It is almost certain now that the British firm Acanchi will play the lead role in developing the concept of Brand Mumbai.
It is almost certain now that the British firm Acanchi will play the lead role in developing the concept of Brand Mumbai.
And they have their work cut out. Zeroed in reportedly by none other than chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh himself on a recent UK tour, it was like love at first sight, and Lo! Acanchi was Aamchi.
On a rapport-building visit to the city it wants to sell — it will be more like hardsell — to the world, Acanchi’s top brass was busy most part of Thursday and Friday giving presentations and asking for suggestions from several government, non-government agencies and individuals.
In a seminar held on Friday, the company officials however agreed that it would require huge local participation to brand the city perfectly.
“With the presence of Bollywood and host of other celebrities, Mumbai already is a known brand. All we are looking at is to package it in a way that would attract world attention,” said Fiona Gilmore, chairman of Acanchi.
“One also needs to understand that branding and positioning a city is not just for the rest of the world, but also for the locals. There are huge problems in the city. But these problems are common across all the major cities of the world. We need to think beyond these problems,” said Gilmore.
The Acanchi officials gave examples of cities such as Baharain which have been developed successfully as a brand. “There were complexities in developing Brand Baharain due to its rigid socio-religious structure. But we did manage to develop the brand since we focused on the diversity of the people there,” said Gilmore.
Gilmore added that she and her team were aware that almost 60% of Mumbai stays in slums. “We would need to plan keeping that in mind. We will have to do a lot of legwork, talk to people and do an extensive research before coming to a conclusion. Also, we would appoint local advertising agencies who would be involved in the actual preparation of branding Mumbai,” she said.
According to Narindar Nayar, chairman of Bombay First (the NGO which has taken an initiative in the branding exercise) the effort to brand Mumbai would be a public-private partnership project. “The funding pattern for the project is yet to be finalised. Once we sign a formal contract, we shall get in touch with several corporate houses and the state government,” said Nair.
s_ninad@dnaindia.net
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