Parties shifting towards modern techniques for better 'branding' of their leadership, programmes: Naqvi

New Delhi: Senior BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Thursday said political parties are shifting towards modern techniques for better "branding of their leadership, policies and programmes", noting that they have become potential clients of professional publicity and public outreach.

Along with hundreds of corporate houses, there are six national political parties, 54 state parties and a large group of 2,597 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, Naqvi said, addressing the 17th Global Communication Conclave on 'Building Trust in the Digital Age'.

"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," he was quoted as saying by a statement issued by his office.

Political parties of many democratic countries of the world have already been using professional publicity campaign platforms to communicate and connect with the people, Naqvi said.

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, he said.

"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); 'Not Me, Us' (Bernie Sanders); proved game changer and had significant impact on the results," the former Union minister said.

He said similarly, various social, cultural, religious and educational institutions are also taking services of professional publicity agencies to improve their brand image and impact.

"There was a time when people could guess the content and emotion of a letter by its envelope, but today better packaging, publicity and promotion is not the guarantee of authenticity of a product, he said.

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