Lok Sabha polls: BJP picks McCann Worldgroup and Scarecrow to lead its creative advertising account

NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is learnt to have picked advertising agencies McCann Worldgroup and Scarecrow M&C Saatchi from close to a dozen contenders to lead its creative advertising account for the upcoming Lok Sabha election, said executives with knowledge of the matter.

"The creative mandate is expected to be managed by McCann Worldgroup-TAG, a new-age ad agency owned by McCann, and Scarecrow M&C Saatchi," said one of the executives, who did not wish to be identified.

It could not be ascertained whether the other agencies which had pitched for the plum creative account, including Ogilvy and Efficacy, would also be given some parts of the mandate, considering the massive outreach planned by the BJP to woo voters.


Prasoon Joshi, chairman, McCann Worldgroup Asia Pacific, and Manish Bhatt, director, Scarecrow M&C Saatchi, declined to comment on the matter.

Finalising and allocating key mandates to the advertising agencies gained momentum over the weekend with the Election Commission of India announcing that the general election for the world's largest democracy would start on April 19.

Independent Agencies
ET's queries emailed to the BJP spokesperson's office remained unanswered till press time.

The BJP is also in the process of finalising three-four independent agencies for data-led tech and digital advertising, besides regional, outdoor and influencer-led campaigns, and social media, the executives said.

"In addition, a chunk of the party's communication is already being managed by its internal teams," said the executive cited earlier.

Last weekend, for instance, thousands of citizens got individual WhatsApp text messages from an account by the name Viksit Bharat Sampark, with a letter signed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which talked about "140 crore Indians benefitting from schemes and policies of the Government". The note sought feedback and participation from voters.

The Congress, on the other hand, has mandated DDB Mudra to lead its election campaign.

A Centre for Media Studies report estimated that the BJP spent a total Rs 27,000 crore in the run-up to the 2019 general election. Ad budgets could increase 30-40% over 2019, the executives said.

According to data provided by the Election Commission, the country has around 945 million voters, up from 912 million when Lok Sabha polls were held five years ago. The upcoming election will be held in seven phases over six weeks and voting will conclude on June 1, with the counting of votes to be held on June 4.