.


It’s the point where logic (the strategy) starts turning into magic (the idea).


It’s where planning ends and creativity begins.


<strong>Re-energising the brief</strong>


Definition of the brief should read, ‘The most insightful, inspiring, and igniting point in the creation of advertising’.


<strong>Insightful -</strong> Packed with gems and nuggets that bring the strategy to life.


<strong>Inspiring -</strong> Makes the creative team go ‘Wow!’ and take ownership of the brief.


<strong>Igniting -</strong> Triggers the creative to buzz with ideas that they can’t wait to get cracking on.


In fact, a good brief is like ‘an ad for creative people’.


<strong>What makes a great brief</strong>


While most agencies have their own briefing formats, based on their conceptual frameworks and creative philosophies, the basics of a great brief remain the same.


Here are a few key ideas that can help re-energise creative briefs.


<strong>Keep it simple and sharp</strong>


Don’t try to impress with mumbo-jumbo or jargon. Make it simple.


Rather than saying, ‘Increase TOM (Top-of-mind awareness) and brand salience’, it’s much better to say, ‘Make the brand famous.’


Instead of ‘Enhance width and depth of consumption’, why not ‘Get more people to use more’.


Also, never overload - stay focused, sharp and crisp. A brief should not be more than a page or two (that’s why it is called a brief).


<strong>Pull out little nuggets</strong>


Don’t dwell on information, instead dive for gems that bring your strategy to life and tell a story. Embed your brief with evocative and powerful nuggets.


When Taj Mahal tea bags were being launched, the nugget in the brief was to position them as ‘The Walkman of Teas’ to encapsulate the mobility, convenience and modernity of the format.


When Dabur honey was being repositioned as a health food from a home remedy, the brief summed up the challenge as moving the brand from ‘the medicine chest to the dining table’.


<strong>Bring your target person to life</strong>


One of the biggest sacrileges in briefs is the vague and rather generic definition of the target audience. You really can’t get a handle of who you are talking to until you bring that person alive.


This is how a bland brief will define the target audience for Axe deo:

Young men aged 16-25, who are concerned about their appearance and how they attract the opposite sex. They buy deodorants to smell fresh and feel confident. Axe with its masculine fragrance is the perfect choice to be attractive to girls.


Here’s an inspiring definition of the Axe target person:
Imagine Benjamin… he thinks about women a lot. A lot, a lot. But he’s not dreaming of romance, he’s a dirty boy who can’t stop thinking about sex with extraordinarily welcoming women. Yet in the real world, women are a completely different country - it’s somewhere he’s never been, it may be a while before he gets to go there, and you’re guaranteed he won’t be able to speak the language when he does. 
Deep down he wishes he could just be himself around girls and that it wasn’t so complicated, that he didn’t have to try so hard. What he wants isn’t deodorant at all, but a secret babe-magnet.


Which one do you think created the ‘Axe Effect’?


<strong>Dramatise it</strong>


A brief is more than just a piece of paper. It’s a piece of theatre.


Once, a bunch of creative people were packed like sardines into a cramped car and were told they were being taken to the client’s office for a briefing. Midway, they were intercepted by the account supervisor, driving a Maruti van (a move that was engineered). 


They were immediately transferred into the more spacious confines of the van and as they sprawled themselves, someone exclaimed, “Guys, this is the brief - travel in space.” How’s that for a powerful demonstration?


Here’s what a leading creative director told me, “I once had an account executive give me a brief with a hole burnt into it. That got me curious. Then I noticed it was for a fiery hot pizza. Right there, she got me.”


It’s time we changed the way we look at briefs, because great advertising is born out of great briefs. It may be a good idea for the industry to introduce an annual award for the best briefs as an incentive to encourage and reward great briefs. 


Can we bring the glory back into briefs? Can we have more briefs than griefs?


Yes, we can!


<em><strong>Anand Narasimha is a corporate turned academician with over three decades of experience spanning Brand Marketing, Advertising, Consulting, and Teaching. He writes the column Marketing Mocktail for Storyboard18. Views expressed are personal.</strong></em>



Marketing Mocktail: Brief or Grief - the creative brief explained

Most brands divide their advertising budget between creative development and media buying in a ratio of 1:10. However, when recalling famous advertising campaigns, it's likely that people remember the creative teams behind the ads, rather than the media planners and buyers who ensure that the ads reach the right audience with the right frequency.

In the past, when advertising was limited to one or two mediums such as TV and print, media planning and buying were relatively straightforward. However, with media becoming increasingly segmented, this is no longer the case. The role of media in the success of any campaign has therefore increased significantly. Without proper alignment between the creative campaign and media plan, the chances of failure are high.

Traditionally, advertising campaigns were conceptualised by establishing business objectives, which were translated into marketing objectives, and then communication objectives. Based on these, a brief was created, and the creative agency would uncover consumer/category insights and develop a core campaign idea. This idea would be presented alongside the TV commercial script, which formed the centrepiece of the campaign. The campaign idea would also be extended to other media such as print, digital, and OOH.

Although media objectives and planning would also be carried out concurrently, they were often not considered inputs or constraints for the creative agency.

Now, there are three problems that happen with this approach:

1. This leads to some campaign ideas/scripts which are not native to the primary platform as per the media plan. Because of a digital native TG, you might have a media plan which is heavily skewed towards Youtube to build awareness. And the best way to build awareness on Youtube is by using the 15-second non-skippable ad. Now if your hero creative is a 30 sec one and impossible to tell a coherent story in the 15-second cut, the campaign will fail.

2. Sometimes you have a wonderful clutter-breaking script, but it is not going to be registered by consumers when they watch it only once/twice. You might have a budget constraint which will limit the input GRPs in your markets. That would mean that at best you can optimize your plan to maximize reach at a three-plus frequency instead of 5/6. Now if your hero creative is witty/difficult to understand easily, your campaign will fail because of lack of enough number of exposure.

3. You might have a media plan which is skewed towards a certain region, but the core insight/communication might not resonate with that region. For Example, 50 percent of your sales might come from the five Southern States, but your campaign idea/core insight resonates more with the Hindi belt. If the TVC is also conceptualized in Hindi and only translated later to regional languages, the chances of the campaign failing will be higher.

All of these problems could be solved by making only a single change in the approach to rolling out a campaign. Include a tentative media strategy/plan, and the constraints that come with it as part of the brief that goes to the Planning team of the creative agency. This will ensure ideas and creative outputs which fit like a dream with our media strategy and plans.

If you want to use Meta in your media plan, your creative agency will ensure that vertical videos that seem native to the platform( Reels) are part of the creative output. If you have a reach plan to maximize reach at three plus frequencies, your creative agency will ensure that the communication is simple enough to understand in one go. If Kerala is a major market for you, your creative agency might recommend creating a separate campaign altogether conceptualized and taught in Malayalam using insights from the Kerala market.

The real magic happens when creative and media teams work together on a brief right from day one. This used to happen few decades back. Maybe it's time to go back to the same practice to ensure that brands get the highest RoI from their marketing spends.

<strong><em>The writer is the founding member and chief business officer of Atomberg. Views expressed are personal.</em></strong>

The power of collaboration: How including media planning in briefs can improve RoI

<strong>MAST</strong>

<strong>Brand:</strong> Oakley

<strong>Campaign:</strong> Be Who You Are

<strong>Agency:</strong> Brandmovers India

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Growing up, we were constantly asked to fit into the mould of societal expectations. Somewhere, amongst the increasing noise, doubts, aspirations and constant chatter, ‘being ourselves’ took a backseat. We forgot to focus on ourselves, be comfortable with making mistakes, and taking risks.

The latest commercial by Oakley stays true to its value of “Be Who You Are.” As the ad film rolls on, right from the hopes of 1.3bn people being shouldered by cricketer Rohit Sharma, to the doubts and noise surrounding him, the commercial shows how Sharma does not let the people’s uncertainties stop him from always giving his best. The ad film conveys the message of being your authentic self, and the importance of knowing “Who you are", where every frame of the film radiates courage and confidence. Overall, the ad film gets a thumbs up for its realism on a crucial subject.

<strong>MEH</strong>

<strong>Brand:</strong> NutriGlow

<strong>Campaign:</strong> NutriGlow

<strong>Agency:</strong> In-house

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For years, most of the ads that touched upon the subject of beauty have either been explanatory in nature, or had a pair of girls dancing to stress upon the brand, and convey positive effects. NutriGlow’s latest campaign follows the same unsatisfactory pattern. Actor Genelia Deshmukh along with a bunch of girls are portrayed as ‘GlowGirls’ who are moving to a beat to highlight NutriGlow’s varied range of products. However, Deshmukh, who serves as the brand ambassador for the brand and is known for her bubbly and fun loving nature could not save the commercial from being a dull and disappointing one to watch. An engaging and different storyline could have prevented a Meh.

