Surjith Balan – Personal Branding Specialist & Maverick in Digital Quotient on strategy and scope - The India Saga

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Surjith Balan – Personal Branding Specialist & Maverick in Digital Quotient on strategy and scope

Surjith Balan has been creating waves as a brand custodian and digital strategist and has worked with top brands in…

Surjith Balan –  Personal Branding Specialist & Maverick in Digital Quotient on strategy and scope

Surjith Balan has been creating waves as a brand custodian and digital strategist and has worked with top brands in National Media and Socio Political leaders.

Qn 1) Surjith Balan, you statement to media that ÂPersonal Branding is new age concept taking over digital worldÂgot immense traction ? Could you elucidate ?

It’s a very vast subject to discuss. In a simple word, we can say personal branding makes people” zero to hero”. Personal branding is important in today’s world because you are the most important selling point of your service or product. People trust people, they are looking for someone they can proudly recommend, which helps to achieve their goals. personal branding is almost like corporate branding, instead of marketing a business, you market yourself.

Qn 2) Surjith, Can you give a glimpse of the nature of work in this Digital PR world. How does it work, what are the nuances ?.

Digital PR is one of the fastest evolving facets of marketing. A digital PRs role involves getting your clients brand featured on websites where their target audience is likely to visit,which helps to improve their business. digital PR is one of the few industries where spending a half-day kicking around ideas and trying to out-do each other creatively is a good use of time. The hardest part of digital PR is at the start we have to build up relationship with journalist and publishers from scratch

Qn 3) Tell us more about your journey and youth. What were the formative years of Surjith that led to the present day entrepreneur and activist ?

After 12  years of experience in different corporates like ICICI BANK, RELIANCE AND TATAs, I worked in different verticals in these companies and saw many branding strategies to sell their products. so if a corporate can why can’t an individual so they can promote themself to achieve their target and goal. so I thought it’s a great opportunity in the field of personal branding, which makes people move from ” zero to hero” 

Qn 4) What are the possibilities of people like you, Prashanth Kishore or any election and political strategist in a diverse democracy like India. Is it akin to corporatization of democracy, Surjith ?

Participation is a necessary aspect of democracy because as a system of social and political governance by and for the public , it requires the input of an informed and engaged public. The change in the country itself has a tendency to lean towards markets and privatization and away from what I call a ” formal,accountable political system”. I find the political system less than able to be held accountable precisely due to the incessantly hungry behemoth of private interests in political funding, without even properly discussing issues like election systems, voting rights, gerrymandering and campaign finance. However, it is important to understand that while we are not a democracy, we have the elements of democracy in our political structures and barriers actively preventing democratic intervention in social and digital structure as well.

Qn 5) Which are the major assignments that you have taken? What are proud achievements you can showcase till now?

My first project was by hand holding an NGO from Kerala with Karnataka state education department and Karnataka state library in 2018. the name of the project is ” digital grandhalaya” an online platform for students. I was honoured by the education minister N.MAHESH in 2018 for my contribution towards the state of Karnataka. My second project is under process with the planning department of Karnataka supporting the rural development activities in the Yadgir district. This project is a part of the aspirational district programme Karnataka state.

Qn 6) What were some of the pitfalls you had to face? What were the learnings from them?

a) In personal branding

       1) people are not much aware of it 

        2) they don’t know how important is personal branding in their business to achieve their goals

        3) we have to educate them

 b) social activities

         1) dealing with the politician in hectic

          2) since my role as a consultant, I used to bring NGOs from  in and out of the state who can support the government for their rural development activities, the  government system is too slow and we have to push to get the things done

Qn 7 ) We have also learned about some of your activism from the media? What prompts you to give back to society in such an early age itself. ? Do you think Youth should also focus more on activism?

You have to work hard and you have to make money that is not all life, you have to come out and seek the people who need your help and if you become the sponge which can absorb all the negativity of the person whom you are helping and if you are able to emit beautiful positive vibes to him and just because of you, that person didn’t give up in his life.

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