00 ItMa 2011 (exclusive Feature) - Textile Magazine

itMA 2011 [exclusive feature]
BrAnd indiA
needs a big push
By K. Gopalakrishnan
34 | ThE TEXTILE MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2011
As I landed at the Barcelona
airport and walk
down the aisle, I saw large
signages and hoardings of
ACIMIT, the association
of Italian Textile Machinery
manufacturers, and the
Turkish textile industry,
advertising their country
pavilions at ITMA. The
branding and promotions
didn’t stop there. Large signages
and banners were seen all over Barcelona, and most importantly
inside and outside of the expo centre, aggressively promoting
brand Italy, Turkey, Germany, Swiss and other country
pavilions.
At ITMA 2011, India was the 3 rd largest country in terms of
number of participants, next only to Italy and Germany. Equally,
India was among the top 3 in terms of the number of visitors, with
more than 5000 Indian textile professionals visiting the show.
VDMA, the German Association of textile machinery manufacturers,
has stated that 47% of the visitors during the first few days
to their member pavilions were from India. Despite all these big
numbers, there was no visibility for Indian exhibitors or visitors.
In fact, I was surprised to see that not many Indian companies
were covered in the ITMA show daily, which was circulated
among exhibitors and visitors attending the show.
It’s time for Brand India to be marketed and showcased in a
much better manner. We could possibly look at a common Indian
pavilion at the next ITMA or in any of the international textile
shows and project ourselves as one brand, which could immensely
benefit the exhibitors.
This could also help in negotiating better rates for participation
with the organisers. I hope industry associations like TMMA,
ITAMMA and others come together and take initiatives to promote
Brand India in such international shows. w