Brand Economics Nepal Ascendant
It is unfortunate that so much of our money and efforts seemingly go into mundane manufacturing and gathering. But the reality is that branding products is much smarter a move than simply scaling up. Especially for a country that is opulently blessed with the brand image of summit Shangri-La and wretchedly deprived of the ores of mass manufacturing, brand economics hardly present a policy trade-off.
Our southern neighbour has shown us all about branding: India spent four million dollars to develop the ‘India Everywhere’ brand to entice foreign investors with its financial credibility; and then topped it up with yet another ‘Incredible India’ brand to campaign for tourism. The so-called ‘rise’ of India is now up in the air, not only promoting tourism and specialized sectors but also the innovative IT, services and heavy manufacturing.
In a world where tangible assets and production capacity are in surplus, brands not only create differentiation and thereby drive consumer demand, they also create legal and psychological hedges against competition. Through careful management and skillful promotion, brands come to exert a powerful influence over consumer behaviour. Why does a Native American artifact in the Christie’s auction sell for a thousand times more than what it might fetch if in the hands of the Native American himself? The answer is Brand Economics.
Nepal has plenty of pieces scattered around to build the brand mosaic: the mysticism of the Himalayas, the reminiscence of the hippy serenity, the cradle of Buddhist philosophy and Tibetan arts, the mountain hospitality, the Gurkha gallantry, and now increasingly the myth of ‘cultural’ communists and the reality of women forest protectors. As Peter Drucker put it, brand economics is about embededness: You have to pick gems and embed them skillfully, one by one, into a precious ornament. And then you have to master the subtleties of when and how to wear it – to lure, to bait, and to kill.
PR Gurus might be able to do this for individual firms and products, but there is a clear role for the State to build a national platform on which individual products can stage their shows. This requires institution-building – both formal and informal. Research institutions should explore the feasibility and test out the waters; educational institutions should upgrade the quality and technology; certification institutions should build international credibility of claims; legal institutions should install patent mechanisms; promotion agencies should build bridges between the local makers and global takers. And boom – the country should go on offence.
Brand management requires that industries wear institutions not like the gloves but like the skin. Efficiency should run in their veins. It is a private sector game, but the onus surely falls on pro-market policymakers. They have to realise that neither producing for ourselves nor foolishly rivalling in what everybody else does better will not yield us competitive advantage. How high Nepal ’s tide rises in this ‘flat’ new world will determine the stature of the nation’s brand.
