Managing and handling Incredible India as a “brand” is like teaching
an elephant to dance! Indian corporate have been known as elephants
who have learnt to dance by managing change through restructuring,
mergers and acquisitions, reengineering, sticking to core
competencies and diversification, as the case may be, that we have
heard about ever since 1990-91, when the Indian economy was
liberated and opened up. Teaching the elephant India to dance is a
stupendous task. Yet it is happening. A bit slowly, but surely.
The Government of India’s tourism department is selling “Incredible
India” as a country for picture and colours! But the reality is much
deeper and beyond this. There is the world and there is Incredible
India coming to terms with it, and to be recognized as a player on
the same turf as other countries in business and other ways.
Post
ADASIA at Jaipur
In a recent full page feature in The Times of India, after the Asian
Advertising Conference (ADASIA) in Jaipur, celebrities and icons of
Indian business have described and voiced their opinions on Brand
India, which became the sub-theme at the ADSIA along besides its
main theme: “Breaking the Rules”.
Kumaramangalam Birla reiterated that our mahaan Brand India
signifies deeper aspects than from India just as a product. Brand
India connotes India’s prowess in many forms and fields. What thus
is needed, he believes, is to inject an element of pride within the
country and then go out and command respect for it outside the
country. He stresses on doing this by building on our success
stories – IT, manufacturing, tourism, and so, backed by our values,
ideals and images.
Anand Mahindra expressed that for Brand India there is no mountain
too high for it to climb. All we need to do is to get rid of the
negative stereotypes about us and develop a well-managed
communication strategy to put out the message about its people, its
ambitions, and its growth realities.
Alyque Padamsee, the self-proclaimed “God” in advertising, talks of
Chandrababu Naidu’s example of how the CM marketed Andhra Pradesh to
the rest of India and the world. He urges good advertising and
public relations to project the natural intelligence of the Indian
people -- the brain box of the world. Supplementing this view, Cyrus
Oshidar of MTV, says that the go-getting spirit of young Indians,
their ability to set goals and work towards them are qualities that
will stand India in good stead. He thus was referring to the new
India and the new Indian economy today and tomorrow.
In another Sunday editorial, journalist Shobha De raises questions
on the concept of Brand India. Like, “Will our country continue to
shine with politicians of the kind we have today? How good do they
make us feel, and how they make world feel towards us? If this is
our (doubtful) image, she suggests we change our Ad Agency
instantly!!
In all this, there is one key question that still prevails and is
being debated. Some of us believe we are in a position to take on
the world – especially our direct competitor Brand China. Others
say, no we are not. First let us manufacture a solid product, and
then go out there and sell it! Our quality is still poor, our
infrastructure is weak, corruption is rampant, and now there is the
specter of communal problems. Only time will tell. We are talking
still of India being the super power in the year 2012!!
Unique India
However, India is unique in many
ways. We are the largest and most stable democracy in the world. We
have without any revolution evolved, transformed and progressed from
an agricultural economy to and industrial economy, to an information
and IT economy today. What we need is the spirit of “India first
and India last”.
China in comparison may be a powerhouse, as termed to be, but in my
view it is only a source for manufacturing and outsourcing (meaning
for cheaper production). India on the other hand, on similar
parameters is a powerhouse with a difference! It is a market for
purchase and consumption first ( true purchasing power at the
marketplace) and not just numbers (population as made out to be) –
and therefore a good hunting ground for MNC companies and products.
Far different from 1970, when George Fernandes drove out IBM and
Coca Cola, and clubbed big business as being BAD business. I
believe, if IBM had stayed on then, our IT situation viz. hardware
and software today would have been far better than Singapore or some
of the other countries who are now ahead of us.
India for anyone is a long-term bet. The needs of our people
(consumers) are varied and up-to-date, and only the supply of the
range and quality of goods and services is still restricted. There
is dire need for consumer orientation on a bigger scale. In respect
of information and knowledge (data mining) on consumers, and the
right communications to them to be loyal partners in business and
profits. Furthermore, India with it geographical location on the
globe and with English as the mother tongue in business gives us an
edge over China and other countries for business and overall
economic exchange.
India today is interestingly witnessing the diffusion and
innovation, as the B-School theory goes, with the intense
competition at the marketplace. With commodities being generated
into brands, MNCs weaving desi designs to catch the local eye, to
private labels jostling with branded Indian and foreign goods all
across the country. The pressure no doubt is immense if one looks at
the successes and failures of Indian and MNC brands. Brand India is
a unique case of glocalisation! One of the most interesting examples
in the present day global business world.
New paradigm
The
debate on “Made in India” and “Made for India” in the minds of
business and consumers has no meaning today. India is and has to be
strong domestically to be strong globally. Indian products must be
of good quality and strong in delivering benefits to buyers, if
India is to be the “brand” to be reckoned with. The signs towards
this are visible with entrepreneurship and globalization taking
place in some sectors. Indian players are making a mark in name,
image and performance as brands and companies. With the right
marketing mix, consumer orientation and best practices.
India has woken up to the liberating influence of what economist
Joseph Schumpeter called “creative destruction” – the death of the
outdated at the hands of the modern. In India the old companies are
rebuilding themselves, while the new ones are leading the charge
into the new millennium. This is so across public sector and the
private sector, and the impact is radical. PSUs are heading for
disinvestments and privatization; many companies are on the block or
being merged for synergy and profitability. As a nation, in this
respect, we must forge ahead in unison and with a renewed confidence
and hope.
Towards this it is also imperative to achieve a synthesis of
understanding and relationship between the government and industry
on a range of issues in order to crystallize our responses to the
challenges ahead. The corporate sector has to spearhead the process
in areas of intellectual capital, globalization, infrastructure,
information and technology, corporate governance, education and
social welfare. Particularly in respect of aspects such as
intellectual property rights and patents regime and such future
issues. India cannot go untouched. And we require the staying power
in all our sectors with the right resources, products and trained
people. The government has to support this with the right policies
and ensure fair practices and competitiveness within the country and
in the global arena. Any slow down, or an insular attitude in this,
will hurt the country’s as well as the industry’s prospects and
growth.
A Knowledge Economy
India’s true claim for success will be in the knowledge intensive
businesses and services, which leverage on our known and available
“brainpower”. The effort of business and the government to increase
market capitalization of companies is a positive indicator of this
in the private sector. The focus in general has shifted to value
driven new economy businesses. Exiting form old businesses to new
ones is no longer a tedium and a stigma. In fact the perspective is
long-term, and the goal is to build the future of business and
industry, and Brand India.
The new economy is all about new knowledge based operational
frameworks, entrepreneurship, new ideas and technology allowing
companies to innovate, customize and reshape the way they have
operated so far. The concept of e-commerce and doing business
electronically is a living example of the trend and desire towards
this, and which will ultimately distinguish the professional and
successful players from the rest across industry and businesses.
We are re-discovering the dictum that “Knowledge is Power”. India
will prosper. In fact India’s future depends on it. Its people and
systems are in place to a large extent. It is in the implementation
that fine-tuning is now being done and necessary.
To enlist Indian in Brand India’s growth mission is no longer a
matter of making impassioned speeches or issuing eloquent
manifestos. Like so much in business, it comes down to using
information properly – internally and externally. To communicating
and creating peer group awareness and gaining from it within
companies and as a nation as a whole. That is the challenge and
opportunity for India Inc. and the newly coined name Brand India
concept, today.
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