Ink on a voter's index finger is going to get much more than a winning candidate this election season. Companies are luring voters with special discounts, offers and freebies. For instance, those flying Virgin Atlantic on the Delhi-London route on April 10 can enter a contest to win prizes such as cabin upgrades, lounge access and gift hampers if they have exercised their right to vote.
"We are proud to operate in the world's largest democracy, and we think it's very important that as many people as possible use their right to vote," said Stephen King, general manager, Virgin Atlantic-India.
Travel portal Goibibo.com is running a campaign, where those who upload their selfie on their "votingdone" portal would be credited with Rs 200 for use on products like airlines, buses, hotels etc. The travel website will also give free holiday packages to the best comments posted by voters along with their selfies on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
"We will run this campaign for the duration of elections. This is the last mile push that we want to give people to go and vote. We are expecting big numbers not just from metros but smaller towns as well," said Sanjay Bhasin, chief executive officer, Goibibo.com. More than 60 petrol pumps in Delhi and the national capital region are offering 50 paise per litre discount to commuters who show their inked index finger.
Several hotels are offering election packages for cities like Varanasi, Ahmedabad, etc., especially on bulk bookings.
Industry experts feel the elections being held in India is a unique opportunity for companies to design their marketing campaigns around the current mood and gain more customers.
Taking the election fever a notch higher, hotels booking website, findmystay.com has launched its promotion called "Big names for big gains." The company is offering up to Rs 1,000 discount on bookings to customers who share their first or last name with politicians like Rahul Gandhi, Narendra Modi, Arvind Kejriwal. The website has drawn a list of 300 politician's names which are "on offer." The bookings can be made for any day till the end of this year. "We wanted to create a buzz and awareness for the urban youth," said Simran Sial, co-founder, findmystay.com.
