Narendra Modi's PR issues!!!

During his Chief Ministership,  Narendra DamodarDas Modi, the face of the development in Gujarat and an enigma for rest of the world, including people living outside Gujarat in India, went on a public relation spree when he hired a global public affairs and communication firm to improve his image and to showcase Gujarat as the dream destination for investment to the world community. His Vibrant Gujarat campaign became his calling card and suddenly Narendra Modi had arrived on the national scene on the development plank!

Come National elections and BJPs choice of the PM candidate,  disclosed in 2013 itself, Narendra Modi had firmly been estblished as a messiah for the downtrodden who would change the face of India with a magic wand just like Harry Potter.

In the run up to 2014 election, BJP and Mr. Modi hired another firm, an Indian firm this time, for image and reputation management. There is no denying that the agency did a tremendous job as it was successful in creating a Modi wave across the country and BJP came to power with a resounding win.

He is one of the very few politicians who understand that news makes opinion and that this is a job best handled by professionals. His PR machinery works wonders for him and, despite one or two hiccups, the entire campaign was successful in creating the brand "NaMo".

After he became the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi got the attention that he deserved and the national as well as international media was quick to share how a tea vendor with no resources at all  became the Prime Minister of the largest democracy of the world. His invitations to the leaders of the APAC region, especially Pakistan, to the swearing in won him laurels from across the world and this was only through effective media management.

After one year of Modi Government, the social media which was instrumental in his phenomenal rise, has suddenly been filled with sarcastic remarks pointing out mistakes in his working style. The news of his meeting with the Chinese premier, Obama's visit to India as a Chief Guest for 26th january, India’s Nuclear Pact with Australia, decline in communal clashes, Rising hopes of the world in Indian economy, has all been overshadowed by his travelling across the world, his suit on republic day and the Lalitgate episode.

The sudden change in the PR tactics where he chose not to respond to these accusations, neither in any interview, nor on the social media, is quite surprising as he was the one who used social media successfully to shape his public image. The role of his PR machinery and the external PR agency that I believe he is still working with, therefore becomes very very important. They have to ensure that they are proactively disseminating information on his ideology and his leadership that will lead to a strong and prosperous India. 

It is high time that the people of India start witnessing the changes that have been brought about in the country which was why they had bestowed faith on this man and given him a majority in the Parliament. It is the responsibility of the PR team of NaMo to start working in full gear again. Today the dent in his credibility is more due to his sudden silence on several controversial issues rather than any real change in his situations. Things are getting better on ground and people's perception of the same is getting worse.

It is important that his PR machinery understands that the Indian population, which voted him into power on the basis of the trust that he commanded from each one of them, is very very finicky and can easily overturn the situation at the next elections. Backed by strong actions, the PR team needs to come up with a long term strategy to undo the damage caused, and move on to rebuild the trust amongst the citizens of the country.

The PR team also needs to proactively look at what and when to comment and  when to shut up and share their thoughts on topical issues. People in the country are suddenly very sceptical of the status quo and Team NaMo needs to realize that it takes time to build an image. The team was successful in building the image and reputation once but it needs constant work. The NaMo machinery needs to start reinforcing the brand MODI again, before it is too late.  

Image Courtesy: www.narendramodi.in

Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam: A People's President or a visionary???

Ever since Dr. Kalam, India’s 11^th President passed away on the 27^th of July 2015, there have been reams written on him. Both in the Virtual World that is the Social media and Twitter and the actual world i.e. the media, paeans in his praise are being sung by the minute.

Rather than being carried away in the heat of the moment and going on and on about the virtues of a person who undoubtedly excelled in whatever he did, one must analyze the legacy that he is leaving behind and understand the importance of it.

What is it that made people like Swami Vivekananda, Gandhiji, Annie Besant, etc. become immortal?? If we find answer to this we can safely address the importance of Dr. Kalam and the potential of his becoming immortal rather than just occupying space in the history books as the “People’s President”.

