It’s been roughly six months since Arnab Goswami anchored his last show on Times Now. Now, he’s back with his new venture Republic TV – that officially went live on 6 May.
But Republic’s launch came only after a veritable cacophony was built around it. During his six-month hiatus, Goswami ensured that even when not doing the news, he found a way to be the news.
A carefully crafted PR strategy, courtesy some of the country’s leading names in the business, has helped Arnab and Republic to stay on top of public mind space.
Arnab has quite a communications team assembled – Mindshare as the media agency, Ogilvy India as the creative agency and Laqshya Media Group as the out-of-home advertising agency. Here’s a quick look at his PR blitzkrieg.
1. Issue Soft Threats in Signature Arnab Style
Starting 15 April, Republic’s official Twitter handle put out a series of 30-45 seconds clips showing Goswami writing letters. In the background is his voice reading those letters out loud, but we don't actually get to see his face (heck, we can't even say with surety if it's actually Goswami in the frame!). It's almost like a superhero introduction, with the facelessness of the video working well to build up the anticipation!
And, the videos pick on some prominent public personalities – Rahul Gandhi, Vijay Mallya, Uddhav Thackeray, Subramanian Swamy – issuing warnings to them that Arnab is going to be back (and by extension, make life hell for them by err… raising the pitch?)
But but but… what the nation REALLY wants to know is why the establishment is above such warnings? Shouldn’t asking tough questions of the government and the man running the country be on the agenda of any reputable media organisation?
2. Redefine the Phrase ‘Independent Media’
Republic TV, on its official Twitter handle, brands itself as an "independent" and "global" media organisation. A quick search for the term "independent media" sets out the following simple definition on Wikipedia:
Independent media refers to any form of media... that is free of influence by government or corporate or any other vested interests.
But Republic is also open about the fact that it has, among its key investors, BJP-leaning businessman and Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar.
While it may be fashionable to project oneself as an independent media organisation, it may not be entirely accurate in the case of Republic.
These linkages and their possible ramifications were first reported in The Wire, inviting a court-procured injunction notice against the article.
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It later came to light that Arnab’s PR team culled a question pertinent to Republic’s ownership from an interview with Man’s World magazine. Is this true independence?
3. The Nation STILL Wants to Know
Exploiting a catchy tagline is the perfect way to enhance brand visibility. And when it’s something like 'The Nation Wants to Know', you really need to jump on it. After all, the phrase has, of late, become integral to our common parlance.
That explains the race between Times Now and Republic to make the phrase their own (by filing for a trademark).
The resulting legal notice slapped on Republic by Times Now only helped the former by raising even more noise around them. Not to forget Goswami's outright dare to his former company, asking them to carry out a public poll to determine who really owns the phrase.
Ultimately, Republic seems to have had the last laugh by simply inserting the word "still" in the phrase . It carries the weight of the original phrase, only with a cheeky dig at the Times Group.
4. Ask Me Anything... But Don’t Expect an Answer
Going the Reddit Ask-Me-Anything way seems to have worked quite well in creating traction for Goswami and his Republic.
After all, the public would get to personally and directly interact with one of India’s most well-known journalists. And that too on text, sans all the shouting and shutting up! Sounds like a plan!
While all that was good, it was Arnab's responses that were the icing on the cake –defending Republic's partners, extolling 'nationalism', jibes at the "crumbling news site" The Wire, directing Indians to be "pro-military" and "pro-India", calling the phrase ‘left-liberal’ a "charade". Goswami outspokenness right there!
But ask him questions he doesn’t like, and he simply won’t answer.
5. Pakistan’s Migraine. Seriously?
If it can get journalists from Pakistan talking, then you’ve probably hit the mark. In a Facebook post, Wajahat Khan who has worked with Arnab Goswami said:
He (Arnab) was a sensible, affable, switched on chap in person. But on TV, Arnab Goswami was a different animal. He was venomous. He was not fair or balanced. And he rigged debates... He wanted to push the us versus them narrative: That the Indian perspective was rather sane, and the Pakistani perspective was, actually, quite mad... This poster (of Republic) begs another debate... As possibly the most popular journalist in India, is Goswami’s Pakistan-basher behaviour and virulently anti-Pakistan persona fair to the millions in India who watch him and believe him...? ...I’m not quite sure.
This was his Facebook post:
6. Fight for No. 2 in the English News Space?
You know you’re being taken seriously when your rivals are gearing up for a fight. India Today is looking to pit Anjana Om Kashyap against Arnab Goswami on prime time. While it makes for a great publicity gimmick, what is India Today going to do about the jokes that its unimaginative billboard started online?
Some reactions were not sparing:
And just when we thought things are dying down, we get a viral tweet by a Pakistani journalist, which ACTUALLY mistook Arnab Goswami to be Riteish Deshmukh. Okay, yes, there does exist a bizarre resemblance between the two, but then, we are sure that even the Bollywood actor wouldn’t have imagined that a day would come when he would be asked (granted, by a Twitter user) to play the Newshour man in his biopic.
Grab the popcorn, ladies and gentlemen, because the nation’s favourite english prime time TV show is back. And guess what – it’s free to air! #LifeMade.
(Sources: Advertising Age India, DailyO, Livemint)
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