Nitin Seth

It is a fascinating time for Brand India.  I feel our country is at very important cross roads.  Last 10 years have been very special for India.  We have been one of the fastest growing economies in the world, we are world leaders in industries like IT and BPO and many Indian companies are now recognized as global benchmarks e.g., Reliance, Tatas, Infosys.  We have also seen growing self-belief in the country best exemplified by the confidence and exuberance of our youth.  All this has resulted in Brand India being taken more seriously at the world stage.  However, many contradictions and disappointments remain.  Corruption has reached a dangerous scale over the past 5 years.  Poverty, bureaucracy and infrastructure remain endemic problems.   In general, there is a perception of Brand India being inconsistent and unpredictable. 

In summary, Brand India is complex.  It is an enigma.  It at the same time inspires and disappoints.  It takes 3 steps forward but also 2 steps back.  However, I believe that we are at a historical juncture as a country.  We are coming of age, there are more positives going for us then every before, and we have a real opportunity to emerge as a global leader.  Therefore, this is a great time for us to do honest self-assessment of Brand India and develop a national consensus on how we move forward to realize our destiny.

In this note, I will debate the following questions:

1. What does Brand India stand for?
2. What is competition for Brand India and how is Brand India faring in that competition?
3. What are the fundamental factors that have shaped Brand India the way it is today?
4. How do we enhance Brand India?

What does Brand India stand for?

As mentioned above, Brand India is complex.  There are many positive aspects, but equally there are negatives that drag it down.

Positives

1. IT Industry – World’s preferred destination for IT Offshoring and BPO. ~50% of the global offshore industry is inIndia. Many world-class Indian companies in this industry
2. Fast growing economy – One of the fastest growing economies in the world.  Growth has been resilient despite the global economic shocks of the past few years
3. Democracy – World’s largest Democracy.  Has been able to sustain democracy despite its many challenges as a poor country
4. Talent – Indian talent recognized as hi-quality especially in analytical/ engineering areas.  Often “Indians” seen to have higher equity than “BrandIndia”
5. Yoga/Meditation/Spirituality – Soft Power, home of enlightenment. Powerful symbols – Gita, Mahabharata, many Gurus
6. History & Culture – One of oldest living civilizations, great history and tradition visible across the country. Powerful symbols – Taj Mahal, Rajasthan
7. Secularism/Diversity – Relatively peaceful co-existence of many religions, languages, cultures.  Great tradition of tolerance and being inclusive
8. Non-violence – Strong ethos of non-violence deeply embedded in the national character.  Never been an aggressor nation across its long history. Great symbol – Mahatma Gandhi
9. Youth/Exuberance – Favorable age pyramid. Youth today is more confident and positive than the previous generations. Good example – TeamIndia winning the Cricket World Cup powered by the confidence and capability of the youth (see my blogpost “Born to Win” )

Negatives

1. Poverty – ~40% of the country still below poverty line.  Poverty and its manifestations (e.g., dirt, disease, crowds) very visible across both urban and ruralIndia.  The humongous population makes poverty an even more serious problem
2. Corruption – continuously ranked as amongst the most corrupt countries in the world, size of the parallel economy as a proportion of the accounted economy is massive. Moreover, massive increase in corruption scandals over the past 2-3 years.  Symbol – huge, unaccounted wealth in Swiss banks!!
3. Bureaucracy/Red Tapism – massive self-serving bureaucracy that has little service orientation, speed of execution is a huge pain point for business and deterrent for new investments
4. Poor infrastructure – still clearly third world infrastructure. Big, visible gap compared to the infrastructure development that has happened inChina especially its cities
5. Terror risk – scars of Bombay terror attack still strong. In addition, threat of confrontation with Pakistan
6. Inconsistent/Unpredictable – don’t know what to expect, heroic success and farce are not far from each other.  Indian cricket team is a good example – slide from World No. 1 test team and World Cup Champions to pathetically losing all matches in theEngland tour
7. “Jugaad” – lack of structure and professionalism, somehow things happen at the last minute. We often revel in it but it tends to make foreigners very nervous.  Example – hosting of Commonwealth games!!
8. Poor in sports – distressingly poor in sports other than cricket, ranking in Olympic sports is abysmal especially when you consider the vast population

What is competition for Brand India and how is Brand India faring in that competition?

Brand India came into focus in the last decade with the publication of the famous BRIC report.  This also brought center stage countless India vs. China debates.  However, Brand India’s competitive position has meandered a bit over the past 2-3 years.  China has raced ahead in many areas and new competitors are emerging

• China– Has reached a different scale and dominance.  Perhaps we are not in the same frame anymore.  Size of their economy and global relevance is in a different league.  They are close to being a super power.  It is now US vs. China and less China vs. India.  However, from a long-term perspective India’s democracy and inclusive traditions might give it an advantage.  With China, given their relatively closed political model there is a threat of a USSR style catastrophic, sudden collapse.  There is also a risk how China as a superpower would conduct itself globally.
• More relevant competition is the emerging powerhouses from Latin America and Africa especiallyBrazil and South Africa.  India vs. China is already less relevant.  There is a risk that the emerging growth stories in LatAm and Africa might outstrip India
• Another perspective to take is that in an increasingly globalized and interdependent world, the more important paradigm is perhapscollaboration and not competition.  It is perhaps less about India vs. China vs. US but more about how India, China, US and others synergize and work together.  India potentially has an important leadership role to play in this emerging global order given its long history of inclusivity and non-alignment

What are the fundamental factors that have shaped Brand India the way it is today?

