ITV

Category: Elections 2019

  • BJP’s magic-bullet approach to social media for Election 2019

    BJP’s magic-bullet approach to social media for Election 2019

    MUMBAI: With less than 10 days left for the most awaited General Election of India, where the country selects its next prime minister, global social media giant Facebook, which also owns Instagram and WhatsApp, took down around 700 pages for showing “coordinated inauthentic behaviour”, associated with various political parties, from its site.

    The list of the pages taken down by the global giant from Facebook and Instagram under its refined social media policy for political campaigns included 687 associated with an IT Cell of the Indian National Congress (INC) and 15 belonging to Indian IT firm Silver Touch, which usually handles the duties for the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.

    These pages were spending a hefty amount of money on promotions and advertisement. While the 687 accounts linked with Congress had spent $39,000 between August 2014 and March 2019, the 15 pages being associated with BJP had nearly double spends with $70,000 flowing from June 2014 to February 2019.

    And it can very well be just the tip of the iceberg. It is no revelation that social media has been playing a prominent role in the political battles not just in India but globally for the past few years. In fact, the landslide victory that BJP recorded in the 2014 polls, probably the biggest ever in its decades-old history, has been significantly attributed to the smart use of social media as a tool to allure young voters.

    And this year is no different. While all political parties are spending a considerable amount of money and manpower in refining their social media strategies, BJP is way ahead of the curve. Compare the amount spent by a collective of 687 pages with just the 15 that have been taken down by Facebook, and one can see the stark difference in the expenditures being incurred by the parties.

    `While none of the pages revealed the identity of the source running these accounts and from where the money was pouring in to spend on these promotional activities, it is evident that the IT machinery of BJP is quite strong and refined. Given that its magic-bullet approach resulted in a success in 2014, it is obvious that the party will once again take the same route.

    As per Facebook’s Ad Library, which includes data related to ads of political nature and relevant to national importance on Facebook and Instagram, political advertisers cumulatively have spent more than Rs 8 crore in less than two months and again leading the charts is BJP with top three accounts promoting it. One of the topmost pages called “My First Vote For Modi” has spent close to Rs 61 lakh in the past two months. In fact, the same page is offering gifts and free BJP merchandise to people who pledge to vote for the ruling party in the upcoming elections, which means extra expenditure on those goodies.

    The BJP social media teams and leadership have been intelligent with their hashtag campaigns too. Just recently the #MainBhiChowkidaar campaign was trending on Twitter. Not just that, the on-ground rallies with people showing support to this slogan surely grabbed a lot many eyeballs. Other hashtags like #ModiOnceMore are being used widely by the party supporters.
    While social media is a war zone that BJP is banking on very strongly, another interesting attribute of its campaigns is the Modi merchandise. From caps to sarees to masks to kids’ snack packets, Modi’s face can be found anywhere and everywhere. The TV, print, and radio campaigns have seen an equally big investment in promotions.

    Though such wide promotions might give an edge in terms of recognisability to the party, it might not be a stepping stone to success, says TRA Research CEO N Chandramouli on being asked to compare the expenditures made by the parties across media.

    He shared, “When speaking to a local political party's communication advisor recently, we got discussing on the ad budgets of the current ruling party and the others. The ad budget differences between the BJP and Congress are estimated to be at least 3 to 4-fold. With such high budgets, BJP has started advertising with high intensity early on using all media at its means. On the other hand, Congress, which is estimated to have an ad-spend of just 25-30 per cent of the ruling cash-bags laden party, is surely waiting for the appropriate time to spend most productively.”

    Elaborating more on the same, Chandramouli continued, “Not many notice this but the seven phases can be construed as a wily orchestration of distributing the lesser budget of the opposition over two extra phases to try and reduce their advertising fire-power. That said, such battles are not just won depending on the amount of ammunition that the side has, but on the ability of the party's message to mobilise people through positive messaging. Parochial politics, dividing, blaming, and finger-pointing and jingoism do not have a high impact on the highly aware electorate, who decides with the ballot keeping their personal concerns and needs in mind.”

    The party having the highest ad-decibels and ad-spends faces one more critical challenge, that of their messages going into the blind-spot of the voter due to the repeated 'noise'.

    India will go into polls over 7 phases starting 11 April to 19 May. The results will be announced on 23 May.

