As Ola’s Bhavish Aggarwal faces heat, Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal praised for ‘PR masterclass’ | Trending

They are both the founders of two hotshot Indian startups. They have both studied at the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT). Yet their public personas could not be more different. While one has copped backlash for his perceived ‘arrogance’, the other has been winning accolades for engaging with customers and employees. We are referring, of course, to Ola Electric CEO Bhavish Aggarwal and Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal. Ola’s Bhavish Aggarwal and Zomato’s Deepinder Goyal present a study in contrast. A study in contrastThe difference between Ola’s Bhavish Aggarwal, 39, and Zomato’s Deepinder Goyal, 41, was highlighted in a viral X post on Sunday after Aggarwal spent much of his day trading insults with comedian Kunal Kamra, who shared a picture of Ola Electric scooters gathering dust at a service centre. Aggarwal deployed some choice words in his takedown of Kamra, but his spat only resulted in bad publicity against Ola. More than a few X users slammed Bhavish Aggarwal for his arrogance, noting that complaints against Ola scooters have touched 80,000 per month. These Ola critics asked why the CEO was not working harder to address the problems faced his customers instead of taking digs at a comedian. “Bhavish Aggarwal will soon learn how costly it can get to be publicly arrogant as a rich businessman in India, especially with a product like Ola Electric,” X user Arjun wrote on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. He added that there is a good reason for why seasoned businessmen like Anand Mahindra play it safe on social media. Another X user responded to this post highlighting how Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal spent his weekend. Goyal, along with wife Grecia Munoz, donned the signature Zomato red to act as a delivery partner for the day. He said it was to better understand and uplift the working conditions of Zomato delivery executives. Goyal’s act was hailed as a “PR masterclass” even as some X users wondered why Bhavish Aggarwal’s own publicity team had not stopped him from tweeting up a storm. “I work on advising brands. This whole thread is such bad PR. Zero good outcomes. Engagement that comes across as arrogant. Doesn’t help the brand at all,” wrote X user Anirban. Deepinder Goyal’s positive PR masterclassWhile Aggarwal faced the heat for his “arrogant” and “crass” language in responding to Kunal Kamra, Deepinder Goyal has won appreciation for hitting the ground to get feedback. Bhavish Aggarwal’s spat actually backfired since social media has been filled with even more complaints against Ola scooters from irked customers. On the other hand, Goyal has spent the last few years cultivating the image of a soft-spoken leader who is open to feedback and not afraid of laughing at himself. On Saturday, for example, he revealed that he had spent a couple of days the past week delivering orders. The following day, he recalled his experience of being refused entry to a Gurgaon mall from the main entrance while working as a Zomato delivery driver. “I realised that we need to work with malls more closely to improve working conditions for all delivery partners. And malls also need to be more humane to delivery partners,” he acknowledged. Goyal has also earned positive publicity for a host of charitable initiatives – like the Dua Lipa concert for charity. In July, he celebrated Zomato’s 16th birthday with children of a school supported the company’s Feeding India CSR initiative. The birthday celebrations continued with a “roast” where top comedians were invited to take digs at Zomato, its policies and its founders – a move that won much praise on social media as users hailed a CEO who is not afraid of laughing at himself. (Also read: Watch: Deepinder Goyal in splits as comedian roasts Zomato’s platform fee, rain surge)