Author: Dr Bhaskar Das

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Q: The standout moment of IPL 2024 for me/many was the booing of Hardik Pandya. Perhaps for the first time ever, a cricketer received much hate from audiences? An indicator of times to come

A: Even if the incident is part of history now (in the context of nano-moment of time now), it was unfortunate to say the least. But mob/ crowd psychology can’t be predicted/ complained about. In the age of social media and consumer activism, no earned media reactions can be controlled. For players, the best route would be to switch off external noise and focus on their craft and respond to situational triggers during a match, keeping in mind the franchise’s priorities. So far as the franchise owners are concerned, one has to proactively manage reputation of the team and its players and avoid any visible trigger to consumer activists.

But as you correctly pointed out that this is an indicator of time. One can’t stop it, but one can navigate it adroitly by strategic thinking.

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Q: Goafest starts today. Having been to almost all editions held thus far, your sentiments?

A: I love Goafest. Why? I love its cognitive immersion, hedonistic (food and party) triggers and interacting with great speakers and M&E friends. What else one can expect from the ‘Mahakumbh’ of Marketing and Advertising.  You must not miss it also.

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Q: The Age of Adaptability is the theme for Goafest. Do you think more ‘adaptability’, it should’ve been Reinvention. Perhaps a tad more proactive and aggressive?

A: The theme of Goafest this year is most appropriate in the context of prevailing BANI ( Brittle, Anxious, Nimble, Incomprehensible) environment. Adaptability is the pertinent attitude for survival and thriving for any corporate setup. Reinvention is one of the outcomes of adaptability/ nimbleness. It’s a permanent beta state of an organisation to navigate the shifting sands of business and environmental vicissitudes.

At the end, may I take the liberty to quote Charles Darwin on the subject: “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change.” That’s pretty proactive and aggressive.

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Q: The Lok Sabha election results will be known in a few days. What’s your sense: achche din aanewaale hain?

A: In a democracy, election results, are always very critical as we elect a government who would run our country with the hope of maximum achche din for maximum number of people to mitigate their existential challenges. In view of this, all concerned citizens of the country would be excited to know the outcome of the general election. I am no exception.

Achche din is a quintessential hope of every human being, irrespective of economic strata or geographic location. So even I shall be hoping for the same and I am specially an incorrigible optimist.

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Q: The Lok Sabha election results will be known in less than 24 hours from now. Your sentiments

A: Why this Kolaveri di (murderous rage) about election results? Que sera sera… Whatever will be, will be. We shall get the Ruler we deserve, rather it should be which party the country’s population have opted for. So we should wait for one more day. Anyways, Nifty has given a thumbs up to the sunny side up sentiment, if that is any indication. So sentiments are upbeat and as I am not an astrologer, I don’t want to guess the result at all.

If you wish to access the archives, please go to the Das Ka Dum tab on the website’s top navigation bar or click here: https://www.mxmindia.com/category/columns/das-ka-dum/

Q: What was your one big takeaway from Goafest that happened last week?

A: Adaptability is being considered as the most crucial skill for success, be it personal or professional life.  Robin Hogarth used a term called “wicked environment”—where uncertainty and complexity dominate due to various tectonic shifts. Hogarth, a renowned psychologist and decision-making expert, highlighted the importance of flexibility and learning in today’s unpredictable settings. How does one navigate the scenario where the operating rules are getting altered constantly?

I wanted to set the context of the theme of Goafest. Given the above background, I don’t see any further explanation for the selection of the theme of the prestigious festival held last week.

The above is the first and most important takeaway from the conference. Secondly, well-calibrated sessions were another positive from the festival. There were parallel dedicated sessions for special interests. Thirdly, the spirits were high as was evident from award functions and networking engagements during coffee and lunch breaks.

Since you asked me to give one key takeaway from Abby-Goafest, I would say that the overall sentiment of the audience was positive and the   camaraderie was palpable.

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Q: Even as there’s time for the formation of the next government, any one thing that you would like the ‘new’ government to do for the A&M fraternity?

A: Irrespective of the government in power,  the business interests of the A&M cohort would always be critical. When business interests general prosper, the marketers and business enterprises would reap dividends. Hence, I would recommend to the new government to engender a climate of ease of doing business and encourage more and more entrepreneurial ventures for generating employment, and Income. Everything else would follow.

I feel that economics (and therefore A&M is included) and politics are deeply connected. Look at the stockmarket though it’s too much sentiment-based. While politics may be fluid, economics is on a solid ground. But the message from the voters is clear: deliver some core ground-level realities like job creation (it implies focus on brisk business that creates more blue collar jobs). But as it might be a coalition central government, the elbow room for bulldozing controversial and painful economic decisions would not be easy.

