DR J.P AGGARWAL & Ms. VINISHA SHARMA, 

ABSTRACT

The modern feminists such as Julia Kristeva, Luce Irigary and Irigary have expressed their opinions on the negative impact of objectification of the female body. It is unfortunate that in the traditional male dominated society the female body is closely objectified. Fredrickson and Roberts (1997) explored the detrimental effects of objectification on the mind and psyche of women. Toni Morrison is prominent Afro-American novelist who raised the cry of black women sexually oppressed and psychologically tormented by the whites. Her novels The Bluest Eye (1970) and Beloved (1987) deal with the aesthetics of sexuality and violence perpetrated on the black women. Morrison wrote her novels to depict the themes of sexual oppression of women and their marginalization. The plots of her novels depict the eternal struggle and conflicts of black women to survive in the white dominated society.  Morrison uses sexuality to show what is “wrong” with society; each of her novels depicts the anguish of the black women victimized by the whites. All her women characters, Sethe, Pecola and Denver are trapped in a situation leading them to dehumanization and degradation. No wonder, in her novels sexuality is a result of social and cultural construction.

KEY WORDS: Objectification, perpetrated, tormented, anxiety, postulated, perspective, revealed

Bartky in her essay Psychological Oppression (2006)  observes that  female body determines the identity of a woman in society. The whites never regarded black women as women but objects of sexual pleasures. They were masters and the black women were treated as slaves. The whites argued that the white man enjoys absolute rights to colonize the body of the black women. Women suffer from internal mental disorders because of objectification of female body. The female body is the basis for the distinction between the sexes. Interestingly, The biologists are of the opinion that “sexuality” refers to a person’s sexual activities and sexual feelings. Sigmund Freud also expressed his innovative ideas on the sexuality and the abuse of female body. Freud says in his book The Basic Writings of Sigmund Freud, (1938) observes thus:

Freud also makes the point that people who are behaviorally abnormal are always sexually abnormal in his experience but that many people who are normal behaviorally otherwise are sexually abnormal also (562–563).

In the traditional debate between biological and sociologists, the female body has often been explored in terms of its anatomical, hormonal influences on personality, experience and behaviour. Feminists aver that gender differences are problematic in a society. Feminists maintain that the body conveys social meaning and how these meanings shape gendered experience. Women who suffer objectification encounter mental health risks, depression, alienation and sexual violence. The common thread running through the novels The Bluest Eye (1970) and Beloved is the experience of being treated as a body. Sexuality is considered to be as the crucial theme in Beloved. The fear of sexual abuse, rape has haunted each of the female characters in Morrison novels. In Beloved there are the traces of rape, sexuality and white’s domination. The black women are oppressed and tortured by white men who regard them as their personal property. They enjoy absolute liberty in exploiting and dehumanizing them to derive sadistic pleasures. The blacks are treated worse than animals.

Going through the history of Afro-American we tend to discover the horrifying, terrific and traumatic experience of African-American folks. The historical incidence has totally changed the form and lives of Afro-Americans. Blacks remained as the object of oppression, violence, and racism. All of them were subjected to different sort of injustice and discrimination. They experience the immorality of white race. Suppression of black race, giving them medication scars, wounds, abusing them and sexual oppression.., all these purpose shows that white had always thought blacks as their piece of property. They think that black people are in their hands and they would do anything with black people. Blacks were treated as chattels, animals, losing all their human rights and dignity. Moreover, the black ladies had no position, standing, status in society. Since the days of slavery, black women have been exploited, persecuted, and tortured physically and psychologically by white men. They lost their real self, certainty and womanhood. In the white dominated society the black women are just treated as the objects of sexual desires. No wonder, women always become the victims of men’s gaze and are sexually oppressed. Their whole self and identity is lost. They become so much depressed with atrocities that it causes a neurotic disorder in their mind. Fear and anxiety are engraining in their sensitive mind. In the novels of Toni Morrison the component of sex is profusely found within the women protagonists. Toni Morrison has realistically depicted the struggle and trauma experienced by African American women in The Bluest Eye (1970) and Beloved. Morrison got Nobel Prize for her serious feminism.  In 1993, upon receiving the Nobel Prize, Toni Morrison exclaims:

So I’ve just insisted – insisted! – upon being called a black woman

novelist, and I decided what that meant, because I have claimed it. I

have claimed what I know. As a black and a woman, I have had access

to a range of emotions and perceptions that were unavailable to people

who were neither (Archives 4).

