When it comes to making news, Rajiv Bajaj & his dad share a secret

At a recent marketing conclave in Mumbai, Rajiv Bajaj, MD, Bajaj Auto, ensured he made quite the entrance. Notably, because of his white shoes. But it’s not because he wanted to keep up with the trend. Bajaj laughed and said, “As I walked in, at least a couple of people noticed my white shoes. That’s my trick on occasions like these. Even if you don’t remember me for what I said, you will remember me for my shoes.” But what he said was as on point as his pristine white footwear.

One at a time
To make sure you succeed, Bajaj said it’s best to narrow your focus and not to attempt too many things at once, especially multiple large projects. “Anyone who decides to climb two big mountains at the same time is definitely going to fall. So, never engage in two mass businesses at the same time,” he said. “Become a leader in one first and then move to the other one. However, if you have one big business and a smaller niche business, that is not necessarily a conflict.”


Talk of the town
When the conclave host, Harsh Mariwala, chairman, Marico, light-heartedly asked Bajaj why he never missed an opportunity to talk about his father, Rahul Bajaj, he had a tongue-in-cheek reply: it’s good for business. Bajaj said, “There was once a CEO of Ho nda (Japan) and he was asked to compare Japanese and American management practices. His answer was that both are 95 per cent the same but they differ in important aspects. Nothing is more powerful for a business than to make news. News spreads like wildfire. And then you don’t have to spend money. So, in a very, very confidential room full of hundreds of people, I wish to inform you that this is a carefully constructed strategy of my father and me to create that controversy, so that everyone will talk about us.”