How Patriotism Can Influence The Brand Value of a Product

Last year our country was facing the mar of the global COVID-19 Pandemic and India was in a state of complete lockdown. The economic situation of India was impacted severely. On May 12, 2020, our Prime Minister in a meeting emphasized on the importance of boosting local products and services. He urged every Indian to be “Vocal for Local,” be the brand ambassador of it, and promote it proudly. Soon, many campaigns started creating a buzz on the internet, such as #Vocal4Local, #SupportVocalForLocal, etc.

I tried to understand why the people of India would promote these local products when there were already established foreign brands in the country that had been serving them long before the global Pandemic. While going through various blogs, articles, and other reports, I came across a term “Patriotic Marketing,” which can be identified as one of the attributes of this campaign. So the next question is: What is Patriotic Marketing? How companies can leverage these techniques? and When to use it?

Patriotic Marketing

Companies use this marketing strategy to convey a sense of national pride and use images, slogans, and taglines specifically designed to appeal to a more extensive consumer base by targeting their sense of patriotism. Many companies have understood through their market research that consumer behavior is primarily influenced by national pride.

Ways in which patriotic marketing can be incorporated:

i)Use of patriotic colors and images during the packaging process of products.

ii)Giving the products patriotic names. For example, Bajaj V15 (a bike) claims that they have used the metal from the INS Vikrant (the first aircraft carrier built in India).

iii)Announcing the use of domestic raw materials during manufacturing processes. Example: adding labels such as “Made in India,” “Made in Korea,” “Made in the USA,” etc.

iv) Providing unique offers and discounts to active-duty military personnel and veterans to convey a message to the public that the company has a strong sense of patriotism.

v) Retail companies try to connect with their customers using this strategy by providing consumers with an Independence Day sale or Republic day sale.

Patriotic Marketing Positioning in India process follows INDIA approach where:

I stand for Identifying the Indianness — Finding the Indian element in the product that can be a brand name, benefits, and services, origin, etc. Example-Dandi Salt, Tata Salt, Paytm, etc.

N stands for Narrate the Narratives — After identifying the step mentioned above, companies need to develop functional benefits and emotional connect to attract consumers through communicating the products. Example — Tata Salt came up with campaign #NamakKeWaastey to support Rio Olympic players in 2016.

D stands for Deliver through Digital — Companies need to connect with consumers, and for that, they need to leverage social media platforms. Example-Bajaj V15 uses digital media to deliver their story (there is some amount of INS Vikrant in every bike) on various social media platforms through video and other digital platforms.

I stand for Integrate to Involve — Companies involve themselves in various CSR activities or connect with multiple Non-Governmental Organization(NGOs) to convey the message that they are not only saying things but taking action on the ground level to uplift the country.

A stand for Assess to Adopt — Companies need to continuously assess their communication so that companies can’t go obsolete. Many companies have leveraged the new idea of “Made in India” and develop various products and leverage the change.

Indian Companies who have utilized this strategy to target consumers:

i)Amul — The taste of India and ad song “Amul Doodh pita hain India”

ii)Bajaj-Humara Bajaj

iii)Tata Salt-Desh ka Namak

iv)Kajari Tiles-New Campaign “Desh ki mitti se bani tiles se desh ko banate hain”

v)Patanjali-Perfect Example of creating an ad campaign based on the fact that all of their products are manufactured in India.

vi)Doordarshan-Uses song “Mile sur mera tumhara” to develop a sense of patriotism and appeal to the mass.

vii)Hero Honda-Tagline of ‘Desh ki Dhadkan.’

viii)BKT Tires-Uses song “Mere desh ki dharti.”

ix)BSNL- Tagline of “Connecting India.”

x)State bank of India-Tagline of “The banker to every India.”

xi)Andhra Bank-Tagline “Where India Banks.”

Sometimes companies might mislead consumers after understanding their sentiments related to the country. Being a consumer it’s our responsibility to be alert of companies who try to do this.

Patriotic marketing strategy is a useful tool to position the brand image and play with the consumer mind to create brand equity. It is a very cheap and highly effective marketing strategy that is being employed by many companies. However, a company cannot assume that if they are implementing this strategy, they will surely build a brand. Consumers will spend their hard-earned money only on the products which provide them proper value for amount they pay. The aim of the companies should always be to create a difference to the consumer’s life.