If you look at the common thread between Swami Vivekananda, Gandhiji and Annie Besant, they all have been harbingers of Social Change. They all stand for Ideas and Values which, when propagated, were before their times and were considered Radical but slowly they found acceptance and today form the core of the values that make our society.

Dr. Kalam was indeed a Great scientist, a Good President who opened up his Presidency to the People like none before him had done, a Great motivator of the youth particularly the Students. What else??? 

Has Dr. Kalam consciously or unconsciously talked or bought about any Social Change?? Is there a larger message that Dr. Kalam has given to the society?? Work is Worship, an age old saying has been eloquently promoted by Dr. Kalam, "Dream is not that which you see while sleeping, it is something that does not let you sleep".

Has Dr. Kalam's philosophy reached the hinterlands of India, amongst the poorest of poor?? Do or Can people at the Base of Pyramid really relate to Dr. Kalam??? I am not trying to run down the accomplishments of Dr. Kalam, I am just trying to understand if  will Dr. Kalam become immortal??

Dr. Kalam is an inspiration to this generation. Be it the odds against which he rose to occupy the supreme chair in India, be it his unflinching Nationalism, Be it the devotion to the Student Community and be it the Value System that he followed, Be it the religious divide that he conquered, all are unparalleled in Modern Indian History.

So the importance of Dr. Kalam at the present moment cannot be denied. But whether he will serve as an inspiration to the generations to come, is a big question mark. I daresay unless his legacy is carried forward, there is a real danger that he will just be another name in the History books eventually.

Has he impacted the Society so much so as to bring societal changes?? I am sorry to say that the answer is an unequivocal No. Will he become immortal?? I would say the jury is still out on this and will remain so for sometime despite UN deciding to christen his birthday as the “International Students Day”.

Liberalisation @25

There is nothing magical about 25 as a number. When you say 25, it does not have a ring of being a milestone. Strictly speaking, there is nothing magical about the number 25.

When India’s most accomplished cricketer Sachin Tendulkar announced his retirement as he entered into the 25^th year of his international cricket career, the pundits were quick to look at the statistics – 25 years. Nearly 35,000 runs in first class cricket. 100 international centuries. 200 test matches. He had reached the zenith during his playing days, a feat unmatched in the history of the game. That also sounded nearly perfect statistic for the little master, for who it meant a lifetime of cricket.

25 years is hardly a long period in the life of a nation though. When you consider the lost opportunities that India has seen during the last 24 years since the announcement of the liberalisation programme on July 24, 1991, it does seem long.

It was a crisis, a balance of payment crisis, that had pushed Finance Minister Manmohan Singh and Prime Minister Narasimha Rao to craft together the economic liberalisation programme. Interestingly, the Naramsimha Rao government did not have the full majority. Yet, in less than two months after being voted to power, it had managed to do the job.

2014, if the BJP were to be believed, was another crisis. Over the last 14 months, as the NDA government has gone ahead with some big bang cosmetic changes, the big bang reforms are missing. Reforms that can push states to act within a stipulated time, is not quite on the agenda.

Any economy is driven by sentiment, capital and fundamentals, in that order. If the sentiment can be turned around, capital follows which improves the cycle, leading to higher investments and growth.

The attempt by the Prime Minister to make India among the top 50 countries for ease of doing business is a self-admission of the problem that has persisted for years. For one of the top five economies in the world, the ranking of 142 is hardly anything to write home about. Sentiment has clearly not changed much in the last 12-14 months.

There is little to suggest that the capital investment is happening. Banks are not yet ready to lend for fear of the bad loans, an acute problem with state run banks, which appears to have been brushed under the carpet. Infrastructure is crying for investment but when was the last you heard a big bang announcement by a company that said that it was going to invest for roads, ports, airports or other infrastructure? If you think capital is seeking India’s growth story, show me the money!

