Long before the results of the Assembly elections came out on Sunday, the LDF’s campaign had declared with confidence: LDF for sure, or Urappanu LDF in Malayalam.
Even the rivals may agree that the LDF’s slogan was a catchy one. Before deciding on the pithy Urappanu LDF, several discussions had taken place, not just among the front’s leaders, but with creative minds from the advertisement field as well. Ad agency Maitri was roped in.
Maitri’s campaign for the LDF in the last Assembly elections had been much appreciated. The slogan, you may recall, was LDF varum. Ellam shariyaakum (The LDF will come. Everything will be alright).
Other practitioners
It was in 2016 that saw the political parties in Kerala employing advertisement professionals to run their election campaigns for the first time. Something Dwight D. Eisenhower did successfully in the United States in the 1952 presidential election. Closer home, Narendra Modi had also used advertisements to his advantage in the 2014 general elections campaign.
Two years later, ahead of the Kerala Assembly elections, the UDF employed Push, which came up with the slogan Valaranam ee naadu. Thudaranam ee bharanam. (The State should continue to develop. The government should continue).
The BJP’s promise was Vazhi muttiya Keralam. Vazhi kaattaan BJP (Kerala has lost its way. The BJP will show the way), which was coined by its in-house creative unit headed by a former adman.
The BJP’s slogan for this year’s elections was Puthiya Keralam Modikkoppam (New Kerala with Modi), while the UDF, which signed up Mediamate for its campaign, said Nadu Nannaakaan UDF. Looks like it is the LDF campaign that has truly worked.
Way of the slogan
“The basic idea of Urappanu LDF was first suggested by John Brittas, who led the front’s communications campaign,” a source said. “The slogan indicated the confidence of the government as well as that of the voter. Once it was approved by a committee of senior leaders, creatives were made and even the initial feedback suggested that it would click.”
The last time around, Maitri had booked ad space on trains. This year, it turned to autorickshaws.
Sole voice
If different CPI(M) leaders were used for the campaign over phone in 2016, this time the party depended solely on Mr. Vijayan, who had become such a familiar voice thanks to his daily live television briefings on the COVID-19 crisis.
The agency ensured that his messages to women, the youth, and the elderly – reached the right phone number. Such meticulousness didn’t go in vain.
