New Delhi, 21st Sept, 2023: Former Union Cabinet Minister and senior BJP leader Shri Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi today said here that political parties have also become the potential clients of professional publicity public outreach and relations.

Addressing the 17th Global Communication Conclave on “Building Trust in the Digital Age”, organised by Public Relations Council of India, Shri Naqvi said that along with hundreds of corporate houses, there are six national political parties, 54 state parties and a large group of 2597 other registered political parties in Bharat which are also attracted towards impact and importance of professional publicity and public relations for mass outreach in this digital and internet era.

Shri Naqvi said that today, most of the political parties, be it big, small or medium, are shifting towards modern techniques and professional transformation for better branding of their leadership, policies and programmes. Political parties of many democratic countries of the world have already been using professional publicity campaign platforms to communicate and connect with the people.

Shri Naqvi said that though, the slogans and outreach strategy plans are prepared by the core team of political parties or professional teams, but most of the responsibility of reaching out to an individual or the masses is assigned to various professional players and agencies. Effective election slogans in India such as “Abki baar Modi Sarkaar”; “Na jaat pe na paat pe, muhar lagao hath pe”; “Sabko dekha bari bari, abki baar Atal Bihari” etc and in other countries, election slogans like “Yes We Can” (Barack Obama); “Dream Big, Fight Hard” (Elizabeth Warren); “Not Me, Us” (Bernie Sanders); “Don’t change horses in midstream” (Abraham Lincoln) proved as a game changer and had significant impact on the results.

Shri Naqvi said that similarly, various social, cultural, religious and educational institutions are also taking services of professional publicity agencies to improve their brand image and impact. However, “the credibility of brand and convincing brand Ambassadors" are linked with each other and this formula is beneficial for every sector, be it political, social, religious, educational, cultural or other.

Shri Naqvi said that there was a time when people could guess the content and emotion of a letter by its envelope, but today even better “packaging, publicity and promotion” is not the guarantee of authenticity of a product. The combination of a credible product and attractive publicity is the need of the competitive atmosphere.

Shri Naqvi said that over the time, priority of professional publicity for product projection and promotion is full of perfection and objectives of marketing and public relations have become broader and more practical. From drums, pamphlets, posters, wall writing, billboard, newspapers and television; today publicity, promotion, marketing and public relations have reached in the digital era.

Shri Naqvi said that advertisement and marketing play a crucial role for publicity and promotion of a product. “Amul- Zara si hasi dulaar zara sa”; “Vicks- Vicks ki goli lo khich khich door karo”; Pepsi- Yahi hai right choice baby”; “Sabki pasand Nirma”; “Google’s Don’t Be Evil”; “Apple’s Think Different”; “Coca Cola’s Open Happiness”; these products through their mesmerising taglines and unique advertisements have remained in the public memory for a long time. These brands are making strong impact on the digital platforms also through technology and transformation and registering record promotion and profits of products.

Shri Naqvi said that the method and medium of public relations, communication, advertising and marketing have transformed significantly due to modern technology during the last few years, and the digital marketing has become more effective.

Shri Naqvi said that Bharat is one of the fastest growing economy of the world and it is a dynamic destination of digital development. About 88 per cent population of Bharat is using smart phones and internet, which means more than 100 crore people are using these platforms in the country. This number is estimated to increase drastically in the next about ten years. There are more than 1 lakh 60 thousand newspapers in Bharat and most of them have their digital editions, there are more than 3000 news, sports, entertainment, religious and cultural TV channels, more than 1000 radio channels and FMs, more than 40,000 Youtube channels and a large number of international TV channels, newspapers and websites in Bharat. That is why Bharat is witnessing a revolutionary transformation in the advertising and PR industry. Advertising in Bharat has built an astonishing awareness among the people in the past decade, growing into a massive industry. Advertising market size in Bharat has reached to 743 Billion Rupees in 2022 and it is expected to reach 1,412.5 Billion Rupees by 2028. Digital PR, marketing, advertising has also created lakhs of employment opportunities and an attractive atmosphere for start-ups.

Shri Naqvi said that while pre-Independence, there were only a few newspapers as the medium of advertising but now apart from print advertising; TV, radio and digital and social media, print and electronic media, outdoor publicity, website, smart phones, digital hoardings, public transport etc. have become strong and credible platforms for affordable PR, advertising and corporate communication. Due to these platforms, the number of commercials has doubled in Bharat.

Shri Naqvi said that the availability of Artificial Intelligence and the reach of 5G mobile networks at every nook and corner of the country has proved to be a milestone in the direction of digital PR, advertising and marketing.

Shri Naqvi said that on one hand the digital era has become a powerful medium of public relations and marketing, on the other hand it has also curbed casual working style. Misleading and negative attacks are a big challenge in competitive business in today’s digital era. The digital age has also created possibilities of “Savdhani hati, durghatna ghati” (carelessness leads to accident).

Diplomats from various countries and a large number of corporate honchos, experts and renowned personalities from PR, corporate communication, advertising, media, event management, academicians from Bharat and other countries participated in the 17th Global Communication Conclave.