The fundamentals of the economy paint a dismal picture. There is little capital investment that could indicate that jobs will be created 12-18 months later. India’s goods exports, hovering around the $300 billion mark, have failed to capitalise on the recovery seen in the western world in the last 12-24 months. Growth in industrial output for May 2015 at 2.7 per cent against May 2014 was an apology after 4.1 per cent growth in April 2015 against a year earlier. If the trend continues, core sector growth could soon make the saffron brigade see red!

Over last two decades, something as basic as the power sector has not been addressed. India had opened the power generation sector in 1992. But power generation has still not been rid of its ills and challenges. Only 17 states have their own power sector regulators. If states don’t move in sync with the national policy 25 years after reforms, pray, how can the reforms percolate to the common man?

After over two decades of liberalisation, the government continues to be in the business of hotels, airlines, telecom, jute, construction, cement, warehousing, shipping, dredging, port, insurance, machine tools and several more.

India was a $250 billon economy when the economic liberalisation was announced. India is now a $2 trillion economy, with the growing clout of a rising consumer class that will be the engine of growth for many years to come. Never mind how big the middle class it. But the rapidly growing consuming class is expected to double the size of the economy in the next five years.

As we enter the 25^th year of liberalisation, the nation has grown. The politicians who drive the agenda, often their narrow agenda, seem to have been dwarfed by the nation.

Prime Minister Modi had promised to do a ‘Sachin Tendulkar’ for the economy and for India. It is a pity for the nation of 1.27 billion that he, too, is faltering.

Billion telecom subscribers feeding into Digital India

Last week, a release by India’s telecom regulator TRAI said that India’s telephone subscriber based had hit one billion phone lines. This includes a paltry 26 million landline phones too, which have been anything but growing during these years.

The historic milestone comes just days ahead of the country ready to get into the 25th year of economic reforms.

The three big telecom companies – Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular and Reliance Communications – whose stocks are listed on the stock exchange clocked nearly Rs. 100,000 crore or nearly $16 billion in revenue during the last financial year. The industry’s revenues, including those of the unlisted companies is in excess of Rs. 200,000 crore or nearly $32 billion.

Despite the scams in the 1990s and the last decade, there is little reason to doubt the success of the telecom sector. If cricket and Bollywood are the religion of the country, the familiar ring of a mobile phone can be described as the soul of every Indian. From about 18 million landline phones and less than half a million mobile phones in 1997, that is a stupendous journey.

No other infrastructure has enjoyed the success that the telecom sector has in the quarter of a century of stuttering reforms. If there are any self congratulatory messages that are floating around, it is time to stop that. A little bit of perspective will help temper the enthusiasm of those who are touting this as an achievement.

India continues to be a power deficit country with a peak power shortage of nearly 15 per cent and shortage of power will stunt growth for the industry. That is woeful for a country that is looking to alleviate poverty and accelerate growth to near double digits. With nearly two-third of the energy needs met by coal, the green brigade continues to point out that it is a cause for worry for the nation. The power sector was opened up for reforms in 1992 with eight fast track power projects, including the infamous Enron. Nearly 25 years later, reforms in distribution of power have been the slowest and the proverbial last mile connectivity continues to be a challenge.

UPA2 had promised to build 20 kilometres of roads everyday and when the government ended its term last year, the figure was no better than 8 kilometres. The NDA government has promised to take it to 30 kilometres a day beginning 2016. During the current financial year the government is hoping to build 8500 kilometres. But the worry is April-May has seen an average of 4 kilometres a day. Road Minister Nitin Gadkari has said that PPP model for the roads sector is not viable so the contracts for the next two years are being awarded through the engineering, procurement and construction or EPC route.

There has been some momentum in the last 12 months in the ports sector and over 30 projects have been awarded which will add over 250 million tons per annum capacity to India’s ports. India’s $300 billion plus goods exports could do with more efficient ports that could ship and ship in products faster, freeing up locked capital for companies.

