Brand Jaipur: Truly global or simply local

It weaves several tales. It breathes heritage. It plays with colour. And if marketed well, it would stifle any competition. We are talking about the brand potential of Jaipur, the word.

For long, Boucheron, from the Gucci fold, has branded a successful perfume under the name of Jaipur and crafted the bottles with inspiration from monuments here, including the Jantar Mantar. The city’s name also is the obvious choice – perhaps, by now hackneyed – for naming restaurants and boutiques abroad. Whether it is the one in Athens or the one in Milton Keynes, among several others.

Because worldwide Jaipur, despite urbanisation, still throws up instant images of royalty, jewellery, polo and colourful turbans. “These don’t go out of fashion and our minds. It’s a city where the past is still alive,” says Ajay Chopra, who runs Crayons, a city-based ad agency.

Then there is the subtle and pleasing phonetics of the word Jaipur. Add to that the city’s extant architectural splendour and its living legend – the perennially beautiful Gayatri Devi. “With legends like her, a feeling of royalty creeps in with the name of Jaipur, a certain finesse that I would associate with a product that’s not meant for all. Something definitely upper crust,” Chopra adds.

Like exquisite watches, given Jantar Mantar’s presence here. “But one needs to spend money and promote the brand to signify the speciality of the name. The product needs complete detailing, including the font size and type,” he says. For aren’t there boutiques and showrooms that share Jaipur’s name but which don’t have a recall value beyond the street they are on.

Terming Jaipur as a “vibrant and fantastic brand”, Piyush Pandey, the Executive Chairman of O&M India, asks why should the name be restricted to just a product. “Why not services like tourism that’s the biggest brand based on the place,” he adds.

Acknowledging that Jaipur hadn’t been exploited well enough, Pandey stresses that the “real strength” of the brand needs to be developed. “And it is the destination itself. The rest can be derivatives,” he adds. Pandey also cautions the concerned authorities to wake up lest it be another “Basmati case”. “Were we sleeping all this while,” he asks, referring to Gucci’s usage of the name. “Unless you value what you own, other’s are going to use it,” he adds.

One of my reports from Hindustan Times