Incredible India: Role Of The Media, Criticism And Theoretical Framework

Abstract

The Republic of India is a peninsular region in South Asia surrounded by the Indian ocean in the south and the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea in the West and east, respectively.

With a population of 1.339 billion, India constitutes approximately one-sixth of the world population, making it the second most populated country in the world after China. (Worldometers.info, 2019)

The Republic state is known for his diversity and constitutes of 29 states, each with significant power to control its own territorial affairs along with the State of New Delhi, the national capital having significant power to overlook the exercise of power by each of these 29 states.

The state of India is known for its diversity and its ability to attract attention not only as a political and economic entity but also as a major tourist destination.

This research paper explores the Incredible India Campaign introduced almost a decade back with the intention of creating a communicating catalyst for India and the rest of the world.

Introduction

India is a land of rich culture and heritage filled with an abundance of experiences to offer. From one of the 7th Wonders of the world; The Taj Mahal to the artistic forts, all are testimony to India’s rich and vibrant culture and Incredible India seeks to capture every bit of it.

Like many developing countries, India too has been focusing on its potential to aid its economic development through tourism.

Incredible India was launched by the BJP led government of India in 2002 as part of the new National Tourism Policy as an international marketing campaign targeting a global audience to promote tourism in the region (Khanna,2011). The campaign focuses on the plethora of diversity the region possess, offering something for everyone (India and India, 2019). The Incredible India Campaign worked with the objective of;

1. Broadening and extending international business and recreational travellers to yield in India.
2. Promoting domestic tourism while transforming India from a low cost to a luxurious destination. ( Geary,2013)

The following research paper proceeds in five sections. The first section outlines the research methods the paper will depend upon. The second section explores the campaign and its achievements. The third section analyses the contribution and role of mass media towards the campaign. The fourth section examines the limitations and criticism of Incredible India. And finally the fifth section explores the campaign through a theoretical lens.

Research Methods

The research paper seeks to explore the international marketing campaign; Incredible India with the use of qualitative and quantitative data analysis. The analysis will rely heavily upon the data that is made published by the Government of India, Ministry of Tourism, and the Incredible India website, itself.

The research paper will also build a theoretical analysis and would rely exclusively on the reading material provided by Macquarie University for ICOM892.

Incredible !ndia and its success.

With a diverse portfolio of niche tourist attractions such as cruises, adventure, well-being, recreational, regions.. India has been recognized as one of the biggest tourist destination especially for those looking for spiritual wellness. The exclamation mark forming ‘I’ of India was designed as a symbolic gesture to display the exuberance of India.

A multi-million dollar global marking campaign was introduced by the government of India in 2002 called Incredible India. The campaign sought to effectively launch India as brand to the world while “pervading all forms of communication and stimulating the travel consumer’s behavior and decision making process to competitively position India in the global market place” (Kant 2009, p.7).

The second phase of Incredible India was launched in September 2017 which included the launch of a 24X7 helpline in English and Hindi in 2015 and the launch of a mobile app “Incredible India mobile app” in September 2018 to help tourist get the best of what the country has to offer.

The campaign has led to an increase in tourism in India by 21.10% i.e. 0.29 million on a year basis by building a distinctive image for itself.

The government is striving to gain a one per cent share in the world’s international tourist arrivals by 2020 and a two per cent share by 2015 with the introduction of the campaign and its mobile app. In the year 2002 India ranked 29th in the Future Brand’s Country Brand Index and by 2016 jumped to occupy a spot at 16. As part of the Incredible India initiative the government has also been making major contribution for the strengthening of tourism infrastructure as it recently spent USD7.2 billion in the state of Uttar Pradesh itself. The total contribution made by the tourism sector itself towards the GDP is expect to rise to USD 492.21 billion by 2018 (India, Hospitality and Analysis, 2019), (Poonia and Chauhan, 2015)

Role of the Media

Today, the presence of mass media and the turmoil of influences it brings along with it is often considered as a hallmark accomplishment in the determining the success of a campaign.

As Heidegger said, “the fundamental events of the modern age is the world as a picture” (Desforges, 1999) , the Incredible India campaign too, has incorporated mass media to convey its message and attract a global audience for itself by creating a image for itself.

With visual communication being one of the most powerful means of influence in the contemporary world, initiates ranging from advertisements to mobile apps, the mass media is attracting tourist across geographical boundaries.

The mass media along with globalization has led to the branding of nations as it has led to India developing a certain imagine for itself in the world tourism map. (Anholt 2002)

The advertisement for the Incredible India campaign is known to be one of the most successful campaigns which has been awarded for its ingenuity and ranked the “Highest Recall Advertisement” worldwide by Travel And Leisure (Government Of India, 2019).

The use of bold images and videos like the advertisement helped India acquire a brand for itself and find a place for itself on the global tourism map (Poonia and Chauhan, 2015).

Criticism of Incredible India

It is important to remember India possess a huge diversity and representing this dynamic heterogenous reality of India through a single marketing campaign is not possible. Incredible India too lacks in its abilities to capture what is truly India (Edwards and Ramamurthy, 2016)

A Norwegian traveller, Hallvard who lived in India claimed that the pictures used by Incredible India to represent India on the global scale were dripping with cultures and traditions, he says, “There are some who would state at those colourful imagines of foreign and exotic things with wide-eyed amazement. I know India is nothing like this though”. (Edwards and Ramamurthy, 2016)

The Incredible India campaign confines within the stereotypical and sometimes unrealistic image that have been created about her and although possess the power, does very little to change this stereotypical image.

