BRANDING INDIA – ISSUES & PROBLEMS
Sandhir Sharma & P.P.Singh

CONCEPT OF BRANDING

The brand is a thought, a thought that rests in the minds of individuals. Brand is a name and it creates an image regarding what others perceive; it is a one’s personality and can make one stand out from others who are doing or saying similar thing a crowded market place. Brand management is the art, science, and philosophy of managing brands in an individual’s head. Branding is a sophisticated process that puts together and sustains a complex mixture of attributes and values, many of which are intangible.

Country brand is the picture, the representation, and the stereotype that individuals attach to products, services or individuals of a particular country. Every nation has its own brand. One talks of Japanese technology, German engineering, Italian fashion, French wine or Brazilian soccer. Creation of an brand or even repositioning a country is not a totally new phenomenon. This has taken place many times in the history of mankind. The Great Egyptian Civilizations, the triumph of Alexander, the Great, Europeans expeditors and Chinese were all giving their country an brand, a position. What modern countries are doing now is not much different from what these countries did i.e. branding their countries and creating a country brand.  What US, Canada, Japan, Switzerland, Malaysia etc. have done is a conscious and concerted effort towards creating a unique identity, a brand beyond compare. Now-a- days, branding is an economic need, political need, egotistical need and competitive need.  Experts argue that country brand plays the role of an umbrella brand and provide equity support to everything, offered by a country. Every marketer would vouch that that it is much more complicated to create a brand for a country than for something that is there for sale.  The keys to creating brand for a country are opportunities available for it, responses to these opportunities and the political will.

DOES INDIA REQUIRE BRAND BUILDING

With the globalization and opening up of global markets, even India is realizing the importance of brand creation for India, as a nation. Branding India is a task. If India does not engage in proactive branding, it runs the risk of being positioned by its competitors to their advantage, making it even more difficult for India to control its economic destiny.  It’s high time that India understands the tricks of brand building and pull up its sleeves. Graduating from mere unbranded manufacturers to brand owners will help India to build its national wealth. If a company from a rich country sells brands to consumers in a poor country like India, there is a risk of exploitation and a further widening of wealth gap and it leads to exploitation. But, if a company from a poor country like India sells brands to consumers in a rich country, the overall balance begins to be redressed and justice begins to be done. Building “ Made in India “ would enable the Indian manufacturers to find a place for Indian products in foreign markets, hence leading to the development of India, as a nation.

Other reason as to why India should adopt branding is the subtle dependence of foreign direct investment flows on the country brand. Certainly a lot of research is undertaken by MNC’s before venturing into investing in a particular country. Here the countries’ brand or brand comes into play. In this context, it is promise that the branded country is an ideal destination to park one’s funds; It’s a promise that the investment, made would be safe enough; it’s a promise that the country has cutting edge infrastructure and man power requirement. There are so many examples as to how branded countries like Dubai, Singapore etc. have succeeded in attracting FDIs much larger than India, though India has an edge in terms of resource and man power. Building Indian brand would enable us to attract reasonable FDI, hence leading to establishment of industries by MNCs. The same would in turn ensure employment opportunities and generation of funds.

Sandhir Sharma & P.P.Singh, 
Faculty, Deptt. of Business Management,
Punjab College of Technical Education, Ludhiana