Selling African culture Bollywood-style
Selling African culture Bollywood-style
Similar to Hollywood, as Bollywood has grown it has come to depend on Africa for production resources and content inspiration. What makes the Bollywood-Africa relationship interesting is that the Bollywood audience couldn’t be farther removed from Africans. For the most part Bollywood films are targeted to South Asian audiences though it continues to widen. Beyond the exoticism of the films, it is hard for someone who is unfamiliar with the culture to understand certain concepts without knowing the cultural reference. And though the films have adopted a global appeal, they are innately cultural. The fact that Bollywood movies can maintain their cultural perspectives and still appeal to different culture is a perfect example of how African cultures can export content that promotes their culture. I think Kenya is getting it right in organizing and creating a structure to nurture this relationship with foreign film companies to create a brand image, promote tourism, and inject foreign money into their economy. The lesson in this article for other African governments is that there are rules and procedures which, when implemented, will allow us to re-brand ourselves and promote our cultures to the world. And without certain structures such as a government created film commission, it becomes a free-for-all and stands to be ineffective in promoting tourism. Part of what makes India one of the hottest business destinations is the country’s ability to learn the rules of global business, create/maintain structures that encourage foreign investment, and - through their film industry - promote the uniqueness of their culture. I hope other countries look at the benefits of the business model Kenya is trying to implement and realize that they too can reap the benefits of such a relationship. They just need to understand how the game is played.
Selling African culture Bollywoodstyle - To learn more about this author, visit G Kofi Annan's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
Reading this article about Bollywood and the brand new Kenyan film commission has me thinking about the African film industry and how it can grow. As some of you might already know, for the past year I’ve been consulting with the African Film Commission in developing and promoting the African film industry. This article about the Kenyan Film Commission’s growing relationship with both Hollywood and Bollywood has got me thinking about what impact Indian film and culture has been on my own African experience and how African countries can learn from Bollywood in marketing themselves. Growing up in Liberia I cannot remember a time when Indian film and culture were not a part of our daily experience. At that time (before cable and satellite) television was scheduled for a short time daily and the second main source of programming content, besides American films, was Indian dramas. Similar to Saturday Karate flicks in the US, Bollywood movies were a much anticipated indulgence of my daily childhood TV viewing. While I never always understood the context of the movies (same as with the American imports), the general themes of love, deceit, and camaraderie were familiar to all us Africans. We even adopted some of the sayings and mannerisms we saw in the films. Now with the Bollywood industry growing exponentially and reaching into Africa for inspiration, the relationship we Africans have with one of India’s greatest exports deserves some analysis.
Similar to Hollywood, as Bollywood has grown it has come to depend on Africa for production resources and content inspiration. What makes the Bollywood-Africa relationship interesting is that the Bollywood audience couldn’t be farther removed from Africans. For the most part Bollywood films are targeted to South Asian audiences though it continues to widen. Beyond the exoticism of the films, it is hard for someone who is unfamiliar with the culture to understand certain concepts without knowing the cultural reference. And though the films have adopted a global appeal, they are innately cultural. The fact that Bollywood movies can maintain their cultural perspectives and still appeal to different culture is a perfect example of how African cultures can export content that promotes their culture. I think Kenya is getting it right in organizing and creating a structure to nurture this relationship with foreign film companies to create a brand image, promote tourism, and inject foreign money into their economy. The lesson in this article for other African governments is that there are rules and procedures which, when implemented, will allow us to re-brand ourselves and promote our cultures to the world. And without certain structures such as a government created film commission, it becomes a free-for-all and stands to be ineffective in promoting tourism. Part of what makes India one of the hottest business destinations is the country’s ability to learn the rules of global business, create/maintain structures that encourage foreign investment, and - through their film industry - promote the uniqueness of their culture. I hope other countries look at the benefits of the business model Kenya is trying to implement and realize that they too can reap the benefits of such a relationship. They just need to understand how the game is played.
