Learn to growth hack the Narendra Modi way


Before we get into the exploits of our prime minister, let’s understand what growth hacking is.

Growth hacking is a word coined in 2011 (I think) by Sean Ellis, it’s a methodology or mindset for new-age entrepreneurs and startups to grow their businesses in unconventional ways, rapidly. Not traditional paid advertising, or facebook marketing. Growth hacking is truly novel. An amalgamation of technology, digital marketing, and data analytics is growth hacking.


Now the concept of growth hacking is truly rising along with the number of startups that are cropping up in India. When we set out to figure who the top growth hackers in this country were, a name kept coming up time and time again. This was not a t-shirt and flip-flop wearing geek hacking away at his Macbook, this was a khadi wearing workaholic who considers India his startup and he the CEO. This story is about how Narendra Modi growth hacked his career to become India’s Prime Minister.

Know your audience

To be a true growth hacker, you need to know who your audience is and where they reside.

Narendra Modi knows how to reach everybody! If he has to go to Varanasi and be present physically to give a speech or be heard by youth on SoundCloud, he will. He knows the audience is varied and, therefore, the channels need to be varied as well. Facebook and Twitter are old news for our Prime Minister, not only is he on channels that are frequented by 20-year-olds, he is also in the digital lives of the folks of other countries like China’s Weibo (China’s Twitter). His reach is truly remarkable.

Keeping a consistent content flowing through radio programs like 'Mann ki Baat', Modi also is omnipresent with his 'Star Wars' styled 3D holograms that took the elections by storm. The hologram technology is not just a gimmick, it helped address thousands at once and be everywhere at once.

When the trend of buying DSLR cameras and starting facebook photography pages was gripping our youth, Modi built a connection with them by showing his penchant for photography.

Modi taking photo in new Zealand

The product should be part of the growth hack

A very important aspect in growth hacking is that the product should be a part in the growth mindset.

Narendra Modi was the product during the elections. “Achhe din aane waale hain (English: Good days are coming) was the Hindi slogan of the BJP for the 2014 Indian general election.

Slogans like “NaMo” (First two letters of both names) were being bellowed out by millions of Indians. The genius in this was NaMo is actually part of a Hindu prayer like most of us would know.

There were other slogans like “Har har ghar mein Modi” (in every house there is Modi) and quotes relating to his work ethic like this one.

“I can promise you. If you work 12 hours, I will work for 13. If you work for 14 hours, I will work for 15 hours. Why? Because I am not a Pradhan Mantri, but a Pradhan Sevak.”

The BJP was selling Narendra Modi and used every iota of him to promote their prime ministerial candidate.

This made him the product that was ingrained in the growth strategy. Kudos to Narendra Modi and his team, they used things like his name and innovated with it to create an anthem which is probably the best brand recall that any politician can have.

Collaboration and virality

The best in the world have always collaborated extremely well. They see talent and want to work with talent. Startups don’t lag behind in collaboration, which is a great way to combine two forces and build a better outcome for both startups. Zomato and Uber have collaborated to get people from bars to cabs much quicker, hence adding value to the customer and the respective startups.

Narendra Modi picks his talent well and collaborates even better. The opposition and the Press have given him a hard time regarding his foreign visits. In my opinion, Narendra Modi is putting India in a position where we can work with any country we want to, whenever we want to and get an outcome that is beneficial.

Modi used his clout over the business world and got big industries to pledge billions to the ‘Make in India’ campaign. Collaborating with other countries, big industries has paved the way for an India that can get things done. Modi’s tech-savvy nature has grown to make him a viral campaigner. The ‘Clean India’ campaign is just one of the cases that can be made an example of. He initially called upon nine personalities and others to clean their surroundings in the hope of mirroring a trend reminiscent reflecting the 'Ice Bucket Challenge' phenomenon.

Celebrities like Sachin Tendulkar and Priyanka Chopra hastily replied and approved the challenge promising to take it to other people. Another celebrity, Aamir Khan, also joined Modi on the campaign.

If our startups need to grow, the greatest among them all should grow the fastest. India is in the nascent stage of rapid growth and to be the best the world has ever seen, we need a growth hacker who can get work done like no other. Narendra Modi is India’s growth hacker and he is the growth hacker we need.



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