  • First Song of Maati Music on election

    First Song of Maati Music on election

    MUMBAI: R K Arora, ex-CEO of Zee Media and Founder and CEO of Divija Media launched “Maati Music” – a music production division of Divija Media Services Pvt Ltd. The music division aims to provide a platform to young and emerging artists, talented singers, lyricists, music composers, directors, actors and dancers to create content in different genres and languages.

    The first song on forthcoming elections“AAO MILKER MATDAAN KAREN” is all set to urge and motivate the youth and first-time voters to participate in governance by casting their vote.In the 2019 polls, 133 million young adults will get to cast their vote – 70 million young men and 63 million young women.

    In a Democracy, elections are the biggest opportunity to bring about the changes. And VOTE is the biggest weapon for this change. Commenting on this occasion, R K Arora said, ‘Voting’ is not only our ‘Right’. In fact, it is our responsibility as a citizen and we all must fulfil this responsibility with seriousness. We all MUST cast our vote and must also inspire others to cast their votes.”

    Hailing from Delhi, the singer S K Gautam is a young boy who is student of 12th standard. Music is composed by AnkitTyagi, Music Director who has an experience of 7 years in this domain. The lyricist – Akhil Singh has written more than 150 songs in the span of three years for various music companies like T-series, Zee Music, Sonotec music, Chanda music and Wave Music.

    Two songs have already been recorded will be released soon during this month.SwenToday, News Portal and You Tube channel is also part of Divija Media Services Pvt. Ltd.
     

  • India Today Television’s Roving Studio – Election Express makes a supercharged comeback

    India Today Television’s Roving Studio – Election Express makes a supercharged comeback

    MUMBAI: As we enter the final phase of election campaigning, India Today TV has once again upped the ante on innovative news delivery, with Election Express 2.0. Election Express will cover more than 10,000 kms in 50 days, travelling across the country, covering every phase of the General Elections 2019. Kicking off its journey from the Southern state of Telangana in the historical & cultural city of Hyderabad, the roving studio will next move to Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Bihar before culminating the journey at the holy city & political warzone of Varanasi. It will bring to the fore local issues of national significance, gauging the pulse of the common man and the expectations they have from their chosen political parties. Experiencing elections on the move, the news narrative will be taken away from the studios and into the heartland of the country, where the fate of the nation is decided.

    What sets this mobile studio apart is the state-of-the-art hydraulic system which expands the bus horizontally turning the sitting area into a newsroom on wheels. Not only this, in this avatar the bus also has a terrace – yes you read that right. Using a custom built staircase, the anchor can climb up to the roof of the bus which gives you a bird’s eye view of the city and is the perfect location to conduct interviews and live broadcasts.

    On the voyage of Election express tracking the pulse of the nation, Kalli Purie, Vice Chairperson, India Today Group said, “We are proud of our innovative election programming, and Election Express is a testament to the constant innovation we pride ourselves on. Elections are not fought in studios but in the heat and dust of ground zero, and this gives viewers a front row seat.”

    In addition to key Interviews with Leaders and Ministers across cities, the Election Express will give a glimpse of the mood of the nation and the pulse of the voter to try and understand what makes this great democracy tick.

  • Digital industry leaders believe BJP’s ‘Chowkidar’ campaign is impactful: report

    Digital industry leaders believe BJP’s ‘Chowkidar’ campaign is impactful: report

    MUMBAI: Buzzoka, India’s most disruptive influencer marketing company has launched the Digital India Report Card, a survey that attempts to understand the performance of the current government in the digital media space.

    The survey quizzed digital media leaders through 3rd party media publishers. The custodians included agency and brand leaders across the Indian Digital Ecosystem. From top brands, top agencies and startups, Buzzoka managed to provide a more holistic understanding on the performance of the various digital initiatives.

    Overall, the survey highlights that the stakeholders of Indian Digital industry are happy with current Government’s efforts in the digital space. The experts believe that the policies implemented by the Government between 2014-2019 have given a boost to the digital ecosystem in India.

    A whopping 91% respondents believe that digital media has the influencing power to change the perception of voters in 2019 elections which is good news for the Government. The digital industry believes that current Government’s digital initiatives have helped them to reach the rural audience. It’s a massive positive step towards getting far more campaign eyeballs for brands targeting rural Indians. Also, it’s a big boost for the digital economy as brands have increased their spending on digital media.

    The Government has done a good job overall & the digital industry seems to be quite satisfied with their initiatives to boost the digital media sector in India.

