The Hindu Business Line : `Brand India, a sum of different parts'

INDIA is more like a "cafeteria of brands" and it would be a mistake to homogenise the diversity of the country under one umbrella, said Mr Jairam Ramesh, economist and Congress (I) member of the Rajya Sabha.

Mr Ramesh was speaking on the Changing Image of Brand India and its implications for marketers at the third edition of the Brand Summit organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here.

"While projecting the positive side we should not gloss over the economic and social challenges that India faces," he said.

India has five distinct characteristics that need to be taken into account.

First, its multi-layered diversity in caste, religion, region and language, and marketers who have not understood this have come to grief, he said.

Second, its evolving society. Though today India is known as the IT capital and the second largest wheat producing country, just 40 years ago it was thought to be a "basket case'' agriculture economy and part of the PL 480 programme (a US global food aid programme).

Third, its aggregated Brand India. Rather than looking to brand India, it was more important to brand the building blocks. India has a large number of sub-brands such as Brand Bangalore, Brand Tirupur or Brand Ludhiana, which aggregate to the larger animal, Brand India. Other cities/town and States must build their own identities that would all add up to Brand India.

Fourth, its transition-in-progress state. A fundamental shift is happening, from an inward looking to an outward looking economy. A great deal of economic shift and political, social, legislative and demographic transition is on, he said.

Last, its unique psychology. Mr Ramesh said that companies which have invested only in brand-building and not in quality and price have failed. It is an extremely price-sensitive market. He advocated a BOP, or bottom of the pyramid, approach, which was more suited to the Indian context.

Some Jairam-isms

NOT short of wit and repartee, Mr Jairam Ramesh had the audience in splits with his quick-fire replies and comments. Here's a sample:

I will speak in English, not in Power Point, referring to the several glitzy Power Point presentations at the Summit.

Think of India as a multi-layered brand, which you have to peel layer by layer, like an onion, and you will get tears in your eyes.

All the classics on India have been written by men who have never visited India — Mill, Marx and Max Mueller.

We have a unique time-zone advantage vis-à-vis the rest of the world: You are working when America is sleeping and when America is working you are still working, particularly if you are south of the Vindhyas in outsourcing!

India is an aggregative brand: There is no Brand India but a Brand Bangalore, Brand Hyderabad, Brand Kolkata ... God alone knows what that brand stands for!

Branding South Korea is easier than a complex country like India, because there you're either a Kim or a Lee!

I was the happiest when the India Shining campaign broke, we didn't respond with India whining or India crying, we just responded with what's in it for the common man?

The Chinese brand is what you want them to see; they too have their Bihars but you can't see it, but here, the first guy in India wants to go and see Bihar.

In the West, they have an old age problem because of demographical changes; here we have an age-old problem, referring to economic growth.

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