One nation. One election.
The sequence continues with our new-found, or newly-created, obsession with ‘One nation’. The one about elections is the latest. We have had our brushes with law, language, colour, food, attire and so on.
Another has been the renaming of Port Blair to Sri Vijaya Puram. It was done to do away with a colonial name and give it a national one. Therefore, a Sanskrit name. A language that is not indigenous to the Onges, Jarwas and Sentinalese. Basically, another colonial name. But in the name of ‘oneness’.
What is this ‘one’ all about?
One could be universalism.
It could be about one with the world, the entire ecosystem, the entire human race and a common set of values. It could be about the universalism of man as espoused by Romain Rolland or Aurobindo or Tagore. It is about an open canvas whereon each individual could play her/his own role with a sense of liberty and contribution to the larger cause. It is beyond boundaries of nationhood.
One could be unity.
As kids, we were fed on the narrative of ‘unity in diversity’. It could be about the mutual appreciation and empathy in our diversity that makes us come together as one people, under one constitution that recognises the strength of the multiple cultures, faiths, thoughts, languages and ways of life. It’s a sense of equi-proximity to one and all.
One could be uniformity.
It can be about being bound by a common code of justice, regulations, accessibility, evaluation, recognition and reward that operates over and above the unity in diversity. It is about maintaining equi-distance from each bit of diversity, applying a more rational approach to oneness.
One could be unitarianism.
It could be about only one way of doing things in one nation. One language. One food plate. One attire. One colour code. And finally, one faith. Basically one way of life, determined by the vision of what defines the nation by the absolute powers that reign.
In a recent television debate on the occasion of ‘Hindi Diwas’, on being chided by the anchor that Hindi was needed as a national language to unite the nation, one panelist pointed out that the nation is already united and does not need a unitarian language to do so.
Last week, a senior minister stated that we need ‘our own Silicon Valley’. Pat came an apt response that Bengaluru happens to be a part of India. This is what happens when you get caught in the game of ‘one’ and one-upmanship.
Countries, like corporations, need to consciously decide which ‘one’ they wish to be.
In fact, countries, like ours, in the current state of flux, need to learn from how multinational, multi-business organisations successfully run as one. What makes a Coca-Cola retain brands like Fanta and Thums Up instead of steamrolling just one unitarian brand all across? What makes a Toyota retain brands like Daihatsu in the same market, in the same product segment? Or make a conglomerate like Raytheon keep brands like Otis, UTC, Chubb, Pratt & Whitney and Carrier when they took over United Technologies.
Oneness does not come out of unitarianism. It comes out of inclusion and assimilation. It is immensely more powerful to absorb and preserve than acquire and subsume. The unique DNA and flavour of every brand as a microcosm adds to the overall uniqueness of the macrocosm. So, consciously celebrating all cultures, languages, attires, food styles, colours and scripts as part of the national ethos will generate more profits for the nation than trying to create clones in the effort to bring about uniformity through unitarianism.
Port Blair should have been given an indigenous name.
Tamil should be taught in CBSE schools as a language option, just like Hindi and Sanskrit.
The states should have their elections distinct from that for the national parliament.
It is not about saving costs, as we have not been the most careful spenders anyway.
It is about preserving and promoting diversity if one is to be a truly successful country or corporation.
This needless obsession with being ‘one’ by imposition rather than by assimilation reminds me of the last lines of the Queen song ‘One Vision’…
One, one, one, one, one, one, one
One flesh, one bone, one true religion
One voice, one hope, one real decision
Give me one night, yeah
Give me one hope, hey
Just give me, ah
One man, one man
One bar, one night
One day, hey, hey
Just gimme, gimme, gimme
Gimme fried chicken!
Jai Hind!
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Q. Do you fear that Indian media companies, like their western counterparts are, in their pursuit of profitability, also abandoning their responsibility to foster critical thinking and instead opting for viewership?
A. Any business including media, in the ultimate analysis, has to generate surplus to plough back to business or ensure that finite resources of society are not squandered. Now that’s a supra-business objective. Is it followed in toto? I don’t want to delve into intellectual polemic.
There is nothing grossly wrong in keeping profit/ profitability in the business radar, but over-obsession with continuous high trajectory at the cost of core business interest, could create myopia and business astigmatism. History is replete with examples of myopic chasing of mere profit, ignoring overall health of the business, would one day degenerate of the failure of success.
In today’s context, the responsibility of fostering critical thinking, except a few news organisations and individuals, sounds so vacuous that anyone talking about it must belong to neolithic age. Now, algos overides humans (and humanity?).
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has come out on top most valuable brand for the third straight year, as per the Kantar BrandZ Most Valuable Indian Brands Report. With a brand value of $49.7 billion, TCS has seen a 16% rise versus last year, driven by investments in innovation, particularly in AI and digital transformation.
India’s top 75 most valuable brands now have a combined value of $450.5 billion, marking a 19% increase from last year. Brands across diverse business sectors fuelled this growth, with 54 brands boosting their brand value over the past year. This igrowth outpaces most other BrandZ rankings globally and closely mirrors the 20% increase seen in the Global Top 100, notes a communique.
Kantar BrandZ Top 10 Most Valuable Indian Brands 2024
| Rank 2023 | Rank 2024 | Brand | Category | Brand Value 2024 (US$ M) |
| 1 | 1 | Tata Consultancy Services | Business Technology and Services Platforms | 49,657 |
| N/A | 2 | HDFC Bank | Financial Services | 38,286 |
| 4 | 3 | Airtel | Telecom Providers | 29,856 |
| 3 | 4 | Infosys | Business Technology and Services Platforms | 25,221 |
| 5 | 5 | State Bank of India | Financial Services | 17,979 |
| 6 | 6 | ICICI Bank | Financial Services | 15,604 |
| 8 | 7 | Jio | Telecom Providers | 13,744 |
| 7 | 8 | Asian Paints | Paints | 13,555 |
| 10 | 9 | HCL Tech | Business Technology and Services Platforms | 11,815 |
| 11 | 10 | LIC | Financial Services | 11,499 |
TCS tops a strong group of seven Business Technology and Services Platforms, collectively worth almost $100 billion, and equalling 22% of the total value of India’s Top 75 ranking.