<strong>Mast</strong> 

<strong>Brand</strong> - Thums Up

<strong>Agency</strong> - Ogilvy India

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From sitting on tree-tops, listening to radio commentary to gathering around paan shops, Indians have found many unique ways to tune in to their favourite cricket matches. Cola brand Thums Up, plans to provide cricket fans in India with a never seen before, innovative experience through in its feature. The ad featuring Jasprit Bumrah, Umran Malik and Brett Lee, showcases an option that allows you to experience watching an ICC T20 World Cup match through a camera fitted in a wicket. Fans will have to scan a QR code on the Thums Up bottle to get access to the camera feed and become part of this immersive experience. That is as close as one can get to being present at the actual game. If this works, it is bound to leave all cricket fans stumped!

<strong>Meh</strong>

<strong>Brand</strong> - Casio India

<strong>Agency</strong> - In-house

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Are you an over-thinker? Yes? Then Casio’s latest ad is definitely one for you. The film opens with a student, who asks his father to buy him a Casio calculator. When his father asks if he can get any other calculator if he doesn’t find one by Casio, the son starts to overthink a series of probable events and scenarios that might impact his life, all due to the repercussions of using an ordinary non-Casio calculator. While the concept works well on paper, the execution doesn’t translate well onto screens. A great concept, poorly planned and executed resulted in us providing this spot, a meh. 

<strong>Mast</strong>

<strong>Brand:</strong> Tata Motors

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Festive ads can seem too filmy and over the top with all the songs, dances and unnecessary drama around festivities. However, sometimes there are ads that truly have a feel good factor to it. The Durga Puja TVC from Tata Motors is a perfect example. The ad features the most celebrated actor of Bengali cinema, Prosenjit Chatterjee for the spot but not in a way you’d normally expect. His presence is subtle. His role is of the narrator who acts like a catalyst, adding a slight hint of glamour to the ad without being completely involved in it. The narrative is clean and well packaged with the integration of car features that seamlessly blend in. In true festive fashion, there is a sweet story, a great song and a product that is being rightfully celebrated. All the fun elements work perfectly in unison which makes this new TVC from Tata Motors a good one to watch. A definite Mast in our books. 

<strong>Meh</strong>

<strong>Brand:</strong> Hindware

<strong>Agency:</strong> In-house

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Hindware has a new TV campaign – ‘Go Larger Than Life’  starring actor Tamanna Bhatia and The Great Khali. This is the first ever TVC from Hindware Italian Collection since the company forayed into the tiles segment. The tiles shown in the spot look beautiful and appealing for sure but unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the spot itself. With an inane narrative and an unnecessary objectification of a tall man being compared to huge tiles is unimpressive and doesn’t leave a good lasting impression. A very poor concept and even poorer execution awards this spot a MEH 

<strong>MAST</strong>

<strong>Brand:</strong> Cadbury Dairy Milk

<strong>Campaign:</strong> Cadbury Dairy Milk Bodyguard – Kissi aur ki Khushi mein shaamil hokar dekhiye

<strong>Agency:</strong> Ogilvy India

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Tigmanshu Dhulia never fails to impress viewers with his performances. In this spot, his appearance as a politician paints him as a ‘larger than life’ character. Dhulia, who is seen making his way towards the dais along with his bodyguards amidst the cheering crowd, to celebrate the success of one of his guard’s daughters who cleared the medical entrance exam is warm and comforting to watch. He is seen feeding the daughter a piece of Cadbury Dairy Milk as a token of appreciation and celebration. The ad film stays true to its message “Kissi aur ki Khushi mein shaamil hokar dekhiye.” A ‘Mast’ watch in our opinion. 

<strong>MEH</strong>

<strong>Brand:</strong> Myntra

<strong>Campaign:</strong> Myntra Big Fashion Festival

<strong>Agency:</strong> In-house

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ssr69nZDWKE" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

The absence of any fun factor for an ad that aims to be comical is very evident right from the start. The campaign, which aims to promote Myntra’s Big Fashion Festival does not really generate any curiosity to check out how interesting the fashion festival might be. Even the presence of celebrity couple Virat Kohli and  Anushka Sharma, does not seem to add any drama to the dulness. Ironically, Myntra’s idea of using ignorance to draw attention not only tanked on screen but also failed to attract audiences in real life. An interesting build up to the story along with some festive cheer to promote the fashion festival could have prevented a Meh.

<strong>Mast</strong>

<strong>Brand:</strong> Coca Cola

<strong>Agency:</strong> In house

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WWaOTJ_E3xc" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Durga Puja for Bengalis is like a five-day long party. Like any party, food and soft drinks are an important part of this celebration. So if you are telling a Durga Puja story and you add food and soft drinks to it, you definitely make for a good storyteller. This new puja anthem from Coca Cola is a perfect spot for the pre-festive weeks. Casting the OG cool guys of Bengal (read members of Bengali band Chandrabindoo) and the catchy song add to the festive mood and cheer. The ad comes with its share of glam factor too, with Bengali superstar Dev adding spark and being a part of the 39 second screenplay. Overall, Coca Cola has done a great job with capturing the mood of the Bengal market right now with everyone preparing for the upcoming celebrations. 

<strong>Meh</strong>

<strong>Brand:</strong> Pantaloons

<strong>Agency:</strong> Production: KITCHEN, Concept: Ogilvy

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Rap songs and hip/hop as a genre are very popular with millennials and Gen Z. However, when used in an ad, it resonates only if executed and performed well. Unfortunately, this new Durga Puja spot from Pantaloons banks on a below average rap jingle that pulls down the overall vibe of the piece. Moreover, the Bengali voice overs are heavily accented. It could’ve been done on purpose to go with the background score but doesn’t help the tune in any way. It stands out as  a noticeable blunder. The song, the script and overall performance of the cast makes this a wannabe number desperate for attention. We’re still on the look out for an ad that captures Gen Z mentality correctly and executes it well. 

<strong>MAST</strong>

<strong>Brand</strong> - The Body Shop

<strong>Agency</strong> - In house

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Breaking the popular notion that young citizens are becoming increasingly apathetic towards societal issues, The Body Shop launches a campaign calling upon policy makers to evaluate lowering the age of candidacy in the Lok Sabha from 25 to 21 years of age. The goal is to get greater youth representation in the Lok Sabha. To spread the message, the brands video campaign features young leaders from across the country including Sudhanshu Kaushik, founder, Young India Foundation (27), Jalandhar High Court lawyer Inderpreet Kaur (24) and Sachin Rathod, independent panch ingalangi (29) talking about their efforts in bringing change in society thereby inspiring others. The ‘Be Seen Be Heard’ initiative is being rolled out through a partnership with Young India Foundation. The WHY25 drive has been launched across India at all The Body Shop stores in September 2022 and will run till end 2024 in over 25 states with offline and online petitions to support the cause. Now, that's what you call a brand with a purpose. A mast ad, definitely a great watch. 

<strong>MEH</strong>

<strong>Brand</strong> - Levi’s India

<strong>Agency</strong> - Spring Marketing Capital

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Levi's India’s series of ads with Deepika Padukone follow a pattern that has become repetitive and boring. In the new ad Padukone is seen in a space that needs to be set up and decorated. The camera follows her doing various chores like pushing a sofa into place, sticking a poster on a wall while ambling around with her friends, etc dressed in a new baggy Levi’s jeans of course. The spot ends abruptly leaving viewers confused. While Levi's baggy collection might be in vogue, its advertising seems really last season! It’s time for a refresh. 


<strong>MAST</strong>

<strong>Brand</strong> – Bombae Fuzz Off Trimmer | Painless hair removal for women

<strong>Agency/Production House</strong> – Talented, StudioFry

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This 30 seconder is an edgy one. It’s probably the only hair removal brand that has shown body hair before women shave/wax/trim it off. Bombae says #FuzzOff to societal expectations. It shows the pain women go through to go hairless and attempts to normalise never-seen-before body hair imageries. An empowering ad that breaks boundaries. It’s a mast watch because it is changing the narrative of the category.


<strong>MEH</strong>

<strong>Brand</strong> – Manyavar | Taiyaar Hokar Aaiye

<strong>Agency</strong> - Shreyansh Innovations

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The hyperactive actor Ranveer Singh for the new commercial of Manyavar is featured as a spunky wedding photographer. For a change, he is dressed perfectly fine. However, he singles out a suit-clad ‘mausaji’ by saying he is ruining the perfect family photo in his western outfit. Okay, we get it, this was all supposed to be in good fun and maybe for the sake of advertising. However, we think the brand could have picked a better line of thought to stitch the script. After all, isn’t fashion a personal choice? Shouldn’t Singh know that better than anyone else?



Mast & Meh: Oakley, Thums Up, Tata Motors, Myntra, Levi's India

The biggest test Indian girls face in their school years is the "beauty test", says Unilever-owned beauty brand Dove in its latest campaign released on International Daughters Day 2022 (25 September). The ad has been viewed by millions of netizens, garnering over 12 million YouTube views in four days. 

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While the campaign gained appreciation for starting a conversation about deeply ingrained beauty biases, a section of audiences also criticised the company for double standards. Unilever sells Glow & Lovely (earlier called Fair & Lovely) which largely hinged its communication equating fair/light skin with success. However, in 2019  Unilever changed the product name and also its advertising strategy to be more inclusive and conscious. 

This is reflected in the new Dove ad as well. 

Made by advertising agency Ogilvy India, the ad shows how young girls are subjected to socially accepted standards of beauty which drastically impact their confidence and self-esteem. The Stop The Beauty Test 2.0 is an extension of its previous campaign that was focused on beauty judgements faced by women during marriage.  

