It’s election time. While political parties showcase their creativity on stage, brands try to grab the attention and leverage the opportunity off it. Many are urging people to vote, others are encouraging the first-time voters to make an informed voting decision – Whatever be the core message, the prime motive is to showcase the brand as sensitive and responsible. And some sure have been successful and how.

Just like every big event, elections too, get brands (and agencies alike) to put on their creative hats and come up with a campaign that would not only drive home the important message but at the same time stand-out from the best of the brigade.

Every Seat Counts by Parryware:

Parryware, India’s leading bathroom brand launched an interesting campaign, ‘#EverySeatCounts’ to emphasize on the importance of voting. It focuses on motivating the citizens of India to judiciously cast their vote in the upcoming elections. The brand urges voters to select the right candidate for the seat who will flush out the evils of the society.

Ab Watan Dabayega Button by Red FM:

This initiative, by Red FM, aims at creating awareness around voting and helping create a milestone voter turnout. It focuses on educating and resolving queries of youngsters who feel voting doesn't make a difference. As a part of this campaign, Red FM also reached out to the residents of an abandoned village Dalelpur which had boycotted the General Election, 2019 and convinced them to cast their vote.

Ghar Jao Vote Karo by Thomas Cook:

A key challenge attributed to the low voter turnout is the migrating Indian population, moving from Tier II and III cities into larger urban towns and metros. Thomas Cook India, therefore strategically aligned its campaign to tap into India’s vote bank, by aiming to create awareness on the importance of voting while gratifying the voter with incentives. Its Ghar Jao Vote Karo campaign seeks to empower citizens to vote while simultaneously rewarding them- both on their flight to their hometown pre-election, as well as holiday discounts post elections.

#ChooserNotLoser by Comedy Central:

A tongue-in-cheek campaign #ChooserNotLoser depicts different scenarios, unified by a single message which reminds citizens to cast their vote, lest somebody else makes a choice on their behalf. With nearly 15 million voters newly eligible for the upcoming general elections, to resonate with the country’s youth Comedy Central adopted an approach that’s synonymous with its spirit to evangelize the importance of each vote.

The three sketches depict the significance of making one’s own choice by dramatizing the repercussions of not exercising it.

#ChooseWisely by BookMyShow:

Through this digital campaign Book my show encourages Indians to vote judiciously. Cleverly crafted messages take a pun on the real-life situations of election rallies and parliamentary sessions with a generous dose of entertainment. The campaign highlights the underlying fact that entertainment is best suited only on screen and not in the parliament.

Let's travel to vote by Samsonite:

It is estimated that over 91% of people do not return to their home town to vote. ‘We travel to our hometown for love. The love of friends & family, the love of home cooked meals and memories. This time, let's travel for another love. The love for our country,’ says Samsonite through its #EkDinKiChutti campaign. It encourages voters who are registered in a different city to take a day off and travel home to vote. They drive home the message through a short, thought-provoking film, which features a man taking a day’s leave from work to visit his home town.

#VoteBecauseYouCan by MTV:

Voting is not only our right it is our power, says MTV and urges the youth to vote through this new campaign. MTV aims to instil pride for Indian democratic values by bringing in real stories from real youth from around the world. Democracy is a choice we have, and it comes to life when you see people from different parts of the world who don’t have the freedom of democracy. To bring home this point, in this campaign for MTV has taken a macro-view of democracy and juxtaposed it with people coming from war torn countries who have fled from their homes under great duress for safety and security.

Finger Inkin’ Good by KFC:

KFC India is no longer saying ‘Finger Lickin’ Good’. Instead the brand is asking consumers to go ‘Finger Inkin’ Good’ during General Elections, 2019. This digital campaign aims at reminding the millennials the power every single vote holds.

#GrownUpsGoVote by ZEE:

ZEEL channels pause content for 2 hrs to encourage voter turnout. The campaign kicked off across the network prior to election week with child stars from the network appealing to the adults to fulfil their responsibility and do the grown-up thing by voting in the upcoming Indian Elections 2019.

Swiggy, Skore and Tinkle hot the right button on Social Media:

Who would think that a condom brand could create a fine balance between spreading awareness and at a strong recall of the brand for an election-theme. Skore Condoms win hands down for their ‘naughty’ social media post. Tinkle Comics and Swiggy too do their bit to encourage voters.

So, which brand gets your vote for the best election-themed campaign? While I like most of these mentioned here, ‘Jaago-re’ campaign by Tata Tea, which was launch in 2007 strategically timed to precede 2009 general elections, is my all-time favourite. Nothing beats this iconic campaign that has had such a positive impact in the minds of the viewers till date. My vote goes to ‘Jaago re’, and yours?