News: 'Indian companies have to bulid nation's brand overseas'

(BS 28/07/2006) Kolkata - India Inc will have a critical role to play in building brand "India" on a global scale.

Marketing guru Kevin Lane Keller said, companies like Tata and Reliance have a strong reputation in India but how they play their cards internationally and capture people's minds would determine India's brand equity.

He cited examples of Samsung and Nokia, which had helped in highlighting their respective countries. "Often the image of a country can be influenced by a strong brand that achieves global leadership," said Keller.

He was speaking at the Brand Conclave organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) eastern region. Keller is a professor of marketing at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College and has served as a consultant and advisor for brands like Accenture, American Express, Disney, Ford, Intel, Levi Strauss, Procter & Gamble and SAB Miller.

"Every contact point, direct and indirect affects the brand image of India. A company on a global scale sets expectations about that country," he said.

Tata and Reliance apart, the services sector in India also had great potential in this respect, felt Keller. Holistic marketing practices was one of the ways of building brand India.

Keller spoke at length about holistic marketing and said that it could be seen as the development, design and implementation of marketing programmes, processes and activities that recognises the breadth and interdependencies of their effects. "A broad integrated perspective is necessary."

Countries are brands just like products, services and organisations. "They have associations and images, set expectations and affect perceptions and behaviours," he said. While speaking specifically about brand India he said, there was tremendous interest about India. "Over the last few months, India has been the cover story for several magazines in the US," he said.

Keller felt, as a country, India was going through a lot of positive changes and there was speculation as to which way it was headed.

Holistic marketing practices would ensure that strong brands were built.

But a note of caution from Keller : Building strong brands takes patience and hard work.

The silver lining: enormous gains.