Selling African culture Bollywoodstyle - To learn more about this author, visit G Kofi Annan's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
 | |
 |
No article feedback found. |
| |
Leave Your Feedback |
 | |
| |||
Dianne CramptonDianne Crampton is an executive leadership coach, team culture consultant, author and president of TIGERS Success Series, Inc. Dianne has been helping CEO's and Executives connect their employees to their core values and goals for over 20 years using the trademarked TIGERS team culture process, which stands for trust, interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk and success. To download a free white paper on behaviors that build strong teams and behaviors that will predictably tear them down go here. Dianne's contribution to the 2010 Pfeiffer Consulting Journal (an imprint of John Wiley and Sons Publishers) entitled TIGERS Hearted Teams is available in November 2009. Her new book TIGERS Among Us: 5 Winning Business Team Cultures And Why, Three Creeks Publishing will release in March 2010. To receive publishing discounts, subscribe to the free TigerTracks Newsletter here. - Visit Dianne Crampton's Website |
|||
Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
|||
Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
|||
George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
|||
John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
|||
Staging DivaDebra Gould, aka The Staging Diva®, is President of Six Elements Inc., an internationally recognized home staging company. Inspired by many requests from aspiring home stagers wanting to start similar businesses, Gould created the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program. Gould has trained over 1000 Staging Diva Graduates worldwide to start staging businesses. Buying decorating and selling six of her own homes in four years lead to an interest in real estate staging which she turned into a career with the launch of sixelements.com in 2002. Since then she has staged hundreds of homes in addition to teaching home staging training. Gould is the author of several home staging resources including a series of popular ebooks made up of a Design Guide, Color Guide and Portfolio Guide. For more information about Debra Gould visit stagingdiva.com. - Visit Staging Diva's Website |
|||
Jay Kubassek(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek) In five years, Canadian-born entrepreneur Jay Kubassek went from selling mufflers at a Midas franchise to revolutionizing Internet marketing with the 2004 launch of CarbonCopyPRO, a online marketing education company, now worth over $20 million with customers in over 160 countries.
As an independent film producer, his upstart film fund Aliquot Films is currently producing a films with Spike Lee and Abel Fererra (starring Ethan Hawke and Dennis Hopper.)
Jay's entrepreneurial spirit is irrepressible. He’s the owner of five companies, a professional speaker and trainer, international real estate developer/investor, extreme sport enthusiast and emerging philanthropist. Jay resides in NYC with his wife Jamie, son Milo and dog Cooper. Visit Jay's official website: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek's Website |
|||
|
To learn more about the Evan Elite Author Program please contact us. | |||
 | |
|  |
Subscribe to G Kofi's articles
 | |
|
|  |
 | |
|
| |
 | |||||||
|
 | ||
 |
||
|
||
 |
||
|
| ||
 |
| Have you written articles that would be of value to entrepreneurs? Become an expert on our site by publishing them! Expose yourself to a wide audience, drive more traffic to your website and get more sales! Click Here for details. |
|
|
 |
| Modeling the Masters: Learn the true secrets behind Walt Disney's business success factors & grow your company! Video produced by Phanta Media |
|
|
 |
"Learn straight from Evan how you can Make a Full Time Income (And More) from a Website"
Click Here To Learn More |
|
|
|
|
Get advice & tips from famous business owners, new articles by entrepreneur experts, my latest website updates, & special sneak peaks at what's to come!
|
|
|
 Book of Leadership Social Bookmarking Guide Managing Generations Basic SEO Guide Workplace Culture |
|
 | ||
 |
Top 50 Social Media Blogs
Top 50 Social Media Blogs | |
 |
Top 50 Debt Blogs
Learn To Get Out Of Debt | |
| ||
 | ||||
| ||||
|
| ||||
| ||||
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||
|
Email us your ideas on how to make our website more valuable! Thank you Sharon from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for your suggestions to make the newsletter look like the website and profile younger entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez and Sean Combs!
|
|
|
