Nation branding is a complicated business. With so much that contributes to a nation’s brand being so hard to manage, it makes it all the more important that what can be managed is done well. The Commonwealth Games, which drew to a close yesterday, are a reminder of what can happen when attempts to manage perceptions fail.
The Games were a mixed affair. Days before competitors were due to arrive in Delhi, pictures broadcast around the world showed the terrible state of the athletes’ village including paw prints on beds and dirty bathrooms. Days later, a bridge collapsed injuring 25 workers. Not to worry, said Delhi’s chief minister, the bridge was only for pedestrians, not athletes. And as if things couldn’t get more farcical, faulty scales meant that boxers were told they were several kilograms heavier than they actually were. One boxer who was sent to sweat off some pounds returned only to be told he had gotten heavier.
It wasn’t all bad news, of course. The widely lauded opening ceremony lifted the mood and started the Games off with a bang. The home nation’s impressive performance (2nd only to Australia in the gold medal table) meant that the stadiums filled with people and energy as the Games progressed. Security, a big concern before the Games, was excellent.
One can’t help but feel, however, that the enduring image in the global public’s mind will be those beamed across the world of dirty living quarters and shoddy construction. It highlights the potential pitfalls that governments face when trying to manage perceptions of a nation. These highly visible initiatives, after all, become symbols that come to represent a country. Done well, they can reap significant rewards – see how perceptions of Spain have changed from a land of flamenco and bullfighting to a modern, dynamic country at the heart of Europe, or how China’s Olympian efforts reinforced perceptions of Chinese efficiency and dependability. Done badly, and the fallout can be dreadful. A Commonwealth Games meant to signal the arrival of India on the global stage might only serve to reinforce all kinds of notions people have about incompetence and corruption being endemic to India.
The image of India is still being built around the world. Think of Germany, and you think of quality, reliability and technical prowess. This narrative has largely been built by the country’s private sector and it’s world famous automotive manufacturers. For all the good that organisations like Tata and Infosys do for perceptions of India, the state bungling an event like this only serves to underline the worst. The Indian government, it appears, would be better off taking a hard look at its priorities and focusing on what should be its remit– the appalling infrastructure and anarchic corruption, for instance, that constantly reinforce negative perceptions about India and throttle the ability of businesses to function within the country. Leave the national narrative to be built by those who do it best – the entrepreneurs, whether found in Dharavi or Antilia, whose successes will continue to properly define how India is perceived.
