CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu is among the country's top three states in mobile penetration and, given the speed and interactivity offered by the medium, political parties have lined up elaborate telecom campaigns ahead of the May 16 assembly polls.
In 2014, for LS polls, AIADMK launched a state-wide WhatsApp and SMS campaign texting lakhs of voice and text messages every day , using an in-house computer programme. Last December, after floods ravaged the city, the party released a 2-minute audio clip of CM Jayalalithaa assuring the public she'd do everything possible to improve conditions. The state also started a call centre to record and respond to grievances.
In January, AIADMK launched `What sApp Bench' -a series of humorous audio clips featuring two voices mocking rivals and offering the party's perspectives on issues.
An AIADMK insider said: “In 2014, when we launched our mobile-based campaign, only the AIADMK had such a software. We could send out messages to 15 lakh people in a flash. The CM's message to people of Chennai went out to 75 lakh mobiles in an hour.“
Now the DMK too is set to roll out a mobile-based campaign. “We'll use WhatsApp, SMSs, out bound dialing and e mail blasts,“ said a source in DMK's tech team. “To build our database, we launched a missed call campaign some time ago.We received 70 lakh missed calls from across the state.Ever since, we've been profiling names, constituencies and now have an understanding of our support base.“
A Bhopal company provides customised bulk SMS service solutions to parties through resellers. Its founder, Sandeep Rajputh, says: “We've developed an application that runs on a Windows platform.We can send out up to 3 crore messages a day and we follow TRAI norms.“
According to Navkendar Singh, a senior official at another such firm, low mobile tariffs in India “has led to the development of an ecosystem for creation of mobile-based content relevant for specific segments and geographies.“