election planks. Hollow slogan or clever campaign?

As poll campaigns go, it can’t get quirkier than this. The BJP, which has earned a bit of a reputation as slogan sultans, raised a storm with its ‘Main Bhi Chowkidar’ election campaign on Twitter. It was a direct response to the ‘chowkidar chor hai’ campaign orchestrated by the Congress party.

It’s not the first time the BJP has tried to turn the tables on a Congress campaign — remember the Chaiwala jibe it converted to its advantage? But when you look at the grandiose planks of Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas of 2014, is this too frivolous a pitch for the general elections? Compare this to Trump’s Make America Great again or even the BJP’s own promise of Acche Din , and its pre-election announcement of ‘ Namumkin Ab Mumkin Hai’ (the impossible is now possible), and this does seem to lack gravitas.

Also read: Pitching it on the Polls

Brand consultant Giraj Sharma terms the Chowkidar campaign a hollow slogan. “Nothing in marketing can be seen in isolation. Since this campaign comes at a time when there is an imagery of Modi based on his acts and omissions of the last five years, this makes it different from Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas when he had credibility and it worked wonders,” he says.

However, marketing executive and political analyst Sandip Ghose feels this is much more than a #hashtag campaign. “It is a 360-degree exercise that is intended to mobilise both committed voters and fence sitters,” says Ghose. He feels a high degree of involvement is being created with videos and with #MainBhiChowkidar merchandise, much like the micro donations on the Namo App. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Modi interacted with 25 lakh security guards. And the engagement has been stepped up by making a MainBhiChowkidar caller tune available.

Risks of ambush marketing

But wouldn’t this campaign be easy to ridicule? After all, stories are now being written on the plight of poor watchmen and the Opposition has discovered the brilliant old Centrefresh campaign Zubaan Pe Rakhe Lagaam , wherein the security guard turns out to be the bank robber, and sharing it with glee.

Ghose shrugs that aside, saying “Those who lampoon Modi’s attempts at diplomacy or Swachh Bharat will also run down this campaign.” Congress handed over the Chowkidar baton to Modi’s creative team on a platter like the Chaiwallah jibe, he says. Sharma agrees that the BJP’s chowkidaar campaign is classic ambush marketing. But like all ambush marketing campaigns it runs a huge risk of falling flat or if it works then it is only seen as a smart campaign without engaging emotions, he says.

Meanwhile, even as the BJP has got off the block with a clever slogan, the Congress is yet to come up with a clear line, though it says it has received 15 lakh slogans from party workers and is the in midst of pruning them down. The Congress slogan is likely to revolve around jobs, farmers and youth. The BJP, by contrast seems to be betting more on #NamoAgain.

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