The 4 Ps of marketing that helped AAP win Delhi polls

It's the age of high-speed marketing where brands have to move at breakneck speed to remain two steps ahead of the consumer. One would have thought that the BJP with its organisational might, PR machinery and digital marketing savviness would have been better prepared for the Delhi elections.

Instead, it was the AAP that showed it had mastered the traditional 4 Ps of marketing as well as the new rules of engagement of a digital era.

PRODUCT

When the Delhi voter went shopping for a new government, she saw two tired products - the BJP's development plank and the Congress's secular card, while the AAP had tweaked its offering from last time, adding education (a crying need in Delhi), free Wi-Fi (gimmicky but appealing),  and the irresistible 'free' word  tagged to water and electricity. Naari shakti, or women's empowerment, was a card that all three parties used. While the development plank worked for the BJP at the national level, it should have localised its product for Delhi - a city that has many facilities but is angered by the VIP culture. The "End VIP culture" accessory tagged to the AAP product was a great inducement. As for the Congress secular card, that was an old trick and the AAP usurped that.

PRICE

The AAP's masterstroke was price transparency. The Delhi voter knew exactly where funds were coming in for the party's campaign, and the low-cost media used for promotions was evident. The mystery of the Rs 2-crore figure did not cut much ice with the voter because she could see that the BJP had clearly spent far more on the Delhi elections (expensive print ads, mega rallies and so on). And after doing the math, it was clear to the Delhi voter that the cost of living under an AAP government would be much lower. The price-sensitive consumer, no doubt, factored this in.

PLACE

As the results of the Delhi Elections were trickling in on Tuesday, interestingly, marketers were talking about the new variable for brands at the All India Management Association's World Marketing Congress. Srinivasan Swamy, Chairman, R.K. Swamy BBDO, observed that brands need to get new users to spur growth. Now, juxtapose it to the Delhi elections. The AAP had positioned itself as a party of the youth. Its leaders were comparatively younger. Findings of the exit polls put out by Today's Chanakya clearly showed that the city's youth had overwhelmingly gone with the AAP. Both the BJP and Congress leaders looked old and jaded and there was no youth connect.

PROMOTION

Look at the way the AAP did its campaigns - outreach on mobile phones, using music to connect with people (Vishal Dadlani's 5 Saal Kejriwal was a popular tune heard throughout the capital) and a personalised door-to-door approach. Today's customer loves personalisation. It was consistently seen over months and most voters knew the candidate well before the polls were announced. Meanwhile, what did the BJP do? For the first eight months it was missing in action in Delhi, and then it propped up unlikely candidates and tried to boost them with a high-decibel campaign using celebrity (Modi and various Union ministers and even Barack Obama!) endorsement. Celebrity endorsement carries with it huge risks, especially when the celebrity's appeal is waning - in this case, Modi's pinstripe suit was still fresh in the Delhi public's memory. As for Obama, well, he actually delivered a punch against the brand!    

Move beyond the four Ps and look at the basic focus of the marketer - the consumer - and both the BJP and Congress were found wanting. They took the voter for granted whereas the AAP treated the voter reverentially.

Hopefully, the BJP will go back to the drawing board and come back with a better offering for Punjab and Bihar elections that are coming up soon. Otherwise, the consumer finally has a choice and will shop elsewhere.