ABP does its bit to 'empower' voters

The channel has launched a marketing campaign spread across TV, radio, OOH and digital to encourage and empower the audience to make an informed voting decision.

This election season, many brand and TV channels have come out to help the voters to make an informed decision about who they choose. Joining the brigade is a Hindi news channel, ABP News that has launched an elaborative marketing campaign with the intent to empower and encourage people to make an informed choice when it comes to picking the right candidate.

Conceptualised by Lowe Lintas, the campaign seeks to establish that ABP News has the best election-related programming that gives robust information so that the viewers can form the correct political opinion.

The campaign includes a television commercial that shows a group of friends having a frivolous discussion on the candidates and political parties contesting for the 2014 elections. It highlights how people make an uninformed choice of whom to select through casual discussions and debates at various places and do not rely on a credible and informative source. Just then the anchor appears and asks the audience if they also make their political decisions in a similar manner, and adds that if they want to make an informed decision, they should watch ABP News.

In its brief given to the agency, ABP said it wanted viewers of Hindi news to believe that 'ABP News has the best election programmes and it will truly empower them to form a correct opinion based on robust information,' thereby making the channel their first choice.

According to Vikas Singh, marketing manager, MCCS, "'Aap apni rajneetik rai kahan banate hain' is the question that the ABP News brand campaign asks its viewers. Politics is a national pastime and is perhaps the only thing after cricket where everybody has a point of view. People can be seen having animated political discussions at bus stops, cafeterias, inside trains, tea stalls, at work stations in offices - almost everywhere. However, not all discussions are backed by sound knowledge. The campaign tries to get the viewers to watch ABP News to form the correct political opinion. It leaves behind a powerful message, 'sahi rajneetik rai banane ke liye dekhiye sirf ABP News'. In the cluttered and commoditised news space, we are the only news channel which will be rolling out a 360 degree campaign this election season."

Shriram Iyer, ECD, Lowe Lintas, adds that 'Aap apni rajneetik rai kahan banate hain' is a compelling and provocative question. "The TVC manages to package this question in a light hearted and engaging conversation between youngsters. Set in a campus atmosphere, the characters in the commercial joke about who should run the country, based on their limited understanding of the political scenario."

The channel is investing Rs 3.5-4 crore in a campaign, the first leg of which hit screens on April 2. Outside the channel's own network, the television spots are running on channels like Life OK, Star Plus, Sony Entertainment Television, Colors and UTV Action.

According to Sujeet Mishra, senior manager, marketing, ABP News, these channels offer the reach that was required and fitted the channel's media plan from the RoI perspective. "If you want audiences from outside the news channels, these GECs are a good option," he explains. There are about 20 spots running on each of these channels, per day.

Directed by Vivek Daschaudhary, the film was produced by Elements Films.

The same idea is also extended to print and outdoor by highlighting the situations where people tend to get into such discussions, such as a college canteen, classrooms and barber shops, and reinforce the point that one should not make his political opinion on the basis of hearsay.

The OOH promotions are being done across 50 cities in UP and Delhi through about 700 sites.

The plan also includes promotion on radio platforms like Big FM, Radio City, Red FM, Fever and Radio Mantra, covering the Hindi speaking markets. Mishra adds that in digital, interactive poll banners are being run on popular sites to establish the message. There are ads appearing on India Today and Dainik Bhaskar's website, too.

On the programming front, ABP News has launched shows like 'Ghoshnapatra', 'Kahiye Netaji', 'Newsroom Mein Netaji' and on-ground events like 'Nukkar Bahas'.

In Ghoshnapatra, top political leaders face the questions of an invited panel of experts and guests about what they intend to do if they come to power. Top 19 leaders of parties like BJP, Congress, Samajwadi Party and AAP have featured on the show, including ministers such as Narendra Modi, Sheila Dixit, Arvind Kejriwal, Rajnath Singh and Digvijay Singh. The channel intends to get another three-four politicians on the show.

Meanwhile, 'Newsroom Mein Netaji' enables the journalists and experts in the newsroom to interact with political leaders about turns in the election.

Debates are being conducted on ground in prominent constituencies of the country, under the umbrella brand of 'Kaun Banega Pradhanmantri'. Additionally, there are more than a hundred neighbourhood debates called 'nukkar bahas' that have captured the mood of the electorate at people's doorsteps. Another programme, 'Ground Zero Se Dibang', offers in-depth analysis of electoral issues.

To gauge the opinion of the nation, ABP news has commissioned a series of opinion polls and aired them with analyses and live political reactions. The evening prime time has been turned into an election prime time. The prime time show ABP LIVE that airs from 9 pm to 10 pm now debates the top election story of the day.

Clearly the channel's effort is to capture the inclination of the electorate through on-ground and studio debates, digital interactivity and large-scale opinion polls. Complementing this is the effort to report and analyse the views and strategies of parties and leaders across the political spectrum.