Many claim the campaign is very regressive as it shows people clothed in bright silk wear, exotic dancing but fails to incorporate modern India which embraces technology and progress. (Edwards and Ramamurthy, 2016)

Theoretical Framework adopted by Incredible India.

International tourism is a multimillion-dollar industry involving billions of people constantly moving all across the globe making public diplomacy an integral aspect of the sector.

The research paper views the international marketing campaign of Incredible India running in India for almost a decade through the lens of National branding.

As Bolin and Stahlberg say, “The phenomenon by which governments engage in self-conscious activities aimed at producing certain images of a nation state”( Bolin, G., and P. Stahlberg. 2010) national branding as a concept today is attracting increasing attention not only as an academic concept but also as a marketing strategy.

As mentioned above, with the various initiatives and objectives Incredible India too aims to help acquire a brand name for itself. The exotic display of images or animals clothed in bright clothes and being worshipped is an association Incredible India has helped create for the country.

These initiatives also aspire in achieve a symbolic interaction to help not only domestic citizens but also an international audience associate with images that the brand ‘India’ seeks to create for itself through Incredible India. (Symbolic Interaction Index/Volume 30, 2007, 2008)

Initiatives such as the helpline and the mobile app aid in the creation of strategic and dialogue communication allowing the campaign to influence while informing the audience (Mahapatra, 2013).

The campaign aspires to incorporate a inclusive approach as it focuses on the diversity India possess and uses that as a great advantage to offer something special to everyone. (Kinsella and Senior, 2008)

This inclusive approach has also enabled every section of the Indian society to be included and made to feel as part of one single community thereby also increasing their sense of national building further contributing in the increase of actors responsible in social media to spread the word.

The campaign relies exclusively on its soft power to convey its message and attract tourists. It uses images and videos among other mass media strategies to spread its ideas, culture and its brand image to the global community. The Indian Bollywood industry is an industry that influences minds not just within domestic boundaries but also beyond. The incorporation of prominent actors such as Shah Ruk Khan and Amitatb Bachan to promote the messages of Incredible India though movies, dance and music has led to people having a ‘desi’ element in their lives without realizing it, too (Das and Das, 2019).

However, as mentioned above, the failure of the campaign to break away from the stereotypical image of India and represent its realities, does very little to reflect the what truly is Indian culture and its spatial identity.

Conclusion

The adoption of media strategies to attract and influence the mind of a global audience has contributed to the huge success of Incredible India. The Ministry of Tourism of India has claimed that 14.4 million tourist visited the country in 2016 including 5.77 million NRI’s (Tourism.gov.in, 2019).

Today, with the advancement in media and its ability to reach beyond geographical boundaries the Incredible India campaign has been successful in making a place for itself in the domestic and international market.

The campaign has led to an increase in the influx of tourist every year and has contributed in the creation of a distinctive identity that India holds today.

Further, the media has also been a huge contributor of making all information accessible to the global audience with just a click.

Bibliography

1. Anholt, Simon (2002), “Nation Branding: A Continuing Theme,” Brand Management, 16(1), 59-60.
2. Bolin, G., and P. Stahlberg. 2010. “Between Community and Commodity. Nationalism and Nation Branding.” In Communicating the Nation. National Topographies of Global Media Landscapes, edited by Anna Roosvall and Inka Solivara Moring, 79–101. Goteborg: Nordicom.
3. Das, S. and Das, S. (2019). How does Indian Cinema Influence the Travel and Tourism Industry in India?. [online] Tour My India. Available at: https://www.tourmyindia.com/blog/how-does-indian-cinema-influence-the-travel-and-tourism-industry-in-india/ [Accessed 22 May 2019].
4. Desforges, L. (1999). Touring cultures: Transformations of travel and theory. Journal of Rural Studies, 15(2), pp.226-227.
5. Edwards, L. and Ramamurthy, A. (2016). (In)credible India? A Critical Analysis of India’s Nation Branding. Communication, Culture & Critique, 10(2), pp.322-343.
6. India and India, T. (2019). Incredible India. [online] Ibef.org. Available at: https://www.ibef.org/industry/tourism-hospitality-india/showcase/incredible-india [Accessed 17 May 2019].
7. Geary, D. (2013). Incredible India in a global age: The cultural politics of image branding in tourism. Tourist Studies, 13(1), pp.36-61.
8. Government Of India (2019). Assessment of International Media Campaigns of the Ministry of Tourism for France. New Delhi: Market Research Division Ministry of Tourism Government of India, p.06.
9. Kant, Amitabh (2009), Branding India: An Incredible Story, Uttar Pradesh, India: Harper Collins.
10. Khanna, M. (2011). Destination branding: Tracking Brand India. Synergy, 9(1), 40-49
11. Kinsella, W. and Senior, J. (2008). Developing inclusive schools: a systemic approach. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 12(5-6), pp.651-665.
12. Mahapatra, C. (2013). India–US Strategic Dialogue: An Assessment. Strategic Analysis, 37(6), pp.675-680.
13. Poonia, A. and Chauhan, G. (2015). A Multimodal Discourse Analysis of Select Tourism Video Commercials of Incredible India Campaign. International Journal of Tourism and Travel, 8(1and2).
14. Symbolic Interaction Index/Volume 30, 2007. (2008). Symbolic Interaction, 31(1), pp.111-114.
15. Tourism.gov.in. (2019). Market Research and Statistics. [online] Available at: http://tourism.gov.in/market-research-and-statistics [Accessed 18 May 2019].
16. Worldometers.info. (2019). India Population (2019) – Worldometers. [online] Available at: https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/india-population/ [Accessed 15 May 2019].