Nouri Ghezeljeh: A Minister Between War, the Market and People's Tables / Interview with Dr. Rasoul Babaei on the Minister's Brand

The management brand of Gholamreza Nouri Ghezeljeh depends on his ability to preserve food security, respond to farmers' demands and explain market realities. A branding expert believes that supplying essential goods under difficult conditions can be the core of the minister's managerial identity, provided that achievements are backed by statistics, documents and an acknowledgment of shortcomings.

Ambassador Arjan - the media presence of the Minister of Jihad of Agriculture is not lacking and his media team continuously produces news about his meetings, trips, decisions and performance; But the abundance of news helps to build the brand when it creates a clear, coherent and reliable image of the minister in the minds of the people.

Gholamreza Nouri Qazaljeh, Minister of Jihad Agriculture, considers one of the most important parts of his career to be managing the supply of basic goods during the war and the conditions after it. His claim is that despite foreign pressures, currency restrictions, the insecurity of trade routes and the specific conditions of the country, the supply of basic goods did not stop and people did not face widespread shortages, long queues and serious confusion in the market.

On the other hand, critics point to the increase in food prices, delays in paying the demands of some farmers, problems with production inputs, and the instability of some markets. The Minister and the managers of the Ministry of Jihad and Agriculture also believe that an important part of these problems is caused by war, embargo, currency fluctuations and decisions that are not all within the control of one ministry.

How should these two images be placed together? Can preventing the shortage of goods in war conditions be the basis of a reliable management brand for Nouri Qazaljeh? To what extent has the minister's media presence been able to convey this achievement to public opinion? And what is the difference between producing news and building trust?

In this interview, Rasul Babaei, an expert in branding personalities and senior managers, examines the brand of Gholamreza Nouri Qazaljeh.

If we want to describe the current brand of Gholamreza Nouri Qazaljeh in one sentence, what can we say?

Nouri Qazaljeh is a politician who entered the Ministry of Agricultural Jihad with significant political capital, but this capital has not yet been fully transformed into a clear and distinct management brand. He had the experience of representing the parliament, being the head of the independent faction, knowing political relations and having an expert knowledge of the field of agriculture. The vote of confidence from the parliament also gave him a strong start. These were the right raw materials for building a management brand. But being in the government is different from being active in the parliament. The representative can be critical, ask questions and call the officials to account. The minister must show what he has done with the problem and what results he has achieved.

Nouri must now go beyond the image of a "politician familiar with agriculture" and reach a specific managerial meaning. It is still not clear for a large part of the public opinion what is the most important feature of his ministry and by what indicator should be used to judge his success or failure.

What is the most important capacity that can give meaning to Noori management brand?

His most important capacity is managing the supply of basic goods during the war and the difficult conditions after it. Nouri's claim is that despite all the pressures, the people did not face a serious and widespread lack of basic goods. This claim, if supported by clear information and evidence, could be the basis of an important narrative about his ministry.

In normal conditions, the presence of rice, oil, meat, chicken, flour and other basic goods in the market seems normal. People usually do not see the complex process behind this provision. But in a war, this same normal process can be seriously disrupted. War can make trade routes unsafe, increase the cost of transportation and insurance, make foreign sellers wary, make money transfers more difficult, and create impulse buying at home. In such a situation, preventing the shortage and maintaining the flow of distribution is not a daily administrative task; It is part of national security management.

If the Ministry of Agricultural Jihad has been able to maintain this chain, the appropriate meaning that can be expressed for Noori is the manager who did not allow the flow of food supply to the people to stop in the most difficult conditions. This meaning is more accurate and measurable than the general definitions such as hard-working manager or jihadist manager.

Does the absence of a shortage mean that the Ministry of Agricultural Jihad has performed successfully?

Absence of scarcity is an important achievement; But that is not all. We must differentiate between three concepts; Availability of goods, access to goods and power to purchase goods. A product may be available in the store, but its price has risen to such an extent that a portion of the population cannot afford it as before. In such a situation, the ministry can rightly say that it has prevented shortages, and the people can rightly say that their tables have become smaller. These two propositions do not contradict each other.

One of the common errors in PR managers is that they deny people's negative experience in order to defend their performance. For example, they say that because the product is available in the market, then there is no problem. This statement may be statistically part of the reality, but in terms of communication, it damages trust; Because people feel that the pressure of their life is not seen. Nouri's correct narrative should put both facts together in such a way that it says that we did not allow widespread shortages to occur, but we know that rising prices have put pressure on people's lives. Acceptance of price pressure does not reduce the value of the achievement of providing goods. On the contrary, it makes the minister's defense more honest and plausible.

Nouri Qazalje considers an important part of the increase in prices and market instability to be the result of the country's special conditions. How acceptable is this defense?

From an economic and managerial point of view, the principle of this statement is acceptable. Food price increase cannot be analyzed separately from war, embargo, exchange rate, transportation cost, currency supply limitation and general uncertainty. The Minister of Agricultural Jihad has no control over all these variables. Some of the decisions are made in the Central Bank, Program and Budget Organization, Ministry of Economy, Market Regulation Headquarters and other institutions. Part of it is the result of international conditions.

But from the point of view of communication, the phrase was a special condition, if it is repeated a lot, it may look like justification. People want to know exactly what effect the special conditions have had and what the ministry has done to mitigate it. A light must distinguish between several levels; First, the factors that were beyond the control of the ministry. Second, the actions taken by the ministry within its authority. Third, the shortcomings that are the responsibility of the ministry itself.

This framework can be called the law of three responsibilities. A manager who only talks about external factors is seen as irresponsible. A manager who attributes all problems to himself also presents an unrealistic image. A reliable manager is someone who clears the boundaries of his authority, action and responsibility.

