A game of perceptions.

EACH time a product is launched by a company, the latter's communication strategy is critical to ensuring the product's success. It is this strategy that helps the product become a brand. Politics is no different. The Imran Khan brand has triumphed, and this success has allowed the PTI, that initially had a single seat in parliament, to morph into a national party.

It is a well-known fact that Khan and the PTI have made the best possible use of social media and the various tools it offers to undertake their brand-building exercise and propaganda. They have smartly tapped into the educated urban middle class, while a supportive national media helped prop up the party until it came to power. Now a segment of the media - the usual suspects - is still supporting it and is also accused of twisting the news and facts to suit the PTI's narrative.

Behind this populism is the inorganic as well as the organic proliferation of digital content in support of Imran Khan, which has helped build positive perceptions about him. Although all leading political parties - the PML-N, PTI and the PPP - are known to have robust social media communication teams, it is the PTI that has outshone the other two in ways that are good and bad. The PTI has successfully projected its leader's narrative but, in doing so, has also been accused of stooping low and setting a precedent for unsavoury exchanges and online attacks through the army of trolls at its disposal.

The tide is against the PML-N and its allies on the digital front. Rarely will anyone see a post, a reel, or a video snippet that praises the PML-N leadership or highlights any of its governance endeavours. Conversely, what we see are terabytes of digital content that mock the new ruling party's leadership as well as the allies. Their statements are taken out of context while Khan is painted as a political messiah on a number of social media platforms; the rest of the parties are shown as his arch-nemesis.

Read: Battle of perceptions

It is a distorted ratio. The reasons are clear: a large section of the youth relates to the narrative being promoted and partakes organically in generating content and conversations on social media platforms that it is familiar with; this is in addition to the organised efforts of the PTI's social media team and troll farms.

Rarely will anyone see a post, a reel or a video snippet that praises the PML-N leadership or highlights any of its governance endeavours.

The new coalition...