As we enter the 25th year of reforms, it is time to reform the reformers. The half baked reform measures, evidently, have not helped. It is time for a full Monty so that it could serve as a showcase for the world. The focus now should be on identifying what India has missed out on because of tardy implementation and the half measures in the name of reforms.

For telecom, though, there is one reason for the Republic to celebrate. The man who was the telecom minister in the 1990s when the sector was being deregulated, Sukh Ram, has been cooling his heels in Delhi’s Tihar Jail, convicted on corruption charges in 2011. Now, when a former Defence Minister allegedly threatens a senior police officer on the phone, the recorded conversation has found its way to YouTube. Without the proliferation of mobile phones, could this ever have been possible?

Look at it in another way: Riding on the foundations of the telecom revolution, the recorded conversation is going viral. Are we testing the waters of the Digital India plan? 

Media Relations in smaller towns and Cities...

India is a vast country and every few kilometers the language, culture, nuances - everything changes... So how does one look at media relations in these places???

For a consultancy that has had more than its share of "client requirements" for smaller cities and towns - we targeted more than 300 towns in North India for a client several years ago - we have been pretty successful in garnering coverage across regions.

And this was not through some rocket-science, but keeping the basic tenets of PR in mind:

1. Reach Out and Communicate: In the smaller towns, the opportunities are fewer and most media is more than happy to connect with your client, if he/she can get a bite/quote that can give him/her more visibility. So the crux is to reach out and open channels of communication. Just remember - Phones/Faxes are preferred modes over emails/sms here.

2. Respect: We have always believed that respect is a two-way street and sometimes we are so caught up in our own sense of importance, that we forget common courtesies. Most agencies err on the side of "superiority" - we err on the side of caution. Making a person feel good about himself/herself and then getting him the access to the right people, we have realized, helps get better stories than any amount of push/pull from the head office or throwing names

3. Localize: Giving the local flavour, and adding some basic details relevant to that region helps a lot... Customization is the key here... It also gives the media a sense of "relevance" and they can fight to get their stories in better... Wherever possible communicate in the local language and offer quotes and details in the same language. Remember - Google translate is NOT a good idea - it only transliterates and does not translate! Locate a quality translator, often a local media person or someone who the local media can recommend!

4. Brief your client well on the do's and don'ts: It pays to have a short briefing session on the local media, just before the activity, so that the client is fully abreast of what to say and what not to say/do!!!

And last but not the ;least: Please do not crib about roads, heat, power failure, lack of amenities, etc... Remember, there is some nice thing to say about the worst of places and while you are just visitors, these people are residents...

We have had successful stints in most of the places that we have been to, based on only these four tenets and so can all of you!!!

RaGa's First TV Interview

What a Coup!!! Both for the PR agency which managed to convince Rahul Gandhi to do a one on one TV interview in front of the whole world and for the News Anchor – Arnab Goswami. 

But was it really a coup for the PR agency???

There are serious lessons to be learnt here - politically as well as from the Public Relations (PR) perspective.

Let us talk about the PR perspective first. Being now a PR practitioner for more than a decade, let me try and explain how the one on one interviews are structured. 

Before you put your client for a one on one and especially on TV, you first try and get a brief from the journalist as to the areas of discussion on which the client is supposed to be speaking. I am sure given the importance of this interview, the media team of Rahul Gandhi must have got a brief.

Once you know the areas  on which the journalist is supposed to be questioning the client, you do a client briefing. The briefing involves trying to come up with all the questions in the area that can probably be raised and answering those so that the client is well prepared. With these in place, the chances of the Client being surprised are slim, provided the homework has been well done.

Also the client is told to stick to the answers as briefed. If the journalist goes beyond the "brief",  then the trick lies in trying to bring the journalist back to the area of interest.

