Social media truly allows public opinion: Social Wavelength Study

“Kuchh to Log Kahenge, Logon Ka Kam Hai Kahena" Memorable lines from “Amar Prem”, a block buster in Rajesh Khanna’s era. But then managing media in that era was easy.  You needed to cultivate a dozen of influential media people and you could pretty much ensure safe passage for your personal brand during its life time.

But this is not Rajesh Khanna era any more. And now, on account of social media, every one is media. And if you are brand, people are going to talk about you. And if they talk something about you that is not favorable, you need to be ready to defend your personal brand. Besides product (and service) brands, one category of people who are most affected by social media are celebrities. If you are well known actor, TV star, sportsperson, politician and any other well-known professional, your personal brand is the driver for your business. And thus, it becomes imperative to monitor your personal brand, engage with your fans and amplify all positive communication, at the same time plan a strategy on containing any negative communication, before it balloons into a crisis.

We picked 3 icons of the Indian Bollywood Industry (the Khan trio) to understand what consumers feel about them our social media.

Here are the findings:

(a) Overall Sentiment

Overall sentiment represents the number of positive conversations about the actor vis-a-vis the number of negative conversations.  Surprisingly, of the 3 Khans (Shahrukh, Salman and Aamir), Aamir Khan had the highest share of negative voice. While both Shahrukh and Salman have like an 80:20 split between positive sentiment and negative sentiment, in case of Aamir, this ratio is 65:35. Perhaps this is also a reflection of the mass fan following that SRK and Salman enjoy.

(b) Tag Cloud

Tag Cloud represents what other phrases, are used in a conversation while referring to the particular actor. Not surprisingly, Yash Chopra and SRKs new release feature in SRK’s tag cloud, whereas Dabang, Katrina, Tiger feature in Salman’s tag cloud

(c) SRK’s position as an ambassador of love seems cemented in the minds of the consumer

(d) While Dabang may have cracked the box office, there seems enough number of Bollywood fans who don’t seem too impressed by Salman Khan.

(e) Aamir’s connection to Satyamev Jayate seems to cut ice with the public but at the same time there are enough Bollywood lovers who don’t seem to connect with Aamir.

The bottom line seems to be that, public opinion is no longer the prerogative of a few handful media persons, who can make-or-break a celebrity. Social media truly allows public opinion to manifest, making it even more imperative for people in public life walk-the-talk, and use the same media effectively to engage with the masses.