Though I am not a politician, politics fascinates me. I am one of the very few fortunate PR professionals in the country, who did political communication before and I still enjoy doing it as much as I enjoy watching the mysteries of Indian voters unfold in uncanny manner. I find elections more exciting than T20 cricket. The war is more intense than that of any form of sports. We have been seeing some never seen before use of communication tactics & tools in the race for Presidency in US. But, I am going to talk about BJP’s recent Karnataka win and how they went about crafting the victory using the most potent weapon of mass awareness.

I don’t want to analyse the win or the strategy they have adopted. Our friends in the media have already done enormous stories on it. We are going to discuss about how to know what to do and what not to do and how really one does effectively to win consumers or voters. And that’s what is called strategy.

It’s all about common sense and gut feeling…

Opinions polls painting different pictures, various researches showing some funny trends but you know what is right. You apply common sense to connect with common men and understand their wish. Do your own research to find out whether what you are saying is making sense or not. Above all, believe in what you are doing and do it well.

Identify the need…

Know your consumers. It is always said that once you know your consumer, you don’t need to know anything else. Identify what connects you with your consumer, what she needs and how can you fulfill her demandments (I had a book ‘The 10 Demandments’ – someone borrowed it forever. If anyone of you have a copy, please allow me to borrow and never return!)

Be independent in your thinking…

One of the biggest mistakes we make is compromise and never does business on our own terms. We follow industry trends, try to benchmark against someone and so on… Hey, c’mon guys God has given you a brain to use it and create something of your own and not to become Annu Mallik or Pritam or Mahesh Bhatt. Chart your own way and if I have to use management jargon here, develop Blue Oceans and enjoy the splash.

Choose your team carefully…

If everything goes well, Rajasthan Royals will be the champs of first IPL series. I have heard a RJ of one of the FM stations in Mumbai making a mockery of team at the beginning of IPL and now I am sure that RJ or the person who wrote the script must be feeling like hiding his face in the sand like an ostrich!

Great team is a team where every member of the team contributes towards the success and that forms a winning habit.

Know your competition…

This is another KYC - as important as knowing your consumers. Know as much as possible and do your homework right. Find out gaps and fill those gaps. Find out defecting consumers and grab them. Find out traitors and stay away from them. Know when and how they dance and what the platform they dance on is made of.

Learn the art of deception…

If you have read the Art of War by Sun Tzu, you know what I am talking about. It reads, “When able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe that we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.” I rest my case, your honour! Now, it’s up to you to write the judgment!

Leaders lead to serve people…

Leader should inspire trust. You should know who the leader is and he or she should be able to take his/her people along. Leaders do not get created by high command’s whims and fancies. Leaders emerge from within. They show the path, take responsibility for defeats and share fruits of winning. Lead from the front and again pardon me for going back to Sun Tzu but as he wrote and I quote, “The Commander stands for the virtues of wisdom, sincerity, benevolence, courage and strictness”.

Mission & Vision…

Share your manifesto, based on needs of your stakeholders. Connect with everyone emotionally and lead with passion. Success if yours to be taken. Winning will surely become habit and never fail to deliver on what you promised. Otherwise, as one of the old Bollywood song sings, “Yeh public hain, yeh sab jaanti hain… Andar kya hain, Bahar kya hain… yeh sab kuch pehchanti hain…”

Politics can be dirty but learning something from it, is not.

Take care my friends and don’t stay away from politics! Our country needs good servant leaders. Do you have it in you?