India Insights

It is generally accepted that the term ‘Brand India’ refers to the controlled activities that have repositioned India in the mind of the international business community. Figures released by the Commonwealth Business Council last week show that foreign direct investment in India from the UK alone totalled £560 million last year, making it one of India’s biggest investors, so you have to conclude that the repositioning has been successful.

India is now synonymous with commerce, IT and a growing middle class rather than the stereotypes of snake charmers, rickshaws and beggars, this doesn’t mean that some of these elements have disappeared; it just means that our perceptions have been changed.

To drive Brand India forward (at least in a business sense) the country needs to develop a brand that can compete on the global stage, a brand that can do for India what Nokia, Sony and Samsung did for Finland, Japan and South Korea and what Lenovo is doing for China. Given the size of the domestic market Indian brands have not yet focussed on international markets, although Indian conglomerates have been quick to seize under performing UK brands like Virgin Radio, Tetley Tea, Corus, Land Rover and Jaguar.

Having said this Indian business still suffers from some perception problems. Last year Orient Express Hotels refused to be associated with Taj Hotels when the Indian chain proposed an alliance. While the real reason for this decision has been clouded by claim and counter claim many believe that Orient Express did not want to be associated with an Indian company, as it would damage their brand.

Away from business as we get closer to 2010 we can expect to hear even more about Brand India as Delhi prepares to host the Commonwealth Games. This opportunity will put India in the international spotlight and it provides the chance to explode a few more myths and to change a few more perceptions but this time for tourists and visitors to the country.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi has already started its preparations by deciding to rid the Delhi streets of 400,000 rickshaw-wallahs in an attempt to modernise the city. Apparently they have already banned street food, cows and monkeys from the roads, although how you ban an animal is beyond me and judging by my last visit they have failed in this respect. The plan is to reduce the number of rickshaws to 100,000 and require their owners to pass a driving test in readiness for the Games.

It is a fact that Delhi needs to modernise and I dislike it intently when foreigners buy in to some romantic notion of a country that is anything but, yet the rickshaw story made me think about the problems of rapid modernisation in relation to a national brand. I believe that in the rush, authentic associations that differentiate India from any other country in the world could be lost and the real brand of India will be diluted. There is also a danger that segments of society get left behind, as is the case with the rickshaw-wallahs, this plan will affect them and the many people who can’t afford a car but still require cheap convenient transport to navigate gridlocked roads.

Looking at how the country has modernised to date the sector that has moved quickest is the retail sector and it provides a salutary lesson. Ironically due to the success of Brand India attracting foreign direct investment the sector lacks any Indian identity.

With many of the large international retailers and fast food outlets already ensconced in shopping malls they look and feel like international air-conditioned bubbles (see image below), if you removed the people you could be anywhere in the world.

The commercial and residential property sectors face similar problems with hybrid architectural styles being combined to create mixed up, mixed-use developments that lack any kind of distinctiveness (see image below).

India is a unique and complex country with a real sense of authenticity, its culture and history provides it with a clear positioning on the global map, and this provides real equity for the national brand.

As change takes place and the country looks to the future I hope that it can articulate its brand values and personality through all aspects of design whether it be architecture, signage systems, street furniture, retail spaces, public spaces or infrastructure projects like transport hubs.

Delhi and India’s other major cities need to be an expression of the real brand of India, a vision is needed for what constitutes ‘modern India’, Mumbai should not try to present itself as Shanghai or Dubai or anyone else, it needs to differentiate itself and jealously guard its sense of self as it seeks to modernise.