By Swapan Seth
Mediocrity is the birthmark of political advertising in this country. Barring the odd exception, work done in this category is largely forgettable. The agency is not the culprit.
Greed is.
With the kind of budgets these campaigns have, intellect is strangled. Perspectives are muffled. The mind gets molested by money. The Congress campaign that broke this morning reiterated all that is wrong and wretched about average communication.
"Mein nahi, hum" is a weak jab at the BJP. Equally, it is ironic coming from a party that is so person-centric. That is the campaign's first strategic flaw.
The Congress campaign poster.
"Har haath shakti, har haath tarakki" aside from being grammatically compromised is strategically fractured. That is hardly a claim that the Congress can make given how dangerously every aspect of life under it has slid.
Having said all of the above, writing a campaign for the Congress at this juncture is nothing short of a nightmare. The brand has no compelling proposition.
There are just no insights to borrow from and build upon. And there is no brand promise.
What would I do if I were the Congress?
Present a plan. Communicate a manifesto. Demonstrate intent. And hope that intent is acceptable. Personally, I had great hope in the Congress campaign. It was, at the end of the day, co-authored by ostensibly our hottest creative shop.
Is this the destiny of brilliance? In my humble estimation, with this campaign, baat haath se nikal gayi hai. Now wouldn't that be a great baseline for the BJP? Think about it.
PS: Incidentally, " Main nahi hum" was a slogan coined by Narendra Modi in 2011. Coincidences always happen in this profession.
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