Branding of Politicians 

A 1999 study conducted by the
Indian Institute of Mass Communications

Branding of Politicians 

By Jaishri. N. Jethwaney, Nippun Gupta, Shivaji Sarkar

This study conducted on five Delhi campuses asked 585 students to place various leaders in their perception on two major characteristics out of a list of 16 attributes that defined their personality the best.

In this age of information, media have become an indispensable tool, especially in election campaigning. With more than 1000 hours of cumulative programming available on various channels and a host of 24 hour news channels, the scope is immense for the politicians to show around. The talk shows, discussions and panel meetings are doing what paid advertising could never achieve.

There are always some inherent characteristics in a human being but a lot can be acquired. In times when politics is reckoned as a market activity and politicians as brands, it is not uncommon to see brand managers and savvy advertising specialists employed to position politicians in a manner to find favor with the audience. Tried. Tested. Proven. [Jancha. Parkha. khara.] is just a case in point. Brand management experts, however, are of the view

That the value provided at a point of time is not perennial, a deliberate effort is required to not only retain the value constantly but upgrade it to match the user¿s expectations.

The mind of an individual is not a clean slate. It is bombarded day in and day out with various kinds of information pouring from all directions. Hence, for a product or a person to find some space in the perception of an individual¿s mind, it has to virtually fight for space among a host of information around it. The Cognitive Dissonance Theory postulates that people strive to justify their behavior by reducing the degree to which their impressions and beliefs are inconsistent with reality [dissonance].

In order to find how some popular leaders were perceived by youngsters, a dipstick research study was conducted among students of three universities in Delhi, viz., Jawaher lal Nehru University, Delhi University, and Jamia Millia Islamia, besides, the Indian Institute of technology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, College of Medical Science. The respondents who numbered 585 were asked to place various leaders in their perception on two major characteristics out of a list of 16 attributes that defined their personality the best. The attributes included the following: visionary, Shrewd, experience, mass appeal, honest/upright, aggressive, abrasive, incoherent, analytical, charismatic, dishonest, scheming, uninspiring, un-charismatic, survivor, inexperienced. Based on the data, the present researchers used Jean Noel Kapferer Brand Prism Identity Model (reproduced as Graph 1 on page12) to work out the core values of various national leaders, in order to indicate their brand positioning. This will also reflect the kind of people who were likely to vote for the various leaders.

According to Kapferer brand identity is represented diagrammatically by a six sided prism which include characteristics like physique- a combination of independent characteristics, a kind of life style association; personality- a brand has a personality, it may also acquire a character- say of being arrogant, modest or kind. How it acquires depends on how it has been positioned and the experience the consumer has with the brand; culture- this facet relates to the basic principles