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To be sure, Unilever said that Dove launched a study which stated that 80 percent of Indian school girls have faced unjust beauty tests as a teenager. Hence, this year the conversation has shifted focus from prospective brides to the stage where it all begins – adolescence.

 In an exclusive conversation with Storyboard18, Harman Dhillon, vice president, hair care, Unilever talks about the backlash on its new campaign, changing ideas of beauty and how Dove is striving to stay relevant among Gen Z consumers.

Edited excerpts:

<strong>There is a certain set of audience that have criticised the new campaign. How does the brand deal with the negative feedback?</strong>

Our intent with #StopTheBeautyTest campaign was clear - to make society aware of a prevailing issue faced by young girls on a daily basis. To bring about a tangible impact with the Dove Self-Esteem Project, we are training teachers to deliver educational modules around body confidence and self-esteem to young minds. Our purpose of the campaign is to create awareness regarding when these beauty biases start, and the impact it has on women. We respect everyone's point of view and hope they see that our objective is to redefine the scope of beauty - celebrating it in its authentic and diverse form.

<strong>What kind of research went behind picking the theme for this edition of the campaign?</strong>

At Dove, we’re constantly working towards making beauty a source of confidence and not anxiety. Last year, we brought to light beauty-based judgements women especially faced during marriage and the impact it had on their confidence. However, during our research we uncovered a key moment of truth wherein societal standards of beauty are imposed on women much earlier on - as young as adolescence. Capturing this sentiment, we shifted our focus on the root of the problem - moving our communication from prospective brides to teenage girls. At a time when these girls should be concentrating on education, they are being unknowingly subjected to beauty biases by society. We felt that this was a crucial stage of intervention and wanted to bring about a tangible change. Thus, with #StopTheBeautyTest 2.0, we aim to raise the self-esteem of these young girls and break through beauty led stereotypes. 

<strong>Where did the inspiration for the execution of the campaign come from?</strong>

As always, we wanted to share real stories enacted by real girls and feature the real-life implication beauty judgements have on their self-esteem. So, the brand film is a portrayal of exactly that. We want to highlight how family and peers, in the guise of guidance, are pressuring young girls to fit prescribed beauty standards and how this can lead to body image issues in their young minds - eventually stunting their confidence. The #StopTheBeautyTest movement is an attempt to bring awareness about this issue so we can stop subjecting young girls with beauty-based report cards and grading them on external appearances. The focus instead should be on building their self-esteem so that they can be comfortable in their own skin and realise their potential to the fullest. 



<blockquote>While Dove’s global markets may be slightly more evolved, we’re not far behind where customers are demanding equal representation and opportunity. Brands no longer can superficially support progressive social movement but need to be actively engaged and be true drivers of change.</blockquote>



<strong>What is Dove doing to stay relevant among the Gen Z? How do they define beauty and is it different from older consumers?</strong>

The Dove Self-Esteem Project is aimed at the Gen Z with a vision to empower 8 million young minds by 2025. As part of the initiative, we partnered with experts in the fields of psychology, health and body image to create educational modules around body confidence and self-esteem which will be delivered by teachers under the life skills curriculum. Through this we will be reaching girls and boys in grades 6, 7 and 8 in selected schools across 8 states.

The ultimate goal is to change ‘beauty’ from its conventional lens and redefine and realign what it means to be beautiful. In comparison to the older generation, the younger audience is demanding an ethical, inclusive and diverse representation of beauty in media and Dove’s Real Beauty motto stands tall to deliver on the ask - ensuring beauty is not defined by shape, size or colour but being beautiful is to be the best version of yourself.

<strong>Any unique trends in terms of advertising or consumption you are witnessing among your TG in India? How's it different from Dove's global markets?</strong>

The Indian woman has gone through a complete metamorphosis in the recent time, especially when it comes to her portrayal in advertising and media. We’ve come a long way from women being conditioned to believing their self-worth is dictated by the perception of others, to now where they are seen taking charge and having a voice of their own.  At Dove, we’re proud to have been one of the leading contributors to this change and are glad that brands across categories are following suit.

Today, our TG makes their own choice and has the spending power. Beyond expecting brands to deliver high-quality products, they also demand the brand drive a thought-provoking dialogue. While Dove’s global markets may be slightly more evolved, we’re not far behind where customers are demanding equal representation and opportunity. Brands no longer can superficially support progressive social movement but need to be actively engaged and be true drivers of change.

<strong>How do you measure the success of a campaign now? Has the benchmark changed over the years?</strong>

Today, the success of a campaign, especially when it comes to the type of campaigns Dove has been leading, is very different from the benchmarks traditionally set in place. The impact is no longer purely number driven. The campaigns of the current era are heavily driven by the impact they have on people and the type of change we can drive through the efforts of the campaign. 

<strong>Are the days of big splash TV campaigns long gone? What works for new gen consumers?</strong>

Television is a relevant medium even now, in my opinion. There is still a large set audience in the deeper pockets of our nation who yet rely on television for entertainment as well as information. Thus, given that our target isn’t just the metro markets but pan India, TVC’s are a prime medium for us to bring our narrative alive. On the other hand, speaking about the new generation of consumers, social media has emerged as a stronger medium of communication than most others since it allows a two-way communication unlike TV. Thus, it is essential for us to keep the balance while strategising our media plan.

Exclusive: Unilever’s Harman Dhillon responds to feedback on viral Dove ad

Two years ago, YouTube introduced Shorts in India. Today, Shorts are generating 30 billion views per day, which is four times more than one year ago. Ajay Vidyasagar, Regional Director, APAC, YouTube Partnerships, says the language platter and the content genre is only growing in the market and Shorts is fueling the growth. He also talks about monetization on the platform and more. 

Edited excerpts.

<strong>Shorts completed two years in India. How has it been? And what has the growth story been like from where you started to where you are now? </strong>

YouTube as a platform is over 14 years old in India. When we got started, our primary mission was to democratize video creation. Until that point, the world really saw storytelling as being the forte of a few. Our goal was to really, truly, truly democratize this in a manner that anyone who is interested in sharing a story should be able to share it. Our role in that was to use technology to take out all the friction in the operationalization of it and help good stories to be discovered, consumed and engaged with. That is really what we’ve been able to do in scale over these many years.

YouTube Shorts was announced two years ago; we flagged that off in India. The YouTube Partner Program (YPP) program was only available and enabled for long form and mid form content.  So, we launched a YouTube Shorts fund, in which we worked closely with content creators to help them see a line of revenue for their work.

<strong>While we see a lot of entertaining content on the platform, what is the kind of interest you have seen brands? Are brands using Shorts like they are using other UGC platforms for integrations? Help us understand with some examples.</strong>

YouTube has enabled so many different formats to co-exist and speak to one another: long form videos, snappy Shorts, livestreams and deep dive podcasts. Advertisers can, therefore, choose to talk to their target audiences- in as many forms of stories, across as many devices, as many languages and as many times a day - effectively and at scale. 

YouTube Shorts are generating 30 billion views per day globally. India was the first country where we launched Shorts and we’re proud of how quickly YouTube Shorts have become popular in India. Brands are starting to see results too. For instance, Oreo, which started its very first Shorts Challenge in Tamil Nadu with 10 of our top creators in the market to launch Oreo Double Stuf during Pongal last year. With 8 million views on their content, the brand was able to build salience in the market, improving branded searches and household penetration in a key market for them. 

<strong>How important is India as a market for YouTube when it comes to Shorts? How does it compare to other markers?</strong>

We saw the great potential and engagement short form content has for today’s increasingly mobile viewer. That’s why two years ago, we introduced YouTube Shorts, first in India, to make it easier to watch and create short-form content on YouTube. It was where our journey began, and it’s encouraging to see the adoption and excitement the product brings to both creators and viewers. 

We truly believe that what moves India, has the potential to shape the world. Digital video has become a gateway to the world for millions of Indians. In particular, short form video, which is easy to consume and create, represents opportunity like no other - to be entertained and inspired, to learn and earn, to connect and grow. 

When we introduced Shorts, we knew that we were bringing an important new format for creators and that our creators are leveraging Shorts to help breathe new life into their existing channels or inform a new content and engagement strategy is testament to their creativity.

We’re constantly impressed that creators are getting really innovative with how they use the full breadth of video formats that YouTube offers to meet their personal and business goals: from growing views and subscribers, reaching out to new audiences and growing their earning potential. 

Shorts has helped capture the interest and imagination of mobile-first creators and viewers who from whom a smartphone is a window to a world of opportunity. In India, Shorts is lowering the barriers for under-represented voices to come to the fore and pursue their passions; many of whom may otherwise have not had a platform to do so. We’re seeing creators across languages, socio-economic backgrounds and even India’s hinterlands turn to Shorts to share their passions, grow their channels and build successful careers.

<strong>Shorts has introduced a new monetization format. Please help us understand how it will benefit the platform and the creators?</strong>

We recently unveiled the next chapter in rewarding creativity on the platform by expanding the platform’s monetization system, YPP, to allow more creators to join the program, introducing new ways for creators to earn revenue through Shorts, and re-imagining the music industry and creator dynamic by opening up ads monetization for those who feature music in their videos. 

