Its election season, and our politicians are out of their shells, doing all their best to get your attention. The propaganda hasn’t changed much, neither has the rhetoric but the  medium has! Close on the heels of Obama’s successful implementation of social media to garner support and funding, BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani is following suit. Chances are you’ve already seen a banner or an ad-text proclaiming Mr. Advani as the change agent for an India riddled with corruption and terrorism. 

The intent is right, but the execution is poor. Though they’ve tried to leverage the various tools of social media for their cause, they are no where near what Obama’s campaigners did to ensure an unprecedented success. The banner creatives are tacky, unimpressive and looks like its been designed by an amateur graphic designer. The website and blog seems in-coherent and looks like a mass of information stuffed in for posterity’s sake. 

That said, the campaign is being spoken about, and I forget the number of times it has been mentioned in the blogosphere. It is also good news for the medium, as an unconventional player forays in and puts money into the medium inspite of its limited reach (in relative terms). If sources are to be believed, the budget for his online campaign is mammoth, and would put most big time ad-spenders to shame!

It would be interesting to see how the campaign pans out, and the surprises in store. If the campaign reaps in a windfall of successes for BJP, expect the next wave of bloggers – politicians. Who’s next?