PUBLIC RELATIONS and POLITICS

Category: Professional

Public Standing in Politics is the DNA of a party’s existence which can mercurially affect its chances of success in the battlefield of tapping the public’s imagination. The job of public relations here is to concisely interpret government policies and simplify it to submit it to the public for its final verdict. It does the crucial work of shaping the public opinion towards the tenets or promises or changes promised by any politician. Although a politician in many ways herself/himself is a glorified Public Relations official, one also needs to learn to practice what you preach. Secondly having done that, it needs to be visible to the public, because if no one saw, it didn’t happen. A politician’s job is to represent people, listen to their grievances, address them and if need be table it in the appropriate forum to bring necessary change. The PR agent’s job here is to boost and maintain the positive public image of the said leader. However, we’re aware that untimely gaffes, (un)intentional, have a way of spiralling out-of-control that need tact before it does irreparable damage. The selling factor of a successfully executed PR campaign is its anonymity, the ease by which blends into the system and becomes part of the public. PR agents have a stronghold in social media built over a long period of public engagement. Now, while the politician’s message is loud and clear to all, the public still craves for a connection seeking a way to enable them to communicate freely or even anonymously with the popular figure. A simple example lies in Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) ground breaking win in recently concluded New Delhi elections, sweeping 67 out of 70 seats of the constituency. The shock of BJP’s victorious run cut short so rudely re-established one cardinal rule of PR, ‘proximity’. While Mr. Narendra Modi has been the most tech savvy politician who’s employed the entire armoury of social media networks to reach out to all and sundry, AAP’s leader, and the CM of New Delhi, Mr Arvind Kejriwal seemed closer home. The resplendent symbol of ‘common man’ with the ‘Broom’ armed with exuberant punchlines pencilled by a young work-force and garbed in the simplest of attires, hit the right spot with the voters. To them, Mr. Kejriwal was one of them, while Modi had suddenly ‘fallen’ out of reach. There is room for recognition and convenient ignorance of practicality, because the public wants what it wants. PR reaches out to the target audience, pushing ideas by formulating clear and concise statements comprehensible to the common mass. The writing needs to be effective in being retained by public memory or strike a chord that would allow them to make a connection between certain themes with a certain leader. Public requirement is to receive unadulterated attention via open channels of communication. They want to know their leader, when and as he/she is. A politician’s job is to govern and influence society through stimulating an understanding about political/power circles. Often politics is cited as a dirty business, involving twisting of words, manipulation of facts and abuse of public sentiment which is put through the rollercoaster every time a new issue is brought up, making it almost impossible to segregate between right and wrong. While the practice of image management, crisis management, damage control are all inherent to a PR agent’s job profile, the talent of converting a con into a pro is what makes the job so lucrative, challenging often resembling a chess-game of outwitting the opposition. The public is not stupid. It also doesn’t have a bee-hive mentality. It can think, but it needs fodder for thought. While everyone in their own spheres can contemplate upon radical ideas, the job of giving it a shape for its unveiling, the simplicity of words for its meaning is a PR agent’s genius. Often it’s a gamble, but with planning, it can be executed to perfection. Public sentiment is a weapon that works both ways. Too much gloating and they will be nauseous of the self-worship, too modest and they will dump you for low volatility. It is essential that a politician always keep in touch with the people. The management of communication hurdles, demystifying risks, and incorporating complex ideas into simple phrases via modified mediums can get one far ahead in the race. The recently concluded elections saw the contesting parties declare an all-out war leaving no stone unturned to magnify the leader’s presence in our homes, in our alleys, on the streets so that the impression never faded. Rigorously following up on any positive result denotes determination to see the cause to the finish. While it is illegal to deliberately denounce another, there are many mechanisms to avoid direct confrontation and subtly mould the public feeling towards oneself. Mr. Modi’s rock star image has grown exponentially starting from his garment, to his quick wit, to his unparalleled expertise in oratory skills that has left the world spellbound and wondering what he’ll conjure next. All this has happened while continuously downplaying the murky matter of the infamous Godhra Riots in 2002, which had scarred the image of Modi’s leadership, making the journey to 2014’s victory longer than expected. However, the positive response has all but restored faith of the people in his undivided devotion to the Indian, whether Muslim or Hindu. Returning to the subject matter, it is accepted that some amount of mudslinging or sledging cannot be avoided in competition especially in the sphere of politics. A politician’s life, history, the past and present becomes public property, which has to discussed at length and voluntarily submitted to scrutiny. There is no backing out of the same. The solution is to meet this eventuality head on. A good PR campaign to manage the chronology of events should be fair, transparent, and nothing should be hidden from the knowledge of the agents. This is because thorough homework means knowing your enemy better than himself. Any embarrassing or potentially destructive factoid should be downplayed and made to survive the criticism, through positive reinforcement of image management. There are two types of advertisements that are usually circulated in a campaign: ATTACK ADS AND COMPARE ADS. While the former aims directly to discredit the opponent by exposing potential risks involved with their leadership, the latter operates more on the line of a comparative analysis. The former uses fear, intimidation and personal attacks to lower their public impression, the latter actually sends an informative message, since it compares the positive aspects of one with the negatives of another, and since this is educational at some level, and can be done by the opponent based on publicly available data, it is perceived as less damaging than the former kind of Ads. In conclusion the importance of PR Agencies cannot be ignored especially since it’s not just a person that’s representing, but the entire ‘persona’ of the person that has to fulfil and stand tall on the promise of representing a strength of many.