Is a PR Campaign enough to Promote a Country?

Is promoting a country through a PR campaign enough? I believe not. Any Pr campaign needs to be supported by reality. The Davos 2006 camapign was indeed a success but India now has to prove its mettle. The country faces a lot of challenges which I will make an attempt to identify today. Wonderful though this is, but the ‘India Everywhere’ campaign maybe was a little too much hype. What will prospective investors make of the long, filthy, congested drive that leads from Mumbai’s international airport into the city centre? What will they make of the acres of slums that will greet them, the destitute in their pavement hovels and the barefoot children begging at traffic lights? About 320 million Indians go to bed without food every night, and recent data suggests this already alarming situation is getting worse. If they overcome their revulsion at this first glimpse of Bharat Mata, what will they make of our hopeless infrastructure and our rigidly bureaucratic ways?

Building Brand India calls for the willing co-operation of a number of people. It is linked to the quality of governance as well as that of the society. The brand can't be just built by high-decibel promos or slogans.

People looking at India have concerns about "a lot of bureaucracy, a lot of controls, a lot of restraints, a lot of difficulty in establishing an enterprise and barriers in the way of entrepreneurship."

Labor reforms in India were a major area of concern among many delegates.

Nilekani says the success of the "India Everywhere" campaign will be measured on two counts. The first will be changes in economic and social reforms in India, to ensure that India continues to evolve and builds a scalable model that encourages economic growth. Increased FDI inflows are the second barometer to watch. All I can say is India has set itself on a right path but we need to deliver fast otherwise China will take the cheese away from under our noses.