Morrison wrote The Bluest Eye and Beloved to depict the themes of sexual oppression and traumatic experiences of the blacks in the white dominated society. The blacks lead a life of depression and experience disorientation of mind; their future is bleak and their children suffer different kinds of oppression and lack of love from their parents. The story of the three girls illustrates how children who live in an environment of subjugation and are forced to survive in the society.

Morrison’s novel The Bluest Eye (1970) deals with the traumatic journey of Pecola. The plot of the novel is set in Lorain, Ohio. Claudia is a female child. Incest is sexual activity between family members or close relatives. This typically includes sexual activity between people blood relations. Cholly rapes his own daughter in a fit of frustration. He is so much disturbed that he fails to comprehend the nature of moral transgression. The episode of Pecola is heart rending revealing that the black women were used as objects of sexual pleasures. The Bluest Eye is the story of two sisters, and particularly of Pecola who thinks that if she only had blue eyes, people would be nice to her. Pecola is a twelve years old innocent black girl; she is a fragile and delicate child. Morrison has depicted her journey from innocence to her insanity in the most touching lyrical language. In many of her interviews, Morrison explains that she narrated the Pecola’s story keeping her dignity intact despite her rape.  Pecola’s rape is symbolical and be understood in broader perspective. The incestuous rape is nearly impossible for a reader to comprehend. While literary critics have postulated that the rape is the soul product of Cholly’s desolate past or an expression of his hatred of women. Pecola is depicted as a representative of black community suffering from poverty, fear and oppression. Pecola has often observed her parents fighting in a brutal manner. She hates the disorderly environment and longs to disappear. She feels lonely and depressed. Claudia narrates parts of The Bluest Eye from a child’s perspective and sometimes of an adult looking back. Like Pecola, she suffers from racist beauty standards, poverty and fear. Pecola is passive when she is abused but Claudia emerges as a fighter. When Claudua is given a white doll she does not want, she dissects and destroys it. When she finds a group of boys harassing Pecola, she attacks them. When she learns that Pecola is pregnant, she and her sister come with a plan to save Pecola’s baby from the community’s rejection. Morrison found a touching way to explore the damaging effect of notions of beauty in America. Claudia is the main narrator, her voice is touching; she is pure, innocent, and possessing beauty. It reinforces the reader’s awareness of the tainted gaze of racism in American society. Pecola lives in a world of fantasy and she believes that if she were blessed with bluest eyes the people would change their opinion about her. Pecola is a symbol of the black community’s self hatred and belief in its own ugliness. Barbara Christian comments in her “A Promise Song” that Pecola’s story does not follow “the usual mythic cycle of birth, death, and rebirth, from planting to harvest to planting. Hers will proceed from pathos to tragedy and finally madness” (140). In the first section “Autumn” Morrison tells the story of Pecola, Ferida’s failure to plant marigold is mentioned thus:

We had dropped seeds in our own little plot of black dirt just as Pecola’s father had dropped his seeds in his own plot of black dirt. Our innocence and faith were no more productive than his lust or despair. What is clear now is that of all that hope, fear, lust ,love and grief, nothing remains but Pecola and the unyielding earth.Cholly Breedlove is dead, our innocence too (9).

Pecola’s tragedy and insanity are inevitable in the novel. the plot of the novel is loaded with illusions. Claudia provides the facts that the whole black community is in turmoil as she establishes the time, place and structure of the novel. There are so many hints given by Claudia suggesting the conflicts and confusions in the community. The readers are told that Mr. Henry “our roomer “has committed some unspeakable act. We are informed that “ old Dog Breedlove has burned up his house, gone upside his wife’s head, is now in the jail” (17) The Breedloves  are victims of a racist, class- conscious society; they suffer extreme poverty and deprivation. Morrison has highlighted the most insidious effects of racism on o are fear-the minds and sensibility of the blacks who are fear-ridden. Claudia explains that although “the poverty of Breedloves was traditional and stultifying, it was not unique. But their ugliness was unique” (17) Claudia observes thus:

The master has said,” You are ugly people”. They had looked at themselves and saw nothing to construct the statement; saw, in fact, support for it leaning at them from every billboard, every movie, every glance..” (34).

