The Aam Aadmi Party has recently shown marketers how to do marketing. From their genesis to their campaign and the ultimate win, there are several insights that we can learn from. Here is a small attempt to capture some of them.

1. What marketers can
learn from the
Aam Aadmi Party?

2. It is believed that only two
kinds of people vote in India.
1. The poor: who’s votes can be ‘earned’ with
food/alcohol/money and hollow promises
2. The young: who’re impressionable and still
hopeful of change
Everybody else is too disillusioned
with the system to bother to vote.

3. In December 2013,
it all changed.

4. For the 1st time in
the history of
world’s largest
democracy, a party
founded by non-
politicians, less than
a year back crushed
the ruling party.
And, humiliated the
incumbent CM by
defeating her in her
own constituency of
15 years.
Ouch!
DELHI

5. This is an attempt to learn a
few lessons from this great
marketing case study

6. Great brands are built on a
strong consumer insight that
clicks, sticks and connects.

7. The background
The political landscape of democratic India has
always been dominated by governments and
politicians who are ‘perceived’ as most corrupt.
This corruption starts at the top & trickles
through the bureaucracy and percolates right
down to the grass root level, where every public
servant abuses the power vested in them.

8. The background (cont’d)
Its rare to find a person who’s not been asked for
a bribe – either by the municipal officer for a
ration card, by a police officer to avoid a traffic
fine or by a passport officer to expedite your file
Indians, across states and social strata, are
brimming with angst about the corruption and
frustrated about the unwillingness of govt. after
govt. to do anything about this harassment.

9. The insight
There is growing public anger against the
political machinery about corruption & other
economic issues (price rise, inflation etc) and the
power-bearers’ lack of accountability to fix these
problems meant that the average Indian was
getting desperate for change.

10. How this insight drove
a rousing victory for AAP?
10 lessons for brand marketers

11. Lesson 1: Have an idea that connects
• The average Indian does not understand
‘economy’ or ‘sociology’
• She only understands prices of onions, increasing
power tariffs, and the growing lack security for
women
• India’s angst against the ‘system’ was demanding
a honest, transparent, clean governance
AAP de-jargonized the economic terms and highlighted
the basic problems, which attracted the audience

12. CORRUPTION FREE INDIA

13. Lesson 2: The name is the game
• Nomenclature is the most basic ingredient of good
marketing
• An evocative & compelling name: like Aam Aadmi
Party (AAP), quickly relates to every common man
• Also the abbreviation AAP, means YOU – which
makes one feel that the party if for & about YOU
• Not to mention, ‘democracy’ itself is a form of
governance FOR the people & BY the people
With one clean branding masterstroke, the party managed to successfully shift focus
to the average IndiaN – the common man – The Aam Aadmi

15. Lesson 3: The resonating symbol
• Every brand has its symbols and icons that are
timeless
– Think Apple, Think Steve Jobs
– Non violence is synonymous with Mahatma Gandhi
• Similarly, Arvind Kejriwal has emerged as the
abiding political icon for anti-corruption
• And he has created a brand symbol that is
absolutely synergistic with this icon: Broom
The ‘Broom’ mnemonic not only fitted in extremely well with the mission,
but also resonated with the classes & masses alike

17. Lesson 4: Outsmart the competition
• A successful brand is always surprising
• Aam Aadmi Party kept its competitors (Congress
& BJP) constantly guessing on its next moves.
• For e.g. Arvind Kejriwal’s decision to contest
elections against the incumbent Chief Minister,
Mrs. Sheila Dikshit (who eventually lost by 25,846
votes)
The trick for a new entrant is to behave like an underdog
but keep a close watch on the changing market dynamics

19. • The standard behaviour of all political parties &
leaders at election time is to organize for large
rallies in a show of strength. AAP played it very
differently.
• Since, AAP was a rank fresher, the unconventional
door-to-door campaigning gave voters across
constituencies a real feel of what they’re about
Every brand must have a soul & character and the most successful brands manage to
deliver this character through the experience they provide to their consumers
Lesson 5: Offer an experience

