Who says elephant can’t dance?

The failure of ASEAN region economies (except S’pore) to become tiger economies of Asia (China, S’pore, Japan and South Korea) lead to the 1997 Asian Economic Crisis. I hope something similar does not happen to India.

The Elephant can Dance in itself is a paradox. Can Brand India make it happen? What is Brand India and how is it different from Brand China?

Brand China:

• Face
• Money
• Sex

Brand India:

• Intelligence
• Intimacy
• Mystery
• Stoicism

I believe a vision, strategy and most importantly a global brand has to be developed in order for Brand India to happen. The correct infrastructure from the government is essential and so is the planning. It could be any product/ service in any industry and/ or sector namely health tourism, TCS, Bollywood, manufacturing et al. It is about time we stop depending on low cost IT services as our competitive advantage because it is not a sustainable one.

India Brand Summit 2006

How effective are celebrity endorsers?

In the past celebrities were rare commodities. Hence the correlation between ads with celebrity and sales was greater. Now the scenario has changed. Ads with celebrity do not sell unless and until the message is clear and appealing. The delivery of the message and the entire concept of the commercial are crucial to the success.

However…………

1. What do Stars know about the quality of the product, the manufacturing process and the like?
2. How ethical is it to give a message about something that you have no clue about?
3. In general customers are better informed and more intelligent now.
4. They know that stars are getting paid to endorse a product.
5. The purchase of the product will depend upon the quality, availability, and price, income of the customer, the willingness, the need and nature of the product.
6. Why are viewers less cruel to celebrity endorsement?
   
7. What happens to the ad when the image of a particular star is ruined?
8. What happens when the image of the product/ service is ruined? Isn't the credibility of the star questioned?
9. Celebrity endorsements evolve with celebrity and vice versa.
10. Isn't it a double-edged sword?
    

• Big B is endorsing 30 products.
• Lux only signs those actors who are likely to become stars.
• Stars do Lux commercials for free.

India Brand Summit 2006