    A majority of 69% respondents were satisfied with the Govt’s policies implemented to boost the digital ecosystem of the country. Over 77% agreed that they witnessed a rise in digital media budgets during 2014-2019 signaling a massive rise in Digital India infrastructure.

    Considering the current ongoing campaigns by two leading parties, 54% of respondents believed that BJP’s Main Bhi Chowkidar campaign was impactful, whereas 65% respondents believed that Congress’ Chowkidar Chor Hai campaign was a miss.

    91% agreed that digital media has the power to influence voter perception in India, while PM Narendra Modi and his party BJP were considered to be the most active leader and party on social media.

    Speaking about the survey, Ashutosh Harbola, Co-Founder, CEO, Buzzoka, said, “The survey was an important one for us as we wanted to understand the pulse of the digital media industry. Since, Buzzoka focuses on B2C influencer marketing and our overall business model is directly a beneficiary to the rising digital ecosystem, the survey becomes an important landmark in eyeing the future.”

  • BTVI adds new shows to programming as Elections 2019 captures audience

    BTVI adds new shows to programming as Elections 2019 captures audience

    MUMBAI: India’s fastest growing business news platform BTVI – Business Television India believes in bringing relevant content to its viewers. In tandem with the current political environment, the channel has expanded its content to ensure that its audience connects with all the latest political developments in the country.

    With an aim to bring in-depth information on politics, the channel has introduced interesting shows in different formats such as interviews, panel discussions, debates, on-ground coverage and analysis with renowned experts.

    “As part of our “business +” programming push, we have launched new shows including ‘Power Talks’ that features political heavyweights in conversation with BTVI,  ‘Rajniti On The Ground’ in travelogue, panel discussion format, ‘The Big Debate’ that showcases key debates of relevant topics, the ‘Campaign Trail’ where team BTVI is traveling across India, interacting with leaders and people, ‘Your Leader’ that features candidates from various political constituencies to help voters know their candidates better and  ‘Millennials Vote’ that puts out the views of first time voters to understand what they want from country’s politicians,” said Siddharth Zarabi, Executive Editor BTVI.

    “The new shows have been launched to help BTVI’s audience build a 360-degree perspective on India’s politics and political economy,” Zarabi added.

    BTVI is the only channel in the English Business News genre to have witnessed strong increase in viewer sampling levels. The share of viewing from BTVI has doubled, which brings BTVI to a co-terminus leadership of the genre.

  • BJP tops political advertisers chart on Google; Congress ranked 6th

    BJP tops political advertisers chart on Google; Congress ranked 6th

    MUMBAI: Ahead of the general elections 2019, BJP has topped the list of political advertisers on Google. It has recorded an advertisement spent share of around 32 per cent. Rival Congress stands further in the queue at the sixth spot with a meagre 0.14 per cent share. This has been revealed by the internet giant's Indian Transparency Report released today.

    The report also mentions that political parties and their affiliates have spent Rs 3.76 crore on advertisements since 19 February 2019.

    The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged as the top advertiser with a total advertisement expense of Rs 1.21 crore, accounting for around 32 per cent of the total advertisement expenses on Google, it said. Congress was ranked sixth with total expenditure on advertisement of Rs 54,100 on Google.

    BJP was followed by Andhra Pradesh's Jagan Reddy-led YSR Congress Party, which spent a total of Rs 1.04 crore on advertisements, according to the report.

    Pammi Sai Charan Reddy, another advertiser, spent Rs 26,400 to promote YSR Congress Party candidates.

    Pramanya Strategy Consulting, which was promoting the Telugu Desham Party (TDP) and its chief Chandra Babu Naidu, was ranked third with an advertisement expenditure of Rs 85.25 lakh, the report said.

    Digital Consulting Pvt Ltd, another entity that also promoted Naidu and his party, was ranked fourth with total spending of Rs 63.43 lakh.

    Google also said that it blocked advertisements of four of 11 political advertisers due to a violation of its ad policy.

  • Aaj Tak brings its studio to you, the viewer; Launches ‘Chunav Studio’

    Aaj Tak brings its studio to you, the viewer; Launches ‘Chunav Studio’

    MUMBAI: With the General Elections of the world’s largest democracy, round the corner, India’s number one news channel, Aaj Tak has planned an innovative style of bringing the pre-election momentum and excitement from across the country through a pop-up studio called – ‘Aaj Tak Chunav Studio’.

