ROLE OF MARKETING COMMUNICATION IN INDIAN POLITICAL CAMPAIGN

The domain of political advertising and marketing campaigning has transformed significantly in India over the last decade. Political awakening campaigns transition from traditional tools like newspapers, posters, rallies, public gathering, door to door campaigning, television and radio towards the modern tech savvy tools have now predominantly moving and occupying a strong place on digital platform. This change has occurred largely due to the increase in mobile phone users in India, facilitated by affordable internet plans and access to social media such as facebook, instagram, twitter etc. Despite on spending huge promotional budget on newspapers advertisement and getting a slot of 3-5 seconds, the parties are not able to get attention of public on their advertisements while an average user screen time is 6 hours and 40 minutes per day across various devices. This paper emphasizes on the journey of election promotional campaign from conventional modes to the digital platform. It will conclude with the discussion of various strategies and plans adopted by political parties to increase transparency and develop confidence among their target audiences.