This election saw the re-emergence of single party dominance in our democracy. The tide had turned from a few years ago when our states were churning ‘Kingmakers’.
Regional parties thrived in coalition politics, bringing local heroes such as Mayawati from Uttar Pradesh’s BSP, Chandrababu Naidu from Andhra’s TDP and Naveen Patnaik from Orissa’s BJD, to the national forefront.
Similar to this national-regional party tussle is the one between national and regional brands. The last decade or so has seen strong local brands such as Chik, FairEver, Ujjala, Nirma, Mira Shampoo and Cocoraj gain significant market shares. Regional brands, typically challenger brands, have managed to take on well-established brands with a strategy that is based on attacking the opponent in his weak geography.
So how do national brands react and repair the damage? This lesson is best learnt from the Congress. The party, after years of taking an uppity, nationalistic view of issues, decided this time to get its feet dirty in regional issues. With a sharpened regional strategy, Congress made significant progress in states. In Uttar Pradesh, it doubled its in 2004 to gain 21 seats in 2009! It also strengthened its holds on Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh. India’s heritage party clearly showed, whether in advertising or elections, it takes local insights to win over local people.
National brands that have learnt to play these rules have met with success. Coca Cola and PepsiCo both run campaigns specific to Andhra Pradesh. Fair and Lovely has identified insights specific to the south and developed communication tailored to that region. India is not a single country. It is a country with 543 legislators and 543 issues. Marketers cannot breathe easy having translated national communication into regional languages. They need to identify issues specific to each market and address them with solutions tailored to fit that region.
Spare some thought for the regional consumer. When television programming, news programming and even mobile content are tailored to his taste and language, why would he relate to insights that barely ring true for him? Consumers will empathize with brands that spend time and effort on decentralized advertising. Brands that go beyond just speaking the regional language but can be built on respect and an intimate understanding of their distinct micro-cultures will reap benefits just like the Congress has in Mandate 2009.
(The author, better known as Pops, is National Creative Director, Leo Burnett)
