Mktg - Q&A Leena Nandan;Joint Secretary,Ministry of Tourism;India

Purva Bhatia

in 2002, the Incredible India ad campaign aimed at capturing everything about India and making it a global brand, presenting the country as destination for physical invigoration, mental rejuvenation, cultural enrichment and spiritual elevation. Leena Nandan, joint secretary, Ministry of Tourism talks to ET about journey of the campaign so far and future plans to promote brand India. Excerpts:

What the origins of the ‘Incredible India’ campaign?

India was not among the favourite destinations for international travellers until 2001. Indian tourism was mainly promoted through delegates at the Indian tourist offices abroad. There wasn’t much being done to attract tourists expect for some small campaigns like ‘Mystic India’ and ‘Come to India’. These campaigns were not very effective as these were largely unorganised and limited by the skills and capabilities of the delegates.

That year the events of September 11 shook the tourism industry all over the world. The crisis highlighted the significance of repositioning for India. We required a campaign, which would help create awareness, widen the reach and increase recall value of India as a brand. Also, it was important to differentiate India from competing destinations like Singapore and Thailand.

The tourism department of India appointed Ogilvy and Mather (O&M), Delhi to develop a campaign that helped in developing a unique market position and image. It promoted India as a path to ‘ananda’ signifying wellness and contentment. The spiritual message seemed to be an attractive proposition for foreign travellers. It was received well by people outside India as well as within the country.

Did the initial campaign achieve its objectives?

The spurt in number of international tourists travelling to India since 2002 is a clear indicator of the success of ‘Incredible India’ campaign. It has enabled India to penetrate global market and reach the targeted consumer through all forms of media. India’s tourist flow was 2.38-million in 2002, 3.92-million in 2005, and in 2006 it increased to 4.43-million.

How has the campaign changed over the years? How has it established brand India?

Incredible India has had many facets right from its inception. In the initial years, it boasted of the country’s great monuments and images of beautiful locales. It then focussed on promoting yoga and ayurveda. Then, there was a promotion of various fairs and festivals that the country hosts. We also spoke of the grand wildlife our country has. We showed various hues of India through black and white images and one-liners. This year the focus has been on the vibrancy and diversity of India. We often hear foreign tourist commenting that India is a colourful country. So, we used the inherent colours of India to showcase various tourism products.

For instance, green of massive tea plantations, red of spicy dry chillies, white of the Taj and yellow of the hot vast deserts. So, in this journey we have covered everything from spirituality to wildlife and beautiful landscapes to effervescent people. The campaign is running in several countries, including the UK, USA, ASEAN countries as well as far-east. It is through Incredible India that people in these countries know India as an immensely vibrant and diverse country.

What was Incredible India’s biggest challenge?


One of the biggest challenges of the campaign was changing people’s notions rooted in tradition and the past about the country. It is a challenge to tell people how the country has changed from what they saw or heard of. But we have largely succeeded in changing the perception of India and developing it as a brand that stands for a lot of quality things like spirituality, healthy living, wildlife, ayurveda, contemporary art and culture.

The campaign targets the affluent discerning traveller. So to communicate the message coming from modern India we have increased our focus on online marketing in our promotion strategy. We have a strong online presence through regularly updated websites as well as various language portals. And we are also well ahead of many destinations in use of online social media.

How much are you spending on the campaign this year?

The coming year is exciting in terms of the budget set for the campaign. There is a huge jump from Rs 165-crore in 2007-08 to Rs 235-crore for 2008-09 as we add new markets (Scandinavian countries). We have an aggressive growth target of 10-million tourists in 2010. The Commonwealth Games will help us achieve that. We have recently partnered with BBC World News globally for a six-part travel series, ‘Travel India’. This will help us present the diverse facets of the country for travellers to come and experience.

This will be in addition to the Incredible India campaign that will run with the tagline ‘Your Search Ends Here.’ We are also optimistic about Aamir Khan being the face of our upcoming campaign, which promotes the country’s rich heritage and culture and the message, Athithi Devo Bhava.