 People are getting all kinds of information across multiple platforms. They hardly, if ever, believe what is being said to them isn't a lot of spin loaded in it. So therefore, my proposition to this audience is actually that silence is golden so long as you have done a lot of thinking ahead of the curve. Let me take, for example, I assume that some of you have seen the WhatsApp on a particular food ordering app recently. Has anybody seen it? I think everyone has, and we'll stop. Right, so I have, you know, Rohit, the feeling that silence is golden. If you have done your work, you anticipated to the point of paranoia, all kinds of things that can potentially be thrown at you as a product, as a brand, as a service, as the behavior of each and every employee potentially, then, you know, speaking is out of turn. Not speaking after this is happening has already hit WhatsApp and our timelines in various social media is a mistake. So silence is golden so long as you can afford it and you plan for it. As in the case with Dipinder Goyal, my friend in Zomato, he did the right thing by writing a blog and explaining what all corrective measures they have taken and so on and so forth. So I hope I'm able to throw the gray in this very clearly, that there are no absolute black and white in silence versus speaking, but there is a great benefit to all of us as corporate communication leaders, as people on the high table or feeding our leadership with thought processes that a lot of planning can happen well before the event and that's what we should be actually focusing on rather than some press statements and some blue in the face hollering on television to my mind that doesn't really help. Right. So feel free to come in if you have any points because this is a collaboration, not only me, even you guys can ask a question. Feel free, let me just raise your hand whoever wants to ask. Okay, please. Can we have... You can also just name yourself. Yes. Can we have a mic? You can take this if you are short on mic. Okay, one second. Can you take this mic so that everyone could listen to you? Hi, my name is Asim. So in that case, my name is Asim. Asim? Yeah, hi. So in that case, when Maggie decided not to be silent or be silent, what was it which was actually keeping them back? Or what is it, what would have been the right time for them to either decide I speak or I shut up? So Asim, it's an excellent question and this happened when I was in an earlier avatar and some people in that company did speak to me in some context. So the whole point I've tried to endeavor here in first two or three minutes, Asim, is that the planning has to happen much earlier and therefore you are a little better prepared for war rather than at that time mistakes being made in best endeavor and then people, you know, regretting them because I suspect that a lot of mistakes happen in quick succession because there is an intense pressure to perform, to show your counter narrative, to bring in all sorts of ideas on the table. Too much talking here. I'm sorry, can we have a little bit of silence on here? No, it's fine. We can give them the mic. No worries. It'll be much easier. Yeah, I think they are discussing a question I think. Yes, please. So they're probably preparing the next question for you. So I think leaderships have to understand that they need to do scenario building a lot earlier and then I think like we have in the ancient system that if someone else speaks for you, you are better off than you speaking for yourself. So if your brand has had conversations in the format that exists today, which is short duration, WhatsApp endorsement, somebody narrating their favorite Maggie story in a less in your face way, those are the peacetime initiatives which come in very handy as and when, but I have the benefit of hindsight, so do you. No two companies can be similar in their approaches. At Geo, we speak very little, at Reliance Industries we speak even lesser, but there are a lot of others who talk about it, which is really welcome. Right. Are there any, anyone else wants to raise their hand? There's somebody I think at the back. Yes, please. Yes. Can we have the mic there? No, I think she's just coming so that everyone could hear you properly. I'm a, I'm a partner. I'm a faculty at Pearl Academy. I wanted to ask you a question about, say like personal PR. So for example, I'm sure Donald Trump also has like, you know, they have the President's work. So what happens in this situation where somebody is firing off tweets without thinking about it? And there are people who are representing him. What happens in that situation? I'm just curious about that. Like he does do a lot of like absolutely insane, crazy tweets. What happens to the, what does the team do at this time? What, what, how does his PR team handle this? I would think that while the general narrative of Parna is that Donald Trump does what he said you do, he does. But my submission is that he's politically a lot smarter and a lot ahead than say the person he defeated in the election or many other people in his tribe. He's able to simplify foreign policy. He's able to understand what his core constituency of the white male voter wants, even female voters want. And he's able to simplify it. And then the PR machinery around him probably is often asleep when he's actually in front of the TV and tweeting. So I'm by no means endorsing that as a strategy, but to my mind it is extremely specific. It gets him the exact messaging that he wants without loss, transmission and distribution loss, which is often the pain point in PR. And it's a good political strategy and increasingly if you notice many leaders including in India are using Twitter as a very focused way to communicate precisely what they want and then they withdraw. And that gets amplified in the mainstream. So mainstream is picking up a lot of conversation. So linking it to the question that was just asked. If you have narrative which is leading into the leaders' tweets or leaders' social posts, then that becomes a bit of a multiplier rather than doing it when bullets are flying at your brand at that time. Okay, before anyone else goes, I have a question for you. We've seen this viral video which we talked about, we've spoken about. Does it also mean that brands are being watched very intensely? Does it put an extra pressure on brands to be always there on their toes? How is the brand side thinking of not getting the brand diluted through these kind of leaks? I think all of us in the room will agree that the cheese has moved and that people are watching all the time on a 24-7, therefore you have to be planning for these situations and also communicating the good that has been done. In the food ordering space, for example, Rohil, I was speaking to the owner who I mentioned in the video, he's hired 30,000 drivers in the last few months in a particular region alone and just about anybody with a class 12 certificate and a bike is given 35,000 rupees as a one stop per month payout and then they bring in the bike, they bring in the petrol and they bring in the maintenance. So typically a 12-standard pass in the Zomato setup takes home 15 to 20,000 bucks. So just for context, if the brand had communicated I mean I have the vantage point of illiteracy here but if they had brought out the employability, the employment, the side of the driver in this time, that comes to good stead when there is an unfortunate situation. But they handled it well. I think the