Before dissecting the interview and how Rahul Gandhi fared, we must admit that from a PR briefing perspective Rahul did a remarkable job – he stuck to four practiced and briefed issues: RTI, Women Empowerment, Bringing youth into the political system and political reforms. He tried to bring Arnab Goswami back to these four topics, going so far as to even ask Arnab why he wasn’t asking him questions on these four topics. Arnab’s cheeky response was that if I do then I will be hearing the political speech of Rahul Gandhi.

So where did the script go wrong??? I am sure there was a script. Was is that Arnab told Rahul’s team something else and posed different questions? Or was it that he just told the RaGa team that he would talk about general topics and the RaGa’s high profile team were so gullible that they fell for it. 

I call the team high profile because the poor Man is spending close to Rs.500 crores(rumoured) and for this amount he has, I am sure, been guided to the so called best.

Even if the journalist exceeded the brief, Rahul and his team should have been well prepared. Arnab, after all, has a reputation of being a sharp journalist and everybody knows he will go to any length to protect that. Then why is it that Rahul appeared as a Sacrificial Lamb in front of Arnab. 

If Rahul was not prepared to address issues and topics other than the four topics, then why have him on TV? This was a an unpardonable mistake on part of Rahul’s handlers.

The biggest asset till date for Rahul was that people felt that he is sincere, "Reluctant Prince" is how Arnab put it. Yesterday that facet was completely ripped apart. Rahul appeared evasive and despite what anybody might say was literally squirming in the chair. 

If you observed his stance during the interview, he was sitting almost at the edge of the chair and appeared to be tense. The posture was not relaxed at all. And the fact that he was sweating was clearly visible to all viewers. 

What the hell were Rahul’s handlers doing? Didn’t they train him on how to conduct himself in the interview? Rahul has got a beautiful dimpled smile – where was the smile yesterday??? If only had the handlers told Rahul to smile whatever be the circumstances, I am sure he would have got a lot more female followers.

I feel sorry for Rahul and my sympathies really lie with him. 

If I were him, I would immediately replace my Media handlers. For PR practitioners there is an important lesson: Just to justify your fee and get media coverage, Never, ever sacrifice your client!!!

If there is even an iota of doubt in your mind that the media coverage could well boomerang on your client, then despite whatever the client might want, stick to your guns and do not expose the chinks in your clients' armour.

Politically, the lesson that the politicians need to learn is that a Media interview on TV is not a monologue but a dialogue. One should never jump into the limelight without being prepared. After all “Newshour by Arnab Goswami” is one of the most watched programmes on TV and one should have had prior experience of handling tough questions to have even thought of being there. 

I will give you an example – Arnab pointedly asked Rahul again and again as to why the Congress leaders accused of 1984 Sikh riots not been prosecuted as yet? Rahul was fumbling and sweating. He could have answered very easily that he had full faith in the Indian judicial system and believed that eventually the guilty will not go unpunished. If further probed as to the delay he could have taken shelter saying that the matter was sub-judice and he would not like to comment on this and could have agreed that we require judicial reforms to hasten justice. This would have sounded so much better and would have made him appear confident.

He was asked as to would he apologize for the Sikh riots of 1984 and his response after repeated questioning was "I was not there". What a stupid answer is that and that too from the leader of one of the oldest political parties in India and a Prime Ministerial Candidate, no less? 

He could have easily said that I believe the Congress party stands for being non-communal and this can be seen from the fact that we have a Sikh Prime Minister. How can  you then accuse us of being anti – Sikh?? He could have also gracefully added that the 1984 riots were wrong as are any other riots. He could have said that the PM has already apologized for the 1984 riots. And he is the head of the Country so what more can you want?

Politicians should learn not to blindly trust their handlers and use there public life acumen to conclude what is right for them. As for Arnab, it was a feather in his cap as a journalist. He has reinforced his image as a tough journalist! Alas if he can only let others speak as he did with Rahul yesterday, he could become a great journalist!!! As they say, give them enough rope to hang themselves!!!

