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Marketers need to build on the countrys core values to strengthen Brand Indias presence abroad, says MADHUKAR SABNAVIS
(iii) Hospitality: hotels and restaurants provide India an opportunity to leverage its traditional values of warmth and friendliness to serve a larger world. Most Indians subscribe to the concept of atithi devo bhava (guest is god). (iv) Entertainment: whether it is movies or soaps, entertainment in India has developed a distinct character and DNA. In an increasingly stressful world where people are seeking to escape all the time, the nonsensical and masala mix Bollywood and melodramatic television serials provide alternative entertainment to the more serious and thought-provoking Western celluloid. Indias rich story-telling culture adds to this. (v) Spirituality: India can formally brand and sell it in the form of yoga, ayurveda, homeopathy, vaastu and so on. India has a rich heritage of holistic arts and sciences that intrigues and interests many in the world. (vi) Mass marketing: it is a big weapon to enter the global markets. In the past 60 years after Independence, Indias philosophy of balancing socialism with capitalism has provoked marketers to think of value with volume and urban with rural. Thus, the average Indian business mind has developed the core competence of creating products and mixes to reach the less privileged. The Nano, the sachet and products with
cheaper ingredients are examples of this expertise. Brand India can leverage this to move a step ahead of traditional global marketing giants in the less developed world. (vii) Education: given the Brahminical culture of knowledge and learning in the Indian society, there could be a jewel hidden within India that marketers could unearth and leverage to build institutions of evolved learning. There is something powerful in the traditional gurukul system of education that can be re-engineered to suit contemporary times to open a new school of education. Clearly, there is much that Brand India can explore beyond IT and business outsourcing for the world to look towards it as a global business powerhouse. However, remember that the opportunities are accompanied by challenges. India has an assimilative culture which is able to imbibe the best of the world to which it is exposed and adapt it to its own culture. However, Indians are not too comfortable adapting to the outside world. The Indian mindset needs to change. To get into another culture, there is a need to adapt accordingly just as many global companies have done successfully to gain dominance in India. Similarly, Indians need to do away with the exotic tag, which makes India a curiosity, restricting it to being only a niche player. To become part of the mainstream, Indian values need to be made relevant and exciting. For this Indian business houses need to see themselves as purveyors of change being the creators of a new face of Brand India rather than merely leveraging Indias traditional cultural values. In the past two decades, Brand India has gained acceptance among the innovators (who are intrigued) and perhaps the early adopters (who have seen value). The time has come to expand the base and attack the early majority. Trying to do anything and everything and seeing what works may not be the best way forward. There is a need for a conscious strategy. Until then, Brand India will continue to be seen as underdeveloped, as the world has tagged it.
The author is country head, Discovery and Planning, Ogilvy and Mather India madhukar.sabnavis@ogilvy.com