    With an interesting concept of a roving studio inside a container, the mobile studio of Aaj Tak, Chunav Studio will travel across 7 states and 26 cities in India over a period of 6 weeks covering over 8000 kilometers.

    The studio will be featured in ‘Raj Tilak’, a daily show on Aaj Tak which will be aired on weekdays in the evening at 8PM. The show will have local leaders from various parties along with live audience discussing various issues which could have an impact on the outcome of the upcoming elections.

    Announcing the Chunav Studio initiative, Ms. Kalli Purie, Vice-Chairperson, India Today Group said, “General Elections is the biggest festival of democracy, and the fervor pervades every nook and corner of the country. Aaj Tak reaches out to the masses and reports from right in the midst of them, bringing ‘Sabse Tez, Sabke Beech’ this Election. Making everybody’s voice heard through Chunav Studio, this industry first is set to be another benchmark in innovation.”

    The Chunav Studio will start its journey from Ahmedabad on April 1, covering various cities like Jaipur, Lucknow, Amethi, Ayodhya, Patna, Varanasi, Kolkata, Delhi, Asansol, Gwalior, Delhi and Azamgarh to mention a few.

    Besides the programming, Aaj Tak will also conduct a host of on-ground activities like anchor hunt, painting, selfie booth, quiz etc. to drive engagement with the people.

    The anchor hunt event will be called ‘Mai Bhi Anchor’ and will give the participants a chance to become an anchor. They will have to read news for a minute like an anchor in a small news studio set-up. The best videos will feature on Aaj Tak’s digital platforms on a daily basis.

    In addition, a painting activity will also be arranged under the branding ‘Rang De India’. The participants will get to paint on a huge canvas installed at the spot. They can paint their emotions on the India they want to see, the current scenarios, issues to be highlighted or anything else they wish.

    A selfie booth will also be installed along with cut-outs of Aaj Tak’s celebrity anchors wherein people can come and click selfies with their favourite anchors.

    Apart from the above, there will be quiz sessions and some cultural performances too.

    So, gear up for a loaded pre-election drive with the Chunav Studio, only on Aaj Tak. Stay Tuned.

  • News18 India present weekend specials on Lok Sabha Elections from Ground Zero

    News18 India present weekend specials on Lok Sabha Elections from Ground Zero

    MUMBAI: Reinforcing the commitment of bringing the most comprehensive reportage of the General Elections, News18 India has further lined-up extensive and diverse weekend programming for its viewers. Comprising of channel’s renowned shows, the programming aims to bring not only up-to-the-minute updates but also cover substantive issues related to the elections.

    Extending the umbrella branding ‘Sabse Bada Dangal’, News18 India present special on-ground episodes of its popular shows- Lapete Mein Netaji, Desh ko Jawab Do and Ye Desh Hai Hamara. Featuring renowned Hindi poets, Lapete Mein Netaji is based on a ‘hasya kavi sammelan’ format featuring top politicians, bringing humor and sarcasm to the serious political discourse. Recently, the show travelled to Varanasi where it witnessed presence of popular Hindi poets and satirists like Damdar Banarasi, Chirag Jain, Pratap Singh Faujdar and Gaurav Chauhan along with political leaders – Kaushlesh Singh of BJP; Lalitesh Pati Tripathi of Congress and Manoj Rai Dhoopchandi of SP.

    Bringing top newsmakers across leading political parties on a single platform, channel’s intense debates place audience and their issues at the heart of their reportage. Taking the discussions on-ground to enhance engagement, News18 India recently telecast a special episode of Desh Ko Jawab Do from Lucknow. The debate featured top local politicians such as Rakesh Tripathi of BJP; Surendra Rajput of Congress and Anurag Bhadoria of SP, wherein they discussed the key concerns and mood of the voters in the state of Uttar Pradesh.

    Along with fierce debates, the channel is also showcasing in-depth profiling of top newsmakers of every week like PM Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi to name a few, through special election episodes of the show ‘Poster’. With wide-ranging and incisive programming throughout the week, News18 India aims to provide an unparalleled access to its viewers during the world’s largest democratic exercise.

