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Panel 1 Soft selling Culture & rebuilding brand India
How can Changing perceptions and re-positioning a country’s image help arrive at the right value proposition? India as a nation with its deep rooted culture as a way of life has immense potential to promote brands through building a demand for its culture on foreign soil. While Playing up its core strength seems a win-win situation what are the pitfalls to be wary of? Nations across the globe have successfully soft sold culture enwrapped with commodities in the form of TV soaps, music, fashion, cuisine and more, creating an international demand for indigenous brands. The prevalence of the game of cricket across all the common wealth nations is by far a strong example of the personification of the English culture through its colonies. With the increasing supremacy of borderless economies it becomes imperative to take a conscious look at rebuilding India through its core strengths. Strong brands associated with a country not only make a significant contribution to perceptions of it, but people also actively prefer products and services when they are from specific countries. Which translates into buying a car, eat a type of food or wear a clothing brand being consciously aware of the country that made them. In the past Hindustan, Bharat, India has been known for various things : sone ki chidiya for its pre-colonial wealth, country of spices for its aromatic produce and cuisine , A seat of knowledge through the Nalanda university and somewhere the country lost its sheen to be recognised only for its elephants, snake charmers and magicians in the past. We’ve also seen Recent concerted efforts at promoting it as an eclectic tourist destination through the Incredible India and India Shining campaigns. While these branding efforts have India been ranked the world's seventh most valued 'nation brand', with an increase of 32 per cent in its brand value to $2.1 billion. Still largely the inherent Indian culture is being sold back to the country through smartly packaged yoga and ayurveda practises to name a few. Further The backbone that makes the silicon valley is also largely due to the brains from the educational system of India. How does the country encash on these strengths to build its perception value to catapult it into a higher brand position? While initiatives like Digital India , Make in India catch the pulse of the nation and project a positive image of India at a Global platform, the perils of overselling or imaging without the necessary groundwork also loom large |