Abstract: The report is a study done to show that a state government owned entity can also be branded and

can be hugely successful in doing so. It also studies various communication strategies undertaken by the Madhya Pradesh to communicates and build a powerful brand. The report also takes a peek at the future of the brand and various strategies that the Madhya Pradesh Tourism is planning to adopt so that the brand is felt at an international level.

A Brand Management Project Report

Brand Management

Madhya Pradesh Tourism

Sr. No.

Title

Page No.

Introduction

Marketing Mix

Branding Strategy

Communication Strategy

Internal Branding

11

Training and Development

13

Public Private Partnership Program

13

Result of the Branding

14

Future Endeavour

16

Reference

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Brand Management

Madhya Pradesh Tourism

Introduction
Madhya Pradesh is called the "Heart of India" because of its location in the center of the country. It has been home to the cultural heritage of Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism. Innumerable monuments, exquisitely carved temples, stupas, forts and palaces are dotted all over the state. Madhya Pradesh is also known as Tiger State because of the tiger population. Famous national parks like Kanha, Bandhavgadh, Shivpuri, Sanjay, Pench are located in Madhya Pradesh. Despite having such a rich variety of tourist spots, Madhya Pradesh was unable to create any buzz about itself. Before the Madhya Tourism campaign began, the Madhya Pradesh State Tourism Development Corporation had a very nave and simple way of going about promoting their state as a tourist destination. There was no specific strategy and there was a complete lack of enthusiasm on part of the state government in promoting its state. MR. Hari Rajan Rao is considered to be the father of brand of the Madhya Pradesh Tourism. Under his supervision the Madhya Pradesh State Tourism Development Corporation created a brand for Madhya Pradesh Tourism. Under his command, MP Tourism has been able to achieve high brand equity and has been able to do good business.

Brand Management

Madhya Pradesh Tourism

Marketing Mix
Before going on to the actual branding strategy, lets have the marketing mix of Madhya Pradesh Tourism. Product Madhya Pradesh tourism is a service product by nature and involves tours in the exotic locales of Madhya Pradesh. There are different kinds of tour products. Caravan tourism Package A product which provides tourists with their own caravan to travel Eco tourism package As the name suggests, it is a tour for tourists who love landscapes and forests Rural tourism Involves tours to Amla and Pranpur Adventure tourism An interesting tourism concept wherein they invite tourists for the Chambal challenge Place Amarkantak, Bandhavgarh, Bhedaghat, Bhimbetka, Bhojpur, Bhopal, Chanderi, Chitrakoot, Gwalior, Indore, Jabalpur, Kanha, Khajuraho, Maheshwar, Mandu, Omkareshwar, Orchha, Pachmarhi, Panna, Pench, Sanchi, Shivpuri, Ujjain. These are the places where th tourism packages are conducted. Price Pricing of Madhya Pradesh tourism is competitive in nature. It competes with various other private organisations such as Mahindra tours and travels as well as others and hence it has to use competitive pricing. Promotions Madhya Pradesh tourism ads are known as one of the best and most creative ads across India. Each of its TV commercials has been innovative in nature and have attracted a lot of eyeballs as well as generated curiosity. Besides ATL communications, it also does BTL promotions through publications as well as sales promotions. The tourism board also has a tie up with Jet Airways for promotional packages. Process Depending on the type of package, the process varies. In case of Caravan tours, the process would involve loaning caravans to tourists who can than return it in a given amount of time. Similarly in case of other tours, Guides as well as accommodation is included which

Brand Management

Madhya Pradesh Tourism

completes the whole tour with minimum hassles and maximum enjoyment for the tourist. Thus the process of Madhya Parades tourism is systematic in nature. People The people in Madhya Pradesh tourism consists of Tour operators, Tourist transport operators, Hotel staff, Tourist guides as well as the main operations staff. Madhya Pradesh tourism board also has amazing ways of rewarding employees through awards such as Tourism friendly forester (Whoever maintains forests) Tourism friendly archaeologist (Taking care of heritage) Most frequent tourist visiting MP (Encouraging government to take part)

So on and so forth. Thus Madhya Pradesh employs its people flawlessly. Physical Evidence Madhya Pradesh tourism has tie ups with the best city hotels, Wildlife sector hotels, Tourist center hotels, Restaurants and as mentioned the best service people to give the best experience to the tourists. Madhya Pradesh itself is exotic in nature and the locations such as Bhopal, Udaigiri and Sanchi are beautiful thus making for excellent physical evidence.

