Madhukar Sabnavis’ application of Chanakya neeti to advertising and brand management mentions bhed as a principle to create differentiation (“The ancient art of persuasion,” July 6). He cites the exclusiveness cultivated by luxury brands. The aura of exclusivity can be sustained only if the class of users is small. The reach and effectiveness of such campaigns are, thus, limited.
A pertinent example of this is brand war waged through advertisements. The Ariel versus Surf duel is a classic case of competing brands targeting each other by name. Many others stop short of naming the competing brand, but leave the audience in little doubt as to who the target is. Many members of the print and electronic media claim to be leaders by a wide margin, but the qualifying remarks about which segment or time slot or period are always in the small print. Anyone with 15 minutes of fame seems to be giving the same “exclusive” interview to competing news channels, often without even a change of appearance. The audience, thus, turns justifiably sceptical. This indicates that bhed is a risky tool with limited potential.
Also, the second of Chanakya’s principles is daam (the monetary or value reward), and not daan as stated by Sabnavis. Daan means gifts and bequests.
Shreekant Sambrani Vadodra
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