Hi everybody, Aam Aadmi party is one of the most unique case studies in the Indian political landscape because if you look at their rise to capture Delhi it’s quite an extraordinary story.
Introduction
Back in 2012, Delhi was one of the strongest territories of the Indian National Congress. Sheila Dikshit was the chief minister of Delhi for 15 long years so Congress practically had every resource in the world to win the political battle in Delhi they had a ton of money they knew the game of politics better than anyone else, and Sheila Dikshit was one of the most prominent figures in Delhi. But if you look at Kejriwal in 2012 he had no money no political connections and barely knew anything about politics somehow While most politicians spent decades getting a single seat in the government, Kejriwal came out of nowhere formed the Aam Admi Party and won the very first election to Dethrone Sheila Dikshit to become the chief minister of Delhi.
The Aam Aadmi Party president Arvind Kejriwal defeated Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit by a humiliating margin of over 25,000 votes
He did not just beat Congress but also went on to govern Delhi for 10 long years and that too with a majority government. When I looked deeper into the story it turned out to be a result of a genius marketing strategy that every business student must know.
In this blog today let’s understand
- how on Earth a common man like Kejriwal with no money, no political background, and no expertise go on to beat the Indian National Congress in the capital of India?
- What was the marketing strategy that made them so successful in the dirty world of politics?
- What are the lessons that we need to learn from this case study?
We are not promoting the Aam Aadmi Party in fact we are in complete disagreement of their freebies and old pension scheme ideas so please read this as a business case study and not as a political content.
*Disclaimer*
History
in 2011 India faced multiple trust crises like
- IPL spot-fixing
- ISRO scan 2010
- The coal scam
- Common Wealth Game Scam
This was a very big deal because India was shamed at the international level. After all, CWG had athletes coming from 71 different countries.
So as you can imagine with a horrific event like 26/11 and so many scams the confidence of the Common Man in the government was completely shattered.
This is when a man named Anna Hazare started a sensation movement called the India Against Corruption movement and if you remember this moment captured the sentiment of the entire country. This protest was to pass something called the Lokpal Bill.
Along with Anna Hazare, there were four people at the moment
- Kiran Bedi
- Prashant Bhushan
- Ram Dev
- Arvind Kejriwal
About Lokpal Bill
Lokpal bill aimed to establish an independent Authority called the Lokpal at the national level and Lokayuktas in each state and together these bodies were envisioned to investigate every allegation of corruption against public officials and civil servants.
The primary aim of this law was to provide an efficient and unbiased mechanism for the prosecution of corruption eventually it was envisioned to be a body that ensures accountability and integrity in the government.
This protest went on till August 2012 and then something crazy happened.
Just like all protests even this protest had a shelf life in this case after a few months. Just like very few people care about the Russia-Ukraine war today and have moved on to the Israel-Palestine War the people of India started to pay less attention to the protest and when people stopped paying attention the media coverage fizzled off and eventually people started going back to work.
First move of Kejriwal into politics
While Anna wanted to win against the government just with protest Kejriwal believed that protest alone would not help at all, so Kejriwal wanted to take the protest to the doorstep of Indian politics by taking control of the government itself.
As we all know Anna Hazare did not believe in becoming a politician, this is when Arvind Kejriwal along with his followers went on to form something called the Aam Aadmi Party.
As we all know, Delhi is not an ordinary territory it is the capital of the biggest democracy in the world, and more importantly back then it had Sheila Dikshit as its chief minister for 15 long years.
But to everyone’s surprise, Kejriwal somehow managed to win the Delhi elections in his very first attempt so like I said before the question is when people spend decades in politics and still not win a single seat, How on Earth did a newbie in politics go on to beat the three-time chief minister and that too in the capital of India 😲
Marketing
SAP Framework
This is where the marketing Genius of Aam Aadmi Party comes in. Every political party has a three-step process to disrupt an existing political party and win territory.
I would Define this as the sap framework which stands for sentiment identification, amplification, and proposition of a revolution.
1. Sentiment Identification
Let’s dig deeper and understand this marketing framework the first step is S sentiment identification and from the intro itself you know the sentiment of India in 2012, which was frustration and anger due to corruption and 26/11. This sentiment is what is identified as a gap by emerging political parties in this case it was the Aam Aadmi Party.
2. Amplification
In this step, the underdog party amplifies the sentiment of the people and blames the party in power for all the mishaps. In this case, you will see that Kejriwal highlighted all the mistakes of Congress and blamed them for the situation of Delhi and India.
Not just Kejriwal who did this even the BJP used the same framework wherein they highlighted black money, scandals, and nepotism of Congress and presented themselves as a revolutionary in the situation.
3. Proposition of Revolution
In the last step, they present themselves as revolutionaries and this is why I call it the promise of a revolution. In this case, Kejriwal presented the Aam Aadmi Party as the voice of the Common Man where the Common Man himself is taking power to clean the dirty political system of Delhi.