blog by the owner was well taken. It was very honest, it was very prompt and the advantage with founder-led companies is that there is less bureaucracy. So the founder then takes over and does it. But it's best done a lot earlier with a lot of diverse narratives and presumably in a snackable way which people are today able to not only absorb but also share. So what you get, there should be that X factor in it for you to want to share it. And company plugs and what is classic COPCOM stuff or even what agencies I dare say right is definitely not shareable. It looks like it's written by the company and nobody wants to be party to sharing what the company has said but they are happy to do it if somebody they respect or somebody they like or somebody is credit in a slightly more wacky way they are happy to share it. So that's the time to build your defenses rather than when somebody is found opening your box and eating. This gentleman there, can we have the mic please? We have three minutes left. We'll go three minutes. So make your question three minutes, sir. Good evening, my name is Dr. Amesh Gandhi and I'm the Director of the Center for Social Change and Communications. My question is regarding the Rafaal deal. What BJP has done wrong from PR point of view? We have to be a little political but from PR point of view. My question is specifically and only and only from PR point of view about the Rafaal deal what do you think the BJP has done wrong from PR point of view? Have they properly tackled or not tackled? And why there is some part of silence from reliance defense on this part? How they can better manage? One of the parts that Rohail has flagged is silence is golden. I'll take that and I would also like to tell you that reliance industries has nothing to do with this. So probably it's a little bit of mishmash on this where I don't have a locus to analyze what a company has done or not done. It's not my company but I can say that as far as communicating is concerned in defense there are far many more constraints to come out with the pricing and with the specs of the aircraft which are supposed to defend you when the cows are coming home and there could be a problem there. In Zomato it's a lot easier you'll appreciate than in say the case of how India has to be defended by a particular conglomeration of manufacturing, offsets and pricing and what product is being actually compared with what. So I'm not really well qualified to address it on multiple counts but I've read your blog on Zomato recently and you made some eminent points which ultimately I think a lot of people Mr. Gandhi should be listening to. Sorry there's time for one more question. Yes please. We'll take two questions. We'll take one more and that's it. I'm sorry I'm going over time. Royji I've worked with you earlier. I'll give you my closer pieces. Yeah I've worked with Mr. Royji once earlier and it's been quite a learning for me. I would ask one question sir. You've been an editor in the media and then you've been in corporate communications so which one is better? That's a very tricky one. What do you feel? Because you've seen both the sides now. Which side is better? I was never quite a distinguished editor but I did become an extinguished one very quickly. That's quite modest of me. So I think none of us take wrong decisions. We do what is truly in our best interest in line of what the market is what you're able to get what is your likelihood of succeeding and so on and so forth. No one knowingly makes a mistake. So to my mind what I do is the best job on the planet and that is exactly what I felt when I went into India TV which was 8th or 9th in the ratings or when I went to Financial Express which was a distant number 3 after business standard and economic times was like Amitabh Bachchan first 10 places taken. Whatever we do we should at that time embrace it as really the culmination of all the factors that go into the decision. Not for me this business of comparing one career with another with one company with another or even for that matter comparing one city and the other because I'm often asked which is better Bombay or Delhi and I kind of get flummoxed. I really don't have an answer. Why would I live in Bombay if Delhi was better? Absolutely. Thanks. Sorry we have only one question. Time for only one question. There's this gentleman and you can take this offline. I'm sorry, yes. On the right, yes. Hi sir. My name is Rishi. I look after the sales for LocoBuzz which is into the digital listening and all. My question is very quick. Little louder closer. My question is very simple. Recently there was a case for Make My Trip. A lot of people were saying that they are cancelling a lot of bookings even after they have booked it. As a brand they took all of the precautionary measures. However it was really difficult to understand from a consumer point of view that which is the story which is correct. So I mean in such kind of situation what a consumer do? So you have to start three months in advance if not six or if not nine months in advance. You cannot be reacting just right at the last minute. So I'm not familiar what Deep Kalra did beforehand. I'm not sure if the narrative on what all Make My Trip does is good. But I know for a fact in your founder's case Vishal and Shubhan. They are able to trap data. So to my mind Make My Trip should hire LocoBuzz and figure out what social conversations are. How they are building up well before they start trending and people start panicking. Because you have in your own company software I'm sorry if I'm doing a pitch for LocoBuzz. A lot of good companies and even political parties are today able to discern conversations well and truly ahead of the first 20 trend lines that emerge on our Twitter feeds as public people. So to do that even before those LocoBuzz triggers come is the point that I've endeavored to make. That's my through line for this entire 10 minutes that Rohil and the organizers have afforded. Okay so we will insist gentlemen insisting so we'll take that last question. That's it and that's final. Sir I just want to know not about brands but on the personal level, especially when you're in public life either you may be a celebrity or a politician if somebody targets your image like just for example me too 80% of the cases were just fraud I don't know if they would... Keep the question short I'm sorry. And right from that level to a personal level in a room like you're talking to somebody and somebody comes from behind and says hey beware of this man. So only because of jealousy anything from jealousy to conspiracy. So how do you handle that? Invest early. So if you have people who will stand up for you they know what you're all about it's always better if somebody defended you from another side rather than you coming and becoming upset or blocking that person or replying in an impetuous way. Give it 24 hours. Most people say things in a very abrupt way and then don't really mean it when you engage with them. Likewise those who are silent never underestimate the power of the silent people or the silent man or woman on the internet. We have to end it here. I'm sorry we're running out of time. Thank you Mr. Bansal for this insightful conversation. Can we have a round of applause for Mr. Bansal? And I would like to be on stage and I want to invite Sir I would like to be on stage Mr. Raj Sury Indian-Australian influencer brand consultant to felicitate Mr. Bansal. We can play some music maybe.