In Morrison’s world women are oppressed due to gender politics. The plot of The Bluest Eye depicts the insidious and destructive story effects of low self-esteem, violence, drinking, poverty, abuse, incest and shame. Morrison’s Beloved is packed up with the pictures of female molestation, sexual assault and murder. The plot of the novel depicts the picture of slavery, rape, sexual assault and violence. Whipping, shootings and other physical abuse dominate the scenes Paul D. and Sethe describe from their lives as slaves. All these traumatic experiences are common for blacks. Morrison gives a factual story of Margaret Garner to deliver truths that even history fails to convey.Morrison reconstructs the complex psychological background that forced the woman to kill her own offspring. Andre Levy concedes that Morrison confronted the greatest challenge “because the institutionalized parameters of guilt and responsibility do not provide the vocabulary to ‘tell,’ legally or narratively, the anomalies of a slave mother’s infanticide” (Grewal 97).The novel presents very strong characters such as Baby Suggs, Paul D and Sethe find “definition of freedom, which becomes a practical tool to eliminate the suffering caused by repression” (Kella 142).

All the struggles of black women appear futile and absurd as they are confronted by the heartless patriarchal society and oppressive white culture. In Beloved, black women lose their identity, freedom, consciousness and self. Sethe undergoes through horrific sexual oppression. She was viciously exploited by whites especially by school teacher and his nephews. The memories of sexual abuse and rape haunted Sethe. The plot depicts the heartrending scene of milk stealing from the breasts of Sethe.  The school teacher acts as the master of slaves ordering the nephews to steal the milk from Sethe’s breasts. Sethe labels it as:  “They used cowhide on you?  And they took my milk. They beat you and you was pregnant. And they took my milk” (Beloved 20) Sethe had saved her milk in her breasts for her infant daughter. They all were aware of the fact that Sethe is pregnant even though they performed such an awful act of stealing milk. The two boys with their mossy teeth sucked the milk from Sethe’s breasts. One of the nephews beat Sethe and sucked the milk from her breasts while the other held her down. She dared to complaint about this inhuman act to Mrs Garner but the School Master again tortured her. The nephews physically tortured Sethe mercilessly and ducked her “with cowhide, making psychic scars, wounds on her back which looks like a chock cheery tree.” Sethe lost her consciousness and turned a neurotic. In desperation she killed her own daughter to save her sexual oppression from the whites. She doesn’t want her daughter to suffer the same as she suffered as a slave. She was physically assaulted many times. She was always haunted by the scenes of assaults, sexual abuses, and white’s domination. It was Sethe’s love for her daughter that motivated her in killing her own child by saying: “I took and put my babies where they be safe” (118). The ghost’s arrival marks a turning point in the protagonists’ lives: Sethe is given a chance to revise her past and reenact it, whereas Denver is challenged to responsibility for her family, which results in her subsequent transformation from being a girl to becoming a woman. The appearance of Beloved, however, is both therapeutic and destructive. Morrison’s depiction of Sethe presumes an understanding that the black female body has been treated as the “Other”, Sethe is viewed in terms of physical characteristics such as skin color, hair and facial features. For example, Schoolteacher tells his nephews to write down Sethe’s “human characteristics on the left; her animal ones on the right. And don’t forget to line them up” (193) Sethe gives vent to her inner trauma thus:

That anybody white could take your whole self for anything that came to mind. Not just work, kill, and maim you, but dirty you. Dirty you so bad you couldn’t think it up. And though she and other lived through and got over it, she could never let it happen to her own. The best thing she was her children. Whites might dirty her all right, but not her best thing, her beautiful, magical best thing the part of her that was clean (251).

