Amidst all the recession and the economic downturn hulla boo in recent times , one major positive has been the resurgence of India as a nation to reckon with. Not that India was not walking shoulder to shoulder (at least in some areas) with the global leaders, but the recent downturn made India stand out as a comparatively insulated economy in the global marketplace.
We had our share of losses and downfall but then we are the first ones coming out of the rut. The industrial growth numbers are looking up , the stock markets are doing comparatively well, SME and SMB sector is on the growth highway. More than that, the past year has seen a flurry of entrepreneurs leaving the corporate whoredom which again is a positive for any economy.
However, a few recent events that transpired got me thinking that Brand India is gaining traction and doing it real fast. The world is looking up to us as one of the underexploited marketplace with immense potential. The events may not be of significant importance and scale but the message is delivered loud and clear,
Brand India is a name to reckon with
Volkswagen comes to India in style
The German carmaker Volkswagen AG has embarked on a Rs. 40 crore ad campaign to build its brand in the run-up to its December launch of small car Beetle and sports utility vehicle Touareg and the January launch of another small car, the Polo.
The campaign partner TOI created a one of its kind print roadblock for Volkswagen brands to increase the visibility of Volkswagen before it hits the road. The campaign drew a lot of flak from the readers and was marred by controversy (cached link) but still created a buzz around Volkswagen.
Volkswagen has even set up a manufacturing unit in Pune for production of one of it cars -Polo. Considering all these, the message is loud and clear from Volkswagen
We are dead serious about Indian Markets (Small Car explains that) and we are ready to make inroads (40 crore for ad campaign is substantial by any standards)
TechCrunch goes ga-ga over India Inc
The epitome of cutting edge technology news is the holy grail for Startups and VC’s alike. The news that goes live on TechCrunch can become a trend in no time. No matter what (and he has enough detractors), Michael Arrington pulls a lot of clout in the Silicon Valley – And now with Indian centric articles being featured so very frequently, it does speaks volumes about the visibility of Indian Companies in the west.
TechCrunch ran insightful articles featuring MakeMyTrip and NIIT recently which show Indian companies taking centre stage. A recent article by Vivek Wadhwa on India becoming a Global R&D Hub is a shot in the arm. It signifies that India truly has the potential to become a Creator rather merely being a supporter (via Outsourcing) .
The world is keenly following Indian Shores and is in awe of it, even though it is hard to digest for some
These two events may not be a testimony to the fact that Brand India is set for Glory days , but the way I see it, we are sure taking the right steps. We have our shortcomings and a lot of them. But, even with these shortcomings and limitations(primarily infrastructure), Indians are setting the global stage on fire.
On a rather sad note, it is disheartening to see that even when the world is recognizing the potential of Brand India , we are still fighting over petty things like regionalism, language etc (you get the hint) .
The onus should be on providing a free flourishing ecosystem where creativity can breed freely and India can shun its developing country and transform into a world power.
The west is definitely in awe and does not look up to India merely as a place to get dirty work done for cheap (yeah, that’s outsourcing for you :) ) .
What are your thoughts on India’s progress at the global stage??