5 Businesses That Flourish Most During The Polls

We are bang in the middle of the Lok Sabha elections and most of us are already feeling a bit tired of seeing the bland faces of the politicians everywhere around us and listening to their fiery speeches. Although the common man wants the polls to get over as soon as possible, some businesses would want the elections to happen every six months for a very simple reason – it’s the best of times for them to rake in the moolah. Business Insider India takes a look at five of these businesses that flourish most during the polls.

1. Air Charter Services
If you are closely tracking your favourite candidate, you must know by now that it is not an easy job to campaign for elections, at least when it comes to travelling. Politicians have to attend several rallies on a single day and at times, have to travel inter-state to address these rallies. So it’s no wonder that government choppers and private aviation agencies are pressed into service to meet the demands of such hectic schedules. However, there are certain regulations regarding the use of choppers belonging to public sector undertakings and the few ones available have to be booked in advance. In contrast, private aviation services own more machines, which are also easily available. Undoubtedly, they are earning big money during the polls.

2. Advertising Agencies
Janta Maaf Nahin Karegi and Bharat Ke Majboot Haath might have become the butt of the jokes on social media sites and WhatsApp, but these punch lines happen to be the outcome of several hours of brainstorming, done in the meeting rooms of top ad agencies in India and abroad. You will come across these ads everywhere, be it television, radio, print or the digital medium. That’s big business, to say the least, and the ad agencies are definitely reaping big profits in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls.

3. Television Channels
Well, every other day, we see a new television commercial being rolled out and the frequency of these ads increases when you are watching primetime serials. If you act smart and change the channel, you will see some other ad being played there. This is not a coincidence but a strategic placement of ads and TV channel owners earn big money for this. With more political ads coming up every day during this period, TV channels have no difficulty in filling up their coffers.

4. Billboard Owners
You might have tried to change the television channel on seeing yet another political ad, but you certainly won’t change the route you take to commute to office. Do you recall seeing a whole lot of billboards whenever you are stuck in a traffic jam? That is again a strategic move by the media managers of the political parties. At important locations/junctions like toll gates and borders, you are bound to find billboards promoting each and every political party. After all, billboard owners won’t leave any chance to cash in on the once-in-five-years opportunity.

5. Social Media Agencies
Believe it or not, an independent study by the Centre for Media Studies shows that the total expenditure of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections would reach a whooping $5 billion. And a big portion of this amount is being spent on social media promotion. It is not a happy coincidence that some political issues are always trending on popular platforms like Facebook and Twitter. Digital and social media agencies are paid big bucks to trend the candidates until the election fever is on.


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