 "Mars Orbiter Mission")
The Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), the biggest project of the nation's space research agency, Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro), also has one more feat to its credit - it is one of the five most talked-about topics on the social network Facebook. Informally called Mangalyaan, it ranked fifth after Narendra Modi, Sachin Tendulkar, the iPhone 5S and Raghuram Rajan.
Social media users were glued in front of their computers, even as the scientists kept watch, at odd hours of the night, to know how the latest orbit manoeuvre or trajectory correction fared. K Radhakrishnan, chairman of Isro, says the audience asked basic to "brilliant" questions about each technical term and were even found to revive their childhood lessons in physics to answer other members and interact enthusiastically. Such a level of engagement made MOM not just a successful ISRO launch but a successful brand too for the programme.
"It (Facebook page) is not just an information forum, it has become a discussion forum. They (users) are well aware of the mission details," says Radhakrishnan.
How did a mission of an organisation, which would earlier have got coverage in traditional media such as newspapers and news channels for a few days when launched, shoot up in the word-of-mouth priority online?
For the nearly 300,000 people who have got on to the social network page, the organisation has been making it a point to release updates with never-before-seen pictures and inside anecdotes of the mission.
Isro identified a three-member team, consisting of employees in their twenties and early-thirties. Based on guidelines drafted by an advisory committee, it went to work on the official page on Facebook and its Twitter handle.
Ankhi Das, director, public policy, India & South Asia, Facebook, says, "Social media has the power of enabling real conversations between government agencies, non-profits and citizens."
Harish Bijoor, CEO of Harish Bijoor Consults says the major change in brand Isro with the launch of the MOM is that it has become an organisation-centric brand, rather than a brand known for one person. Isro, for decades, had relied on individuals who led it to be the face of the organisation.
Isro will extend the branding further. Radhakrishnan says that it is planning to launch merchandise such as branded T-shirts.
Bijoor points out that Isro's corporate branding just got enhanced with the activities around the MOM.
Isro's branding efforts is being seen as another fillip to youngsters' enthusiasm in taking up science, says Radhakrishnan.
The Chandrayaan - 1 mission -India's first effort to send a spacecraft to the Moon in 2008 - triggered an increase in applications for joining Isro, despite the brain-drain prevalent in the country. Over the last seven years, the ratio of the number of applications to the posts available at Isro has drastically gone up (please see chart for average applications per opening). "Remuneration has also increased compared to the IT sector, as has the stint duration at Isro," says Radhakrishnan.
Given Isro's projects that have touched the daily lives of citizens such as sensors for weather forecasts and communication satellites, the brand has scope to extend beyond the scientific community for people to relate to.
Nasa (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, US) has grown its branding in leaps and bounds in the digital age. Apart from traditional branding, it has to its credit numerous websites for non-scientists to contribute to space research such as crowd-sourcing new star-spotting, for example. Besides the real-time updates on its website from eyes in the sky such as the Hubble Space Telescope, it even tells users, who have registered for such updates, when the International Space Station can be spotted in the sky.
"We will focus on reaching out to the people," concludes Radhakrishnan.
With inputs from Sayantani Kar
