By Abhinav Banerjee
Kolkata : “Nothing is going to change Post Covid…”, said Tushar Panchal, Founder and CEO of WarRoom Strategies one of the speakers on the webinar of the eighth day of #MediaNext 2020 that focused on the ‘Development and Political Communication Online’. This writer of the article also shared the exclusive interview with readers.
#MediaNext 2020 is being organised by the Kolkata based Adamas University in association with Sharda University, Birla Global University, DME, AIMEC, Lok Samvad Sansthan, exchange4media, ABP Education and IndiaReal.in, The mega conclave is being organised over a period of 10 days from June 1, 2020, to June 10, 2020. Each day of the Conclave focuses on one specialised domain of the Media and Entertainment (M&E) industry and the impact of the Covid19 pandemic on that specific domain.
Tushar Panchal, Founder and CEO of WarRoom Strategies, is a communication specialist. He has managed many prestigious government projects across the globe while working with APCO worldwide India. From Plywood salesman to advertising copywriting, his journey was interesting and challenging in which he succeeded with flying colours. Panchal’s specialisation lies in developing strategies, business and communication ideas that resonate with the audience and are easy to implement on the grounds. He has over 21 years of experience in marketing and communication fields including advertising, PR, global destination marketing campaigns, public affairs, research, policy communication, government affairs, political communication.
A word of caution for social media users
Panchal is more cautious about social media and he said, “Government has started rising cautiously, they are now too much aware of what to speak, how to speak and what not to speak or at certain times keep their mouths shut. A single tweet can destroy the whole hard work of three months. Late Sushma Swaraj and Railways responded to people on Twitter, they used the social media platform as a tool. On a micro-level, most of the things are changing in politics. There is more pressure on the government, so they are more accountable and more responsible. Pressure buildings are new tactics and effective.”
Social media: Use the tool of social media, not be a tool
Panchal said, “Earlier also and now also political channels, media, civil society participation are there to reach both the ways. Perceptions are the only remedies, ignore the fake news, social media are virtual. That is not the reality. Talk to people directly, on grounds, most of the people are on grounds not on social media. Challenges and responsibilities are there. But the government should not be carried away. Spreading awareness through social media is good. We need a solution from the government. Blocking places is just not the solution. Use it effectively. Use the tool of social media, not be a tool.”
Consider the right voice from noise
Panchal concluded and said, “At the end of the day, remove the noise from the actual voice. Not to bow down under such pressure. Give general promotions to students, as a student your life will be screwed. COVID will come and go but you will be there. The sane voice should prevail. People who are in power, they will only make decisions and make the choices. Every platform has pros and cons. Rallies are not possible in social media. It is a gimmick basically. You need an understand psychology, start talking to people, they meet thousands of people. Read psychology and go amongst people. Multiple people are there in political parties and not every member has the same thinking in political parties. ‘Propagandemic’ is the word which is right now prevailing, because this pandemic is taking a lot of propaganda within it.”
Exclusive Interview
- How do you define Political Communication?
See both the terms political and communication are different, but everything runs on branding. One aspect is the branding of celebrities and the other one is the branding of any product but this one was an opportunity and we have to wait and watch where our opportunities are. Most importantly we see the dream today and implement it tomorrow. That does not happen, rather the work is from the grassroots level. We understand the need of the person and then implement the Strategies and work accordingly. I worked at an advertising agency and after that, I work in political communication I watch a lot of political things how to do the branding and all then I got to know much more about that so this was the way through which I got into this community.
- Post COVID-19, do you see any change in Political Communication?
Nothing is going to change after post COVID. Everyone will go for marketing; everyone will be busy with their life. Elections and rallies all things will also start as well. There is no new normal life that people are talking about because people’s brains cannot be controlled by anyone. I am very against this idea.
- Do you think Politics as a business? Why people consider politics to be bad?
See, movies which we all see are the main reason which made politics bad. Bollywood or bollywood always showed the leader or a politician to be bad. Then why do the people give vote in the elections? They have choices to give vote and represent, if they found someone not so deserving then people have power to step down that politician.
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