Milestone Brandcom creates politically riveting campaign for ABP News

The month-long campaign using outdoor and other BTL mediums was tailored to different regions in the country for maximum impact

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Mumbai | May 19, 2014

Milestone Brandcom launched a thought provoking and ingenious nation-wide campaign to set ABP news apart from the media clutter during the national elections. The campaign was built around the idea of “aap apni rajneetik rai kahan banate hain” (where do you form your political opinion?) and involves props such as tea stalls, tiffin delivery boxes, public benches and mobile vans to reach out to the common man across cities.

Launched on 1st April '14, the campaign lasted a month and was specifically tailored to different regions in the country for maximum impact. The brief given to the agency was to urge common people to not form their opinions on politics and politicians while discussing them with each other but to watch ABP News for their expertise in the subject, objective and comprehensive reportage of the most crucial elections. The campaign was designed keeping in mind the congregational places where all strata of society across regions, cultures and dialects meet.

Milestone launched a full-fledged outdoor campaign in Delhi NCR, UP, Bihar, Jharkhand and Kolkata where over 1000 sites were put up covering 5lakh sq ft making it one of the most visible campaigns this year. The site locations covered strategic spaces with heavy footfalls such as major junctions, railway stations, office complexes, food courts etc where people would normally group and chat about politics. Stickers and ply-cards were put up on benches asking them not to form political opinion while discussing politics on their morning jogs and to make an informed choice after watching ABP News. This exercise covered the Lodhi Garden in Delhi, Jogger Park in Mumbai , Raja Park in Agra and Dr Ram Mohan Lohia Park in Lucknow. Railway announcements were carried out in Uttar Pradesh which is the largest state for the elections. The state also saw mobile vans driving across 150 towns educating and informing the masses, posters were put up at various grocery, barber shops, tea stalls etc purporting them to watch ABP News.

In Mumbai, Milestone targeted the office goers by placing leaflets with the message “Don't talk while having food and don't make political opinion while having food” inserted in lunch boxes delivered by Dabbawallas. To capture the youth and urban class, the activation was extended to Café Coffee Day and McDonalds outlets where tent cards and posters featured the message.  Over 200 outlets across the 5 markets were covered with this activity. Skits were performed in the canteens of colleges, food courts , Dhaabas and Tea Stalls with the objective to create awareness about the TVC of ABP News at ground level.  The skits discussed elections and the responsibility of every citizen to choose the right candidate for betterment of the nation.

Milestone tie-up with around 15000 tea stalls in around 200 cities in UP, Mumbai and Delhi where Danglers and posters were put up asserting the campaign and not to form political opinion while drinking tea. Around 25 lakh tea cups branded with the same message were distributed at these stalls. This was an attempt to cover the highly promoted concept of politicians having chai with the public during these elections. On 16th May '14, T3 terminal at Delhi airport will air ABP News covering the election results for all travellers so they can catch every event of the landmarked day.

According to Vikas Singh, Marketing Manager, MCCS, “ABP News Campaign asks its viewers 'Aap apni rajneetik rai kahan banate hain' (where do you form your political opinion). The on ground activation is a tactical intervention to capitalize on the current election frenzy bringing alive the core message of 'apni rajneetik rai sahi jagah banaye'. Chai seems to have taken centre stage this election and we have attempted a serious take on this. The humble tea stall frequently sees animated political discussions and hence we identified it as key pillar for the activation idea.”

Nabendu Bhattacharyya

On the campaign, Nabendu Bhattacharyya, Managing Director, Milestone Brandcom, said, “This was a very significant project for us as we are amidst the biggest political event of our country and ABP News is a prestigious media house known for its honest and comprehensive coverage of news. We have utilised all media resources to create an expansive campaign to reach out to people across barriers and have used some very unconventional tools to do so such as setting up tea stalls and inserting leaflets in tiffins delivered by Dabbawallas. The campaign has already started showing results and has been appreciated by the target group and is another feather in the cap for Milestone Brandcom.”

On the political grounds, where the parties heavily strive to prove their worth and caliber to the masses to grab votes; power of media comes in to play. The role of media is to guide, direct and make people aware about the credentials of numerous candidates promising to give the “Janta” a better India. Milestone Brandcom has conceptualized and executed the ABP activation ideas and to support its on-going communication campaign. The ideas helped ABP position itself as the pre-eminent news channel when it comes to election-related programming.

Info@BestMediaInfo.com

Info@BestMediaInfo.com