The Campaign

In 65 years of Indian Elections, the story of voting campaigns has been one of diminishing returns Variations of only one message have been hammered to 1.2 billion people – “please vote”, “vote for India”, “vote for change” etc. Yet voter turnout has been below par. To change this scenario we tapped into ‘The value of Relationships’. In India relationships play a key role in influencing decisions. We could leverage these relationships to galvanize voting. So we went beyond the please vote approach, to create – Vote Leaders. Someone who inspires, stirs, motivates and influences everybody in their social circle and gets at least 5 more voters to vote with them - thus creating an Army of Voters. The ‘5kaPledge voting campaign’ born from this strategy. Translated in English it means “the pledge of 5” where every citizen could tap into their circle of relationships to influence more voters.

Success of the Campaign

Our integrated campaign ensured that 5kapledge went Viral in Vadodara. The print, outdoor and Radio campaigns got over 20 lakh people talking about 5kapledge. 51,992 people took the pledged online from the 5kapledge website. Ground activations ensured that 92,500 pledge forms were filled up across Universities, Schools and technical institutes, industries, malls and multiplexes and banks. The 5 ka pledge call center connected with 1,87,000 people. Strategic meetings ensured that 2,250 large corporates, realtors, industries, eminent lawyers got their employees to take the Pledge. 7700 workers across villages and industrial estates took the Pledge. The Impact of this consolidated campaign was unprecedented. Vadodara Vaulted to set new records. The Voting turnout increased by 47% from 49.02 % in 2009 to a never before 72% in 2014.

Describe how the campaign/entry was launched and executed across each channel in the order of implementation.

We unleashed a 21 day campaign blitz across media. All leading English and vernacular dailies were covered with Half page ads in multiple insertions. 125 hoardings across the city and 50 hoardings across various industrial estates wet strategically displayed. Over 1,17,000 seconds of paid radio spots across four radio stations spread the word of the campaign along with talk shows and interactions. On the digital front a Facebook gave out hourly updates and a constantly active twitter handle kept @5kapledge trending. We even set up a 60 people Call Center for 30 days before voting day to personally connect with voters. Strategic meetings were held with over 47 large corporates employing more than 1000 employees each getting them on board to take the pledge as Vote Leaders. As part of our ground activation / convergence strategy we held a Rock Concert where the city came together to take the 5kapledge.