Brand India is a complex story.  It is important to reflect on the root causes for the Brand as we see it today.  This will likely give us insights on how to enhance Brand India

• Diversityis strength but also poses challenges – We have heterogeneity of cultures, languages, and religions.  This diversity and being tolerant is part of our national character.  However, lack of a strong, common glue results in pulling in too many different directions.  Strong national character and pride is lacking.  This lack of national pride is perhaps one of the reasons we are so tolerant of mediocrity and let things slide
• Huge populationis also strength and a challenge – The favorable age pyramid and abundant availability of manpower is the basis for the growth of services industries (e.g., IT/BPO) over the past 15 years.  However, equally it is a big contributor to low productivity and poverty and makes action on these fronts difficult
• Poor governance– Perhaps our huge population and diversity and the resulting complexity and has led to development of highly inefficient and corrupt political system and public institutions.  Poor governance is certainly a key factor for the slow action on endemic problems like poverty, corruption, bureaucracy and infrastructure

How do we enhance Brand India?

India still remains a sea of mediocrity dotted with islands of excellence. So how do we expand these islands of excellence to encompass the entire country to build a new, more powerful Brand India?  As we focus on this massive topic, we need to recognize that making a substantial shift is not just about branding and marketing but about addressing our long standing structural issues as a country.  Initiatives like the IBEF (India Brand Equity Foundation) and communication blitzkrieg at Davos are helpful.  However, these alone will be obviously inadequate.  Our focus has to be on building a stronger India.  As we do that, Brand India will automatically shine brighter.  In addition, we need to have a balance between positive optimism and honest self-assessment.  Currently we swing between denials of our problems/everything is great and utter despondency/nothing can be changed.

As we embark on a mission to enhance Brand India, we need to keep the following 3 objectives in mind:

• Address the negatives around BrandIndia especially the risk perception and the poor speed of execution.  These negatives are significant and continue to inhibit us from realizing our growth potential
• Ensure inclusive and sustainable growththat empowers the underprivileged “Bharat”.  Future that we build has to be relevant for majority of the country not just the privileged few.  This should be based not on wasteful socialist schemes of the past decades but on sensible market based approaches. We need to turn our vast population into an asset that is producing and not a liability that has to be provided for
• Find a uniquely Indian formulathat will allow us to build a distinctive, global leadership position.  We need to introspect on what is our core as a nation and not blindly follow western approaches.  We need to have awareness of our strengths and values, and build on those.  Seeds of our long-term success and global leadership will likely lie in that

I believe there are 4 main areas for us to focus on to achieve the objectives outlined above:

1. Improving governanceto address risk perception and speed of execution.  We need a new generation of national leaders and significant reform of bureaucracy and other institutions.  This is critical for tackling corruption, improving speed of decision making, and attracting investment that is necessary for infrastructure development.  Anna Hazare Anti-Corruption movement is a positive step towards improving governance (see my blogpost “Why I support the Anna Hazare movement!!”). We need this movement to succeed not just to progress the fight against corruption but more importantly to show the way for more mass awakening.  In addition, we need significant number of country’s top talent to join the political mainstream to drive positive change
2. Building national prideto strengthen self-confidence and cohesive spirit.  We need to rediscover and celebrate our history and culture, push for excellence in sports and other avenues for expressing national pride. This will help strengthen our collective identity, sense of national service and generate self-confidence that is so necessary to be successful.  We could see the surge of positive spirit and national pride that came after the Cricket World Cup win.  People across generations, regions and socio-economic strata united in this triumph.  We need to invest to create many more winning moments that will strengthen our collective identity and pride.  This will hopefully translate into higher commitment in people towards public service and nation building
3. Dominating the services sector globallyto drive growth.  China has won the manufacturing race; Service sector is our best opportunity for global leadership.  We have solid advantages here with our age pyramid and English language proficiency.  We also have a great head start in the IT/BPO industry.  However, we should not rest on our laurels but build on the great platform we have to develop a unique and sustainable leadership proposition.  Moreover, this opportunity is not just about IT/BPO but also about more broadly leveraging our design and analytical talent across different service areas.  Success here can not only help us establish global leadership but can create opportunities for our vast population.
4. Improving educationto unlock the potential of our population.  Our biggest asset is our population.  To develop our country it is essential that we are leveraging this asset properly.  The key to unlocking the potential of this asset is quality education.  We need concerted efforts to improve the quality of both education infrastructure and its delivery.  This has to be done at both the primary/secondary school level to build basic skills and at the University level to improve employability.  Quality education to me is the key to driving inclusive and sustainable growth.  Once we empower our population with quality education it will dramatically improve their chances of creating a better future for themselves and therefore the country as a whole.

**********

The above assessment and ideas are very preliminary.  It is very possible that these are too simplistic or even incorrect.  However, it is very important that we have a forceful and widespread debate on this massive topic and start developing a national agenda.  We clearly are at a very special juncture as a country.  We have made great progress over the past 10 years and there are even greater opportunities ahead of us.  Most importantly, with our young generation we are seeing the self-confidence and spirit to take the country forward to great heights.  We need to seize the moment and make sure we realize our destiny as a global leader.