The Feeling of India…

After visiting the Wieden + Kennedy offices in Delhi, I have such a profound new respect for the agency and their incredible work. One of their campaigns in particular has not only gained critical acclaim, but personally had such a strong impact on me personally, that I really wanted to share it here. All of my friends and family who are keeping up with my blog should look at this campaign (rather than my less than stellar photography), to get a very real idea of what I am getting to experience on this trip.

I first became familiar with the “Incredible India!” campaign when reading Branding India by Amitabh Kant. This national tourism campaign has driven millions of dollars in revenue into the Indian economy, not only from international visitors, but also in domestic tourism. While simplistic in execution, the campaign achieved the goal of improving the country’s image as a whole by vividly displaying all the incredible things that India has to offer as a tourist destination while simultaneously propelling improvements in infrastructure and boosted tourism’s contribution to the national economy.

Launched in 2002, this award-winning campaign has received international acclaim and has shown an incredible amount of staying power. What first focused only on famous tourist attractions, evolved to focus on the people of India, beginning first with resident Indians, including well-known Bollywood actors and sports figures. The focus then turned to non-Indian residents who permanently relocated to India after falling in love with the country while visiting.

I was monumentally impressed with the beauty of the artwork and the clever ad copy when I first read Kant’s book, but after spending some time in the country, the ads speak to me even more because I can see the inspiration for the executions in each place that we visit. While all tourism advertising is aimed at promoting destinations, making them look like a dream vacation, this campaign is different. These ads truly stir the same feelings of awe, humility and genuine love for the country I have felt since arriving in India. This amazing campaign is just one example of the unparalleled advertising created by Wieden + Kennedy. Later in the trip I’m going to have the opportunity to experience a flight on Indigo Air, another of W+K’s clients. I’ll delve more into their fantastic work after this flight.