It’s a significant day for India as the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) counts down to the launch of the Chandrayaan-3 mission. Scheduled to take off from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota at 2.35 PM on Friday.
If ISRO successfully pulls off this mission, India will join an exclusive list of three other countries that have achieved a soft landing on the Moon: the United States, the former Soviet Union, and most recently, China.
Storyboard18 reached out to brand and marketing experts to explore what this achievement could mean for “Brand India.”
Dheeraj Sinha, CEO-South Asia at Leo Burnett, believes that India embodies audacity and ambition without any boundaries.
“We aspire to make a global impact. India’s rise on the world stage is evident across various domains of expertise – technology, talent, and culture. The success of Chandrayaan-3 highlights our resilience, determination, and the ability to bounce back with confidence. This moment is not just significant in our space program’s history; it marks India’s arrival on the world stage,” he says.
Brands also participated in the celebration of the successful Chandrayaan-3 launch. Here is what they posted.
Shubhranshu Singh, VP and CMO of Tata Motors CVBU, emphasizes the importance of stories in building a brand. According to him, the Chandrayaan landing is a momentous event that showcases India’s profound technological achievement to the world.
“…but more importantly, as our reach extends to the moon and beyond, we must reinforce the age-old Indian belief of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam – ‘The World Is One Family.’ Brand India grows stronger, reinforcing India’s arrival as a technological and economic power,” he adds.
Adityan Kayalakal, Senior Vice President – Brand Marketing at Stealth Startup, puts things into perspective by highlighting India’s increasing socio-economic power. He points out that India is currently the fifth-largest economy in the world and is poised to become the second-largest economy by 2075, leveraging its growing population, rising productivity, and technological advantages, according to Goldman Sachs estimates.
“However, India’s focus is not unidimensional. It aims not only to excel in the economy but also to continue building its foundation in scientific exploration and discovery, aspects that have historically elevated the country among its peers,” he notes.
In recent years, India’s space missions have demonstrated ingenuity and resourcefulness. They have achieved remarkable milestones with limited resources, proving that innovation is not solely dictated by economic might. Chandrayaan-3 follows in the footsteps of this revered space program and previous moon missions.
In August, when the probe lands on the moon, India will become the fourth country to successfully complete a mission on the lunar surface.
“This feat will further solidify not only India’s intentions but also its ability to execute,” Kayalakal says.
Harish Bijoor, brand expert and founder, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc. says that Chandrayaan 3 means the moon for brand India.
“This is our third moonshot. A precursor to send an astronaut up eventually( later than sooner)on our own. India is seen as a super-power in more ways than one today. Chandrayaan adds one more medal to the chest of India. It also means an ability that much of the world doesn’t have as yet with them. This is a distinction on its own,” he notes.
Meanwhile, Viraj Ghodgoankar, senior creative director & founding member at Punt Creative feels that this is our ‘McDonald’s moment’ – a symbolic gesture to the whole world suggesting we’ve arrived and that they know who we truly are.
“Being one of the very few countries ever to reach the moon, it creates a deeper impact on how India is viewed and perceived across the world. India as a brand now becomes truly contextual – impacting stereotypes about us as people, across the globe. Just like you see Indian kids sporting a ‘NASA’ t-shirt casually, it wouldn’t surprise me to someday soon see kids around the globe sporting one of ‘ISRO’. That’s the power of branding,” he shares.
Key highlights:
India is bidding to become only the fourth country to execute a controlled landing on the moon with the launch of Chandrayaan-3 on Friday.
Chandrayaan means “moon vehicle” in Sanskrit.
Chandrayaan-3 is expected to take off from the Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, southern Andhra Pradesh state, at 2:30 p.m. IST.
This will be India’s second attempt at a soft landing, following the unsuccessful Chandrayaan-2 mission in 2019.
India’s first lunar probe, Chandrayaan-1, successfully orbited the moon before deliberately crash-landing onto its surface in 2008.