Brand Management

Madhya Pradesh Tourism

Branding Strategy
Given the 8 Ps of the Madhya Pradesh Tourism, the branding strategy seems to be very consistent and makes the brand comparable to any other private player operating in the same market segment. Usually, every place has sufficient good things to attract a tourist which can be shown in a marketing campaign. The trick to a successful tourism marketing campaign is to string together all the relevant things to develop a coherent positioning statement. Madhya Pradesh marketing campaign doesnt lay much emphasis on the scenic beauty of Panchmarhi, Dhauladhaar waterfall etc., and focuses on traditional and historic things because thats what they have decided to be the projected USP of the state. The brand statement for Madhya Pradesh is not unique unlike Kerala, which stands for Exotic or Gujarat, which stands for Religious. Madhya Pradesh Tourism is not able to define unique brand proposition. This is because of wide variety of tourist places ranging from forests to old temples to hill station to tiger reservoirs. As you can see, the logo itself states that The heart of Incredible India, it is a clearly case of extending brand of the Incredible India campaign. It also leverages the brand equity that the Incredible India campaign has generated. Although the brand draws heavily from the original campaign, it sets its self apart from the original campaign by some very innovative and rather engaging way. One of the major things that i found while the research was that, the logo and the brand statement has been used by the tourism board as well as the other vertical of state government. This helps in communicating an uniform message across all the direct and indirect communication mediums.

Brand Management

Madhya Pradesh Tourism

Communication Strategy
The first communication strategy says that Hindustan ka Dil Dekho and was created by Ogilvy & Mather advertisement agency. It was launched in April 2006. This campaign had a theme of Bioscope. The film shows all the tourist spot of in Madhya Pradesh and very artistically and aesthetically shot. The advertisement received a good response, and helped in creating a brand equity that Madhya Pradesh Tourism never enjoyed. After the launch of this advertisement campaign, the perception for Madhya Pradesh Tourism had increased exponentially. The advertisement was not only path breaking in terms of delivery but was also able to show its impact in terms of sales. In late 2009, a refurbished campaign was launched. This time the theme had change to Eye. Through use of very beautiful eyes a very creative route has been adopted to explain what had been visited by the tourist and viewed by other. Interestingly, the first ad invited tourists to come and see Madhya Pradesh, while the second ad narrates the tourists tale after he has visited the place. The creative idea for the new ad was, quite literally, taken from the word sightseeing.

Fig 1: Hindustan Ka Dil Dekho, the EYE campaign

Further this campaign was also extended to radio. Its media partner was My FM 94.3fm. In this activity, the MY FM RJ travelled around all destinations in Madhya Pradesh and also described the locations, sites, eating joints, handicrafts, people, culture etc. of the place. The RJ continued his journey as he narrated a brief account of the destinations live on radio so that listeners can get to hear and visualize the beauty of Madhya Pradesh. The campaign was also extended to print media. The complete television advertisement was printed into a strip format and was then promoted through printed media like Hindi magazine and journals. During the first campaign, the advertisement focused on the inviting the tourist to Madhya Pradesh. It tried to imbibe Madhya Pradesh as an option while considering various tourist destinations. There was a shift in the second part of the same campaign. The second
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phase didnt invite tourist, but merely show various tourist attractions that are there to be explored.

Brand Management

Madhya Pradesh Tourism

Fig 2: Hindustan ka dil dekho ad as appeared in the Newspaper.

