India at Davos: Advertising the unavailable
Author :
gvk2
Blog :My Take by GVK
Date: 2/6/2012 6:28:34 AM
They advertised India’s $35 dollar computer in Davos during the World Economic Forum 2012. The photo on The HIndu op-ed page came as an ‘eye-opener’ for me, in the sense that I didn’t realise our India-brand building specialists were capable of advertising abroad something that is not available off the shelf in India. Anyway, I don’t suppose anyone in Davos took up the computer maker on their bargain offer (of $35) .
The advertising agency involved in the ‘India Ingenious’ campaign may well be justified if they say they are in the business of marketing, not a product, but a perception. The product in reference – Aakash tablet computer - going by its status reports, is very much a work in progress.
The photo credit: Ravinder Kaur, associate professor, Modern South Asian Studies, Copenhagen University, who took the photo to go with her article : Dazzling images do not a shining nation make. Notable among the points made by the author of in the article is that India, in mounting image campaign through billboards, and promo ads. on buses, cafes, streets and, even half-empty parking lots, of Davos, competed with Mexico, Thailand and Azerbaijan, for attracting foreign investment. China was conspicuous through its visual absence.
