Bhakta Prasad Nanda, 82, doesn’t have very good eyesight, but he enjoys a good political meme. “I receive WhatsApp messages from all three political parties (BJD, BJP and Congress),” the former Class I government employee said over phone from Balangir town in Odisha.
Ayush Panda, 22, a student at MCA in Sambalpur, more than 100 kilometers away, says he is largely apolitical, but his friends keep forwarding him political memes on WhatsApp and Instagram. . “Prime Minister Narendra Modi is impressive, but I have started seeing Rahul Gandhi in a new light since the Bharat Jodh Yatra,” he says.
As the long summer election drags on, mobilizing the last reserves of candidates and voters, political parties are relying on a key weapon in their arsenal: political memes. Stakeholders who are fully aware of the power of memes range from content writers to graphic designers, video editors, social media property managers, digital marketing professionals, popular social media influencers, ecosystem managers, and more. artificial intelligence Expert.
first an idea
The journey of a political meme begins with a clever concept designed to resonate with the masses and spread like wildfire across social media.
Shariq Hussain, a member of the Congress’s social media team, gave the example of a reel posted on the party’s official Instagram handle. The reel comes soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi claimed that Gautam Adani had paid Rahul Gandhi. “It imagines the rift between the two ‘friends’ after PM Modi’s speech, which was delivered through a WhatsApp chat. Once the concept is approved, the content writer will create a script using words commonly used among the youth such as ‘bhai’, ‘dost’, ‘flow flow mein nikal gaya’ and then the video editor gave it life. “The national attention span was short and the issue was only relevant for a short period of time, so it was swept through within seven to eight hours,” he said.
However, not all posts go viral. “We created a parody of the Rock On song ‘Pichle saat dinon mein’ and called it ‘Pichle dus saalon mein humne,'” said cartoonist Farah Faisal, who works with Inclusive Mind, a political consultancy affiliated with parliament. “I named it ‘khoya’.” , I thought it would catch on, but it didn’t. Perhaps it was too serious. However, the song is Cola The use of AI to graft a digital likeness of Modi onto lead singer (Jas) (thief) was an absolute hit. After all, content has to be entertaining and simultaneously potentially tell the party’s story.”
A political strategist affiliated with the BJP said on condition of anonymity. Who would have thought that ‘Pepe the Frog’ (associated with the US alt-right) would make its debut in India? ” The Telangana People’s Party recently shared a video on its
Another meme the Prime Minister recently shared on his X account included an animated video of him dancing. This was “done to counter the attacks of the opposition’s ‘dictator’,” the strategist says.
He added that the person who created the meme was not associated with the BJP. “Apart from the party’s social media team and associated consultancies, the party also employs independent contractors to churn out content during election season. Some people are embracing it. The party is actively hosting conferences and meet-ups to ensure it gets the right content out.”
One step forward at a time
Parties post memes on their official Instagram and Facebook pages or on their behalf, which are then forwarded to a series of WhatsApp groups, ranging from MPs and MPs to booth workers. Memes are analyzed by a number of handlers to determine whether a particular post fits the target cohort of a particular her WhatsApp channel, group or page.
Political consultant Prerna Vijayeni Panda, who is part of the digital strategy room set up for Congress’ Balangir Lok Sabha candidate Manoj Mishra, said, “We are driving an aggressive social media campaign. One reason is the weather. Balangir is scorching hot at 44 degrees Celsius, making it difficult for people to attend political meetings. Balangir sends many migrant workers home just to vote. In their absence, social media fills the gap.”
Pointing out that WhatsApp is the preferred medium for conveying messages, she says, “Each constituency in Odisha has around 21 WhatsApp groups. These WhatsApp groups have around 200-300 members each and are a mix of party workers, community leaders/influencers (caste leaders, trade union leaders, social workers, panchayat leaders, etc.),” she says.
About how they work to ensure certain things The video goes viral “The content is first approved by our client’s POC (person of contact), and then we use Facebook to geotag the videos through ads. We also use WhatsApp to send mass messaging to local residents. If the content is eye-catching enough, it reaches at least half of the electorate,” says Prince Raghuvanshi of Chunab Chanakya, a political advertising firm that has worked with various AAP candidates in target constituencies.
Strategists working with the BJP say the party has several proxy pages on Instagram, WhatsApp and Twitter. “Many of the posts circulating on the BJP WhatsApp group are taken from Instagram and Facebook pages. The idea is that a post should be able to grab attention, whether it is negative or positive. Popular songs and popular characters are used to ensure the message sticks with the audience.