Every country has a brand image – a perception about the country associated with its name. If we think of Syria or Yemen, we have an outsider’s general impression of war, miseries and destruction while the perception about Singapore or Australia is drastically different. Is there a way to formally analyze nations’ respective brands and even order them from best to worse?
There are several agencies, which come out with periodic reports on nations’ brands. These agencies reckon perceptions about a country in terms of its culture, heritage, present-day infrastructure, governance, tourism, investments, etc. to estimate its brand value. India’s ranking in the list of nation-brands published by some reputed agencies is as follows:
- Brand Finance, a London based agency measures and contrasts the brand image of leading 100 countries and comes out with an annual report. The last available report (2016) places India at the 7th position – US, China, Germany, Japan and UK are the first five countries in that order.
- In terms of the Anholt-GfK Nation Brands Index of 2016, USA, Germany, UK, Canada and France adorn the top five ranks in that order. India’s ranking under this index is available in the public domain for 2014, when it stood 31st among 50 countries.
- Country Brand Index published by FutureBrand places India among the bottom 10% of the 118 countries it covered in its 2014-15 report.
The brand position of India as a nation varies widely depending on the underlying factors considered by the concerned agencies. Whatever be the brand ranking, it is true that India is one of the top destinations for Foreign Direct Investments (FDI). Just as customers would flock to buy products belonging to the most valued brand, investors would gravitate towards the country that promises long-term value for their money. In that sense, India seems to have scored over many other countries by being an attractive FDI destination.
Let’s look at two reports on FDI flows – one published by UNCTAD in its World Investment Report 2017 and the other, FDI Confidence Index 2017 presented by A.T. Kearney, a global consulting firm.
- FDI flows to developing Asia decreased by 15% in 2016 compared to the previous year. Yet FDI flow to India stayed largely flat; rather it was up by 1% from the previous year. The year 2017 is expected to be far better with FDI flows to developing Asia poised to rise by 15%. The most favourite FDI destinations in the world for 2017 are expected to be US, China and India. (UNCTAD)
- A.T. Kearney FDI Confidence Index captures investment intentions and thereby provides a forward-looking stance. The latest Index places India at the 8th position, an upward jump by one notch from the position held last year. US, Germany and China secure the first three positions in the FDI Confidence Index.
India’s population of over a billion, demographic dividend, skilled manpower and high GDP growth are some of the known positives to attract foreign investment. It s, however, interesting that international confidence in India is high despite opaque government processes, rampant corruption and poor physical infrastructure. Investors perhaps draw confidence from the fact that it is the world’s largest democracy and the possibilities are immense. The positives about India perhaps outweigh the constraints associated with it.
While high FDI appears to be a global acknowledgement of India’s attractiveness and a welcome boost to the country’s brand image, there is another global ranking we may not feel proud about. it is the Global Hunger Index (GHI), presented by the International Food Policy Research Institute. The latest GHI (2016) ranks India at 97th place in a list of 118 countries. The index is based on a measure of malnutrition, under-nutrition among children and child mortality. Low ranking in the hunger index is a matter of concern.
Hopefully, high FDI inflow will eventually help raise the country’s ranking in the hunger index.
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Manoranjan Mishra 