  • Thomas Cook lndia launches ‘Ghar Jao Vote Karo’ campaign

    Thomas Cook lndia launches ‘Ghar Jao Vote Karo’ campaign

    MUMBAI: Thomas Cook (India) Ltd, an integrated travel and related financial services company, spearheads the citizen election agenda 2019 by launching its ‘Ghar Jao Vote Karo’ campaign ahead of the upcoming general elections. The brand seeks to empower citizens to vote while simultaneously rewarding them- both on their flight to their hometown pre-election, as well as holiday discounts post elections.

    According to the Election Commission, merely 540 million Indian voters or 66.4 per cent of those eligible cast their vote in the 2014 general elections. A key challenge attributed to the low turnout was the migrating Indian population, moving from tier II and III cities into larger urban towns and metros. Thomas Cook India has therefore strategically aligned its campaign to tap into India’s vote bank, by aiming to create awareness on the importance of voting while gratifying the voter with incentives.

    Thomas Cook India’s ‘Ghar Jao Vote Karo’ campaign will extend from 26 March to 19 May 2019, to encourage Indians to exercise their right to vote by flying back to their respective hometowns- where they have been registered as voters. As part of the campaign, the pre-election offer includes a discount of Rs 1,000 off on return air tickets (per adult) on providing proof via any official document such as their Voter ID/ Aadhaar Card, etc. The last date of flight departure is 19 May 2019 to coincide with the last date of polling.

    Voting in many states coincides with India’s largest vacation season. Hence, in its initiative to recognise the efforts taken by its customers who vote, Thomas Cook India will offer a special post-voting holiday discount – across both its domestic and international group tours (Rs 3000 off on its domestic group tours or Rs 5000 off on its international group tours, per family). All its customers need to do to avail the offer is to display their inked finger at any of Thomas Cook’s extensive retail outlets pan India. The post-voting holiday offer is valid up to 19 July 2019.

    With several election dates falling on Mondays or Thursdays, Thomas Cook’s data reveals that travel hungry Indians are likely to extend their weekends into ‘smart weekend holidays’ thus giving a fillip to the emerging trend of ‘Election Tourism’.

    Thomas Cook president and group head – marketing, service quality, value-added services, and innovation Abraham Alapatt said, “At Thomas Cook India, we are keen to do our part by motivating consumers to cast their vote in their hometowns and this formed the genesis of our Ghar Jao Vote Karo campaign.”

    He added, “Social media is expected to play a strong role in the upcoming elections. Be it voting selfies showcasing an inked finger or the use of hashtags, consumers are taking their involvement beyond the booth. However, there is a strong urgency in getting the voting population involved in the pre-voting phase as well and hence our campaign motivates customers- both during the pre and post voting phases. Via our Ghar Jao Vote Karo campaign, we look forward to engineering a new wave of proactive social consciousness across metros as well as Tier II and III regions of the country.”

  • Firstpost print launches campaign trails, a unique campaign that enables readers to cover elections as reporters

    Firstpost print launches campaign trails, a unique campaign that enables readers to cover elections as reporters

    MUMBAI: Firstpost print, the weekly newspaper recently launched by Network18, has announced a unique campaign – FP Campaign Trails. Building on its promise of giving readers a ringside view of news and key events driving the current political narrative in the country, the campaign will give selected readers an opportunity to accompany seasoned journalists into the field and experience the heat and dust of elections first hand. For most people, elections are typically limited to armchair discussions – the only on-field experience they get is through the actual act of voting. This campaign will allow readers to experience the actual workings of democratic processes and electioneering like never before.

    The campaign will have 5 different trails from across the country – Coastal Karnataka, Marathwada, Kashmir valley, Bengal and Varanasi. These areas have been selected as much for their political significance as also to give the campaign a pan India spread. Each trail will be for 3 nights & 4 days and will run from April 8th to May 6thduring the last stages of campaigning in each region. Each trail will try to cover an election rally by a big national leader; enable interactions with local leaders and party functionaries; and most importantly, with various communities that represent the key issues at stake in the chosen region.

    Towards the end of each trail, participants would take part in a short workshop, when they report their observations on the trail. The reports would be collated and presented on Firstpost, with due attribution to contributing participants.

    Commenting on this programme, Rahul Kansal – Business Head Firspost print and Group Brand Advisor, Network18 said, “Firstpost’s mission as a newspaper, is to help its readers 'get inside the news’. It tries to do so not just through its editorial content, designed to give readers a ring-side view of what’s going on. But also through programs like Firstpost Campaign Trails, which take readers physically to the ringside, to experience the heat and dust of India’s elections”.