Demystifying Modi- A marketing perspective

The General Elections of 2014 have officially gone down as the biggest democratic exercise globally and the mandate has been an epic one for India. For the first time since 1984, a national party has the majority to form the government on its own and based on some indicatives, possibly the first time after 1972, a national leader selected by the people out of choice rather than the lack of it.

Yes, the BJP has emerged absolutely dominant across 5 states and enjoys over 80% votes in 5 others and the credit for this should go down to the grass root party workers. But for holding over 200 public addresses, inspiring and infusing enthusiasm in the party workers and building himself as a force to reckon with; it will be a complete three act dominated by Narendra Modi.

Leaving the debate whether brand Modi won the election or was it anything else to the political experts, I am only going to apply basic marketing principles to the success and place forth a simple perspective.

Give the people what they want: The very definition of marketing is focussed towards the needs of people. One factor India has been missing for a long time has been a strong and decisive central leadership. Possibly Indira Gandhi was the last known exponent of this trade and it reflected her resounding re-election in 1972; all thanks to her transformation from the ‘moom ki gudiya’ to the lady behind the victory in the Bangladesh liberation war.

Beyond elections have been just a series of counter actions and replacements to previous governments but never based on leadership. Morarji led coalition in 1977 an outcome of public dissent against the Indira governance. The re-election of Mrs Gandhi was due to the failure of the Janta Party. Rajiv Gandhi in 1984 got a massive sympathy wave, VP Singh in 1989, succeeded on the misdeeds of Rajiv, Chandrashekhar was a stop-gap and Narshimha Rao in 1991 got the benefits of another sympathy wave for Rajiv.

The 13 day Vajpayee government in 1996 failed an absolute mandate, Deve Gowda and I K Gujral were again stop gap arrangements. Vajpayee managed a coalition finally in 1999, but it failed to be decisive as it was always held at ransom by its allies. Manmohan Singh in 2004 was a last minute socially acceptable alternative and in 2009 there were little or no alternatives.

Narendra Modi in 2014 was a sign of definite leadership put forth before the Indian electorate. Who will be the PM had a definitive answer for months leading up to the elections and it was the biggest thing to have worked. Critics, party members and even media has come out saying that in a record turnout voting exercise; Modi was instrumental in installing confidence in the minds of a voter to give up on their inertia and apathy towards the government and exercise their vote.

A robust product: As a 3^rd term CM of one of India’s most rapidly developing state, Modi had suitable credentials to back him as a leader with decision making abilities. Gujarat under Modi was becoming a model state. The biggest beneficiary of the Sardar Sarovar project, water had now reached desert regions of Kutch and combined with hydro and solar power projects on the Narmada canal, Gujarat was now a power surplus state.

From an economic perspective, the swift action for the shift of the Tata Nano project in Sanand with the record time approvals and land allocations was a demonstration of the commanding stature of Modi against other state governments. No one could make such a profound statement by getting the approval from Tata, the gold standard in Indian industry, for their dream project.

Modi has gradually developed as a mark of decisive, progressive and development led governance. This was a much higher product promise presented to the Indians in a long time.   

Power of promotion: Like most others who have risen through the ranks of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Modi has the mass appealing oratory skills that we seek in a leader. He had been a crowd puller with his well-articulated language and confident words.

In addition, the BJP left no stone unturned to build a nationwide campaign across every form of media. Apart from the effective use of social media, television interviews, radio ads, ground activities, rallies and even use of holographic at places- it was a complete and through media campaign.

Going places: Addressing 185 rallies in 45 days leading up to the final phase of elections is no mean feat; it averages to 4 rallies everyday across various parts of the country. To add to it, Modi never stayed over at any place post his address and made sure he was back in Gandhinagar every night. What this super human effort achieved was connecting to the last mile of voters and a gratification of sorts to every single person that the man has taken the effort to meet me in my town.

Multi- appeal positioning: Modi was remarkable positioned to appeal to every Indian in some or the other way to counter the political shortcomings on his resume. A 3^rd term CM with a reputation for global recognition towards good governance was the solution at hand for a country ridden by corruption and scams. For the corporate world, he was a morphine shot in the waiting to aid a crawling economy. His modest backgrounds echoed the sentiments of a commoner while his rise thought the RSS ranks was an encouragement to his party workers.

If religious fundamentalism was a stumbling block, the development model was a redeemer. If zero national experience was a flaw, his work under similar conditions in Gujarat was a strong point. If his age was a spot of concern as compared to other campaigners, his experience overruled the matters.

In an overall, there can be many more factors which we can draw; these were some prime in my opinion. The only hope I hold in my mind is for the faith rested by the voters on this one man leads him to make an incremental change to the lives of every Indian. 

