On one of our short trips
to Agra, we happened to visit the Taj Mahal for the third time and to our utter
disgust we found the walls of probably the biggest embodiment of love scribbled
with meaningless comments and symbols. We immediately recalled our first visit
when we were mesmerised with the beauty and purity of the structure. Just when
we were discussing about the prevalent vandalism in India, we came across a
small child who was trying to rub off the scribbling.
Out of curiosity and
amazement we went near the child and praised him for the initiative he was
taking. The child casually remarked, “Aamir ne bola”. Like a flash came the
Incredible India ads in front of our eyes. It was one of the ads in the
campaign which showed Aamir Khan raising voice against defacement of shrines
and monuments which bear testimony to our rich cultural heritage and legacy.
The first marketing
initiative of its kind in India–Incredible India was a branding exercise
to create a distinctive and improved image for the country by the Tourism
Ministry of India. This iconic Incredible India logo with the exclamation mark
forming the “I” of India was used to great effect across all communications.
Its creators acknowledged the fact that it takes a special bond with a country
and its people to give up everything they know and setup roots in a country
which is not their homeland. These are the people who have truly embraced our
culture and assimilated it into their being as opposed to those who have simply
been “bitten by the India bug”. Establishing roots is a huge decision and not a
mere whim or adventure.
The earlier ads were
successfully able to position India as a lucrative destination
in the mind of its target population, the foreign tourists. India was
positioned as “premier holiday destination for high-yield tourists”. The
campaign successfully established India as a high end tourist destination
generating a 16% increase in tourist traffic in the first year of its
inception. While the awareness ads of “Athiti Devo Bhava”, created to
complement the “Incredible India” ad series, targeted the local Indians which
included sections of people interacting frequently with visitors (taxi drivers,
guides, immigration officers) urging them to preserve the open-hearted and
hospitable image of the country.
Not only the theme but
the choice of Aamir Khan as the brand ambassador for the campaign was a
tactical and thoughtful strategy aimed at captivating the masses. Aamir Khan is
perceived as a thinking and intelligent actor with a strong intellect. A
message conveyed by him could not go unnoticed and that is exactly what
happened.
The campaign is a typical
instance of societal marketing wherein the tourism industry
reaped substantial benefits, keeping in mind the long term interests of the
society at large. The campaign not only had a telling effect on the country’s
GDP but also effectively managed to render a much needed facelift to our global
image.
The once Unique selling
proposition (USP) of the country (culture, heritage, religion, spirituality
etc.) no longer seemed unique. It was time to provide something more. The
tourism industry was quick to realise the fact and came up with this campaign
with an added hospitality value thus providing an Extra Value Proposition (EVP)
for travellers from abroad.
Besides finding new EVPs
the new campaign is aiming at a new target market. The earlier ads were made to
attract foreign tourists, but the new 2012 ad which showcased the logo in the
national language Hindi aims at domestic tourism too. The international
campaign has the tagline of “Find what you seek” while “Go Ahead” is clear at
addressing the domestic tourists to search their own country to discover
themselves. This step by the ministry can be well understood by the fact that
the domestic tourism industry accounts for the three-fourth of the total
tourism revenue and thus acts as the backbone of the tourism industry in India.
As of today, the promotion has
been majorly done through television ads, ads in magazines and video sites like
Youtube and Metacafe. It needs to increase its visibility and reach through new
media tools such as social media sites, matrimonial sites, blogs and direct
mailers.
Social networks provide a
one stop platform where audience of all age groups are available and one can
cater to all of them at once. Social media are the fastest growing
communication channels and messages conveyed through them would reach the target
audience faster and even cheaper. Websites which could be used for this purpose
include Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Indyarocks, Hi5 and Myspace. Travel and
tourism websites like Makemytrip, Yatra, Cleartrip, SOTC Holidays and Thomas
Cook have become daily companions of many and this could be leveraged to
promote the campaign effectively.
We can go for augmenting
a product only when the core and expected benefits of a
product are visible. In lieu of this we should not ignore the changes and the
developments which need to bring about in our tourism industry. Proper
transportation facilities, proper accommodation arrangements, food and
entertainment and educational importance of heritage sites are the key
motivators to success of any tourism industry. The government of India has
provided a fund of Rs.1210 crores aside of the marketing, which needs to be
utilised in this direction. The child brought fond memories of the campaign in
front of us. However we must not forget that campaigns are merely awareness and
promotion tools .Until and unless we have a proper ground work in place, these
campaigns would be superficial and ineffective.
-Written along with
Shauvik Ghosh for the contest "Samvad" by Welingkar Institute of
Management, date 26 Sept' 2012
References:
IITTM-ICC
Report, Travel and Tourism Industry in India: Looking East, viewed 26 November 2012, http://www.iittm.org/doc/IITTM_ITC_Report-2011-rev.pdf
Business
Standard, 16 November,
Viewed 26 November 2012, http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/incredible-india-goes-forkillindustry-wants-action/492680/
http://www.youtube.com/
http://www.squidoo.com/the-incredible-india-campaign
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