Mr Lal Krishna Advani?s resignation has created quite a stir. Much has been written about its political implication. Much more will be discussed in the future. I have neither the intention nor the competence to add to that volume. Of interest to me is Mohammed Ali Jinnah. I will confess, thanks to this newspaper, my knowledge about him has increased manifold in the last few days. That of course is not saying much, my knowledge was near zero earlier. What I have learnt about him has impressed me no end ? purely from a marketing standpoint.

But before I come to that, let me hasten to concede that I am fully aware that politics is serious business. Much deeper issues are involved in it than those that are connected with the world of selling soaps and shampoos. Yet at its core politics and marketing have one common ground ? they seek to change people?s mind by creating images and impressions. To a student of marketing, it is this similarity that makes the theatre of politics a great learning ground.

Let me now come to the point. An article on the edit page of this paper few days back informed that ?Jinnah was born Mohammad Ali Jinnahbhai. He refashioned this to M.A. Jinnah in London?. His nickname was J. He never wore a tie twice and was a true Sahib in his lifestyle. The same man then gave up his Saville Row suits and suede shoes. He wore sherwanis and Jinnah caps. Spoke in Urdu. He created a credibility that made him known, to quote the same article, ?as the quintessential Muslim politician who roused Muslim religious sentiments to win for himself the state of Pakistan?...

When I got educated about this journey from J to Jinnah, what amazed me was the degree of change. A man changed his personae to what can mathematically be described as ?to the power of minus one? of the original. It must have taken gargantuan effort to achieve that transformation, albeit externally. Every mannerism had to be audited to see whether it fits the new image. What was at stake was a whole nation. He eventually won the trophy.

In marketing addas across the country, we have all discussed the remarkable feat of the bath soap which credibly promised freshness of lime without having a drop of lime juice in it. Also hailed is the case of a single blend of tobacco, which in two different states of India had been marketed in two avatars. The name, the pack and the advertising had been diametrically opposite of one another. In one state, the blend was promoted as delivering the subtle taste of mildness and in another it was branded as the epitome of manliness and strength. Both brands offered the same smoke, mind you.

Marketing greatness is often assessed by the distance between the objective reality of a brand and the subjective reality created in the consumer mind. A good product selling on its own merit is, sadly, seldom considered a marketing feat, however strenuous it might have been to communicate that goodness. Be that as it may, creation of the perception, is the key performance area of marketing.

In an inanimate brand the makeover is not by any means easy to handle. When the brand is a human being and the trophy is popular mandate, the degree of difficulty soars a million times. They call the people in marketing dream merchants. The real whiz kids sit in the parliament.