Internationally known Brand Expert and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Harish Bijoor Consults Inc feels that brand Tehelka is not dead. Harish Bijoor says it can still survive. In an interview with IBNLive, Harish Bijoor shared his views on the Tarun Tejpal sexual assault case and its impact on brand Tehelka.
IBNLive: Do you really think that the Brand Tehelka is dead?
Harish Bijoor: I do not believe Brand Tehelka is dead. There are really two entities here. One is the sheer brand label that is Tehelka, and the other is the current dispensation at Tehelka that has attracted flak, and the dispensation that runs the magazine as of today under the brand name Tehelka. What is really on the stretcher is Tehelka the magazine that has attracted all this flak and controversy under the current management. The controversy is diametrically opposed to what the magazine stands for. The brand label Tehelka, however, will still remain a point of value. If someone were to pick up the brand label as a buy, and if the magazine were to be relaunched under a new management dispensation, I do believe the brand can still survive and maybe even thrive in the future.
Brands are really resilient entities. Brands survive tumult and overcome a fair bit of turbulence.
IBNLive: Any chance of survival, if some good journalists or old team members come forward to revive it?
Harish Bijoor: I do believe that is possible. A complete new management team with a sprinkling of the brilliant sets of journalists who ran content within the magazine, could provide the chance for the magazine to survive, run and even thrive in the future.
IBNLive: The brand Tehelka has now been tainted. Does a tainted brand like Tehelka, that too in Media have a chance? A second chance?
Harish Bijoor: Consumers are reasonably forgiving. Readers are as well. There will be a long period of distrust all around. In fact this Tehelka controversy will raise the hackles of readers of every publication around as well. When one cricketer is hauled up for match-fixing, every cricketer is really under viewer and consumer scrutiny. In a way, the equity of all cricketers takes a jolt. While some get jolted more, others get jolted less, and that is a function of the credibility hierarchy they occupy in consumer minds. The analogy is apt here as well. Remember, when Coke got hauled up in the pesticide controversy in Kerala, every cola, Thums Up, Pepsi and more, got affected. Sadly controversies such as these do not only jolt the specific publication, but jolts the category at large as well.
IBNLive: Is Tehelka a classic case of an institution controlled by just one individual? If that person commits a mistake, the entire institution goes down. What is your advise to the people, those who want to build institutions?
Harish Bijoor: Building an institution is a long-term task. Organizations need to invest in the process and the discipline. This means at times divesting the decision making process in organization as well. Organisations need to consciously work towards insulating themselves from the acts of commission and the acts of omission of individuals. Strong institutions withstand upheavals due to the fact they have a system in place that is larger than the individuals who run the systems.
IBNLive: Do you think that a serious charge like rape causes the most serious damage to a company than any other charge? For example Satyam survived even after its founder Ramalingaraju went to jail.
Harish Bijoor: I do not believe so. Rape is surely a very serious charge. However, it rubs shoulders with crime of every kind, be it defalcation of funds, cheating, or whatever else. Both crimes are as serious as any. Serious they are! Heinous they are!
IBNLive: Nothing happened to brand Infosys and Brand iGate even after the Phaneesh Murthy incidents. What explains this?
Harish Bijoor: Answered.
IBNLive: People say Tehelka's Think Festival is a great idea. Do you think that Think Festival can survive, if some other group or a company buys it? Some other group may even copy it.
Harish Bijoor: I think the Think Festival is a great idea. It has its place with festivals such as INK, TED, and surely every other literary festival, starting from the Jaipur Literary Festival, and twenty others. I do believe the festival can survive. Maybe not in Goa anymore, but surely wherever else the new owner will want to take it.
IBNLive: You have been associated with the media for a long time. What is your advise to media groups to stay safe?
Harish Bijoor: I do believe one good way is to enshrine a way of work, and an ethos of work that stands clean, stands straight and stands tall when compared to practice in industry of the corporate and political kind. I do believe there needs to be transparency and good governance norms in place. For a start, there is a need to have in place a complete "zero-tolerance" policy when it comes to work practice and ethos when it involves the sexes. Even the smallest thing that can hurt a woman needs to be nipped in the bud. Tongue language, body language and overall a complete culture of healthy and real respect for the two sexes needs to be inculcated consciously. This must become a part of the DNA of organization at large. This also means that bad-language needs to be purged from organizations of every kind. Often, everything begins with language and its inappropriate use.
Eventually, there will be a time when RTI will be an ubiquitous tool in every space. Expect it to enter media. Expect it to enter marketing organizations, where consumers will want the right to question why their brand of tooth-paste is priced the way it is, and as to the exact proportion of profit the organization makes on selling the tooth-paste at large. Expect it to enter the world of politics. Expect RTI everywhere.
IBNLive: Do you think that the advertisers and sponsors will think twice before backing an event like Think Festival or a media company run by just one individual?
Harish Bijoor: Yes, I do believe that will happen. Sponsors will be extra careful from now on before they open their purse strings, as will speakers and as will everyone else. Due-diligence will be deeper than before.
IBNLive: Eminent Editor N Ram says the brand Tehelka is dead. Do you agree with him?
Harish Bijoor: As I said right in the beginning, while the current dispensation that runs Tehelka will find it difficult to keep the magazine afloat, a new entity that may want to buy it and then run it might still flog the brand to profit. The brand is dead, long live the brand!
You can tweet your feedback to Harish Bijoor on his Twitter handle: @harishbijoor
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