History was made on 25th of December when tens of thousands of people with eyes glinting with hope and anxious for change came all the way to Quaid-e-Azam Mazar for the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf rally. Skeptics were brushed away and political analysts touted it “one of the biggest rallies in Karachi ever”. It was not just Karachi; Twitter, Facebook, You tube, media channels and websites, all were taken up by the “tsunami” that day.

Imran Khan, who led Pakistan to victory in the ICC World Cup in 1992, had the hopes of thousands riding on him as he addressed the residents of Karachi on the 25th of December. Be that as it may, Imran Khan has certainly mastered the act of political marketing.

Despite conventional mediums of advertising such as billboards and television commercials, there has been a rapid growth in social media and the internet.This online forum has also been utilized by political icons to generate support. Current US President, Barack Obama utilized YouTube, Twitter and Facebook in order to communicate directly with his supporters. Locally, it is Imran Khan who has taken advantage of this massive forum to seek support and communicate to the youth who are his greatest supporters with the power to revolutionize the very social and political fabric of the society.

However, the highlight of Imran Khan’s political campaign is the telephonic campaign which was also conducted in Lahore and yielded great results. More than 200,000 landlines alongside mobile numbers received a phone call from Imran Khan, a recording which then goes onto state the following in Urdu:

“Assalam-o-Alaikum. This is Imran Khan speaking. How are you? I am coming to your city to bring everyone together on December 25 at Mazar-e-Quaid for a peace rally. I hope that you can break all the shackles and take part because at this rally we need to make the beginnings of a new Pakistan. I will be waiting. Thank you.”

This recorded phone call had generated great enthusiasm across the city and had many being woken up early for this call. Considering the potential of blogging in today’s age, Imran Khan made a dramatic appearance at Pakistan Bloggers Awards ceremony at a local hotel just two days before the rally. It is yet another and more personal way of making people believe that change will come. Additionally PTI also provided traffic routes on its website on the day of rally adding to the perfect mix of all the ingredients used in making a successful recipe on 25th December.

Its tactics like these which have the political opponents of the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf on edge. Through these efficient marketing ploys and techniques, Imran Khan has been successful in winning over the hearts and minds of the youth alongside many others.
Bringing out most of the population that has remained sidelined in politics for the very first time, Imran Khan has proved that success is a matter of three things: identifying your audience, strategic planning to reach them and finally executing your ideas.