Now that the Great Indian Tamaasha (World’s biggest Reality Show) is over it’s time for some retrospection not only for the losing UPA or for winning NDA but even for the people who glued to their television sets listening to the speeches, discussing and debating the politics over coffee, dinner, work stations and more importantly on the social media platforms. Being a would-be management graduate, here are few take-a ways for me from the world’s biggest democratic battle.
Get the basics right
We can’t hide a rotting rhino in a well for long time. We can’t hide the defects of any product for long time and sell it to the customers. Same is the case with Indian national congress. Leadership is the key ingredient for success of any initiative. INC failed to get the basics right. If failed weighing its Strengths and weaknesses. Move of pitching inefficient and unproved Rahul Gandhi against a person like Narendra Modi who served the office as Chief Minister for 14 continuous years proved to be the major fault.
Lesson: SWOT Analysis works (Surprisingly!!).Get the basics right.
Marketing & PR makes an average product an AWESOME one!!!
We have a machine which works slower than the competitors’ and is costlier than theirs and have few defects as well. It’s obvious that the customer goes for your competitor’s product provided the product has fewer defects. Only way you can sell this machine to the customers is by your marketing skills making the customer outweigh the advantages of your machine. There is nothing path breaking in this but the disruption happened when the same principle is applied in the political Arena. Modi projected himself as the epitome of development. He marketed himself as the game changer projecting the development made in Gujarat. But Gujarat is not as heavenly as being projected and have its own negatives (
Check this link for more information) . Utmost care was taken so that the rotting rhino won’t show up outside. That proved the right move and the results are obvious.
Recent stats reveal that of all the Major political figures of the country, Modi was seen more on television that any other leader for the past three months. More your presence among the customers more the brand recall be it a product or a leader.
Lesson: How much ever defective your product is, believe that your product is the best. Getting the Marketing and PR right can make wonders.
Surveys can be wrong (Sometimes)
How many ever market surveys you do, how many ever questionnaires you prepare, ultimately the customer buys what he needs. Customer is very intelligent. He answers all the questions you ask and by the time you feel you understood your customer, he buys what he thinks can be beneficial to him be it your product or your competitors’. Same is the case with the voters. You give him a flurry of false promises, you give him thousands of rupees, you give him bottles of alcohol, he accepts everything innocently (at least pretending to be) and when the D-Day arrives, he is intelligent enough to decide whom to vote. This pattern was evident especially in Andhra Pradesh where the surveys and exit polls predicted one party to win and the results proved that the people are not as innocent as the politicians think.
Lesson: Never rely completely on Surveys. You can never completely understand your customer.
Know your customer:
This is the most basic and the most important aspect in business or in politics. Knowing the customer makes the life easier. Giving him what he needs satisfies him. Giving him more than what he expects thrills him and makes him happier. Drawing an analogy in politics, Modi was brilliant enough to understand the underlying current i.e. the need for change among the countrymen. He projected it in the right way mixing it with right ingredients like development, dynamism thus making it a great dish to be served to his voters and he succeeded in his attempt.
Lesson: Understand the latent need of your customer and deliver before he asks
Every success story sounds simple but behind it lies the never ending efforts of thousands of brains which worked hard to make the story sound simple. On this wonderful occasion where the people made their mandate clear, only thing we can do is to wish for better governance and hope for a better tomorrow. Happy Independence Day to my fellow countrymen (!!!)