Brand India - Can it be "all the Raj" Globally?

Natasha Mudhar CEO & MD Sterling Group & Sterling Media, the dynamic young entrepreneur, born and brought up in London, started her journey at an early age in 2004 when she joined her family business, Sterling Group, a multi-disciplinary business house with interests in media, entertainment, finance and real estate. Natasha took over and sculpted Sterling Media, one of the companies within Sterling Group, into a strategic business and communications consultancy with an international footprint, representing corporate, consumer brands, charities, countries, celebrities, and global leaders. In just over 10 years, Natasha has taken Sterling Media to the position of being one of the UK’s leading independent owned communications agencies, with a widespread presence both nationally in the UK as well as internationally.

She says, "Narendra Modi’s arrival in the UK marks the first Indian Prime Minister to visit our shores for over a decade. Much to the excitement of British Indians, the UK’s largest ethnic minority group, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be beating the drum for ‘Brand India’ with nothing less than a sell-out event at Wembley Stadium to bring the message home. The partnership between India and Britain can be traced back to the 17^th century with the formation of the East India Company. With today’s visit of Mr Modi, all eyes are on the sea of opportunities which are likely to open between the two countries, especially the UK companies in India that are waiting to explore untapped sectors in healthcare, technology and financial services. But it is perhaps also a good time to see how Indian brands in the UK can become a success in the UK.

According to Brand Finance, the value of Brand India is up 32 percent on last year, ranking India as the world’s seventh most valuable nation brand.  From the British Raj to modern India, the British market has always shown a strong appetite for consuming Indian goods, with huge conglomerates such as Tata group and Reliance all making large indents across the British market. This relationship is reciprocal, as we also have seen major British brands forge a path into the India market – Aston Martin, Topshop, Hamleys and United Biscuits Group are just a few iconic British brands to launch in recent years. It is estimated that British firms have invested in India around $85 billion, more than any other country, and account for about 30% of all FDI into India.

However, there still remains a stop gap in the connectivity of home-grown Indian brands in the British mass-market. Take TATA for example where, although recognised as a successful international conglomerate, behind famous brands such as Jaguar Land Rover and Tetley Tea, the brand still has the potential to deepen it’s emotional connect with the British consumer.

Having managed a number of cross-over communication strategies for UK brands looking to launch in India and Indian brands establishing a foothold here in the UK, our 20 years of experience has shown us that Indian brands or for that matter any international brand looking to launch in global shores, must take a holistic approach in penetrating the British mass market and placing the consumer and market is key to their local-launch strategy. Indian brands have an incredible opportunity to realize that the passage to Britain comes with immense growth opportunities and economic connotations for both the world powers.

It is clear that Brand India has gone from strength to strength over the last few years and, since the election of PM Modi, a concerted effort has been made by the Indian Government to put Indian brands on the centre stage. “Make In India”, a campaign to promote the manufacture of products in India, and “Digital India”, an initiative to roll out increased internet connectivity, are just some examples of how Brand India is reaching out to the international audience. But, in my opinion, it will be the ability of Indian brands to be more adaptive to different international markets that will decide whether they become a Bengal tiger or a just a Malabar mouse".