What makes Modi Speeches such a Cult – An Analytical Perspective
One Simple Reason
“Content that Connects with Target Audience”
Speaking to 20000 people, knowing that over a billion would be tuned in, is a tough act. For Mr. Modi it is a cakewalk. He seems to outdo himself time and time again. Here is some proof of evidence to back it up.
In the world of marketing there is a common saying that Content is the king and Context is the queen. Our beloved Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi has perfected this art to the perfection. Every speech of his is a classic example of how using content that is relevant to your core audience will help you stand out among the host of heads of states who are constantly jostling for relevance. If you have a look at his just concluded landmark Silicon Valley speech you can easily notice use of words and phrases that are in perfect harmony with the target audience expectations.
Target Audience were Leading CEO’s of Digital & Tech Giants of famed Silicon Valley & Indian Diaspora who are employed in Digital & Tech Giants. Let us take a Deep Dive into Modi’s Speech
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Use of India-Country-World
A classical Modi tactic to set up a broad connect with Indian diaspora which can be noticed across all his speeches made in foreign countries.
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Use of Technology-Digital-Internet-Cyber-Social-Broadband-Mobile-Connected-Data-Information
Another classical Modi play as all his speeches where he uses words relevant to the Industry which is a major representative of Audience to establish a broad level connect. Here it was Tech-Digital Industry so his speech was replete with words and terms, which are commonplace among Tech Industry leaders.
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Use of Facebook-Twitter-Instagram-Android-Skype-CISCO-WhatsApp
A concerted effort to name bigger brands in his speech and look what it translated to. Google will be funding 400 train stations across India. Here is a map of first 100 stations that will be Wi-Fi enabled by 2016.
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Use of Development-eGovernance-mGovernance-Economy-Skills-Literacy-Healthcare-Youth–Transparent-Accountable-Accessible-Participative
What differentiates Modi from his peers in other Indian Political parties is that he is very hands on with the terms that are very dear to his target audience. These words are like classic Marketing Nirvana because most of the Indian diaspora still have a huge connect with India but don’t believe in old style caste-region-corruption rhetoric which was the official choice for erstwhile ministers of Congress government.
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Use of Transform-Change-Scale-Sustainable-Expansion-Enterprise-Vision-Efficient
Use of Power Phrases which are so commonplace among Silicon Valley Leaders. No wonder why he and Zuckerberg looked like old pals in a get-together rather than a politician-corporate meeting each other in an official function. In Startup parlance he is growth hacking.
- Use of Partnership-Opportunities-Enterprise-Development
All these are strong action verbs that signal strong intent. These key words are in sync with his own working philosophy of ‘let’s get it done’. Yet they also indicate a path to mutual prosperity rather than him being a weaker position of requesting for investments. Persuasive marketing principles dictate that an adept marketer weeds out ‘apple pie’ words and harps on strong action oriented vocabulary to increase conversion. Mr Modi is a practitioner of these principles and just like an ace digital marketer he knows which CTA (Call To Action) needs to be placed where for maximum conversion.
Speech Analytics
- All of these words constitute a total count of – 162
- Total Word count in the Speech – 1825
- If we estimate that Helping verbs, connectors and fillers like Mitron 🙂 constitute 30% of word count then such word count will be – 548
- Estimated count of remaining words after accounting for helping verbs, fillers and connectors – 1277
Inference – 162 out of 1277 words which equates to about 13% of words were pure Marketing Nirvana.
It will be an interesting exercise if we compare it with speeches of other Heads of State or for that matter the Opposition Leader in waiting Mr Rahul Gandhi 🙂
Most Frequently Used Words
A Gamified Pie-chart of Modi’s Speech Content
Detailed Word Count Table of Modi’s Speech
