Branson marketer takes act to India

Burke, author and president of Sound Marketing in Branson, has been invited by The Times of India, the eastern country’s largest publisher, to speak during the Loyalty Summit ‘08 on Jan. 23 in Mumbai.

Burke, who moved his company to Branson from Los Angeles about two years ago, will present “Creating Loyalty in an Internet World: Personalizing Technology” to an expected 400 attendees.

“I’m going to try to transplant a little of Branson’s culture into India,” Burke said, adding that he’s been impressed with the Ozarks’ friendliness in doing business with those from other areas, and he wants to teach employees in India to do the same.

Burke’s first contact with India came through the Insurance Times, a magazine owned by The Times that serves India and English-speaking populations of Indo-China. Burke, who has expertise is in insurance marketing, has written articles for the publication for the past six years. His other connection to India is through a partnership in ProgramBusiness.com, a market search engine for insurance agents. Burke said his ProgramBusiness partner, telemarketing company NMSData, opened a facility in Bangalore about five years ago. Burke provided the company’s Indian telemarketers with educational programs on idiomatic proficiency of the English language.

“That work gave me a better insight into the challenges facing the Indian marketplace,” he said.

No longer considered a country known for its “cheap” labor, India is becoming a competitive global market, evidenced by a Fortune magazine Web article posted Oct. 28. The article said India outpaced its neighbor, China, in foreign acquisitions during 2007. India firms acquired $22 billion in foreign assets compared to the $12 billion in foreign acquisitions made by China firms through Oct. 19.

Additionally, Burke said the average Indian salary has been increasing about 18 percent a year. “The competitive factor of lower wages is disappearing,” he said.

India’s marketing methods, however, have not kept up with its intense economic growth, Burke noted. He likens the business-to-customer relationship in India as a throwback to the 1950s era in the United States, “where they could sort of do what they wanted because there was always another customer in line.”

He said Indian business has been more market-driven than relationship-driven. Burke said that in the American market, “The focus is primarily on relationship marketing. Every transaction … at its core, is one person doing business with another person.”

India’s 400 million workers still struggle divisions in religion, the caste system and extremes in income, according to Burke.

“One of the tough things they’re going to have to do … is to empower and motivate their employees to be open and service-oriented with customers,” he said. “Everyone has to begin focusing on the client, service and quality in order to survive in a global marketplace.”