Goodbye 1Malaysia, it’s ‘brand Najib’ now with new website

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has set up a new personal website, NajibRazak.com. – September 11, 2014.

Datuk Seri Najib Razak's move to set up a new personal website is part of the prime minister's strategy to capitalise on the "Najib" brand to gain more traction with voters, especially the younger generation, say media practitioners.

At the same time, a departure from his earlier site at www.1malaysia.com.my may indicate a move to distance himself from a brand that drew criticism and which now carries the baggage of unfulfiled promises.

The new site, NajibRazak.com, is slickly designed but the jury is still out on its effectiveness.

Najib had previously used the 1Malaysia website – a brand that he had promoted upon taking office in 2009 – as his personal site but its attractiveness has fizzled out since Barisan Nasional (BN) lost more seats in Election 2013.

Last Friday, he announced that the 1Malaysia site has been turned into a website for all Malaysians while his newly-set up NajibRazak.com will serve as his personal site.

One online editor termed the shift a “big 404” – a tech term for when a server cannot find a requested page.

"I get a big 404 there – it's a failure because there was no action behind the messaging," said executive editor and co-founder of Digital News Asia Asohan Aryaduray of the 1Malaysia brand.

Asohan, a veteran newsman who had a stint as senior public relations manager for tech giant Microsoft Malaysia, said Najib setting up a personal website might relieve him of the negative connotations associated with 1Malaysia.

"Perhaps that's not a bad thing, since he's never shown any commitment to it in terms of actual actions. I guess some expert told him that this way, he gets personal branding without being dragged down by the 1Malaysia baggage," he said.

The 1Malaysia slogan has been criticised for lack of clarity and mere lip service by detractors who observe that the Najib administration has allowed religious and racial strife to worsen under its watch.

"For all intents and purposes it wasn't getting the traction it intended anyway," said Merdeka Center for Opinion Research’s Ibrahim Suffian, referring to the 1Malaysia campaign.

The independent pollster said the social media campaign centred around Najib as a personality probably generated more interest, especially from young voters, and he believed the premier would use the new website to leverage on his brand rather than the "vague concept" of 1Malaysia.

"The new website allows him to be accessible, have personal engagement with young people as opposed to 1Malaysia, which is vague, has different meanings to different people and is unsupported by some members of his party and coalition partners.

"Brand Najib has the potential of at least making a direct appeal. He's using his personal charisma and capital to gain traction especially with young voters and it is an opportune time now because the opposition is in disarray," said Ibrahim.

Despite his flagging popularity, brand Najib was more popular than the ruling BN coalition he leads. In February last year, Ibrahim's Merdeka Center placed Najib's personal approval at 61%, above BN's 45%.

Another survey by international non-partisan organisation UMR Research conducted on the eve of the 13th general election in May last year found Najib held a 55% advantage ahead of his rival and former deputy prime minister, PKR’s Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who snagged a 48% score.

Datuk A. Kadir Jasin says Datuk Seri Najib Razak's decoupling from 1Malaysia may have a positive effect. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, September 11, 2014.In the run up to GE13, brand Najib dominated BN campaign materials nationwide, and was given equal or even higher billing than the candidates’ own promotional items in individual constituencies as a move to win over fence sitters.

And recently, brand Najib enjoyed a surge in popularity after the prime minister utilised "secret diplomacy" with Ukrainian rebels to jumpstart the recovery of the downed MH17 aircraft and remains of the passengers after it was shot down on July 17.

Ibrahim pointed out that Najib's engaging personality allows him to leverage on those traits to attract people and sell Putrajaya's policies.

At the same time, however, it also opens him to questions about long-standing problems facing the country, like rising racial-religious tension, the spate of arrests and charges under the Sedition Act and rising cost of living.

"NajibRazak.com will have to personally deal with that and he better have the answers," Ibrahim said.

Digital News Asia’s Asohan said that NajibRazak.com will require real substance backed with concrete actions, or it would end up as another slick but empty branding campaign.

"Any communications expert will tell you that whitewash-style PR and branding can only take you so far, there needs to be substance behind the messaging. No PR or branding campaign can sustain itself without any real action being taken.

"Just saying stuff? That's bad PR, anyone will tell you," he said.

Veteran newspaperman Datuk A. Kadir Jasin said there were merits for the prime minister to "decouple" himself from the 1Malaysia website and strike out with his own site. He noted that the 1Malaysia brand did not enjoy strong support among some in the Malay community, and even some members in Umno were less than enthusiastic about the
concept.

"Decoupling from 1Malaysia may have a positive effect on Najib and even the 1Malaysia brand as it is no longer identified with the prime minister or used as a political tool.

"My own belief is that Najib finds 1Malaysia hard to sell and it may even have taken up too much of his time due to resistance from within and outside Umno.

"So I think Najib and his advisers must have studied the merits of him identifying himself with 1Malaysia and going off on his own steam, at least in the social media world," said the former editor-in-chief of the pro-government English daily, the New Straits Times.

- TMI