With the removal of Aamir Khan as the face of Atithi devo bhava, a campaign of Incredible India, there is speculation of Amitabh Bachchan taking over. At this juncture, Shrabasti Mallik talks to ad makers and image consultants on the possibility of having a woman as the face for the campaign
Its been quite a few days since Aamir Khan has been removed as the face of the Incredible India campaign and ever since the decision was announced, there has been speculations about Amitabh Bachchan taking the place. Nothing has been made official, though. The only heated topic of discussion in the country right now is deciding on the next brand ambassador of the tourism campaign.
However, in the other part of the world Priyanka Chopra is moving forward in leaps and bounds and is leaving no stone unturned to make India proud on an international level. She is not the first Bollywood actor to grace the US television screens but yes, she is definitely the first to win the People’s Choice Awards for her role in Quantico. Just not that, if reports are to be true, she is all set to star in the Baywatch movie.
Amidst all these speculations, one might think ‘why can we not have a woman as the face of Incredible IndiaIJ’ We sought to find answers and the opinions were as varied as the country itself.
Ad man Piyush Pandey cleared out a basic misconception right at the beginning. He explained that Incredible India as a campaign to promote India to the world, has no brand ambassador. “It never has. Aamir was the face for Atithi devo bhava, a campaign of Incredible India, which aims to prepare our people to receive foreign tourists and be nice to them,” he pointed out, clearly demarcating the two separate legs of the campaign. He felt India as a concept is far too strong for one individual to do justice.
He said that anybody — man, woman, child — could be the brand ambassador of the campaign. He justified with the statement, “It is just one little part of the larger campaign. It just guides us on how we should help visitors and be kind to them. It teaches us to treat guests with respect, like the saying. And any good person can educate us on these lines, it does not necessarily has to be a woman or a man.”
According to him, Amitabh Bachchan would be the right person to become the next face of the crusade. “He has been part of wonderful campaigns before and he has been associated with plenty of social causes, too,” he added.
He is, however, not completely opposed to the idea of having a woman but, this apart, Pandey put forth a question. “Why is it that there has to be just one face for the causeIJ Why can we not have two people or a group of peopleIJ” he asked.
Tarun Chauhan, founder TSC consulting and TEDx speaker, was not in favour of Amitabh becoming the next face, as being speculated. “He cannot be endorsing several things at the same time,” he reasoned. But he did agree to the possibility of getting a fresh face for the campaign. “Why not get Richard GereIJ” he questioned.
Shailendra Singh, joint managing director of Percept limited, told us that it was about time a change was brought in. He agreed with the fact that a woman be made the face of the campaign. “We fail to realise that women are more stable, mature and creative than us. We are a bunch of idiots who still do not understand the power of a woman,” he said. When asked about who he thought fill the bill, “Priyanka Chopra, hands down,” came the pat reply. He continued, “Why not herIJ Going by her versatility and the feats that she has achieved in the past few weeks, she has managed her brand business just fine. And she has the traits to become the apt person for the campaign — she is always restless and is always hungry for more. And just the way she conducts herself makes her look so approachable, plus she has achieved so much in the US in terms of performance. She qualifies in every possible way.”
But having argued for Priyanka, he felt a good campaign cannot be gender or celebrity centric. He restated the fact that there was no particular format of deciding who has the power to choose a brand ambassador of the campaign. “We go for the popular people and sadly, they are all from the cine world. Popularity cannot be the only quotient — the only deciding factor. You would want a face which people identify with, someone who has taken the country to heights,” he rued.
Known for his straightforward opinions, ad guru, Prahlad Kakkar said that the ones in charge of making the decision do not look at it as an option. “They have to be willing to replace a man with a woman figure, which they are not,” he said.
Chauhan made a cogent point. Having been in the world of advertising and marketing for a long time, he is familiar with how a campaign is put out in the market. He explained to us that before one decides on how to market a product, one has to given a brief about it. “Similarly, you do not decide on a brand ambassador before you are clear of the brief. The need of the hour is a brief, stating the things you wish to market through the campaign. Atithi devo bhava is not the brief, it just sends a message that it is out tradition to welcome everyone to the country,” he elaborated.
To take the point further, he said, “Right now, there are a bunch of bureaucrats sitting and deciding something they do not understand clearly. It’s like you buying a car and without knowing its features, looking for a brand ambassador. You have to strengthen the base. This is not a job employment scheme.”
With India giving a makeover to several aspects of the country — be it through the Make in India campaign or the revival of craft — it would not be very difficult to chose a fresh face. Someone who would also have a concurrent appeal.