General Elections- The great Indian Saga

It is deemed to be the largest political exercise on this planet involving close to a billion people. It might also be among the most expensive democratic exercise (cost us Rs 846.67 Crore in 2009) and practically a logistical nightmare. The great political tamasha called General Elections in India.

We live today in an age where communication and technology have transformed the coordination process; but I cannot even image the kind of pains Sukumar Sen, the first person to be the Election Commissioner in India, might have gone through. Holding elections in India in 1951-52 and 1957 might have been the most herculean task. A time when 85% of the 176 Mn age eligible voters were illiterate, a time when accessibility of some areas was almost impossible and designing a code of conduct, ballot papers, boxes and the procedures had no references. The worst of it all- registering 176 Mn voters onto a list.

A fitting tribute to his capabilities- Sen was also the Election Commissioner in Nepal and Sudan. Not to mention, there were a few votes cast with his name written on it by some in 1951- I feel people just felt that if one person can orchestrate a process so daunting; he can run a country as well.

Indian’s have always been starry eyed when it came to people they vote for. From the Thakur of a village to a religious head, a union leader to sportsmen, everyone has come under the democratic process at some point or the other. Film actors have a special mention here, as they have always portrayed larger than life characters. So if an MGR was campaigning, his words became the words of the god he played in his last super hit. This trend will only grow as I see it.

Electoral reforms have been coming in throughout the years beyond with change in the rules for political campaigning, propaganda and use of resources- but the Election Commissioner as a person rarely rose to a recognizable figure until almost 40 years after Sen. T N Seshan will possibly be always remembered as a man most responsible for cleaning up the election process- not to mention; feared by politicians and political parties alike. Seshan along with MS Gill and GVG Krishnamurthy was the trio who in my opinion could have also taken up against the Chicago mobs.

I did read that Gill and GVG were brought in by the government in power then to negate Seshan’s one man army by bringing in parallels- but together (along with all their internal disagreements) made the Election Commission a force to reckon with. Any irregularities in the election procedure, suspected malpractices or violations usually resulted in disqualification of the person or the result. The iron fist method was a remarkable success. Gill went on to succeed Seshan as the big boss and successfully brought in the Electronic Voting Machines- which now limit the possibilities of a booth capture or bogus voting to a fair extent. Not to mention, the counting process is now far more efficient and quicker.

One large and significant change that has come to the fore front of every election campaign has been spending of large sums of money on media campaigning. Penetration of radio and televisions across the country was very low till the 80's and the state run network only accessible to the ruling party. The traditional means of mass campaigning remained dominant with the megaphones on jeeps and last minute campaigning with car drop services for voters.

But advent of private television networks post 1991 firstly provided options to a wider array of options to the people. Add to it the rise of music videos and private albums- all contributed to use of new media in elections. It brought with it national debates on channels, opinion polls along with expert opinion panels.

By the time the 1996 elections came around, private media was well entrenched in India and I was also enriched with some understanding of the political parties and their policies. If media had anything to play, I got to see some of the political campaigning of the Rao government trying to push forth their development agenda and liberalization via a songs. What was funny in that song though, was seeing how the destitute couple was uplifted to their smiling glory by a government led by a leader whose frowns became a cartoonist delight.

The by-elections in 1999 were amazing for one reason- every political party had entire Video CD with songs in their praise and criticize the other. I still can’t get over “dauda dauda bhaaga bhaaga sa… Deve Gowda bhaaga bhaaga sa”, and attracting Bollywood singers and directors as the talent. Advertising agencies were running the political campaigns and public relation agencies wrote speeches, designed press releases and managing the public image of leaders to a level where even the dress they wore for a public appearance was orchestrated. Today I can listen to Modi adding in verses to Sukhvinder Singh's 'Saugandh mujhe iss mitti ki' almost 3 times an hour on radio and the 'Shiv Senaaaa' tune playing across Mumbai.  

Mobile phones as a medium of political campaigning came in dominance in 2004 with BJP having a pre-recorded message of Atal Behari Vajpayee playing out to every voter on a reliance network. In 2009, the UPA bought the rights for “Jai ho” and the NDA fought back in mocking them with “Bhay ho”… the latter failed miserably though.

Internet and social media has taken political campaigning to a whole new level. BJP and AAP are amongst the most prolific users of this media with dedicated teams working overnight. Youtube videos are helping voters excited. Websites are updated on daily basis and even a “Mann se hai Mulayam…” can become the talk of the town in minutes. Anything said in any form cannot miss the public eye and the person involved cannot get away saying he was misquoted.

Well, so the stage has been set for the next big saga to unfold… all that remains is how all the media and popularity transforms the political landscape of this country.