Brand Anna - My Thoughts

It was no surprise when I read that Anna Hazare has now become a case study in brand management in B-schools in India. As quoted in the TOI, Prof. Harsh Verma (he taught me Marketing Startegy too) says
"What has this simple man, who otherwise may fail to attract attention on the street, appropriated? If Anna has caught the imagination of people, which is visible wherever he goes, what is it? Anna's brilliance lies in his ability to sense the void (latent need: freedom from corruption) and respond to that by creating a product accordingly (Lokpal). Some needs are so obvious (patent but relegated to dormancy) that they escape attention. Anna has lent voice to a murmur which political establishment knowingly ignored. He converted that into a war cry. Anna brand stands for a 'promise' (India liberated from corruption) which connects people,"

Well, these words are an important learning. Anna no doubt addresses an unmet need, a demand, the collective anger of the masses. But, in my opinion, the more important question that we need to answer here is this. Could any other person have managed to garner this kind of overwhelming support from the masses? The above passage is restricted to a diagnosis of the context in which Anna is acting. It articulates that Anna was able to bring the attention of the people to a dormant need of a corruption free society. It further says that Anna could successfully create a product called Lok Pal to address this need and that struck the chord with the masses. At all stages in the passage, there is heavy emphasis on the context - that of a corrupt establishment, a dormant need of a corruption free India and the creation of the Lokpal bill as a product. The contribution of Anna is restricted to his ability to sense the need and creating the product. Unfortunately, the passage somehow seems to give little credit to Anna in this whole movement against corruption. Again, the question of whether any other person could have garnered such support from the masses remains unanswered.
The need for a Lokpal was felt 42 years ago. If so, why this mass support only now? Corruption had been at seemingly high levels in the 80s and 90s too. In fact there were more scams in the 90s than there are today. I can atleast talk of 5 scams - the Stock Market scam , the St. Kitts scam, the urea scam, the JMM bribery case, the telecom scam (the Sukhram one). Even then, the then PM was pointed fingers at. Despite the fact there was no mass agitation then. Why only now?
I feel that a brand can be built regardless of the context. A young Anna Hazare, a soldier contemplated on committing suicide thinking that ultimately everybody has to die without taking away anything from the Earth. However, he realised that life is best lived if it is spent in serving human beings and society at large. He returned to life and what a life he led!! He brought greenery back to his drought stricken village, he educated his fellow villagers, he reformed the village convincingly dissuading people from drinking and consequently creating a model village. He led a spotless life with wealth not being able to touch him at all. He led a life full of austerity and service and he understood the ground realities. He is neither qualified, nor a glib talker, neither a style icon, nor is able to speak in English. He is merely a rustic human being charged with the idea of service. He is upright and stands on a moral ground that is above the rest, yet is an humble down to earth human being. He has had a history of facing challenges and has emerged victorious. His impeccable track record and his qualities of simplicity are what make the people believe that Anna can address the need of creating a corruption free society. None would believe in a politician if he said that he would rid India of corruption, because the political class has created a brand for itself of being corrupt by its track record. The actions of the individual are the ones that ultimately make the difference.
If the context would have been something else, Anna would have probably worked in that direction, the reason being that he has a mission of performing social service and that aspect is the one that strikes the chord. Like Rome was not built in a day, strong brands too are not built in a day. But if the intentions are right, if the actions speak for themselves, if there is consistency in delivering what is said, then packaging is not so much of a problem. That I think is the secret behind Brand Anna!!