I happen to be a big time political buff and been following politics of India for a long time. I’m a student of Marketing at IMT-Ghaziabad. So while studying ‘Brand Management and Marketing Strategy’ on a crazy night; after solving a number of case studies, reading, an idea hit me. What if our political parties were brands? What would be their position statement, competencies, campaign idea?
I am not naming the parties, make a quick guess in comments below:
1. Party 1
Core Competency: We are an expert of greenfield, brownfield installations and hostile takeover of Governments.
Brand Recall: We are associated with ‘top of the mind’ recall of Nationalism.
Market Share: In last 3 years, after the launch of our new product called ‘Pradhan Sevak’ which comes with a 56-inch chest, fiery speeches and dressed in attractive clothes; Our company has gained 66.67% market share with clear market leadership in 18 geographies.
Issues: Our rapid expansion has led to uncontrolled BTL activation by certain ‘vendors’. This has led to negative PR for us by Intellectuals (sic).
Mission: By 2019, achieve a ‘Competitor-Mukt’ Bharat.
2. Party 2
Core Competency: We have a legacy of over 132 years. Our strength lies in appropriating the freedom fighters of India and highlighting only a few of them to project our image. In last 67 years, we boast of a stable board and chairman. Controlling stake lies with our promoter family. We are the pioneers of concepts like ‘Secular Fabric’ and ‘Appeasement’ in India.
Brand Recall: Once associated with ‘Strong and Decisive’ leadership. We are now associated with ‘top of the mind’ recall of Corruption.
Market Share: Our market share has declined exponentially after May 2014. We have market leadership only in 2 small and 1 large geography. Part of it can be blamed to the performance of our management team during 2004-2014.
Issue: As per research, many shareholders and dedicated consumers feel that our ‘Future Chairman’ isn’t serious enough to lift fortune of the company. The current market leader has re-positioned us by rendering our brand equity of secularism insignificant.
Mission: To be able to survive in 2019 and eventually achieve market leadership in 2024.
3. Party 3
Introduction: We were born out of pilot concept idea test held in Ramlila Maidan in 2011 over a period of 14 days. This pilot concept was conceived against ‘Substandard Corrupt’ product available in market that time.
C
ore competency: It lies in positioning our product ‘AK’ as the most honest product in the entire world. We can find corruption and performance fault in almost all the products in India.
Market Share: We are a regional player with market leadership in Delhi market. We have a significant presence in Punjab as well but failed to become a leader there. We first became a market leader in Delhi in 2013 which lasted for 49 days. We went to challenge the market leader in Varanasi region, although lost badly. We regained Delhi market in 2015.
Brand Recall: Once associated with ‘top of the mind recall’ of honesty, we are now associated with forwarded WhatsApp humour.
Issue: We are not able to gain a foothold in markets other than Delhi. Recent market research by MCD shows that we have lost consumer loyalty. We are also witnessing a significant attrition rate of our mid-level managers.
Mission: To lead a consortium of brands against market leader in 2019. Achieve the status of an aspirational brand that was once associated with us in 2011. Eventually, by 2024, replace ‘Pradhan Sevak’ by ‘AK’