Rahul Gandhi: Lessons of Re-Branding

The textbook definition of a brand says that a 'Brand' is an idea. It’s the way your customers feel when they think about your company or see your name on a billboard. ‘Branding’ on the other hand, is a strategic pattern or a set of actions used to develop that all-important perception. A well-defined and carefully executed brand strategy bridges the gap between your business and the people you most want to reach. Whereas 'Re-Branding' is developing a new, differentiated identity in the minds of consumers, competitors, and other stakeholders. In this article, we will take Mr. Rahul Gandhi as an example of a Re-Branding exercise and his attempts to re-brand himself and to be accepted as a leader for the country.

You must have come across, if not followed closely, the press conferences and the interviews of Mr. Rahul Gandhi with economic experts, diplomacy and international relations experts, Nobel laureates, academic professionals, medical personnel, or businessmen during lockdown that started in late March this year. In all these above online interactions, he tried to focus and discuss the existing problems and the ones that are arising due to the coronavirus-led pandemic in the country while also trying to get suggestions and opinions on solving these issues. He tried to voice his opinion and ask questions as a leader of the opposition and also let others raise their voice or ask questions on the platform he initiated which is now lauded by many.

Did you see anything different in his approach this time?

The one difference, we saw, is that he is now talking more about real issues plaguing the country instead of blaming the prime minister or the ruling government. Though being in opposition compels him to ask questions to the government, but excessive poking has led more harm to him and to his reputation than any good. He is more prepared, composed, and now accepting that these current times are not a time for politics but for everyone to act together to mitigate the impacts of the pandemic. He is trying to display himself as a thought leader or someone who respects other thought leaders and appreciate their suggestions and opinions on economic and national matters. This was clearly seen in all the online interactions, he conducted. The other reason, we could think of, behind his slow rise in this area is because his oppositions are quite and do not perceive him as a threat in the coming times. Mr. Rahul Gandhi has taken this silence as an opportunity to clean his image and restart again.

Although, the past was not as stable, if not bright, for Mr. Rahul Gandhi as it is now. Since the beginning of BJP uprise in 2013-14, there were two well-known faces among the masses, namely Mr. Narendra Modi and Mr. Rahul Gandhi, where one was looked upon as a strong leader and the other who lacked leadership. Mr. Rahul Gandhi was swept away in the wave that Mr. Narendra Modi carried with him. He was (and still is) fighting to a giant of a brand who has branded oneself as a '56" inch', strong, fearless leader. It is an uphill task for Mr. Gandhi to match that popularity where most citizens, if not everyone, wait for him to come live on news channels to give his speech. Mr. Gandhi, very smartly, took a different approach to craft his image rather than following the footsteps of his opposition. He is not only fighting 'Branding War' with Mr. Narendra Modi but also to the 'old' Mr. Rahul Gandhi. He is differentiating himself by doing what his opponents had never done. This differentiation would help him to make a separate standing of his image that consequently cleans off his old image.

So, what did you learn from him till now?

1. Forget the past.

2. Start afresh.

3. Focus on the customer.

4. Do consistent communication with stakeholders.

5. Use different channels/platforms/locations to expand your reach.

6. Know the psyche of the customer and align your strategies accordingly.

7. Hit the opponent when the iron is hot.

8. Show empathy (being opportunistic is a NO-NO).

9. Build a differentiation factor (POD).

10. Change your values and mission with changing demand.

That one story of 'Online' Mr. Rahul Gandhi

Recently, we happened to watch the press conference of Mr. Rahul Gandhi, the former president of the Indian National Congress party, on the ongoing pandemic around the world. It was not something everyone was excited about or was waiting for him to deliver his thoughts on this topic. Although he came out, like any other opposition leader, and spoke his words out and gave suggestions to the ruling government to combat the current 'emergency-like' situation as well as to have a strategic plan to offset the economic and social repercussions that might arise due to it.

We often, in the past, heard words like 'Chawkidaar chor hai' in his speeches where he tried to question every work of the ruling government. Although there is no doubt that his work & duty compels him to ask questions to the ruling government but he was often criticized for the lack of oratory skill and for his choice of words in his speeches where he had gone blank a few times. Leaving all that aside, we wanted to watch this press conference because he is one of the many early people who informed the government to be prepared for a possible coronavirus pandemic situation in India and the adverse impacts it would have on our economy. We also wanted to look at how he would respond to the questions and know his thoughts and suggestions to deal with the current situation. Almost an hour-long press conference covered questions on the economy, healthcare, migrant laborers, food crisis, unemployment, social unrest, and governance. His response was not exhaustive to say but he did come with a blueprint that he tried to include in every answer he gave. The blueprint talked about:

1. Food Safety: He stressed on the fact that there would be a food shortage after the lockdown and thus government should ease out the distribution of the grains to the poor people who do not even have a ration card.

2. Social Unrest: If people are not provided with an adequate amount of food to survive, jobs to earn a livelihood, there would be social unrest to follow.

3. Economy: He talked about the economic impact this lockdown would have on our economy and how the government should strategically prepare packages for different sectors to ease out the burden on the economy in the coming months.

4. Governance: He pressed on the fact that in this crisis situation the governance should be bottom-up rather than having a centralized command. This bottom-up approach would give powers to districts and states to combat the situation according to their geography and come up with solutions best beneficial for them.

5. Unemployment: He advised the government to boost or provide a package to the SME sector which is the largest employment generator in the country. Apart from the above points, he also emphasized on doing testing at a large scale to detect and manage the spread of coronavirus. Though many people will say different things and make a mockery of him as he repeated certain words quite a few times in his press conference, he did give a blueprint on the areas to work at to mitigate the problems beforehand. He also showed the political fraternity on how to behave as an opposition party leader in times of crisis.

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This press conference was one of the many press conferences Mr. Rahul Gandhi initiated to talk out the solutions and taking inputs and suggestions to combat the situation.

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