Brand India fails to strike a bond with Modern India. Nirmalya Kumar, Apr 24, 2009, 05.56am IST Brand India is currently receiving a lot of positive press.
Yet Brand India is weak in many ways. In the minds of most citizens of developed countries, India still conjures up images of exotic lands and customs, or masses of poor. Not surprisingly, this a source of much frustration to Indians who would prefer that Brand India be associated with the more modern India, resplendent with world-class businesses, skyscrapers , and malls. Why does this image of "old India" still persist in Western media? Brand India Constraints In branding, it is what is different or unique vis-à-vis other brands that gets attention. Given this branding principle, it is to be expected that the IT sector, where India is uniquely claiming to be the back office of the world, is the only part of "modern India" that receives significant global press coverage. Yet brand image always lags behind the rise in quality enhancements. Confronting Brand India. Nation Branding and Social Media « A key element of a successful nation branding initiative depends on how well your audience absorbs, understands, adopts and redistributes the message based on their requirements for value.
Back in the day this was done at a coffee shop, sundry store, mosque, church, football club or where ever else consumers congregated. Today those same people are increasingly likely to hang out in communities online. Facebook is the most popular home for many communities and it and other forms of Social Media need to be part of any strategic nation branding initiative. But the Social Media rules are very different to the traditional media rules. And although many nations, organisations and government institutions or destinations believe they understand the new rules, the output of many of them would suggest otherwise. One country that seems to be doing Social Media right, is the US. At one stage, in November 2008, Obama had 2,155,244 friends on Facebook, McCain had 578,651 and George W.
Like this: National Portal of India. India’s country brand values can help the world. It’s clear that with such a long history, India has an enormous country brand potential – in tourism, culture, diplomacy, international relations, exports, et cetera.
What’s less obvious, and yet more important, is how India can play a relevant role in people’s lifes across the globe. And this is entrenched in one of the main concepts of nation branding, which is that you shouldn’t be aiming to make your country famous (which you would attempt to with advertising and pr) but instead struggle to make it relevant, more useful. And don’t worry, if you do that, fame, respect and admiration will follow suit. Just like Finland can be useful in water management, best education practices and in difficult negotiations (just have a look at Finland’s nation brand mandate for details), India can be helpful across many areas, based upon her core values. There are certain Indian ideas, institutions and values following which the world could become a better place.
Author: Andreas Markessinis. Everything about Nation Branding and Country Brands - NATION BRANDING. India missing huge opportunity for country branding & marketing on Twitter.