AAP: The Road ahead...

Now that Arvind Kejriwal and his party have bitten the bullet and finally agreed to form government in Delhi, the question in everybody’s mind is what next?

I had met Arvind for dinner at a friend's place almost 10 years ago and he was idealistic then too. But not in my wildest dreams could I have imagined that I was meeting the future Chief Minster of Delhi. 

I personally supported AAP and was also a contributor to the fund raising by his party. Many of my friends and colleagues wondered and asked me the reason for supporting AAP. Their question was very pertinent – What is it that you want in Delhi that AAP will do and the other parties have not done?

When I pondered over the question, my immediate, on the spur answer that would have been  "development", did not hold valid. Development in Delhi has happened irrespective of the party at the helm. We, sitting in Delhi, crib but just stepping out of Delhi will give one the idea of what a privileged lot we Delhiites are. We get almost uninterrupted power, most parts of Delhi - at least the authorised ones - get water, the roads are by far well maintained, we are close to having a robust public transport system in the next three years, there is proper sanitation and the list can go on and on... 

So why AAP and not the regular political dispensation?

Well, I did not have a proper answer but I still wanted AAP. It is like a whiff of fresh air, true they still seem too idealistic in  today’s time and people believe they have a magic wand, they speak a language which nobody else speaks. Their idealism strikes a chord with, I guess, every well meaning Indian.

The deciding factor is the feeling of empowerment that people in Delhi feel today. For the first time perhaps, they have a class of politicians who belong to the common class. The people of Delhi believe that the elected representatives of the AAP party will actually be their representatives and not their lords and masters. 

A true example that I heard today was when one young lady of 22 yrs was assaulted in Mukherjee Nagar Area and the police refused to file a FIR. The husband who resides in Pitampura area called up the MLA of Mukherjee Nagar (who was not known to him, but whose number was on the AAP website) and the MLA immediately went to the Police Station and forced the SHO there to file a FIR.

These are however lofty benchmarks for the AAP party and its supporters to uphold. Only time will tell whether these incidences where just a flash in the pan or it is something which will dictate the political discourse in the future.

The days ahead for AAP are going to be challenging, indeed daunting. The biggest being that there is only one  Arvind Kejriwal. The others faces are known yet unknown. Most of those who have supported AAP have done so because of Arvind. Would I have voted for say Manish Sisodia or say Prashant Bhushan were it not for Arvind? - Very unlikely. So the question before Arvind and AAP is how to build the next level of leadership and how to give the organisation a shape. The beauty of AAP lies in the chaos, the spontaneity and the unstructured form of politics. However if AAP has to increase its geographic footprint and go national, then these are the questions that have to be resolved.

Many AAP supporters believe that it is going to be a cakewalk in rest of the country. The belief has also led Arvind Kejriwal to announce that AAP will fight the Lok Sabha election in Gujarat against Modi. This could be very ambitious and a dangerous strategy. To fight against Modi is not going to be easy, more so because I believe that Gujarat will vote for him whole heartedly for the fact that they would want one of theirs to be the Prime Minister.

I think AAP is on the right path of going National because their ideas have universal appeal. Also unless they go national, they will fall in the trap that other regional parties have fallen – being confined to specific territories. However, they will have to have a more definitive approach to issues besides the Corruption plank if they want to fight the Lok Sabha poll. Unlike the local elections, National elections should be fought on a policy plank which covers larger National and International issues e.g. What is AAP’s stand over the ongoing India – US diplomatic row over strip search of an Indian diplomat.

They will also have to project other people who the public can trust as much as they trust Arvind Kejriwal. I am sure Arvind Kejriwal who is as astute as anyone else will already be weighing these in his mind. We wait to see what will come out of his fertile brain.

I must admit he is right in at least one aspect that people of India are looking for a credible alternative which can really empower them or at least leave them feeling empowered!!!