PAC has always believed in creative approaches in its campaigns to increase voter turnout, whether for registration, voting, or even obtaining voter ID cards.  It has adopted unique approaches to impart its electoral messages to a wide range of target audiences ranging from school children to IT professionals.  It has utilised the creative services of noted advertising agencies such as MAA Bozell and Brand Comm to influence the thinking of the largely apathetic residents of Bangalore. In most cases, these agencies have offered their services pro bono.  The major modes of dissemination used by PAC are listed below:

• Newspapers, neighbourhood newspapers, and vernacular magazines:  Newspapers have been an invaluable media tool for PAC to advocate its campaign messages since 1996, as they offer economical yet wide-reaching benefits.  Leading daily newspapers like the Deccan Herald and the Times of India have supported the Informed Choicess. Reporters have collected information from candidates (even before the Supreme Court judgment) and widely disseminated the analysis conducted by PAC. Neighbourhood newspapers have carried the information leaflets on candidates compiled by PAC during elections, and have also publicised reports with regard to revisions and EPIC campaigns.

• Video & film:  The Choose the Right Councillor Programme during the Bangalore City Corporation elections in 1996 was documented by a film entitled Whose Vote is it Anyway?, to provide interesting and valuable insights into the conduct of the programme. The film, shown to interested groups across the country, has been used as an effective advocacy aid to stimulate ordinary citizens to make informed choices in elections, and to encourage organised groups to undertake similar efforts.

• Televison networks : Television was another medium that was extensively used by PAC during the Parliamentary and State legislative elections of 2004. Celebrities such as cricketer Rahul Dravid, cine-star Aamir Khan and Kannada film star Ramesh Aravind urged voters with the message, “Vote today, don't curse tomorrow”.  These appealing advertisements were aired on national and regional television channels and radio broadcasting networks. This strategy generated a good response, with citizens sitting up and taking notice of the ‘cast your vote’ message propagated by these celebrities.

Cable TV networks such ICE TV, Siti cable have rendered their support to PAC’s campaigns, with programmes ranging from repetitively informing voters about various procedures for registration to interviewing PAC members and telecasting documentary films and street plays motivating voters to actively participate in the election process. 

• Radio and websites: PAC has used these media extensively to motivate and inform citizens on how to enrol on the voters’ list, collect their EPIC and exercise their franchise. Radio stations like Radio City 91 FM in Bangalore and Radio Mirchi in Mumbai, as well as popular websites such as indiatimes.com and msnindia.com, have supported numerous campaigns by publicising the voter helpline or the PAC website. Radio City 91 FM has also aired interviews with PAC members on various occasions and conducted on-air quizzes on issues related to electoral revisions. 

• Mass emails:  PAC’s campaigns have made use of this simple but effective tool of communication to reach thousands of people during voter registrations, polls and EPIC campaigns. Through mass emails, PAC’s messages have hit the computer screens and bulletin boards of many corporations, NGOs and other organisations across the state.  Personal emails on corporate networks such as the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the National Association of Service and Software Companies (NASSCOM) have also carried PAC’s messages to thousands of companies.

• Children’s civic clubs:  PAC and Swabhimana, through their Children’s Movement for Civic Awareness (CMCA) programme, have successfully installed civic clubs in about 60 schools in Bangalore with the objective of inculcating civic values among the city’s youngest citizens. As part of their activities, these children have marked their presence in PAC’s electoral campaigns by encouraging their elders to vote in elections.  A special programme called Vote for My Sake was launched during the mid-term Lok Sabha elections in 1999, through which children distributed more than 100,000 badges aimed at raising voter awareness. Again during the BMP elections in 2001, children from about 30 schools in Bangalore carried messages and influenced their parents to take an oath to vote during elections.  Having been educated about the importance of casting one’s vote, children successfully carried this message to their parents and other eligible voters in the family and neighbourhood.

• Promotions aimed at youth:  Designing campaigns on an important but mundane issue like elections for the common man has been a great challenge to PAC over the years. This is true especially of youth, who are quickly losing their interest in politics and are generally aloof when it comes to voting. PAC aimed specifically at these individuals when it organised its Soul O' the Poll cartoon contest during the mid-term polls in 1999. The contest elicited keen interest and participation among school and college students. Similarly, a vintage car and motorbike rally was held in association with the Karnataka Vintage and Classic Car Club. These antique vehicles rallied across the city with catchy and stimulating messages to motivate voters to exercise their franchise.

• Hoardings & billboards: In order to reach out to the busy, on-the-move populace of Bangalore, catchy, humorous and thought-provoking messages were displayed on hoardings at major junctions in the city during various campaigns. Such messages were also put in full view behind the city buses in order to enlighten and motivate voters across the city.

• Street plays: During the special summary revision of the voters’ list in 2004, PAC engaged the services of ‘Some-poorna’, a group of young engineers and software professionals who dabble in street theatre. The group conducted a street play aptly entitled Sath Praje, a term which means true citizen, but can also be interpreted colloquially to mean dead citizen (the play urges people to be the former). It was performed in prominent locations in Bangalore to motivate the youth to actively participate in the electoral process. The play elicited encouraging responses, even in busy, commercial areas of the city, suggesting that the crowds in such areas could be stimulated to take part in the electoral process.

• Helplines: PAC has consistently set up telephone helplines to help during elections, summary revisions of electoral rolls, and the issuing of photo ID cards in and around Bangalore. Every time the helplines are set up, PAC has been flooded with calls from citizens asking for information. This proved to be a very effective medium of information dissemination and has a personal and appealing touch to it. The Bangalore Mahanagara Palike has also adopted this idea and has started setting up zonal helplines at its ARO offices for citizens.

• Others: Last but not the least, customary aids like pamphlets, posters, leaflets and brochures have been used by PAC in its campaigns since the beginning.  Autorickshaw announcements have also proved to be a popular medium in rural areas close to the city like City Municipal Corporations (CMCs).