Brand Management

Madhya Pradesh Tourism

There was again a change in the communication strategy for Madhya Pradesh Tourism. It was again Ogilvy & Mather that were responsible for the advertising campaign. This time the campaign stated MP ajab hai, sabse gajab hai . it was introduced in November,2010. This campaign, the third in a series of hugely popular and successful campaigns done in the past, is based on the ancient art of shadowgraphy. This art form woven around an earthy and rustic musical jingle captures some of the unique and surprising facts about Madhya Pradesh. The new advertisement has been positioned to capture people's imagination from religion, adventure to history that the state offers. Madhya Pradesh Tourism also has launched various tour guide books. The guide book contains detailed information about the place that helps the tourist understand the significance of the place along with giving information about various tourist places. This helps in increasing brand recall and hence furthers brand equity. Two new booklets have been produced by Madhya Pradesh Tourism. The first one is on MICE (Meeting, Incentive, Conference & Exhibition), the latest trend in tourism. The publication contains valuable information on the various business facilities, accommodations & other sightseeing options. It is aimed to target high - end clients from corporate & business world, planning a perfect business meet coupled with delight, in Madhya Pradesh. Apart from highlighting MPT properties, due importance have also been given to private hotels of the region.

Fig 3: Cover of the MICE destination guide book

The second in line is a book specially designed for the travel agents to market MPT hotels. This book contains visuals of the exterior as well as the interior of the properties which will serve them as a handy tool.
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Fig 4: Cover of the itineraries guide book

Very recently, Madhya Pradesh Tourism has launched a video log on YouTube. It consists of all the collection of videos that Madhya Pradesh Tourism has ever marketed. This creates a unique location for all viewers that seek information about Madhya Pradesh and its tourist attraction. In todays world a website has become most important part of communication medium for any organisation, and when it comes to tourism industry, the importance of website increases exponentially due to involvement of foreign citizens. Madhya Pradesh Tourism has been ahead of the current as far as other states are concerned. It has a comprehensive website that gives all the necessary information and much more. This website has helped create a professional brand image for Madhya Pradesh Tourism. Internal Branding No branding exercise is complete without the stake holders in the brand accepting the brand as their own and delivering the promises that the brand statement make. Madhya Pradesh
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Madhya Pradesh Tourism

Government has shown great intent and commitment in terms of devoting lot of time and resources in development of basic infrastructure and training the people for delivering the brand promise. The strategy for achieving the desired objective has been based on the following : a) Revitalizing the state tourism development corporation and running the same on professional lines. All the commercial and non-commercial establishments of the corporation have been renovated and are now being run professionally. The corporation is now a profit making entity. The units of the corporation are divided into the following broad heads. i. ii. iii. iv. v. vi. vii. viii. Hotels Restaurants/Way side amenities Boat Clubs Information Counters Sound & Light Shows Adventure zones Transport section Marketing Offices, Regional Offices, Head Office

b) Improving tourist infrastructure With assistance from the Government of India, Ministry of Tourism tourist infrastructure is rapidly being improved at almost all important tourist destinations. c) Improving connectivity Over the last few years, roads linking almost all important tourist destinations have improved. Air connectivity to the state has also improved considerably with the starting of a number of new flights. d) Aggressive publicity & promotion Creative and aggressive publicity and promotional campaigns in print and electronic media has considerably improved the image of the state. Regular participation in domestic and international events has also helped. e) Inviting private investment Various steps, including creation of a tourism land bank have been taken to attract private investment for building hotels, resorts and entertainment centres.

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Brand Management

Madhya Pradesh Tourism

Training and Development In order to hone the skills of Madhya Pradesh Tourism's staff, Madhya Pradesh Institute of Hospitality Training (MPIHT), organized a series of training in various segments of hospitality. A staff training programme was held in Hotel Payal, Khajuraho on the 2nd & 7th of May, 2011, followed by another training session organized in collaboration with the Institute of Hotel Management, Gwalior and Indira Gandhi National Open University, Bhopal. The essentials of hotel industry like, food & beverage, housekeeping, front office management etc. were included in the training.

Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Program PPPs enable the public sector to benefit from commercial dynamism, the ability to raise finances in an environment of budgetary restrictions, innovation and efficiencies, harnessed through the introduction of private sector investors who contribute their own capital, skills and experience. This program will help government specifically achieve high serviceability despite having severe resource constraints. The latest guidelines are expected to set the stage for rapid development of tourism infrastructure by attracting private investment.