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Q: As a website which has carried content that was often critical of the ruling party, should we now be worried?

A: Unless one has any skeletons in the cupboard, why should one be apprehensive about any negative backlash from one’s coverage in a democratic country. If the reportage is fact-based and there is no agenda to opinionate or impose thrusted rationality to news consumers, one has nothing to worry about. Otherwise, elections would not happen. Or, the very fact that you are asking this question and I am answering it exemplifies that the threat is more perceived than reality. It’s a human frailty that we see things as we are , and not as they are.

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Q: Given that T20 matches are so very unpredictable, even strong teams can’t be sure of winning. Should there be a call for citizens from both India and Pakistan border to temper their emotions in case their side loses?

A: I understand from where your concern emanates. It’s a legit concern but in a ubiquitous social media environment, this trend of losing temper on the outcome of a match (irrespective of the type of sport) is increasing at an alarming rate. Perhaps this trend is also an offshoot of hyper-nationalism camouflaged as patriotism.  There are psychological theories which rationalise crowd behaviour.

1. First is Contagion Theory, which proposes that crowds exert a hypnotic influence on their members that results in irrational and emotionally charged behaviour,  often referred to as crowd frenzy.
2. Secondly, Convergence Theory that argues the behaviour of a crowd is not an emergent property of the crowd but is a result of like-minded individuals coming together. If it becomes violent is not because the crowd encouraged violence yet rather people wanted it to be violent and came together in a crowd.
3. Thirdly , Emergent-Norm Theory that combines the two above arguing that a combination of liked-minded individuals, anonymity and shared emotions leads to crowd behaviour.

Why am I going into a conceptual framework for a simple question? Simple, no amount of a clarion call on this subject would cause a change of heart of crowd behaviour as such. It should perhaps be combined with a mix of advocacy of the essential spirit of sports and a some punitive steps for the recalcitrant behaviour. There is no readymade solution to it. Only rational behaviour at every level can mitigate the rampant growth of such negative behaviour.

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Q: Whatever be the outcome of any India-Pakistan match, is the rivalry way too unhealthy – for the sport and the already soured relations between the two countries?

A: Rivalry in sports arena is normal. But it’s more evident or articulated by the so-called fans and hyped these days through social media and the legacy media. Hence the surround NOISE makes us feel there is acrimonious relationship between players of the two teams. I have observed that amongst the team members/ players there is no visible tension.

In case of India and Pakistan, there are historical prejudices and pandered generation after generation by interested parties, on both sides of the border, to further their own agenda.

Hence, sports rivalry/ competitiveness is normal and healthy- it’s there in all forms of sports- but when it is used for myopic agenda , then it becomes unhealthy.

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Q: Public memory they say is short. But given the negativity in the political campaign in the last six months, do you think all will be forgotten?

A: Yes, I agree with you that public memory is poor, generally. So, the public opinion moves from one subject to the next moment that triggers mass hysteria. Hence, negativity, if perpetrated by various actors on the political stage, is natural. I am not going into the domain of any moral judgment on the subject. These are changing times, globally, for political rivalry and in a professional sense, it is part of marketing one’s party/ affiliations amongst all the alternatives available to the electorate. The high decibel level of stridency during political campaigns follows the convenient adage of “everything is fair in love and war”. And today’s political arena is as good as a war zone.

I don’t think the fallout would continue, now that the new government has been formed and they would be busy in delivering the commitments to the electorate, rather than frittering away energy on proving browny points on competitive superiority. The electorate knows everything, as the election results show , every time.

If you wish to access the archives, please go to the Das Ka Dum tab on the website’s top navigation bar or click here: https://www.mxmindia.com/category/columns/das-ka-dum/

Q: If public service is the ultimate high for an individual, would you recommend embracing politics to senior A&M professionals in the run-up to 2029?

A: I wonder how I would give a normative answer to a subjective question. What an individual decides is, exclusively, her or his decision (whether it’s aspiration or desire to serve the nation) and no one is capable of giving a lecture on its rationality. Therefore, if an A&M industry professional opts for the journey, it’s his/her calling. Just a caveat: success in one profession need not get automatically transferred to another profession like politics as the grind is more rigorous and not meant for weak-hearted. As a final statement, I would add a motherhood platitude: it would be good news for the polity, perhaps, if more professionals get attracted to the political process of a country.