PR agencies rake in moolah, spin doctors offer Rs 35 lakh poll packages

Advocacy, communication and public relations professionals of all hues and sizes are into the thick of the city’s political scene by offering packages to candidates – who can afford it – ranging from hi-tech image building, speech contents, street plays and activity on Facebook and Twitter.

“The spin doctors’ bill depends on the bouquet of services that a wannabe legislators is willing to add to his ‘made to order’ plan,” said a Hauz Khas village-based player, adding that some candidates from the Congress and the BJP who were confident of getting a ticket had engaged experts much before the announcement of parties’ official list of nominees for the February 7 poll.

“There are packages ranging from Rs 35 lakh to a stripped down version of Rs 6 lakh,” said another Connaught Place-based media company professional who normally handles corporate accounts but has now briefly joined the political advocacy bandwagon.

In the Rs 35 lakh package, the agency also trains booth level agents and also offers the candidate the facility of tracking these agents’ movement on the voting day.

“Things like whether the booth agent is present in the polling station will be monitored with the help of GPS services. Soon after the training of the booth agent, the agency will hand him or her a kit and ensure that the person leaves for the booth on the voting day,” said a professional, refusing to name his clients in the fray.

The Rs 35 lakh package’s deliverables are spread over 70 days and it includes a survey, opinion poll, outdoor publicity, street plays, radio jingles, Facebook and Twitter campaign and media coverage in which a candidate can share his opinion on current affairs and the big picture in the election.

At a time when the candidates are desperate to reach out to voters at the ground level and in the virtual media, the media agencies have taken total control of campaigns across the length and breadth of the Assembly constituencies which, on an average, have  over one lakh eligible voters.

“Such a package also includes setting up of a professional war room for a candidate and management of the campaign from a central base,” said Anand Naval, a former JNU scholar who specialises in political advocacy.

The spin doctors also advise a candidate on what to speak in speeches, what are the issues that need to be highlighted and what will be their opinion during debate in print and electronic media to manage maximum visibility.

Not just this. Specialists are also helping candidates build  their image on the social media with blogs and activity on Facebook and Twitter.

“Media blog and social media campaign costs around Rs 8 lakh,” said an IT professional.
Services like making press releases, sending advance campaign schedules and inviting media for field trips cost around Rs 6.5 lakh, said Hari Om, another media expert.

Some resourceful candidates have their own set of workers who specialise in publicity tasks and such nominees prefer opting for individual service like organising a live forum or debate (Rs 4 lakh each), creative concept and design (Rs 4 lakh), survey and image building (Rs 6 lakh), documentary, speech and slogans (Rs 6.5 lakh) and street plays (Rs 3,500 each).
DH News Service