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There has been a lot of debate in the press lately on the idea of Brand India. Fundamentally, three broad questions have emerged:
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First, should we brand India?
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Second, is this the right time to brand India?
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Third, how should we go about the task?
Let us begin by addressing the first, and the easiest.
The idea of whether or not India should be branded induces reactions that range from mild discontent to violent disagreement. “Selling India is a pointless business”; “No amount of hard-sell can convince buyers to take a ‘Made in India’ label at face value…”; “…any marketing exercise [to brand India] is a waste of time and effort”; “Efficiency and quality don’t require any hard sell”, etc. These are just some of the refrains heard in recent months.
Such rhetoric is far too exaggerated. And going by the rapid progress of “Made in India”, this opinion is a little misplaced. Let us put the situation in the proper perspective.
Gap, Tommy Hilfiger, Espirit, Wal-Mart, Polo all buy clothes from India. Garment exports at US$6 billion, and are expected to increase 8-10 times by 2010.
In the first six months of 03-04, India exported over 220,000 cars and bikes worldwide. Auto giants – Daimler Chrysler, Volvo, Benz – source parts worth US$1.5 bn from India.
Data aside, in an increasingly competitive world, the global consumer is faced with a sea of choices. Whether the decision is to set up a manufacturing facility, or to decide on a holiday destination, consumers have several options. They expect to be wooed and convinced through creative and insightful communication, besides of course, being made a competitive offer.
Nation-states are competing aggressively with each other to position themselves as competitive destinations for investments and tourism. In a rapidly evolving global village, it is the intangible “feeling” behind the data and numbers that really drives decisions in favour, or against nations. The last 50 years have seen this brand get increasingly distorted in the absence of a coherent effort to manage and develop it’s associations, with the result that Brand India today, stands for Snake Charmers, Elephants and Rope Tricks.
It is in this context that Branding, or rather re-Branding India, is not a choice but an obvious necessity. If we won’t do it, other nations are doing so any way! And position India the way it fits their competitive global strategy. Let us now try and address the second and more important issue whether this is the right time to launch a concerted branding campaign for India.
“India’s economic indicators are encouraging. Reforms are moving ahead, yet investors are looking for further signs of the Government’s commitment. In any case, most analysts do not expect the upcoming national elections to affect the reform momentum.”
This could well be an extract from a newspaper story that appeared today. It isn’t. This is a story that appeared in the International Herald Tribune, circa 1995. Since, we have come a complete circle. Once again, and for good reason, the Indian economy and markets are buoyant, and reforms are moving ahead. Once again, we are at the threshold, the clichéd “take-off” point. This cyclic performance bothers observers, and is the one barrier to building a competitive Brand India. Will the opportunity tip over or will India break the perception barrier this time of being continuous “work-in-progress”?
Some perspectives
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15 of the world’s major automobile makers are obtaining components from Indian companies. This business fetched India in 2003 US$1.5 billion.
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At US$6.5 billion and growing at 8-10 percent annually, India’s pharmaceutical industry is 4th largest in the world.
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As for technology, India is among the three countries that have built super computers on their own.
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Indian exports were up by 19 percent in 2003, and the country’s foreign exchange reserves are in excess of US$100 billion. India is dishing out aid to 11 countries, prepaying its debt and loaned IMF US$300 million!
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A cataract operation costs US$1500 in the US. In India, US$12. A heart bypass surgery in the US anywhere up to US$13000. In India, it is US$900. Over 70 MNCs have set up R&D facilities in India in the past five years.
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With better systems comes efficiency. The turnaround time in Indian ports is down to 4 days from 10 and its telecom infrastructure in 1999 provided a bandwidth of 155 Mbps. Today, it is 75,000 times more and with fibre optic networks in 300 cities, it will change the face of business.
As 2004 dawned, news dailies announced the phenomenal 8.4 percent GDP growth in Q2 of 2003. Analysts and observers announced 2003 as the year India Inc posted a dramatic turnaround in financial performance, the year when the stock markets rose, the year when manufacturing made a comeback, and how; the year of cross-border deals as a confident, global-minded India Inc began it’s hunt overseas for companies and facilities, and most importantly, the year when Indian businessmen, beyond just software, began to believe that they have it in them to make the cut globally.
This is not the work of a Spin Doctor.
It cannot be denied, however, that this reality coexists with a parallel India that tends to be much more “in-your-face” – the poverty, the illiteracy, and the “work-in-progress”.
Herein lies the dichotomy that leads an observer (a foreigner), as also a participant (an Indian), to understand India as a land of contrasts and contradictions. Unfortunately, as with “out of sight, out of mind”, the changing, progressive and increasingly competitive India, tends to attract a lot less attention. It doesn’t overwhelm our senses, as does the other India, which we deal with on a daily basis – much more up close and personal.
Our political economy has matured tremendously in the last several years. Coupled with the increasing competitiveness of Indian Industry, my assessment is that the timing for branding India couldn’t be better. And leading from the growing number of success stories, building Brand India around our increasing competitiveness makes sense. This brings us to third and most important question of how do we go about the task? How do we resolve the inherent conflict – the dichotomy – around Brand India as a land of contrasts and contradictions?
Clearly, Brand India’s success lies in managing and leveraging this opportunity. The India Brand Equity Foundation (earlier India Brand Equity Fund) was founded under the aegis of the Ministry of Commerce of the Government of India with the explicit purpose of developing a strong global identity for India, by leveraging these emergent opportunities. The IBEF aims to do this through a proactive effort to create a strong Nation Brand for the country based on positive and relevant associations. The entire effort is directed towards taking India beyond name recognition (and distorted associations), by firmly establishing a relevant position for the country on the world map. The immediate goal: build positive economic perceptions of India in key global markets.
The IBEF moved to the CII to manage, in October 2002. It was decided that a broad-based branding exercise would best be facilitated through a strong partnership between the government and industry. It is in this context, that the CII provides for the executive management and the operational day-to-day functioning of the Foundation, under the Chairmanship of the Commerce Secretary.
Indian Industry is becoming globally competitive in many sectors such as Pharmaceuticals, Auto Components, IT, Biotech, R&D and ITeS. Second, the abundant intellectual capital available in the country continues to provide further impetus to an emergent world-scale economy that is slated to be the 3rd largest by 2050. Third, the achievements of global Indians, and the contributions of the Indian diaspora abroad, are a tremendous source of pride, and strongly reinforce the competitiveness of Indians across sectors.
It is in this context, that we are undertaking the task of Nation Brand Building, which is firmly rooted in the positive, changing reality of the 21st century India. IBEF plans to include a series of coordinated marketing initiatives that will use conventional methods like advertising and developing a brand ambassadors network to make an impact in the short term. Innovative and proactive measures like bringing select groups from media houses and educational institutions for structured India Tours, are also planned to support the development of the brand over the long term.
On the domestic front, IBEF drives alignment across stakeholders to ensure that messages emanating from the country are coherent and consistent. With this view, the IBEF is developing a strong partner network that includes select Ministries, Sectoral Associations and Community Institutions to drive alignment and coherence in brand communication efforts. As a facilitator, IBEF services this network through workshops, a brand communication toolkit, and research reports that help track perceptions of brand India.
(The author is CEO, India Brand Equity Foundation & Deputy Director-General Confederation of Indian Industry. He can be contacted at ajay.khanna@ciionline.org website: www.ibef.org)
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