Starting in early 2023, Shorts-focused creators can apply to YPP by meeting a threshold of 1000 subscribers and 10 million Shorts views over 90 days. These new partners will enjoy all the benefits YPP offers, including ads monetization across Shorts and long-form YouTube videos. This is another option to the existing criteria where long-form creators can still apply to YPP when they reach 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours. Creators can choose the one option that best fits their channel while YouTube maintains the same level of brand safety for advertisers. To support creators who are early in their YouTube journey, YouTube will also introduce a new level of YPP with lower requirements that will offer earlier access to Fan Funding features like Super Thanks, Super Chat, Super Stickers and Channel Memberships. 

To reward the new creative class, beginning in early 2023, we’ll be moving away from a fixed fund and doubling down on a unique revenue sharing model for Shorts for both current and future YPP creators. Because ads run between videos in the Shorts Feed, every month, revenue from these ads will be added together and used to reward Shorts creators and help cover costs of music licensing. From the overall amount allocated to creators, they will keep 45 percent of the revenue, distributed based on their share of total Shorts views. The revenue share remains the same, no matter if they use music or not. 

<strong>YouTube Shorts came to India at a very opportune time. It came right when UGC was becoming very popular and the market was expanding beyond metros. Throw some light on how you managed to gain footing in the Bharat market?</strong>

When you look at all of the digital platforms in the country, YouTube is fueled by voice, video and vernacular. So, because of that, the innate ability for the platform to go to every nook and corner of the country, and be understood, be loved, and be engaged, is very natural. It actually is the easiest form of communication that somebody can get on the digital connected platform.

We started off with a predominantly English language journey and then Hindi language content started to take off from India’s metro cities. If you remember, back in the day a lot of our creators were comedy centric and from urban centers.

Now in the last five to seven years, two very big things have happened with YouTube. The content creation has gone into the heartland of Hindi speaking markets. Hindi has become far more reflective of the evolving user base that has happened. Now it’s no longer a metro phenomenon.

We’re also seeing a host of other languages also doing very well on YouTube. Telugu and Tamil continue to be heavy-use cohorts for us. The richness of the language space has been unbelievable for us. From Punjabi, Haryanvi, Bhojpuri, Bengali, to Marathi, Gujarati, there is just an extraordinary breadth of languages. Shorts has helped these markets as well. We have seen extraordinary volume from these language markets.

Ours is a journey that is really about going wider and deeper and Shorts is helping us fuel that in even more in a significant manner.

<strong>Platforms that offer both long form and short format content often see the latter stealing all the limelight. Have you noticed any such pattern?</strong>

No creator says that I want to be a short-form creator or a long-form creator. They want to be storytellers and they want to express themselves and tell their stories in different forms. We might think about telling a story today that may need 10 or 20 minutes but tomorrow, we may have a story that may shine in 30 seconds.

Our role as a platform is to give a very versatile toolkit that can help a creator succeed in every format. That’s the core of what we do.  When you think about video creation, our job is to give a toolkit that helps any video creator, do what they want to do, and express themselves with the least amount of friction.  We do believe that both creators and users do not ever say that I’ll only consume a story, if it is, of this size or this form.  They actually want a powerful story. The ability to have that sort of freedom with scale and the best technology is really what we do.  That’s what we’re focused on. That’s what we’ll always be focused on.

<strong>What are your future plans for the offering? What are the top priorities when it comes to new plans for Shorts in India in FY-23?</strong>

Shorts is a natural evolution for us: YouTube Shorts is a new way to create and watch short, mobile videos. If you think about YouTube’s earliest days, we launched with a short 18-second video, ‘Me at the Zoo’. What changed since then is how easy it’s become to create and watch short-form videos. We wanted to make it even easier for people to create short videos on YouTube using their phones, so Shorts is a natural evolution for us. 

We’re building features that are unique to YouTube. We’re bringing all short-form video to YouTube, and all of YouTube to short-form video in a really significant way. There are billions of videos on YouTube - by unlocking those videos for features like remixing so people can sample from those in their own Shorts, we’re creating a real playground of creativity like never before. We have the ability to connect multiple ecosystems - YouTube as we know it today, YouTube Music, and now YouTube Shorts. You can imagine what this might look like in the future - it will allow people to connect more deeply with the content, creators, and artists they’re most interested in. This truly is just the beginning.

EXCLUSIVE: What moves India has the potential to shape the world, says YouTube's Ajay Vidyasagar

<strong>Leo Burnett and Jim Beam</strong>

Publicis Groupe-owned Leo Burnett has been appointed as the global agency-of-record (AOR) for Beam Suntory’s Jim Beam, an American brand of bourbon whiskey. The account, which was won following a multi-agency pitch, will see the agency develop a new global positioning and creative platform. This is the second time Leo Burnett has been appointed as the AOR for Jim Beam. 2016 marked the year when the agency was first selected as the AOR for the American brand. Recently, Beam Suntory announced that it would invest $400 million in renewable energy systems while boosting bourbon production. 

<strong>Hashtag Orange and Signify India</strong>

Digital marketing company Hashtag Orange has won the creative mandate for Signify Innovations India, erstwhile lighting division of Philips Eindhoven of Netherlands. Their responsibility would include ideation, development, and execution of the company’s creative campaigns for both online and offline channels. As per a media report published in June, Signify was looking to grow by 18-20 percent during 2022 in India. Last month, Hashtag Orange appointed Shraddha Iyer as the branch head of its Hyderabad office. Further, the agency bagged mandates across several key accounts. They include GMR Hyderabad International Airport, Monte Carlo, Rock-It, Hype Ryno, EDGE by Pearl Academy, HOUSR co-living and Tulips Hygiene.

<strong>Carat India and TimesPro</strong>

Marketing agency Carat India has won the integrated media mandate of TimesPro, an edtech initiative of Times Group. The responsibility of the agency would include managing TimesPro's omnichannel media services, and this will be handled by the agency’s Mumbai office. The account was won following a multi-agency pitch.

<strong>Bharat Media Group and Newell Brands</strong>

Newell Brands has appointed Bharat Media Group, a 360 degree marketing agency to handle its brands - Reynolds and Sharpie's strategic and creative duties. The mandate includes co-creating the growth roadmap for both businesses in the Indian market. Three weeks ago, Bharat Media Group was appointed as the Agency-Of-Record (AOR) for Super4, Indian fantasy sports platform. The role of the agency will include overseeing the integrated strategy and media mandate which includes creative, performance and experiential marketing, media planning and buying (across medium, traditional and digital), OOH, and cinema. Bharat Media Group has recently made key hirings including Unilever’s former head of Trading and Partnerships, Rohin Desai, who joined as national buying head in August. Desai will head the group’s entire media buying activities across India. He will be based out of the Mumbai office and will report to Anand Charles, CEO, Bharat Media Group. In May, Debarghya Mitra joined as national head of planning. Mitra was VP of client services and head of South at WPP-owned Essence.

<strong>Option Designs and CFS Vision</strong>

Creative and digital marketing agency Option Designs won the creative and digital mandate of CFS Vision, an optical retail chain of Center for Sight Group of Eye Hospitals, which is backed by Mahindra Partners. Their responsibility would include developing creative digital branding strategies for the company. By 2027, CFS Vision aims to create 500 retail locations. In the coming years, the brand will also begin manufacturing frames and lenses under the Make in India initiative.

<em><strong>Compiled by Kashmeera Sambamurthy</strong></em>

Biz Moves: Bharat Media Group gets cracking; Carat India, Hashtag Orange and Option Designs win accounts

Dating app Tinder, in a recent survey, reveals that most young adults in India have little or no confidence in navigating consent and find it hard to have conversations on the subject. Amongst those surveyed in Mumbai, more than 64% of young adults are hesitant to give consent, ask for it, and to withdraw consent when dating someone.

When asked about situations when their consent was violated, 65% of young Mumbaikars chose not to speak to their date/partner about it and turned to a friend and looked for resources online, illustrating the need for continuous dialogue on this subject. In fact, 83% of these young adults in Mumbai believe that consent should be discussed more openly with partners.

The findings are based on research conducted by YouGov which surveyed  1,018  young adults (18-30 years) across  Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pune, Kolkata, Chennai and Hyderabad.

Young Indians want to learn and discuss consent with 1 in 2 recognizing themselves as the biggest channel for normalizing conversations around consent.

Around 8 in 10 young adults in Mumbai believe that consent should be discussed more openly with partners, 76% want it to be even taught formally in schools and colleges, and 72% have taken steps to personally understand the concept of consent.

More than 7 in 10 young adults in Mumbai seek more resources and safe spaces (both physical and online) on consent to be more educated and aware in their personal settings. Amongst a broad group of stakeholders potentially responsible for normalizing conversations on consent, young people identified parents (55%), themselves (44%), and schools and colleges (39%) as the top three influencers responsible for that conversation.

Across various aspects of consent education, most of the young Mumbaikars are most interested in learning about how to give consent (44%), understanding their own boundaries and limitations (41%),  followed by how to ask for consent (40%), emphasizing the need for consent education in the city.

