The Making of brand rahul

How does it stack up for Brand Rahul right now? Just like a brand, what values does he/ can he represent that will work in his favour? What’s the promise/ proposition that he holds/ can hold for the different segments of electorate to become the preferred choice?

The first thing is: What are the values that Gandhi can ‘naturally’ represent? The core values of youth and dynamism are a given because of his age. But what the brand stands for beyond these is what is not crystal clear right now. That’s what will be critical in the next 12 months.

Let’s look at what are the values he can ‘possibly’ represent. His reluctance towards joining the UPA government could become his biggest advantage as he can be the symbol of ‘change’ or ‘a new way’ in spite of being a part of the ruling party since he wasn’t really a part of the establishment. That is one promise he can hold out to everyone, even those disillusioned with the current government. The criticism for being an ‘outsider’ in politics could again become an advantage in the current state of disillusionment with politicians in general. Not being seen as a seasoned politician also makes him more ‘clean’ than others and not ‘more of the same’.

Absentee values such as ‘experience’, ‘stature’ or ‘toughness’ would be the weak points and would have to be countered.

But there is something much more powerful than these values and that emanates from

... contd.