Financial Services brands also dominate, with 17 brands, contributing 28% of the ranking’s overall brand value. HFDC Bank (No.2; $38.3bn) retains its position as India’s second most valuable brand. State Bank of India (No.5; $18.0bn), ICICI Bank (No.6; $15.6bn) and
Zomato is this year’s Fastest Riser with 100% growth in brand value year-on-year due to relentless innovation and expansion into quick commerce. It has also boosted efficiency and elevated its customer experience over the last year.
Said Deepender Rana, Executive Managing Director, Insights, South Asia at Kantar: “Strong brands consistently outperform the market. Over the past year, the companies behind India’s Top 75 brands have achieved an impressive 52% stock market growth, outpacing the 37.6% growth for the Sensex. Brands that thrive are those that create a Meaningful Difference by meeting evolving consumer needs, challenging industry norms, and forging strong emotional connections. The top performers in this brand ranking have excelled by embracing disruption and innovation, leading to significantly higher growth.”
Added Soumya Mohanty, Managing Director & Chief Client Officer, Insights, South Asia at Kantar: “It’s not enough to make consumers want to buy, brands must build their saliency and relevancy across all touchpoints, from advertising to in-store experiences. Successful brands create a consistent presence that resonates with consumers, driving both awareness and loyalty. Those that thrive have combined strategic reach with compelling, creative messaging to capture consumer attention and drive significant brand growth.”
The other day, a fellow advertising practitioner/ commentator, after being invited to an awards judging, remarked that they had never seen many of the entry campaigns.
Which raised a question: were they scam ads, or were they so sharply targeted and personalised that only the few thousand, best profile-matched prospects had watched them?
In a class of English majors, students were asked to write an essay on what worried them, other than the violence they see globally, and environmental issues. A common refrain among the students was this:
‘Compared with any other generation, GenZ creators have a much greater ability to create and publish their work, artists are more free to share and bypass hassle-laden middlemen, and small businesses can take birth online with ease. In essence, this means there is more of everything, which is good. However, as a consequence, there are far fewer shared experiences among our generation’.
What that means is that there is unlimited segmentation in every market, and infinitely more consumer options.
What that also results in is that we are no longer watching the same late-night shows on weekends. I could talk about the latest Netflix show I’m watching, and no one on the room would have heard about it. We have hyper-tailored Spotify playlists, we don’t listen to the same DJs on radio. There are popstars topping the charts and their names mean nothing to most people.
Targeted marketing is putting people inside lonely silos.
Of course, one might argue that with the infinite amount of content and experiences out there, personalisation helps filter through the noise and presents only the information and entertainment that is of interest to us, reduces user effort and enriches online experiences.
But even with that, how long do you spend pressing the remote before you finally choose your Netflix fix for the night?
Before hyper-personalised content, the shared experience of consuming the same news, game or even ads helped create a sense of community. Our worldview was shaped by reading and watching and experiencing the same stories, and people were more united as a result.
With much of their world experience being siloed, reaching them through their earbuds as they sit alone on their couch, it is no small wonder that GenZ feels isolated and disconnected. Even as they scroll through their Insta and TikTok, they are starting to notice the lack of new and interesting material in their feed.
Content fatigue due to over-personalisation isn’t limited to social media. Research on recommendation systems tells us that Amazon users are noticing stale and boring product offerings in the ‘Recommended for You’ section of the e-commerce platform. Order Argan Oil once, and the algorithm will suggest you buy it two years later.
For all the brouhaha around NikeiD some time back, the truth is – standard edition adidas Sambas and Stan Smiths and Chuck Taylors remain the biggest sellers. We all, Rishi Sunak included, are wearing the same sneakers as a shared experience. When we wear the same shoes, it brings us closer to walking in each others’ shoes.
On the other hand, when we customise our sneakers, we might achieve ‘self-expression’, but it comes at the cost of sharing something with our congregation.
When we congregate, we share values, behaviours and attitudes. It makes us feel welcomed, connected to others who are like us, and part of something bigger.
The good news …
The young are rediscovering the value of community. They are forming book clubs and film clubs, on social media and IRL. And joining the Swifties.
New sports like padel and pickleball are bringing them out of their dens and on to the court; they are going cycling and running.
Could we see a marketing future where meaning is created through shared experiences, rather than personalisation? After all, isn’t a crowd far more valuable than an individual?
Kunal Sinha is Chief Knowledge Officer at Ampersand Advisory, based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He is the author of several books including The Future of India’s Rural Markets and Raw – Pervasive Creativity in Asia. He writes for MxMIndia every other Monday. His views here are personal.
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Q. There are 275-odd delegates at the ongoing Indian Printers Summit in Hyderabad, with some 20 sponsors. Whoever said print is dying?! Your comments.
A. I have never articulated that print was dying. That’s an area of media or tech-obsessed gurus. I am neither. But, having said that , one must admit that the print business model is under pressure and generational shift of habit of media consumption could be a challenge for growth in readership and thereby on demand and supply side revenue.
Yet, one can’t deny that print is still huge, and one can’t just wish away its existence.
Incidentally, in jest I can mention that just because there are so many hospitals, that doesn’t mean people won’t die. This is in the context of 20 sponsors.