The survey highlights that there are a myriad of factors that prevent young adults from communicating consent or the lack thereof to their dates or partners. The most frequent reasons include: afraid of hurting the date/partner’s feelings (41%), themselves are awkward having such conversations (36%), not knowing how to say no (33%) and anxious about not being liked (30%).

Young adults in Mumbai also have clear categorisation of widely understood metaphors for warning signs.They listed top three red flags include making fun about your interests/beliefs, asking for personal/intimate pictures, and not being empathetic towards others.

Yet putting them into practice proves harder than imagined: 3 in 5 young Mumbaikars say that they would hesitate to say no to a kiss and an almost equal number say they would hesitate to dismiss intimate advances even though it might make them uncomfortable.

Young adults in Mumbai believe that consent extends beyond intimacy and includes a larger concern for privacy and emotional boundaries.
 
The survey was a part of Tinder’s effort to create awareness around the importance of consent.  The platform is bringing back ‘Let’s Talk Consent’, its initiative to encourage conversations around consent and safe dating. This year, the campaign launches with “We Need To Talk”, a short film that explores the nuances of consent in interpersonal relationships amongst young Indian adults.

This will be followed by a Consent and Safe Dating curriculum, developed by experts and available online and in person in select universities, to give young adults access to appropriate information and a safe space to have a healthy discourse on the subject.
 
''Our Let’s Talk Consent initiative aims to give young adults the tools and resources to understand how consent equates freedom in making choices, mutual agreement and normalizes open discussions on tough topics. Coupled with safety products in the app and initiatives such as these, we are committed to working towards creating a healthy dating ecosystem in the country,” says Taru Kapoor, GM, Tinder & match group, India.

Young adults don’t know how to give, ask or withdraw consent while dating, Tinder study

Sleeping disorders are so common and yet there is not enough awareness about them in India. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), for instance, is a disorder caused by the repetitive collapse of the upper airway during sleep which leads to difficulty in breathing while sleeping. While it's one of the most common sleeping disorders, not many people know about it.

To tap this massive gap in the market, medical equipment company ResMed India has launched a campaign featuring singer and rapper Baba Sehgal.

Created by advertising agency Bang in the Middle, ResMed’s #AwakenYourBest campaign is aimed at creating awareness on sleeping disorders like sleep apnea and emphasis on sleeping well.

In the video, Sehgal, in his quintessential rap style, is seen crooning a rap or sleep anthem that talks about taking a simple at-home test to diagnose sleep related disorders. The purpose of the campaign is to create awareness about the importance of good sleep in a full-filled manner.

“There’s a great gap when it comes to talking about sleep disorders and we wish to start the conversation and create awareness,” says Seema Arora, business head - consumer and digital, South Asia, ResMed.

<strong>Acute sleep deficit</strong>

ResMed conducted a study, speaking to over 5000 people digitally to understand the impact on sleep post-pandemic. The findings show that Indians take a long amount of time (close to 90 minutes) to fall asleep which is far higher than Japan (25 minutes), China (42 minutes) and Korea (30 minutes). The longer duration is equated with extended screen time on devices.

“Data also confirmed a severe pandemic impact on sleeping habits in India. The survey also stated that 62 percent Indians agreed that stress has impacted their sleep during the pandemic as well as post pandemic. Erratic work schedules, excessive digital exposure and unhealthy lifestyle is contributing to poor sleep quality,” shares Arora.

Although ResMed is targeting consumers aged 30-69 years residing in the top 20-25 cities, it is also looking to connect with young Indians (under 25 years) who could be potential influencers in their household.

“We do wish to speak to audiences above the age of 25 years to have the information and encourage their loved ones to take the test and check about the quality of their sleep,” says Arora.

Social media and digital platforms are the likely places where ResMed is hoping to engage with potential customers.

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<strong>Market potential</strong>

India is a huge market for ResMed. Arora quotes a Lancet Respiratory Medicine 2019 study, which states that an estimated 5.4 percent of all Indians ages 30-69 years (28.8 million) have moderate to severe sleep apnea. The level of sleep awareness continues to remain low in a country like India, with only a handful of sleep labs for a population of over 1.3 billion.

The study states that people are often unaware about sleep issues and even if diagnosed with sleep disorders, they tend to hide them. Hence, there is a need to create awareness about the importance of sleep and sleep related disorders.

“The potential in the India market is huge. 28.8 million people could be dealing with sleep apnea. Diet and workout can have a positive impact but it is not the gold treatment for a sleeping disorder. It requires a proper sleep check-up followed by a CPAP (Continuous positive airway pressure) machine to treat sleep apnea. As we start creating awareness we foresee a demand for these products,” says Arora.  

Currently, there are barely 30,000 to 35,000 odd CPAP devices which are being sold in a year. Compared to the population the penetration of these devices is still less. ResMed is looking to change that.

<strong>Agency speak</strong> 

Naresh Gupta, co-founder and CSO, Bang In The Middle says that Obstructive Sleep Apnea is a life-threatening condition and it's easy for the brands to be in the zone that is a bit scary.

“All our consumer chats pointed towards the fact that instilling fear doesn't work as well as creating a happier curative story. Baba Sehgal has a unique style of telling the story, we merged it with an interesting way of taking the consumer on a journey with us," says Gupta.  

"The way the music flows and the way the scenes change in the commercial brought the audience into the brand fold,'' he says, adding, "The simple call to action of asking for a Home Sleep Test was made possible with the magic that was weaved through earworm quality of the music." 

ResMed has kicked off its campaign with a song and dance and the hope that its rap track can help Indians sleep well.


ResMed hopes its rap track can help Indians sleep well


With the model code of conduct in place for the ongoing general elections, parties must seek approval from the Delhi Chief Electoral Office to display any political advertisement in the city.


The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has submitted the highest number of advertisements for approval at the Delhi Chief Electoral Office. According to PTI reports, between March 13 and May 8, the BJP has sough approval for approximately 2084 political advertisements. There were close to 517 applications submitted for the same.
 

Second in line was the Indian National Congress that submitted 118 applications for 349 political advertisements. Last but not the least was Aam Aadmi Party submitted six applications for an equal number of advertisements.


Overall, the Chief Electoral Office has approved a total of 2423 advertisements against 638 applications from all parties. 


However, three applications for 16 advertisements from the BJP are still pending approval. 


PTI quoted officials who said political parties submit applications for running short films and creative advertisements during election time, with each application potentially containing requests for multiple advertisements and short films. 


With the model code of conduct in place for the ongoing general elections, parties must seek approval from the Delhi Chief Electoral Office to display any political advertisement in the city.

Elections 2024: BJP leads ad approval requests with Delhi Chief Electoral Office

Indian political campaigning has transformed, with politicians embracing digital platforms and influencer marketing for the Lok Sabha Elections 2024. Social media influencers and content creators play crucial roles in engaging the young audience. Let's delve into how Indian politicians are leveraging influencer marketing and content creators.

<strong>The rise of influencer marketing in Indian politics:</strong>

Influencer marketing is now vital for political parties, particularly among youth, utilizing platforms like Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter. It humanizes political figures, enhancing relatability. Partnering with resonant influencers allows politicians to create authentic content, bypassing traditional media and connecting directly with voters, shaping public opinion effectively.

<strong>The role of content creators in political discourse:</strong>

In addition to influencers, content creators play a pivotal role in shaping political discourse and driving voter engagement on digital platforms. Content creators, including comedians, satirists, news commentators, and meme-makers, use humor, satire, and creativity to dissect political issues, hold leaders accountable, and galvanize public opinion.

<strong>This Lok Sabha Election, creators are making a lot of effort to become king makers:</strong>

Before the Lok Sabha election, Prime Minister Narendra Modi engaged with creators like BeerBiceps, Curly Tales, Abhi & Niyu, among others, at the Creator's Award 2024 in Delhi. Recently, several content creators experienced a surge in views for political content, surpassing their usual viewership. Ranveer Allahbadia (BeerBiceps) conversed with senior BJP leaders like S Jaishankar, Nitin Gadkari, and Subramanian Swamy, as well as opposition figures like Atishi Marlena, Raghav Chadha of the AAP, and Supriya Sule from the NCP(SP), flooding YouTube with political discourse. 

Similarly, lifestyle and travel creators showcased a non-political side of politicians like Rahul Gandhi, Smriti Irani, Eknath Shinde, and Piyush Goyal, engaging with fans and voters. However, many politicians or their management ensure content approval or editing before publication, and questions may be shared with creators beforehand. YouTubers known for political satire and commentary, including Kunal Kamra, Akash Banerjee (The Deshbhakt), Nitish Rajput, and Dhruv Rathee, potentially influence the election narrative with informative videos critiquing the government's policies, scams, and decisions. Their content could shape public opinion and drive voter engagement, particularly among Gen Z voters.

<strong>Monetary reward and other challenges:</strong>

Several popular YouTubers have received offers of substantial sums by many politicians, often in the millions of rupees, to conduct interviews, particularly in the months leading up to the election. However, some creators don’t receive as lucrative offers as they do get from brand collaborations. Some creators have received direct cash offers from third-party organizations assisting lesser-known political figures with podcasts. Nevertheless, for most creators, the primary motivation is gaining notoriety and access within the political system, with money being incidental.