21. Lesson 6: Test waters before diving in
• All products that eventually become successful
are first test marketed with a small sample of
consumers, before exposure to the entire market.
• For Aam Aadmi party, the Lokpal movement gave
them a glimpse of how viable a non-Congress,
non-BJP alternative can be.
Test marketing can offer invaluable learnings, putting to test hypotheses and either
validating/negating them – so that the final launch can be as robust as possible

23. Lesson 7: Everything is the brand
• The movement was well packaged with all part
members, volunteers & supporters donning a
spotless white cap saying “Main hoon Aam
Aadmi” (Yes, I’m the common Man)
• In a major departure from the khadi-kurta
synonymous with most Indian politicians , the
look & feel of the Aam Aadmi Party leaders &
supporters was also a seamless of extension of its
image – simple, unassuming & unpretentious
The ‘Gandhi topi’ associated AAP with the honesty of the great Indian leaders from
the pre-Independence era and became a very visible symbol of the movement

25. Lesson 8: Consumers make the best
brand ambassadors
• Unlike legacy parties like Congress & BJP, which
have been around for several decades and
therefore had strong financial muscle &
supporters, the < 1 year old AAP had none.
• So, they decided to reach out to the common
man & recruit those who strongly believed in its
promise of clean, corruption-free governance
• Thousands of Indians from India & abroad
descended on the capital to contribute their time
India is at a point where people (especially the youth) believe that “CHANGE BEGINS
WITH THEM”. This sentiment helped raise rousing volunteers & support for the party
(http://www.slideshare.net/esumit/what-i-can-do-for-aam-aadmi-party)

27. Lesson 9: Reach people where they are
• Instead of calling the voters to large rallies, which
is the norm during elections in India, AAP went to
neighborhoods where common people live and
spoke to them individually
• Internet & social media became perfect breeding
grounds to capture the mindset of young India
– (FB = 689,683 fans; Twitter = 800,000 followers)
• The target was to get these two voter groups to
vote. Everybody else who came was bonus.
Always start with the lowest hanging fruit. The consumers most likely to buy
into your promise and then generate a viral word-of-mouth through them.

28. +

29. Lesson 10: Walk the talk
• The promise of transparency & clean governance
begins had to be brought to life.
• Funds were generated for the AAP election
campaign purely through donations from resident
& non resident Indians.
• Fill financial disclosure was practices and the
sources & usage of all funds were disclosed on
the party website, for all to see and scrutinize.
Sending out a message is one thing. Living it is quite another. The greatest brands in
the world live their message consistently across markets & across time

31. Quick recap

32. • Lesson 1: Have an idea that connects
• Lesson 2: The name is the game
• Lesson 3: The resonating symbol
• Lesson 4: Outsmart the competition
• Lesson 5: Offer an experience
• Lesson 6: Test waters before diving in
• Lesson 7: Everything is the brand
• Lesson 8: Consumers make the best brand ambassadors
• Lesson 9: Reach people where they are
• Lesson 10: Walk the talk

33. In conclusion
5 things that worked for AAP

34. • A clear & consistent message:
– From the early days of the Jan Lokpal Bill
movement till today, the mission has been
consistent and this helped create ‘brand recall’
• Perfect choice of mediums:
– While politics has always been about talking
one-to-thousands, AAP involved the audience
and treated them like an individual

35. • Through the line synergy:
– From the party brand name (Aam Aadmi Party) to
the symbol (broom) to the message (Clean
governance) to the look & feel (simple &
ordinary), everything had incremental effect
• Calculated risks:
– Kejriwal’s decision to stand against Chief
Minister Sheila Dikshit was the most thrilling. It
had a shock value. And, it paid off eventually!

36. And, above all…
• Brand Ownership by consumers/voters:
– AAP’s message of corruption free India & clean,
transparent politics was taken to the masses not
only by the party’s leaders but by hundreds of
thousands of unpaid volunteers who wanted to be
part of the movement.
– They just didn’t want their country to change.
They wanted to bring about change in their
country

37. This man will soon become the
Chief Minister of India’s capital.
The times. They sure are changing.

38. Thank you.