HERALD: What is your field of specialty?
MYRTLE RODRIGUES: ElectionMate is a mobile and web-based communication application for political parties and aspiring candidates participating in an electoral process. It is a campaign tool with in-built analytics that will assist political parties and aspiring candidates to understand the pattern of the voter’s response and habits to their manifesto, campaign strategies and even popularity. It is a modern-day electronic Chanakya that assist the candidates in communication, propaganda and analysis.
HERALD: How does your company help?
MR: ElectionMate was conceived with the purpose of addressing a need for aspiring political candidates who are not technology savvy in their communication campaigns using two most powerful tools of communication at this point of time – mobile and online web. And with more and more voters being on mobile and online via different verticals it is imperative that besides door-to-door campaign, newspaper advertisement and websites, aspiring candidates seize the opportunity to communicate with their voters through mobile and web-based methods and technology. While the aspiring candidate pays a nominal fee for the use of ElectionMate mobile and web-based products and services to the voters the mobile application is free, if the aspiring candidate invites you be apart of the ElectionMate product.
HERALD: Who are your major customers?
MR: Since ElectionMate is a political campaign tool, the paying customers will be the political aspirants whether independent or contesting under a political banner. The free viewing customer will be the voters of those political candidates who opt for ElectionMate.
HERALD: What issues did you have to face when you thought of launching this product?
MR: ElectionMate is a brain-child of the Kamysaki team – a technology division of Kaydence Media Ventures. The technical implementation, ideation and development had been undertaken by Imagine Works Pvt Ltd with its dynamic team led by Agraj Agranayak and Ajit Agranayak. Both Kamysaki and Imagine Works hold 50:50 per cent rights of the concept, product and services.
The real issue we battled before launching the product and services is the pricing. While it is a known fact that during election campaigning political parties and independent political parties spend crores in advertisement, PR activities and other communication exercises, we were worried whether our low prices would be laughed at by our customers. Our total product cost and its allied services for the entire duration of the election campaign per candidate would be as low as half-page B/W page on the local newspapers to as a high full-page coloured advertisement for a single day. The reason is many political candidates are clueless to the fact that mobile and online communication tools are the most cost effective and far reaching.
HERALD: How do you see Goa as a market? Is there a demand for you product?
MR: ElectionMate is a campaign tool product and service that we will be introducing in three states key states going into assembly election early next year namely Goa, UP and Punjab. Our research have indicated that at the prices we are offering the product and its allied services will find a considerable numbers of paying customers and viewing customers.
The coming election in Goa is going to be an aggressive election. Our research indicates there will be a crucial catalyst in communication and perception building over the next several weeks, therefore we have no doubt that the progressive political candidates will want to use ElectionMate. I cannot comment on those candidates who do not walk with changing times. So far, we have been getting a very positive feedback from some quarters in Goa and UP from a leading political party.
HERALD: What inspired you to come up with this product?
MR: It so happens that about six months ago the two teams of Imagine Works and Kamysaki where taking a cruise on a yacht on the Mandovi River and in our discussion about the political situation in our country, we wanted to assist good candidates get an upper-hand in their communication campaigns using technology, that’s when the idea germinated. So we got our research in place and started to create the blue-print of the product and its allied services. We want this product to work for good clean candidates independent and from political parties as well that’s why we made it affordable.
HERALD: Where do you see yourself and your company in next five years from now?
MR: Our companyis a solution provider that functions within the technology space. With our technical collaboration with Imagine Works we will concentrate more on creating technology solutions in communications and analysis in the electoral and governance space and other states.