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Brand Management

Madhya Pradesh Tourism

Result of the Branding

Union Tourism Ministry statistics have recorded colossal growth in the number of domestic tourist arrivals in Madhya Pradesh, a scenario virtually unthinkable barely a few years ago. Moving up four notches from the number nine position in 2007, Madhya Pradesh is now ranked fifth as a destination of choice amongst domestic tourists. With the 2008 figures, a 100 per cent improvement on the 1.10 crore tourist footfalls recorded in 2006, the state now enjoys a 3.9 per cent market share in the countrys domestic tourism segment.

Fig 5: Madhya Pradesh Tourisms Tourist Statistics.

Fig 6: Graph showing the trend in tourist arrival in Madhya Pradesh

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Madhya Pradesh Tourism

More recently, Madhya Pradesh State Tourism Development Corporation has bagged three awards in different categories i.e. Best State in the Country, Best Civic Management of a Tourist Destination in India and in the category of Innovative/Unique Tourism Project in the country. The award was given at a function of National Tourism Award 2009-10 organised by Ministry of Tourism Government of India. Its Caravan Tourism has been appreciated across all the section of tourist market and has won Most innovative Tour Product given by GMR Express Travel World Awards. These awards are the fact that the communication strategy is not only successful in terms of achieving sales but is also acclaimed by an external entity.

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Madhya Pradesh Tourism

Future Endeavours
Madhya Pradesh Government has announced various new incentives in state to promote tourism as a whole and bring about fundamental improvement in service delivery so that the brand equity of Madhya Pradesh Tourism can be further strengthen. New set of incentives include luxury and entertainment tax rebates and exemption for hotels, B&B units and heritage properties. MPSTDC is also offering lands on long lease at various tourist locations apart from concession on energy, exemption on registration and stamp duty fees and also to tourist vehicles on designated routes. The policy also proposes promotion of ecotourism, adventure tourism and water-based tourism across its large number of water bodies through private-sector investment and attractive support from state tourism department. Promotion of sustainable tourism practices, skill development and training for youth etc. are some of the other areas the new tourism policy lays guidelines on. Also as one of its kind initiatives in the country, Madhya Pradesh has taken initiative to form district tourism promotion council to work for tourism development in the area. Chambal Tourism Promotion Council (CTPC), formed by the Bhind district administration, is working towards developing tourism and essential infrastructure in the Bhind district. The Chambal river and its rich marine life and the famous ravines in the region is a great tourism resource that is waiting to be exploited. State Government is also working on improvement of air connectivity within and outside the State through private sector. This is especially significant in case of foreign tourist that visit India. Because currently there are far fewer flights connecting Madhya Pradeshs major cities to other major cities in India, Madhya Pradesh is losing large customers. Also because of lack of air connectivity, the brand identity created by an extraordinary marketing campaign is at peril.

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References
1. http://khojkhabarnews.com/?p=7827 2. http://www.afaqs.com/news/company_briefs/index.html?id=42736_My+FM+presents +Hindustan+ka+Dil+Dekho 3. http://cuttingthechai.wordpress.com/page/29/ 4. http://www.hindustantimes.com/Brand-India/Article1-713809.aspx 5. http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print/713809.aspx 6. http://books.google.co.in/books?id=ZAcf8BGvx5wC&pg=PA243&lpg=PA243&dq= about+bioscope,madhya+pradesh+tourism+campaign&source=bl&ots=msD9Pc2Nr9 &sig=u74pMo9jPWO40Kfmx83pW3GJh6A&hl=en&ei=FdaTtHhK4eGrAej6PjWCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0C CwQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q&f=false 7. http://www.mptourism.com/web/experience.aspx 8. http://www.mptourism.com/web/pk/Tours_Itineraries.asp 9. http://www.indianmuslimobserver.com/2011/03/madhya-pradesh-state-tourism.html 10. http://www.mptourism.com/web/pk/files/booklet%201112%20(orcchha%20matter)% 20artwork.pdf

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