Finance-focused creators are being compensated Rs 10-12 lakh to endorse the policies of different political parties, often through multiple videos uploaded over several days or weeks. Additionally, leading influencers in tech and travel are being paid to subtly promote specific parties' digital and cultural offerings, without disclosing that the content is sponsored.

A trend observed is that opposition leaders are interviewed less frequently than BJP leaders by some of India's biggest influencers. Pro-BJP content has been prevalent recently, while the number of accounts publishing criticism of the current government has decreased, indicating a growing hesitancy to openly criticize the government. This trend raises concerns about democracy's health, as there seems to be more confidence in posting polarizing content or content that aligns with the government's ideologies.

Influencers have a greater capacity to push boundaries compared to traditional media. For instance, Dhruv Rathee's widely viewed video titled "Is India Turning into a Dictatorship?" featured direct criticism of the government, garnering over 24 million views on YouTube. Since its release, there has been an increased usage of the term 'dictatorship' in many creators’ conversations, signalling the impact of influencer content on public discourse.
Some creators refuse political promotions to evade criticism but prioritize constant promotional posts, regardless of relevance. Those exploring critical political themes struggle to monetize. Brands, historically avoiding political or religious content, now buy online ad inventory linked to politics, assessed on the PINI scale. Few critical content creators secure sponsors, often tempered by brands.

Due to limited ad space demand, political content faces fewer and cheaper advertisements. Advertisers can opt out of displaying ads on sensitive Google content categories, excluding news and politics. Additionally, content creators critical of political parties often face demonetization issues on YouTube, limiting their income. Some creators, particularly those discussing topics like electronic voting machines, receive notifications of demonetization.

In conclusion, the fusion of influencer marketing and content creators in political campaigns is now a hallmark of Indian politics in the digital era. Leveraging the reach, credibility, and creativity of these figures, politicians engage voters innovatively, fostering dialogue, mobilizing support, and shaping electoral outcomes. As India gears up for the Lok Sabha Elections 2024, the influence of influencers and content creators in political communication is expected to expand further, cementing their status as crucial allies for politicians seeking the backing of the young and digitally savvy electorate.

<strong>The column is written by Yasin Hamidani, Director, Media Care Brand Solutions. Views expressed are personal.</strong>


How Indian politicians are leveraging influencer marketing for Lok Sabha Elections

Elections and IPL (Indian Premier League) has been the winning combo for advertisers in the first half of the year. Shooting ad spends have not only added to the Ad Ex of the year but have also delivered a significant year on year growth. In a chat with Storyboard18, Kumar Awanish, chief growth officer, Cheil India said ad spends in April is expected to have brought in an 18-25 percent jump compared to last year. The winner however is Connected TV, with every advertiser wanting to find a space on it.


Awanish talks about CTV growth, ad spends, big ticket events of the year and more.

Edited excerpts


<strong>What is the kind of increase in ad spends that you are noticing this April/May period due to the combined impact of IPL and elections?</strong>


All mediums put together along with 40 percent plus incremental advertisers, from the period of April to June, we can easily see an exponential growth of 18 percent to 25 percent in the advertising spends compared to same time last year. 



<strong>CTV has been the talk of the town, do you see any surge in interest for CTV? Which brands are going for CTV? What has been the approximate spend on CTV ads this election+IPL season?</strong>


CTV is the poster boy of advertising at the moment, which is letting the brands bet big. Approximately, 60 percent plus brands from the participating categories are grabbing some share of CTV inventories. The limited inventory of CTV will restrict the overall digital budget share in the range of 12 percent to 18 percent. It is in the higher consideration set of automotive, foods and beverages, BFSI, perfume, e-commerce, gaming and smartphone brands.

 

<strong>What are the top ad spending categories experiencing the biggest surge in AdeX due to the combined effect of IPL and the upcoming elections?</strong>

Ecommerce, gaming, automotive, beverages and FMCG categories and associated brands are definitely topping the charts.



 
<strong>Can you tell us which genres of programming are performing best in terms of ad viewership during the IPL and election season?</strong>


Well, this is no brainer. News and sports genres are the ‘Men of the Match’ considering the IPL and election events, followed by entertainment, which has its own loyal fan pool.




<strong>How significant is the ad rate growth compared to usual periods, (or this time last year) considering both IPL and election?</strong>

If we consider IPL last year to IPL this year, there has been an insignificant growth of ad rates, but for news genre it is like a leap year with an extra day due to elections. On an average, the ad rate surge in news genre will be in the range of 35 percent to 45 percent. Some of the broadcasters have escalated the rates  to as high as 70 percent.




<strong>Besides IPL and elections, are there any other upcoming events or trends that you anticipate will impact media buying strategies?</strong>


There are no significant events, except T20 World Cup that match the scale of IPL and elections in the near term, but there would certainly be some delta in the upcoming events. The second half of the year is power packed. T20 World Cup, Asia cup, Bilateral Series being the prominent ones in sports and KKK, KBC, BigBoss, IIFA and Filmfare in entertainment.

CTV is the poster boy of advertising at the moment: Cheil India’s Kumar Awanish

The 2024 Lok Sabha elections are witnessing a technological leap with AI(artificial intelligence) integration. Political parties and candidates are working with Indian tech agencies from across the country that are enabling them to use AI to offer personalised voter engagement and optimised media tactics. Estimates suggest a significant investment of close to Rs100 crore in AI for this election cycle.



<strong>How is AI being used by parties?</strong>


The application of AI is multifaceted when it comes to political campaigns. Some of its applications are readily observable while others operate more discreetly. There are three main avenues through which politicians and political parties are leveraging AI today in their campaigns.


Venugopal Ganganna, CEO, Langoor (LS Digital Group Company) explained how AI works for political parties and their candidates. 


“Firstly, AI serves as a powerful Research tool for comprehending the behaviour, concerns, and sentiments of the electorate. What once began as simple social listening exercises during the 2019 elections has evolved into sophisticated data-driven analyses of people's attitudes and inclinations,” Ganganna said.


For instance, AI now enables parties to discern the nuanced opinions of individuals in various regions, such as understanding how residents in Hubli perceive a particular political party or how those in Wayanad views a specific political candidate. 


“This deeper understanding of voter behaviour, facilitated by AI-powered data science, has become instrumental in shaping campaign strategies and messaging. Despite operating largely behind the scenes, this aspect of AI usage represents a significant investment by political entities, often involving large-scale data analysis across hundreds of locations,” he added.

 

There of course there is Generative AI that facilitates the personalisation of political communication and messaging. Through advanced algorithms, parties can tailor their outreach efforts to individual voters, addressing them by name, communicating in their preferred language, and delivering customized content, including videos and messages. 


“With insights gathered through research, the political parties are optimising GenAI using various AI tools to create hyper personalised campaigns and hyper personalised narratives in focus areas in each region. Further usage of AR, VR, Immersive XR is enabling these hyper personalised communications,” said Ganganna.

 

Lastly, AI is playing a crucial role in optimising media strategies for the overall campaign; media strategy planning and optimisation is becoming more efficient and effective. 


“More importantly, predictable AI is helping to predict engagement and reach.As per our estimates close to anywhere between Rs. 80 crore- Rs. 100 crore has been spent on AI this elections,” he added.


According to numbers collected from agencies, digital avatar generation costs anywhere between Rs1- Rs2 lakh, voice cloning costs close to a lakh and a compact deal that includes content creation to dissemination to an audience size of about 4 lakh people costs anywhere between Rs 32lakh and Rs 47 lakh. 

 

<strong>The agencies behind the AI work</strong>


A host of Indian tech start ups with AI offerings are working with political parties across the board. While some are helping in the Generative AI piece some offer the entire package of services starting from research to content creation to dissemination. Some of the agencies that have been actively working with political parties and candidates are Avantari Technologies,Polymath Solution- The Indian Deepfaker, Mogi IO, Muonium and others. Most of these agencies have long been using AI to aid political communications across board



Hyderabad based AI content agency Avantari Technologies for instance has been doing this for years.


“We work for parties on a campaign level. We come in at the campaign planning stage and work with the party with a usually innovative idea,” said CEO Bhairav Shankar.


In the past Avanatari has worked with the BJP for the Gujarat 2012 elections where they introduced the hologram, the BMC elections in 2016, where they introduced life-size augmented reality, then in the 2017 where they used poster based augmented reality for Karnataka elections where they worked with the Congress party. In 2019  Avantari Technologies worked with the BJD in Orissa with a door to door AR campaign and the most recent one was the Punjab elections where they worked with the AAP.





<strong>Drawing the line between ethical and unethical use of AI</strong>


“We believe that artificial intelligence, the line is where we manipulate facts. We believe that the technology is useful for dissemination of information and allowing the information to be more personalised and have a better impact on the vote. However, we do not condone it when the same information is misused by the technology. To us, success is about innovative usage of technology, rather than the unethical shortcut which spoils the field for everyone,” Shankar said.



For Divyendra Singh Jadoun, founder Polymath Solution- The Indian Deepfaker, the line between ethical and unethical use of AI is often blurred. 


According to Jadoun, transparency is  key.


