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INTEGRATED MARKETING

COMMUNICATON

RAHUL DSA

ROLL NO. 544

XIMR

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INTRODUCTION

India is a multi-faceted nation. Home to the largest diversity in Culture & Tradition,

it can trace its civilization back to over 10,000 years. It has timeless pre-historic

relics, caves, paintings and artifacts. It is home to some of the erstwhile great

Empires whos Monuments, Palaces and Legacies continue to live on

We hear these sentences so often, not only in our history books but also in every

tourist booklet describing India. However compared to other destinations like the

USA which does not have rich history like India, the USA attracted more tourists. It

seemed pretty puzzling. The problem was that the promotions that India tourism had

varied so much that it led to a lot of confusion. Earlier promotion campaigns were left

largely to state tourism offices with each of them coining their own tag lines right

from Spiritual India to Unbelievable India. Clichd images of India were promoted:

Saffron-clad Sadhus, Snake Charmers, Elephant trails, etc. India managed to attract

increasing volumes but very little value.

Therefore, in 2002, the tourism ministry made a conscious effort and formulated an

integrated communication strategy with the aim of promoting India as a destination of

choice for the discerning traveler. India had to be re-positioned as a Premier Holiday

destination for high-yielding tourists and as a destination for the rich, famous,

upwardly mobile, up-market travelers. The strategy had to be aggressive marketing

coupled with an efficient and creative advertising campaign. The biggest challenge

remained, changing the perception of India in the world. It is difficult to change deep-

rooted notions about what India is and what it has on offer. People still thought of

India as a land of snake charmers and there were wild animals everywhere and people

did not speak English. This notion had to be changed. Incredible was chosen to

leverage the existing stereotypes about India but in a positive, engaging and

sophisticated manner. The in the branding compliments the word Incredible and

represents the timelessness of India.

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INTEGRATED MAKETING COMMUNICATION

Print Ads

The Incredible India Print Campaign was successful in creating an amazing visual

effect on everyone and promoting the thought that India is a wonderful place. One of

the early campaigns simply focused on highlighting the Incredible India logo of

India which was used creatively across several visuals. In the second year, thecampaign focused on spiritual tourism. The next few campaigns focused on luxury

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and vacation home, travel seeking spirituality, private islands and air cruises in private

jets as the major emerging trends in the global tourism industry.

But the sad part was that the campaign had its downsides too. The print campaign

failed to cover the different aspects of the country and did not change Indias image.

Whenever tourists came, they viewed India as a place with lack of infrastructure, poor

facilities and poor standard of living. Unhygienic food, poor drinking water facilities,

frequent electricity cuts are the various factors which are visible to every traveler

coming to India especially in popular global destinations like the Agra, Delhi, Goa,

and Mumbai. Although this cannot be portrayed in a positive sense, yet these images

were actually not showcasing a true picture and a lot of tourists usually got a culture

shock even when their flights were landing.

Exhibitions & Trade Shows

The exhibitions and trade shows were held in Berlin, Cannes, London and LA showed

off to the world the magic and beauty of India, in a simplistic yet self explanatory

way. It was symbolic of everything a country like India stands for, a diverse

combination of customs and culture intertwined with a vast array of colours. It tried to

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convey the message that an individual is missing something, if they dont visit India.

The unique thing about the pictures showed in the exhibitions is that they usually had

a connection with the city it was showcased in. For example it showcases even after

independence, how India has much more in common with London than meets the eye

and that the Indo - British link didnt end post independence. Usually foreign tourists

see what is limited to being purely fictional names of movies which are shown in the

west. However the images convey a way of life in terms of Indias culture, tradition,

heritage and customs. The trade shows and exhibitions want to show everything apart

from that and what India truly stands for. The problem was that the exhibits like the

print ads didnt reflect the true Indian picture.

TV Ads

The unique thing about the Incredible India TV campaign with the foreign tourist

roaming India is that it cut across markets to an extent that even foreigners started

accepting the phrase Incredible India. Its not the word alone. It was being part of

the Indian culture and one is not a foreigner in this country but is a part of the culture

as soon as one steps foot into the country. The strength of the concept was the endless

and almost infinite supply of facts, myths, stories and legends that make India a rich

subject. There are so many subjects that every year, the brand can have a new subject

to talk about.

The two new campaigns address two different hurdles for the tourism business in

India the vandalism of monuments by the Indian residents themselves and the

misbehaviour towards tourists. It was important to put the onus on each resident of the

country regarding such an issue; each one of us becomes a stakeholder in behaving

well with the tourists and preventing wrong incidents from taking place.

Both these issues are serious and genuine but the solution and the way it has been

captured somehow fall short of the task. Incredible India campaigns have been liked

for their execution and their messaging but these commercials have not created that

level of excitement as was done by the previous ones.

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BIBLIOGRAPGHY

The Incredible India Campaign: Marketing India To The World Case Study

Branding India: An Incredible Story Outlook

Incredible India: When public sector advertising turned savvy DNA June2, 2009

Reality Does Not Match Incredible India Ads DNA May 15, 2011

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