Ficci working on major image overhaul

The 76-year old industry association is working on a strategy to reposition itself as an industry chamber of the new age.

Details of the image change are not available right now. They may be announced during the annual general meeting (AGM) of the chamber later this month.

But it is understood that Ficci will shed its year-old logo for a new one and will undertake a major marketing initiative by roping in external public relations and advertising agencies.

Ficci will try donning a corporate image in line with the industry and trade chambers in other parts of the world.

Rival industry association, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), is also undergoing structural and organisational changes in tune with the world economy and is being repositioned as a facilitator than a business lobby.

"We have been brainstorming on this issue for the past three months in Ficci. The domestic as well as the international business environment has changed very dramatically. Ficci also needs to change with the new times," Amit Mitra, secretary general, Ficci told Business Standard.

Will Ficci change from being the old-economy chamber to a more modern entrepreneurship and research-driven industry association? "Sure, it will," says an insider.

"We have been employing young people who are conducting a lot of research to facilitate domestic and international businesses. We want more young entrepreneurs as well as multinational business houses to work with us," he adds.

The industry chamber, established in 1927, has decided to hire a professional communications agency, which will work out its overall communication strategy.

The agency will also formulate a strategy for the chamber to reposition its brand with the changing phases of the economy.

This move, according to Ficci sources, have been necessitated by the fact that the industry chamber wants to play a more proactive role in India's domestic as well as international business affairs.

The Indian economy is looking up and is expected to play a major role in international business, sooner or later, adds the sources.

Ficci's logo will undergo an overhaul and reflect the new image of the organisation. Sources said that the chamber had finalised the new logo which would be unveiled at the AGM.

"All these are part of the overall repositioning strategy that we are working on," Mitra said, without revealing much.

Ficci today has a membership of over 500 chambers of commerce, trade associations and industry bodies. It also represents about 2,50,000 business units - small, medium and large - employing around 20 million people.