This election is very different with political parties trying to lower their center of gravity - trying to tap into the large and dynamic youth population in the country. Most of them have been pretty successful by leveraging various modes of communication - youtube, twitter, mobile phones etc. Does it really work? Am very skeptical. These are mostly one way communications and does not address or reflect what the youth want. Let's go back in time when the same politicians leveraged the advent of television for their campaigns. Do you recall any of the campaigns? Well, do you recall the old cinthol advertisement where Vinod Khanna tries to control a horse in a beach? Am sure many of us do recall the Cinthol ad but certainly not any of the political campaigns or rallies.
It's time for politicians to understand that they need to extend an impactful value-proposition to their audience through their communication. It can't be a one off communication - wooing them with hollow promises - which might still sell in rural India. According to Don Tapscott, author of Grown Up Digital, "The New Web, in the hands of a technologically savvy and community-minded Net Generation, has the power to shake up society and topple authorities in many walks of life. Once information flows freely and the people have the tools to share it effectively and use it to organize themselves, life as we know will be different." Politicians should realize that the world has transitioned to become an interactive and increasingly transparent market. Free televisions, tax sops doesn't really matter but address 'what's in it for me?'