Apart from the promise of the Lokpal Bill Aam Aadmi Party also made other promises like a 50% deduction in power Bills, free water up to 700 L, and promised to improve the education and healthcare system in Delhi and they did that by promising to open 500 more schools and more health clinics in Delhi.
This is how the Aam Aadmi Party uses the SAP framework they first identify the sentiment of the people amplify the sentiment and then promise to bring a revolution this is how the Aam Aadmi Party laid the foundation for a strategic marketing campaign to Dethrone Congress using the SAP framework.
Brand Persona Building
Let’s understand brand Persona and then see how the Aam Aadmi Party applied it to their marketing.
Brand Persona refers to the personality and characteristics that are attributed to a brand and this shapes how the brand is perceived by the audience. In the context of the Aam Aadmi Party during the Delhi elections in 2013, the party strategically crafted a brand Persona centered around being the common man’s voice.
If you look at how well they crafted their persona you will know the power of brand building.
1. Name of the Party
The name Aam Aadmi Party itself signifies what the party stands for which is a common man’s party
2. Dressing Sense
If you see the difference between how Modi dresses, how Amit Shah dresses, or for that matter how any politician dresses, they usually wear a Kurta.
But Kejriwal wore pants and a shirt with a sweater and a muffler so he looked like a neighborhood uncle in Delhi who’s protesting against the corrupt politicians.
3. Wagnor (Middle-class lifestyle)
He drove a Wagnor and made sure that the Wagnor was noticed by the media as we all know Wagnor is like the classic symbol of the Indian middle class this is the reason why it made the news very very frequently
4. Funds From NRI and Public
Since he was the Cradle of anti-corruption instead of raising money from Big businessmen he raised money from people like you and me.
Yes, you heard that right Aam Aadmi Party raised money from NRI and the common people of India by communicating their vision of anti-corruption and they raised a total of 20 CR rupees and even published the entire donor list on their website.
This was to build a brand Persona that put out a message that the Aam Aadmi Party was not funded by businessmen but by the people of India.
5. Educational Background
Since he was an IRS and IITian everybody perceived him to be a smart guy who’s now standing up against the less educated politicians.
6. Public Supports
They also deployed another set of sharp strategies to optimize their marketing budget for example several auto unions in Delhi agreed to support the Aam Aadmi Party by putting up posters on 30,000 Rikshaws.
Even the volunteers associated with the Aam Aadmi Party they were encouraged to put up posters outside their homes.
Similarly, whenever a Delhi resident’s power connection used to be cut for his inability to pay the bills Kejriwal himself used to go and reconnect it. This is because Kejriwal promised free electricity until a certain consumption point.
7. Social Media
They used social media just like we all know so I’m not going to get into the depth of it.
Read Also How Marvel Become Super Successfull
Effect of Strategies
so all in all these strategies gave the Aam Aadmi Party three major perception advantages
- They became the perfect beneficiaries of the anti-corruption wave which degraded the brand value of Congress.
- Because they built a great brand Persona the people of Delhi resonated with the Aam Aadmi Party more than anyone else.
- Because of Kejriwal’s qualifications, he was seen as the perfect revolutionary in the heated landscape of Delhi, where the people were frustrated with less educated politicians or uneducated politicians
This is how the Aam Aadmi Party went all out to fight against Mammoth parties and eventually, they won 28 out of the 70 seats in the Delhi elections in 2013.
Did they pass the Lokpal Bill?
Well they tried but because they didn’t have a majority government the bill couldn’t be passed so to everyone’s surprise Kejriwal stepped down from office in just 49 days this is when everyone thought Kejriwal’s political career was over but Surprisingly in 2015 he came back even harder and won 67 out of the 70 seats to obtain a majority in Delhi
Now the question again is did they pass the Lokpal bill after winning 2015?
Well, the answer is again no because this is where a blame game between Delhi and the central government started.
So then the question is if they did not pass the Lokpal Bill how did Kejriwal become the chief minister of Delhi again and did they deliver on all their promises is
For that, we will write a special blog on the performance of the Aam Aadmi Party just like we did it for the BJP because this is just the marketing case study of the Aam Aadmi Party and not a political case study.
Lessons Learned
- Identify Market Gaps
AAP seized the opportunity presented by the social revolution led by Anna Hazare, recognizing the gap in Delhi’s political landscape. They tapped into the growing discontent among the populace and offered a viable alternative. - Craft a Compelling Brand Persona
Building a strong brand persona can deeply resonate with the audience, as seen in AAP’s relatable image and messaging. By presenting themselves as the common man’s party, they established a strong emotional connection with voters. - Deliver Value
Regardless of size or power, delivering tangible value to constituents is crucial for success, as demonstrated by AAP’s focus on fulfilling electoral promises. By prioritizing issues like electricity, water, and education, they addressed the immediate needs of the people.