The Hindu Business Line : Can `India' be a brand?

"The Brand Idea is the starting point which defines the philosophy, the ethos and the culture of the brand, which must then be reflected and manifested in each and every facet of the brand."

— M. S. Banga, Unilever

THERE has been a lot of talk and activity, at the highest levels of the Government and corporate India, regarding `Brand India.' The popular view seems to be that a concerted attempt must be made to present `Brand India' to the world. A corpus fund has, in fact, been created to promote the brand with the tagline, `Incredible India.'

Is India really a brand? Go back to the beginning of this column and read what Banga has to say about it. Now answer the question, "Is there a single philosophy, ethos or culture that defines India?" If indeed there isn't, is `incredible' the best way to define it? I wonder if the Narayana Murthys and Azim Premjis would like their organisations to be seen as part of `incredible' India. I am sure they would much rather that Infosys and Wipro are seen to be in the forefront of `Intelligent India.' Just as surely, all the auto ancillary manufacturers who want India to become the global hub for auto ancillaries would want India to be seen as `Industrious India.' In general, any Indian businessman who wants to do business with the rest of the world, would find `incredible' a little uncomfortable. They'd rather be seen as credible reliable partners.

`Incredible India', it could be argued, is for the tourist market. While that may be true, it can hardly be anybody's case that the recipients of the message will see it as applicable only for tourism and not as a statement essentially about India. Which, of course, brings us to the larger question: Can India be a brand with a single underlying brand idea?

At a deeper level, is it right to reduce a nation to `brand' status with a defining brand idea? Decades ago, David Ogilvy did it for Puerto Rico. In what is recognised as a classic for nation branding, Ogilvy made Puerto Rico a "tropical paradise." More recently, we have seen the `Surprisingly Singapore' campaign. But both these branding exercises, it must be remembered, were conducted on tiny nations. Countries which could and, in fact, wanted to be defined by a single idea, so that they could command some attention despite their size. Both these countries have worked to make the definitions ring true, as did Dubai with its `Fly, buy Dubai' campaign some years back.

Can anybody so succinctly define America or Russia? Would Britain, France or Germany ever consent to be called Brand Britain, Brand France or Brand Germany? It is true that the world thinks of British history, French culture and German technology as truly epitomising those nations. In fact, people may throng those countries for these very reasons. Yet the reasons definitely don't become the nation.

What is `India' for the world? It is a millennia-old civilisation. A billion people speaking, reading and writing dozens of languages. A land that is the birthplace of Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism. It is also the world's premier IT services provider. The world's back office. Emerging small-car hub. Repository, arguably, of the world's largest number of engineers, doctors, accountants, and so on. To bring it all down to a single idea, any single idea, is like calling an ocean a pool of water. India certainly can't just be a brand.

Does that mean we can't present India to the world in a simple, cogent manner? Of course not. India can and is indeed being presented in different forums across the world. Right now, it is being discussed by corporate CEOs, investment bankers, seekers of spirituality, health addicts and holidaymakers, all over the world. What we need is a simple idea that'll encourage all these discussions. All this talk and interest in India. Such an idea, I believe, was unearthed by Pandit Nehru decades back. The best way to present this complex nation is to ask people to, `Discover India.'

`Discover India' is a humble but enticing invitation, not an arrogant subjugation of a great nation to a brand idea. It allows India to be presented in all its variegated beauty to all the different audiences it needs to address. It kindles the interest of the global traveller and the global businessman alike. Now, that is something our IT chiefs and industrialists also will be happy with.

Don't brand India. Just, `Discover India'!

(The author is Director, Fidelis Advertising and Marketing Pvt Ltd.)

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