Elections 2014 have been settled in now and after 536 million people casted their votes, exit polls revealed a huge victory of nationalist Narendra Modi and Bhartiya Janta Party. On the other hand, the other political brands fell big time. One such instance if of AAp’s Arvind Kejriwal; his failure is very similar to Tata Nano, one of the biggest brand failures. The story of Indian politician Arvind Kejriwal and Tata Nano resemble a lot of similarities from their huge buzz in the country to their downfall.
Nano promised to bring a change in India’s automobile sector while Kejriwal had the same opinion within the political landscape but both Nano and Kejriwal changed their battlefields, but not quite the way they had expected.
Startoff:
Announced as the most affordable car, Tata Nano was expected to take the Indian roads by storm, offering an affordable alternative to many families who perched four or five to a two-wheeler and weaved through India’s perilous urban traffic. After its launch in 2009, there was a call of 2.6lakhs units of production at Rs one lakh per unit. The rest of the people who booked the car had the option to cancel their bookings or buy it at a higher price. The question aroused was whether Nano was available at one lakh rupees only to a few customers?
The Political Cut: Arvind Kejriwal formed AAP in Nov 2012, as he believed that electoral politics was the next logical step in the fight against corruption. He was the common man mascot when he entered the Indian politics. He won Delhi state elections in 2013 with 28 seats to aam aadmi party. Much hype surrounded this ambitions common man. He was everywhere in the news, facebook trolls, twitter tweets, political elocutions and tv ads.
The disheartening journey:
Nano was supposed to be a “People’s car”, an entry-level, all-weather personal transportation for hordes of India’s two-wheeler users, from young professionals to middle-class families. But the privelage was only availed to a few customers. Later on, due to the input cost, Nano had increment in its price, which was its USP. Similarly, Kejriwal had a big buzz in Delhi. With a misconception of getting votes from other states too, unlike Delhi, he misread the market and did not reach the people as expected. Kejriwal sold people the dream of honest and outstanding governance in Delhi. He broke his promise in 49 days when he resigned.
Today, both Nano and Kejriwal have had a dismal performance. One more common thread between Kejriwal and Nano has been the big built up and hype around them for months before their launch/polls, courtesy excellent public relations (PR), below-the-line activities and the media. Everyone was talking about Nano back in 2009 at the time of its launch. Similarly, everyone was talking about Kejriwal during the elections. Nano and Kejriwal have been wipped off up to certain extent from the country after coming into the eyes of the common man. Nano is still trying to come up with new transforms as witnessed. But can Kejriwal redeem himself in the eyes of voters?
– Tanvi Shah
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