“All AI-generated content, whether in videos, images, is  watermarked. Additionally in the conversational AI agent where people get calls from candidates, the agent clearly state twice that it is AI-powered,”


However sometimes it is not enough. 


“Even with all the disclaimers, we recognise that not everyone is familiar with AI. Disclaimers alone might not be enough. Not everyone knows what to make of a ‘AI generated’ tag in a video,” Jadoun said. 


Jadoun’s agency doesn’t just partner with political parties to connect with voters, but also to facilitate internal communication with party workers through personalised messages.

The agency is bound by NDA and couldn’t disclose details on specific candidates who've used the agency's services. However, his clientele includes not only those actively campaigning, but also those like Congress' Shakti Pratap Singh Rathore from Ajmer. In this case, the agency is assisting Rathore, a senior party member, to spread awareness messages and encourage voter turnout.


 


 



LS Elections 2024: Rs 100 crore invested in AI integration in political campaigns

BluSmart has launched its #SmartCitizen campaign to encourage Indian citizens to exercise their democratic right to vote on election day. This initiative aims to generate awareness, empower and mobilise the voters in Delhi, Gurgaon and Bengaluru to participate actively and responsibly in the Lok Sabha Elections 2024.

"Every vote counts, and every citizen can make a smart choice  to contribute to the democratic process. As a partner in driving India’s growth, our #SmartCitizen campaign is a call to action for all citizens to exercise their right to vote and be active participants in shaping a smarter future for our nation. The campaign reflects BluSmart’s values as forward-thinkers, fostering a sense of responsibility among citizens and empowering them with seamless access to the polling stations." said Anirudh Arun, Co-founder & CEO, BluSmart Fleet.

<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/reel/C57rFHKS2cU/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:540px; min-width:326px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:16px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/C57rFHKS2cU/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style=" background:#FFFFFF; line-height:0; padding:0 0; text-align:center; text-decoration:none; width:100%;" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> <div style=" display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; 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A month-long election awareness campaign will be executed through online and offline channels such as communication inside BluSmart EVs, in-app notifications, emailers and social media. The  #SmartCitizen campaign will further educate users on the significance of voting and how one vote can make a difference. Moreover, the incorporation of a voting badge by BluSmart for riders  who participate in elections will incentivise civic engagement and foster a sense of accomplishment.

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On polling dates in Bengaluru - 26th April and in Delhi NCR - 25th May, BluSmart will offer discounted rides to its customers, enabling eligible citizens to cast their vote including the youth of India and the first-time voters to exercise their fundamental right to vote conveniently and on time.




BluSmart launches #SmartCitizen campaign for 2024 elections

As India gears up for the 2024 general election, Spotify is collaborating with the Election Commission of India through a non-partisan campaign, ‘Play Your Part’. The initiative encourages eligible voters, especially the youth, to play their part by going out to vote.

“Partnership and collaboration are essential pillars of our voter awareness program at the Election Commission of India. I strongly believe that fostering informed and ethical electoral participation is a shared responsibility among all stakeholders in our democracy. It's really good to see Spotify, which holds significant influence among the youth, utilizing innovative music programming to create engaging voter awareness campaigns for the broader electorate”, said Santosh Ajmera, IIS Director, SVEEP Election Commission of India.

‘Play Your Part’ emphasizes that the power of the collective is realized when everyone comes together and plays their part by voting. This message has been communicated through a visual of the voters' marked finger, a unique feature of Indian elections, integrated with Spotify's scan code. Through in-app messaging, and by leveraging artist fandom that is unique to music and Spotify, the campaign intends to reach millions of listeners on the platform.

Through a specially curated on-platform hub featuring playlists to soundtrack the voting process, Spotify hopes to inspire eligible youth in India to cast their vote in the upcoming general elections.

●	Our Voter’s Hub: The ‘Play Your Part’ hub gives listeners a number of destinations to choose from.
○	Soundtrack Your Vote: As citizens head to the polls, two playlists will accompany them. The first, called Play Your Part India, features the best of motivational songs across languages to encourage the youth to go and vote; the second, called Thank You For Voting, includes a mix of patriotic and fun dance tracks to celebrate with them after they play their part. 
○	Playlists Providing Inspiration: In the hub, listeners will also find playlists to celebrate the election season.
●	On-Platform Voter Messaging: Listeners will be encouraged to exercise their right and cast their votes through on-platform communication, leading them to the Election Commission of India website to find polling locations applicable to them, and more.

Spotify will also tap into other off-platform mediums, including out of home and print media, to reach a wider audience for this initiative.



Spotify encourages eligible Indian citizens to vote in 2024 general election via 'Play Your Part'

IPL is one of the biggest reach accumulators in Asia with 5X entry cost over any other top reality show in the country and on the back of IPL, AdEx is expected to witness a rise of 6 percent to 8 percent over corresponding year’s same month/quarter. General election will add another 3 percent to 4 percent increment to the same. 

In conversation with Storyboard18, Uday Mohan, Managing Director, Havas Media India talks about the genres of programming that are performing best in terms of ad viewership during the IPL and election season, the specific goals that brands are looking to achieve with their advertising campaigns during this period of heightened viewership and more.

Edited excerpts:


<strong>What is the kind of increase in ad spend that you are noticing this April due to the combined impact of IPL and elections?  </strong>



April being the first month of the new FY, fresh budgets allow the brands to plan new launches and new ad films in the market. To couple with IPL is one of the biggest reach accumulators in Asia with 5x entry cost over any other top reality show in the country. On the back of IPL, AdEx is expected to witness a rise of 6 percent to 8 percent over corresponding year’s same month/quarter. General election will add another 3 percent to 4 percent increment to the same.


<strong>What are the top ad spending categories experiencing the biggest surge in AdeX due to the combined effect of IPL and the upcoming elections? </strong>

Some of the top ad spending categories include fantasy gaming, auto, beverages, FMCG, and banking and construction.



<strong>What are the specific goals that brands are looking to achieve with their advertising campaigns during this period of heightened viewership? </strong>



Quarter 1 being a fresh start for setting new goals and April being the first month, brands push and set the tempo for the balance of the year. Also, firms want to achieve their sales results to keep the financial results positive in Q1 to have an optimistic outlook in Return on Yield (RoY).

Secondly, with the sports reach of around 800 million in India, no other event or genre offers such high reach in the country and that too in the quarter 1 of financial year. This aids the advertisers to plan new launches & fresh announcements to reach out to maximum consumers and communicate effectively and instantly.



<strong>Can you tell us which genres of programming are performing best in terms of ad viewership during the IPL and election season? </strong>

As we know, election is on the cards. News genre will have exponential growth in viewership. There is a healthy mix of viewership in the country with Hindi language at 31 percent & regional language at 36 percent in terms of news viewership. This is other than 450 million reach through digital news platforms. Election will be a big driver in Q1, and other genres will also have a positive impact in their AdEx. There is a main budget session also expected after general elections which will have significant news importance. 

<strong>How significant is the ad rate growth compared to usual periods considering both IPL and election? </strong>

Election rates are purely demand and supply driven, and in this case the rates are close to 30 percent higher compared to the last Lok Sabha Election. This has happened on the back of newer programming and technology adoption to deliver the brand messaging very effectively. 

As for IPL, the league's consistent viewership has boosted cost and reach delivery proportionately.

<strong>Besides IPL and elections, are there any other upcoming events or trends that you anticipate will impact media buying strategies?</strong>

June to December will be an action packed year in television within sports and entertainment shows. To specify, immediately after IPL, 125 + days of India playing International cricket which includes T20 World Cup, Asia Cup, 6+ bilateral series and other sporting events like Euro Cup and Grand Slam.  As far as entertainment tentpole shows on TV, properties like KBC, Katron Ke Khiladi, IIFA awards, Filmfare, Jhalak Dikhla Ja, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, India’s Got Talent, Bigg Boss, Rishtey Award and World TV will keep up the momentum.

EXCLUSIVE: Elections will drive exponential growth in news viewership: Havas Media's Uday Mohan


With a little over a week remaining until the Lok Sabha polls kick off, political parties are intensifying their digital advertising efforts to gain a last-mile advantage. Last-minute spends on digital platforms are soaring into crores as parties gear up for the seven-phase elections starting on April 19.



In the last week alone, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress together spent close to Rs 8 crore on Google and Meta ads.




<strong>Political ad spends on Google</strong>



As per Google’s Ad Transparency Center, the BJP and the Indian National Congress lead in spending, with Rs8.36 crore and Rs7.6 crore respectively, over the past month on political ads.



The top three spenders on Google Ads also include. Popular Empowerment Network Private Limited, a sociopolitical research organisation, spent Rs Rs7.66 crore. Ads from this organisation, particularly those related to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin's campaign, accounted for over Rs30 lakh between April 2 and April 9.



Overall, in the last 30 days (March 11 to April 9), Google Ads Transparency data shows a total spending of Rs41.46 crore on 74,765 political ads. Back in 2019, the spends on political ads on Google around the same time amounted to Rs 8.47 crore.






