It was the vociferous Arnab Goswami who led to this thought, at a media seminar where both of us were invited as speakers. Arnab being himself made a strong case for media planners to not measure news in the same scale as GECs and replace TRPs with 'impact' for news channels. Impact is beyond viewership, it is a profound concept, it is when the viewers consciously consume the content and get affected by it.
Point well made! I thought. News, unlike other content, covers a larger section of society; especially, in recent times when the youth earlier known to keep away from politics is now actively not only tracking it, but also participating in it. The astounding success of Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party with the average age of its cabinet being 35 years (the outgoing Congress cabinet averaged 63 years) proves the point beyond doubt.
A similar viewership phenomenon that cut across age groups was the Indian Premiere League (IPL) that combined cricket, Bollywood and business. Marketers jumped onto the bandwagon and used up every given space for branding; and that paid off with over a month-long loyal viewership with two matches a day and an array of communication options.
As I was waiting for my turn to speak at the seminar, Arnab's analysis of news media made me think of the IPL of a different kind with an equal, if not better, impact and reach - the Indian Parliamentary League, which has largely remained unexplored, given its canvas.
The run-up to the Lok Sabha elections of 2014 will provide marketers a great platform to communicate with its audience at a time when the citizens will be glued to news sources to track who will be destined for office for the next five years. Imagine a three-four-month window from January to May with an engaged audience all throughout the day. The record voter turnout in the recently concluded state elections was 71 per cent in Madhya Pradesh and 66 per cent in Delhi, highlighting that people are taking their politics seriously again.
Brands can use this once-in-five-year opportunity to build an integrated campaign, cutting across media. The TV news channels will be bustling with activities all day, and promoting brands on news channels is less costly than on other genres on the telly.
Another medium through which news is increasingly being consumed is the Internet, especially on smartphones and mobile app. Numbers increasingly favour this route, with more than 15 per cent of voters being Internet-literate and more than 10 per cent of first-time voters active on social media.
Another impactful medium that this the election juggernaut opens up is that of outdoors and activations at election rallies, creating a Kumbh Mela-like atmospheres all across the country.
The 2014 Lok Sabha elections is set to invite more than 1.2 million first-time voters. In the 2009 polls, no single party garnered more than 1.2 million votes. With more than 80 per cent brands trying hard to connect with the youth, playing an impactful innings at the Indian Parliamentary League will take them far.
This space will provide all that we marketers and advertisers long for - reach, impact and engagement. Brands have left this space unexplored with an absence of a focused campaign to benefit from the numbers.
The author is National Creative Director, Leo Burnett
