Business - India;Crayon corners Congress business worth more than Rs 150 crore

Neha Kalra

Political parties have already begun to gear up for the elections – both the assembly as well as the Lok Sabha polls, 2009. In that light, the Congress party has appointed Crayons as its advertising agency. The agency, based in Delhi, will be in charge of the advertising function for the party's assembly and Lok Sabha polls.Congress has allotted an ad budget of more than Rs 150 crore for the entire process of advertising for the poll campaigns. A pitch was called for by the party in July this year. Rediffusion DY&R, Percept/H, Madison, JWT and Mudra also took part in the pitch.
The party did not provide a brief during the initial phase of the pitch. Agencies were asked to give a concept, submit a concept note and also prepare a presentation on it. Following this, two agencies, JWT and Crayons, were shortlisted for the final lap. In the final round, the party provided a brief which talked about its achievements and the current issues that need to be addressed.Crayon's presentation took away what seems to be a yummy piece of the pie that the agencies participating in the pitch had been vying for. The agency has also worked with other political parties such as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Samajwadi Party and the Akali Dal in the past.Recently, the agency handled the Samajwadi Party’s account for the assembly elections and the Akali Dal’s account for the Lok Sabha elections 2007. It handled BJP’s account for the assembly elections (2003) and Lok Sabha elections (2004), and the Akali Dal’s account in Punjab for the Lok Sabha elections (2004). In 1999, too, it handled the BJP account for the Lok Sabha elections. For Congress, it has handled some work in Rajasthan in the past.Political parties, known for being conservative in the choice of media, seem to be turning a new leaf. For the first time, a political party will use the digital medium to advertise. Apart from traditional advertising in the form of television, print and radio advertising, the Congress party is also considering new media. This was presented in the media plan submitted by Crayons.Ranjan Bargotra, president, Crayons, says, “The country comprises of a sizeable chunk of young voters. They are indifferent to political parties as well as voting. The idea was to find them and tap them well. For that, the Internet will prove to be a useful medium.”Talking about the Congress account win, Ajay Chopra, director and chief creative officer, Crayons, and the person behind the political advertising assignments taken up by the agency, says, “About this win, all I can say is that the strength of observation, simplicity and a deeper sense of common thinking won us the business. We were able to string the intrinsic needs and a common man's desire to the legacy of the party, as well as the vision that the party could/should be carrying.”