<strong>Spends on Meta</strong>



Turning to Meta, while the BJP has historically dominated ad spends across platforms, other parties are now stepping up their efforts. In the past month, between March 8 and April 6, 2024, the Indian National Congress spent Rs1.47 crore on 276 ads related to social issues, elections, or politics on Meta ads. Conversely, the BJP allocated Rs8.45 lakh for 6,681 ads on the Meta platform during the same period. Despite the Indian National Congress leading in spending on Meta ads, the BJP ranked fourth.


Interestingly, certain affiliate pages on Meta have outspent the BJP.




<strong>Affiliate pages spending on Meta</strong>


One prominent example is MyGovIndia, a citizen engagement platform launched by the government in 2014. MyGovIndia spent Rs1.42 crore on 67 Meta ads, focusing heavily on national creator award videos and clips. Similarly, MemeXpress emerged as the third highest spender on Meta, allocating Rs1.10 crore for 291 ads in the last 30 days. These pages often run paid promotions with messages like "BJP will rise in Tamil Nadu and DMK will decline" or slogans such as "Entire AAP is corrupted in this time, electricity won’t be free.”



<strong>Why digital matters</strong>


Political parties and candidates are heavily using social media to attract the GenZ voters. From memes to influencers, parties are leaving no stone unturned. 



As Unny Radhakrishnan, CEO, Digitas India pointed out previously, political parties are using all potential opportunities within the digital and content ecosystem.



“Influencers and video content will be key during the 2024 general elections. Multiple content snippets and narratives will be created and distributed through various social channels,”he had said.



“In many parts of the country, there are YouTube channels focused on select geographies or audiences, which will also play an important role,” he added.



“Despite information overload and digital natives spend hours online, engaging with creators and influencers who can influence culture and politics.These influencers offer a direct and personalised connection, bypassing traditional media gatekeepers. These trends push parties to spend on social platforms through not just ads but also collaborations and partnerships,”said a political strategist who did not wish to be named.



Election countdown: BJP and Congress splurge crores on Google and Meta ads ahead of Lok Sabha polls

It is raining ad campaigns and Bharatiya Janata Party has added a new one to its poll arsenal. The  ‘Sapne Nahi Hakikat Bunte Hai Tabhi Sab Modi Ko Chunte Hai’ campaign, however, is a departure from the edgy, meme-friendly content the ruling party has been releasing on social media in the last few weeks.



The sole focus of the new campaign is to present a holistic portrayal of development-focused initiatives under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 



Lasting 3.18 minutes, this multilingual campaign sharply spotlights Prime Minister’s Bharat focus. 



The campaign emphasizes the achievements of the BJP government which includes initiatives that have had a real and tangible impact on daily lives, making the campaign more relatable. From digital payments, subsidised LPG cylinders, narratives surrounding women empowerment to the much debated topic of ‘North East’, the new campaign covers it all.  

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6SY1i1ZBjE0?si=6TAXu_n2TaKURaYW" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>



Unlike the past few campaigns where the focus was on opposition and their failures, the new ad ensures that the spotlight remains on Modi. 




<a href="https://www.storyboard18.com/agency-news/exclusive-i-n-d-i-a-alliance-bashing-dulha-kaun-hai-bjp-viral-ad-created-by-varahe-analytics-who-are-they-27591.htm">Also read: EXCLUSIVE: Varahe Analytics, the agency behind BJP’s ‘Dulha Kaun Hai' viral film</a>


Moving on to the campaign's visual narrative, it features diverse segments of society – students, women, scientists, and more, with treatment that allows it to resonate with viewers on a personal level. The inclusion of glimpses of cultural performances such as Kathak and Odissi dance adds a touch of vibrancy the creative narrative.



The backdrop of iconic landmarks like the Statue of Unity, the Ayodhya Temple, Atal Setu and others further reinforces the campaign's message, emphasizing the widespread impact of development initiatives across the nation.



In just about 2 hours after the video went live, it garnered over 1 lakh views on Instagram Reels. While thousands of comments are pouring in, the common theme in them seems to be exactly what the party wants to hear: ‘Ab Ki Baar 400 par’. 


No Pappu, no Kejriwal, no Dulha; Spotlight is on PM Modi's development agenda in new BJP campaign

Politicians are ditching dry speeches for a trendier tone. Memes, references to viral reels, and catchy phrases are replacing some of the usual mudslinging in the general election campaigns this year. This GenZ-influenced approach by political parties and candidates is all about attracting young voters with content they consume daily. 


Just last week, defence Minister Rajnath Singh joined in on the popular 'moye moye' trend, taking a light-hearted jab at the opposition during his speech at a public rally in Ghaziabad. It took the internet by storms with innumerable memes being circulated on social media platforms. 


While this counts as organic chatter, parties have made a complete shift to lighthearted content to keep the young voters engaged. 



<strong>Snackable content</strong> 


The proliferation of Reels (short videos on Instagram) has reached unprecedented levels, with political parties crafting easily consumable content. These Reels predominantly feature political satire, humour, critiques of the opposition, and leverage trending music to enhance engagement.



For instance, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) recently put together a short video portraying opposition leaders in a dating app-style interface on a reel, where they were all ‘left-swiped’. This is just one of the innumerable examples flooding the accounts of BJP, Congress, Trinamool Congress and many others. 



<strong>Meme marketing</strong>


For instance, the use of political memes by parties have never been as aggressive. BJP has reportedly even hired meme marketing agencies to create shareable content on trending topics for their Lok Sabha election campaigns. 


“The key stakeholders of the General Election seem to have understood the sheer scale and impact of meme culture thriving among the youth,” said Hari Krishnan, MD and head, Publicis Content. 


“Memes are mutations of original content from news and entertainment, therefore their endless supply in the form of trending and viral content ensures both volume and variety in messaging. In addition to that, the humour element increases shareability at scale,” Krishnan added.

<a href="https://www.storyboard18.com/agency-news/madison-media-retains-bjp-media-planning-and-buying-mandate-for-2024-elections-exclusive-27229.htm">Read more: Madison Media retains BJP media planning and buying mandate for 2024 Elections: Exclusive</a>


According to Krishnan, while the messaging might take a light hearted approach, the underlying target doesn’t lose focus. Accordingly, the strategy to amplify this content plays an important role here.  



<strong>Influencer marketing</strong>


“When it comes to the choice of celebrities and influencers, decision makers understand that Gen Z is sharp and discerning. While they may follow a wide range of personalities, they also buy the serious messaging of voting and nation building from only those to whom they attribute a certain degree of wisdom and credibility,” Krishnan said.


Rahul Gandhi appearing on travel content creator Kamiya Jani’s show, Smriti Zubin opening up on The Ranveer Show are examples of how political leaders are trying to reach out to Gen Z through popular influencers and creators.
 

<a href="https://www.storyboard18.com/brand-marketing/meme-marketing-bjp-partners-with-acquaint-consultants-for-memes-in-2024-election-strategy-27561.htm">EXCLUSIVE: BJP partners with meme marketing agencies in 2024 election strategy</a>

<a href="https://www.storyboard18.com/how-it-works/bjp-hands-over-creative-mandates-to-these-agencies-26865.htm">Read more: Prasoon Joshi on winning BJP account: Looking forward to the challenge, BJP has great minds</a>


“By collaborating with these influencers to create 'thumbstopper' content, politicians get to be part of organic conversations as creators bring out relevant topics with current social media trends, broadening the politicians' appeal. The influencers make political messaging appear easy, and politicians look more approachable and 'cool - like us’,” said Anup Sharma, an independent communications consultant, who has been involved in the political campaign planning for more than a decade and currently working closely with few senior political leaders on key messaging and outreach strategy.


According to Sharma, the 2024 elections aren't just about having a digital presence. “The key is to engage with Gen Z in their language and ‘check their vibe’, as PM Modi did at the national creator awards,” he said.



<strong>Focus on digital</strong>

 

The spends on digital have also significantly gone up compared to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.


According to Google’s Ad Transparency Centre in the last seven days alone Rs12.05 crore has been spent on 64734 political ads. On Meta too, the spends have touched unprecedented numbers.


Both the platforms put together, digital has seen huge growth in spends.
 

Between February 2019 and May 2019, Google and Facebook reported a combined political ad expenditure of approximately Rs 58 crore.




<strong>The EC push</strong>



As per reports, there are around 49 million young adults in India between the ages of 18 and 19. However, only about 38 percent of these eligible first-time voters are registered according to Election Commission(EC) data.


The EC is also working towards getting more of these Gen Z voters on board. In a bid to achieve that target, actor Ayushmann Khurrana has been appointed EC ambassador for 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Khurana will urge the youth to exercise their right to select the nation's future leaders.

<a href="https://www.storyboard18.com/how-it-works/meta-strengthens-ai-content-oversight-for-indian-general-elections-2024-amid-misinformation-threats-26853.htm">Read more: Meta strengthens AI content oversight for Indian General Elections 2024 amid misinformation threats</a>

<a href="https://www.storyboard18.com/brand-marketing/news-has-credibility-to-drive-conversations-that-seed-the-development-agenda-ajay-dang-ultratech-cement-28140.htm">Read more: News has credibility to drive conversations that seed the development agenda: Ajay Dang, UltraTech Cement</a>



MCD removes over half a million political ads in Delhi before Lok Sabha elections

The advertisements removed by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi comprised hoardings, posters, banners, wall paintings, signages, and flags.

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