How can Nouri talk about external factors if his words are not considered justified?

Instead of repeatedly using general terms, it should explain the cause and effect relationship. For example, tell what effect the war had on the cost of insurance for ships, what restrictions were faced with the transfer of currency, how much the time of arrival of goods increased and what the ministry did to compensate for it. Then it should explain the result. For example, if the reserves are provided earlier, the import route is changed or the distribution of a product is increased, these cases should be expressed with a specific number and time.

For example, the appropriate statement should be that the increase in transportation costs and the limitation of foreign exchange resources were beyond the direct authority of the ministry. However, we diversified supply routes, increased reserves at the right time and did not allow widespread shortages to develop. In some goods, we could not control the price increase as expected and we must be accountable for it. In this narrative, the difficult conditions are explained, the action of the ministry is seen, and the shortcomings are not denied.

What is the difference between the brand of a minister in the field of livelihood and the brand of other managers?

For this, I use a concept called the law of the shortest distance to the table. This law says that the closer a manager's area of ​​responsibility is to people's daily life, the shorter the distance between his claim and people's experience should be. When he talks about the stock of rice, the price of chicken, the supply of inputs or the payment of wheat, people and producers can test his words in the same days.

Therefore, Nouri Qazaljeh's brand is not created in speeches. His brand is formed in the field, market and table. In the field, the farmer and the producer judge him. In the market, the importer, distributor and economic operator see the result of his policies. At the table, people face the price and access to the product.

These three groups do not always have the same demand. How should light balance between them?

The minister of agricultural jihad is facing a constant conflict. The producer wants a higher price, more support and a more secure market. Consumers want lower prices and easier access. The market operator also wants the stability of decisions and the possibility of planning. It can be said that the Minister of Agriculture has at least two main clients; First the producer and second the consumer. Imports may help control the price, but worry the domestic farmer. Import restrictions may support domestic production, but raise consumer prices. An increase in the guaranteed purchase price helps the producer, but raises the government's cost or the final price.

Therefore, Nouri should not pretend that every decision benefits everyone at the same time. The audience does not believe such a claim and it is not logical. A manager's brand is not built on eliminating conflicts; It is formed in their fair and explainable management style. For every important decision, he should say what is the main conflict? What is the priority at this stage? Which group pays more? What action is taken to compensate for it? How long will this policy continue?

How to explain the management of basic goods during the war to the public?

The general phrase "we did not allow a shortage" is not enough. This sentence should be turned into a documentary narrative. The narrative should start from the point of danger. At the beginning of the war, what amount of reserves, what currency restrictions and what risks did the ministry face in the way of supply? Decisions should then be explained. What goods were prioritized? Which alternative routes were activated? How did the distribution method change? What arrangements were made with other devices? After that, the result should be presented in numbers. The inventory of the main goods, the period of coverage of the stocks, the volume of distribution, the amount of imports and the number of points that faced disruption should be published as much as possible. Finally, the shortcomings must be stated. There may be a limited shortage or disorder in a province or a period of time. Acknowledging these things increases the validity of the main narrative.

Here comes another concept that I call the law of unattainable success. An important part of a manager's job in a crisis is to prevent bad things from happening. When a crisis doesn't happen, people assume that things were normal from the beginning. Therefore, the manager's success is not seen. Any manager whose mission is to prevent a crisis must document the risk, action, and outcome; Otherwise, his success will not be recorded in public memory.

Does this mean that Nouri Qazaljeh's media presence is low and his problem is a lack of media activity?

no By the way, optical media presence is relatively high. His media team continuously produces news about his meetings, provincial trips, meetings, visits, decisions and statements. In the official and specialized media, his name and image are often seen. Therefore, Noori's issue is not a lack of news or media absence. The main issue is the distance between news production and brand building. The continuous production of news can show that the minister is active, but it does not necessarily tell the audience what his most important issue is, what changes he has made and why he should be trusted. If every trip, meeting and visit is published as an independent news, the audience will be faced with a large volume of activities, but may not get a clear picture of the results of these activities. In fact, Nouri Qazaljeh is not facing a lack of visibility; He faces the dispersion of meaning. There is a lot of news, but not all of them tell a common story.

Can a lot of media presence harm his brand?

If not managed properly, yes. High attendance increases public expectation. When people regularly see the image of the minister on trips, meetings and visits, it is natural to ask what is the result of this amount of activity. If there is no balance between the abundance of news and people's experience, media presence can work against the manager. The audience may feel that the public relations department is more busy reflecting the minister's daily activities than explaining the results. This problem can be expressed in the form that the more the manager's media presence, the greater his need to present results.

The news of the visit without reporting the result has a short life. If the news of the minister's order is not followed by the implementation of the order, it may become a sign of the ineffectiveness of the decisions. If the news of the promise does not come to fruition within the stipulated time, it will become a document for the opposition's counter-narrative. But on the other hand, reducing media presence is not necessarily the solution. The relationship between activity news, decision explanation and result report should be corrected.

What change should Nouri media team make in the way of content production?

Instead of seeing each activity as a standalone product, his team should organize content into a few master files. For example, if the central narrative is food security in difficult circumstances, trips, visits, meetings and decisions should be connected to this narrative. After seeing a series of news, the audience should be able to understand what problem the minister is facing? What has he decided? What stage does this decision go through? When will the result be seen? What is not yet resolved? and...

If this link is established, each news item will be part of a larger story. If it is not created, the news is like scattered pieces that do not make a clear picture together. The Nouri media team apparently has no shortage of facilities and production capacity. What it needs is narrative architecture; It means organizing the news based on several specific missions and results.