MAM
Marketing lessons a la AAP
MUMBAI: The recent-concluded Delhi elections, took everyone by surprise when Aam Admi Party won 28 seats. We take a look at what one can learn from the new entrant.
When it was formed less than a year ago on 26 November, 2012, little did the Aam Aadmi Party imagine it would make such a big splash at the polls.
Winning 28 out of 70 seats in the Delhi Assembly elections on 8 December, the AAP came a close second to the BJP which won 31 seats, pushing the ruling Congress to an irrelevant third position. What’s more, three-time Congress CM Sheila Dixit suffered defeat at the hands of AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal. Before the elections, the now ex-CM of the national capital, didn’t think before making statements like, “Arvind isn’t even on our radar.” Dixit probably forgot the legend of David Vs Goliath.
For a fledgling party which emerged as an offshoot of the larger ‘India against Corruption’ movement launched by activist Anna Hazare -where people took to the streets to protest the many ills plaguing the current administration – this is no mean feat.
And neither is the fact that AAP – registered as a political party with the Election Commission (EC) only in March this year – has successfully met the EC’s criteria to become a state party.
So what did the AAP do right to banish all the scepticism its broom-wielding members met with from seasoned politicians who dismissed the party, at least initially, as ‘chillar’ or worse, a group that made a lot of noise but had no real impact.
Looking at the AAP’s historic win from a marketing perspective, we at indiantelevision.com believe brands may do well to take a few lessons from the party’s promotional strategy:
* Strong USP
Each brand need to have a very strong USP which helps position it in the minds of the target audience. AAP’s USP is that it gives the common man a belief, a hope, that there is going to be a better tomorrow, and that it has been created by the common man who is fed up of the politics of politics, and will hence deliver on its promise.
*Be consistent
At the heart of the AAP’s party manifesto is its stand against corruption – which cuts through classes. And it has not deviated from that. It has refused to ally with either the Congress (I) or the BJP, despite there being a possibility of it occupying the seats of power in Delhi.
Brands need to stick to their core premise and promise and not try to ride fads.
* Marry your brand USP with the brand mnemonics
The AAP has always had one agenda – the aam aadmi, and it has stayed true to it ever since inception. Party members are common people who have volunteered and are unpaid. They come across as common people; they dress up like common people; they move around like common people. Even though many of them are well educated.
And during this election campaign there was none of the largesse distribution or ostentation that the general political parties generally resort.
The choice of name and the symbol in the case of the AAP was also crucial. The name says it all -Aam Aadmi Party. Then the symbol was the killer: what is the one thing that is still common across all homes in India, even in middle-class and upper class homes and hutments – it is the broom. Using the broom as the mnemonic meant many things: it will be used to sweep clean all the dirt in the political system, while it helped identify the common man with a tool that is used in his/her home every day.
* Know your customer; make him your network and your ambassador
The AAP needed to connect with its customer: the electorate of New Delhi. Almost 130,000 volunteers all over the world, some of whom descended on Delhi before the election campaign became both the best focus group and research agency anyone could ask for.
Some executives even took leave from their high paying jobs in India and overseas, housewives found time from their day to day chores, young college students, technicians, labourers, cable TV operators – everyone pitched to connect with the consumer and pass on what troubled the common Delhi-ite – crucial information to the central headquarters of the AAP. And they then propagated that further themselves to the electorate.
With millions of products overflowing on shop shelves and online, brands need to know what their customers really want, when they want it and how they want it, and in the process make them your ambassadors and messengers.
* Choose the correct medium at the correct time
AAP had little financial resources at its disposal; some say less than Rs 20 crore. That’s probably what’s spent by politicians on a couple of constituencies. Once again volunteers stepped in to build the buzz.
Twitter, facebook, online, print, and television. AAP went the whole hog on all the mediums. But not to splurge; just to have its message heard. The media were relatively complying: did not the common man also work in media? It hooked the middle class and the upper middle class through social media.
And what about the man on the street? Well it used direct selling: volunteers went door to door to the electorate in Delhi, connected with the common man. In trains, in buses, on auto rickshaws, in jhuggis, in bastis – there was the huge poster campaign, and it was the educated folks who went where they normally would not.
Brands have to be careful about the medium they choose and utilise it to maximise impact. Brands too have to keep themselves in people’s mind through various activations/campaigns especially in today’s market where the sharks are ready to rip apart any competition.
Brands
Zee partners L’Oréal Paris on multi-language Glycolic Gloss campaign
Brand films and show integrations target Hindi, Marathi, Tamil and Bangla viewers
MUMBAI: Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited has partnered with L’Oréal Paris to roll out a multi-regional advertising campaign for the Glycolic Gloss haircare range, leaning on regional storytelling and trusted television celebrities to drive belief and recall.
The campaign spans four bespoke brand films and contextual integrations across Hindi, Marathi, Tamil and Bangla markets. At its core is a simple consumer insight: Indian audiences are more likely to trust visible results validated by others than abstract product claims.
Zee Entertainment Enterprises head of advertisement revenue, broadcast and digital Laxmi Shetty, said brands are increasingly seeking relevance and credibility alongside reach. She said the campaign demonstrates how regional “dilfluencers” can turn product claims into “visible, validated experiences” by embedding brands within authentic storytelling across platforms.
To that end, Zee has deployed its roster of regional “dilfluencers”: familiar faces from leading fiction channels, to anchor the films. The celebrities share first-hand experiences with the Glycolic Gloss range, framing shine and smoothness as instantly noticeable and socially affirmed rather than promised.
WPP Media president, client solutions, South Asia Shekhar Banerjee, said the campaign was designed as a platform-first, integration-led solution that balances scale with attention. Aligning the brand with Zee’s premium content and trusted talent, he said, helped push impact beyond visibility towards sustained brand trust.
Beyond standalone films, the campaign extends into contextual integrations within top-rated fiction shows airing through January and February 2026. These in-show moments are designed to embed the product into everyday narratives without disrupting viewer engagement.
L’Oréal Paris India general manager Dario Zizzi, said the renewed partnership reflects the brand’s focus on engaging India’s diverse consumer base through local languages and culturally resonant narratives. He added that integrating the Glycolic Gloss range into Zee’s regional content allows the ‘Gloss Ki Guarantee’ proposition to connect with women’s lived experiences across markets.
The initiative will run across Zee’s linear television network and its OTT platform, Zee5, combining mass reach with digital amplification. For L’Oréal Paris, the strategy reflects a deliberate move away from one-size-fits-all communication towards locally resonant messaging tailored to language, culture and viewing habits.
Media planners involved in the campaign say the approach underscores a broader shift in beauty advertising, where scale is increasingly paired with credibility and contextual relevance. By aligning with premium content ecosystems and well-known regional talent, the Glycolic Gloss campaign aims to translate visibility into sustained brand trust.
