Daily Times

After some twists and turns international cricket has made a comeback in Pakistan. The sheer joy of seeing Qaddafi stadium full of people from all parts and segments of Pakistan waving, singing and enjoying was a reflection of how strong is the feeling in Pakistani hearts to make this country look and feel normal. The love for the Zimbabwean team for believing in Pakistan was seen in the way they were greeted, appreciated and applauded. These images of Pakistan through the electronic and social media will make the country be seen from a positive angle after a long time.
But is this enough? Is this the only thing we can do? Are there no other events and happenings that can be constantly marketed to make people living elsewhere doubt their negativity about this country? The general answer from most analysts is that there is very little happening to show off to the rest of the world. However, that may be a statement made out of sweeping cynicism rather than actual facts. Consider this case: not only did Zimbabwe visit Pakistan but almost at the same time Peter Oborne, the famous English cricket writer who has written the book on Pakistani cricket, Wounded Tigers, was also in Pakistan. He brought with him English club cricketers and played cricket in Chitral but nobody really knows about this, which is a real shame. This event had huge marketing value. Peter Oborne is an authority on cricket and his word counts internationally. The English club team played eight matches against Chitral 11, Kailash 11 and many other local teams. They were enthralled by the beauty of the place and floored by the hospitality and warmth of the people .
This tour should have been covered by the media extensively. Testimonials by Peter Oborne and other cricketers should have been made viral on social media, especially considering the fact that weeks ago this place was infamous due to the helicopter crash carrying the diplomats. However, all this needs a comprehensive marketing plan where the government of Pakistan makes a focused effort on showing positive things about the country. India, as those who go there know, is not half of what it projects itself to be. However, the Indian government actually allocates a brand equity fund in its annual budget that is used to promote the ‘Incredible India’ brand, launched in 2002. India’s image was down with war in Afghanistan, a terrorist attack on Indian parliament and ethnic and border clashes with Pakistan. The Incredible India campaign, managed by Amitabh Kant, the joint secretary at the ministry of tourism at that time, was launched aimed at: 1) extending international business and leisure travellers’ length of stay and yield in India, 2) promoting domestic tourism, all the while positioning India away from being a low cost destination to one of luxury, and 3) promoting India as a safe haven despite terrorist incidents.
Since 2002, this campaign has been government-led and is a multi-million dollar global endeavour. The campaign sought to produce a unique and unified brand that would effectively “pervade all forms of communication and stimulate the travel/investor’s consumer behaviour and decision-making process to competitively position India in the global market place.” The campaign had targets and exceeded them. It is deemed responsible for the rise in foreign exchange earnings, which grew from $ 3,460 million in 2000 to $ 11,747 million in 2008. The campaign was also considered to be largely responsible for the increase in tourist arrivals to India, a figure that rose from 2.65 million in 2000 to 5.38 million in 2008. In 2002, India’s position in FutureBrand’s Country Brand Index was 29 out of a total of 45 countries. By 2006, India was amongst the top 10 country brands. In 2011, it was ranked 16th in the world for tourism with an increase of 32 percent in visitor arrivals, scoring highly on ‘heritage and culture’.
This improvement in image despite the fact that there are more churches being burned in India than in Pakistan is due to planned strategy. Four churches in India have recently been targets of vandalism. Christian Today reports that all four churches were located in the Indian capital city of New Delhi and took place over the last seven weeks but there were no reports in the Economist, CNN or BBC. This is due to the Indian marketing machine that lobbies in all the big media houses globally and ensures that such news is suppressed while their local media shies away from showing such events. Compare that to our own media showing church attacks and taking pride in their visuals being picked and relayed by foreign media, and we understand how we have let things run out of control.
Pakistan is an example of how to market negativity so much that positive events become overshadowed by this breaking news virus. India on the other hand is a master at projecting the image of a modern, peaceful and progressive country. How well they have crafted this image is evident by the fact that their prime minister, Narendra Modi, whose infamous image of being responsible for burning 2,000 Muslims in the Gujarat train event had made his entry into US difficult, has now become an epitome of peace and prosperity in the eyes of the US and the world.
Sri Lanka was a terrorist country for over two decades. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were responsible for numerous terrorist bombings directed against politicians and civilian targets. In July 2001, an LTTE suicide squad attacked the Bandaranaike International Airport and destroyed a large number of military and civilian aircraft. Terrorist incidents occurred in Colombo, the capital, and other cities throughout the country. However, cricket and tourism continued and the Sri Lankan government’s campaign on ‘Refreshingly Sri Lanka’ kept on showing the positive side to the world. Malaysia’s ‘Malaysia, Truly Asia’ and Singapore’s ‘Uniquely Singapore’ are all government-led initiatives that have reaped huge benefit for positioning these countries as models of prosperity.
Thus, in this budget, the government should allocate special funds for brand Pakistan where image positioning should be crafted and a slogan like ‘Pakistan, Naturally Beautiful’ should be made a buzzword on all forms of media and lobbying platforms. Re-branding Pakistan needs an integrated marketing communication plan at the highest level or, as they say, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

The writer is secretary information PTI Punjab, an analyst, a columnist and can be reached at andleeb.abbas1@gmail.com