Toni Morrison’s Beloved evaluates the inner self of the black women. The ghost was troubling everyone by creating different sorts of problems. The ghost was there to take revenge the injustices committed during their slavery. Nan tells that she and Sethe’s mother “were taken up by the crew” during their journey (Beloved 62). Sethe’s mother was mostly used for fulfilling of sexual desires of the crew. The mother of Sethe was so displeased and disgusted by the frightful experiences that she abandoned the child. Baby Suggs articulates her anguish thus:

…. Men and women were moved around like checkers….What [Baby Suggs] called the nastiness of life was the shock she received upon learning that nobody stopped playing checkers just because the pieces included her children (27-28.

In Beloved Sethe discovers that she has a marginalized status. She was not valued as a woman owing to her black skin which signifies darkness and immortality. She wants Beloved to understand why she took this monstrous act. Sethe recollects her sweet home but white hegemony ruined her domestic happiness. Barnett argues that home is a predominant metaphor in Beloved for resolution of the tension between self identity and self-exile. The end of slavery for Morrison means the recovery of home. The School master destroyed all the slaves in sweet home plantation.  In her article, “figurations of rape and the supernatural in Beloved,” Pamela E. Barnett argues that “Morrison revises the standard slave narrative by insisting on the importance of sexual assault over other experiences of brutality” (Barnett 420). Paul D explains it as: “The box had done what sweet home had not, what working like an ass and living like a dog had not: drove him crazy so he would not lose his mind” (Beloved, 49). The traumatic experiences of rape were hidden under Paul D’s “tobacco tin” buried inside his chest. Sethe’s body narrates the history of slavery and her scarred body is depicted as a site of pleasure. Her body is activated when it is desired maternally or sexually. When Sethe’s body is touched attentively or lovingly, she speaks about her past rather than just remembering it silently. Sethe’s relationship with Paul D., “the kind of man who could walk into a house and make the women cry” (17) re-establishes her body as a site of pleasure. Sethe narrates her horrifying experiences thus:

His body an arc of kindness, he held her breasts in the palm of his hands. He

rubbed his cheek on her back and learned that way her sorrow, the roots of it; its wide trunk and intricate branches (17)

Sethe’s infanticide is symbolical in the novel; in destroying her child, she also maims her own body and suffers physical and psychological agony.  Beloved becomes a ghost symbolic of the death of the millions of African slaves. She stands for every daughter and sister – and relation of every kind – that was lost because of slavery. The supernatural intensifies the tragedy of Sethe:

Shivering, Denver approached the house, regarding it, as she always did, as a person rather than a structure. A person that wept, sighed, trembled and fell into fits. Her steps and her gaze were the cautious ones of a child approaching a nervous, idle relative … . (29)

Sethe’s daughter Denver too is captive in her own home and had a fear of sexual violence always haunted her. Ella is a black woman sexually molested by her father and son. Ella cried out in anguish thus: “You couldn’t think up…” What them two done to me (119). Beloved cries out expressing her desire to unite with Sethe: “‘She is the one. She is the one I need. You can go but she is the one I have to have” (76).

To conclude, Morrison has depicted the traumatic experiences of the blacks in her novels The Bluest Eye and Beloved using the images of folk lore; historical myths and images of violence and hatred deeply rooted in the minds of the whites. Barbara Christian (1993), calls Beloved “not just a novel, but a prayer, a healing ritual for our country’s holocaust of slavery “(364)

Work Cited

Bjork, Patrick Bryce. The Novels of Toni Morrison: The Search for Self and Place Within the Community. New York: Peter Lang, 1992. Print.

Braidotti, Rosi. Nomadic Subjects: Embodiment and Sexual Difference in Contemporary Feminist Theory. New York: Columbia University Press. 1994. Print.

Bouson, J Brooks. Quiet as it’s Kept: Shame, Trauma, and Race in the Novels of Toni Morrison. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2000. Print.

Butler-Evans, Elliott. Race, Gender and Desire: Narrative Strategies in the Fiction of Toni Cade Bambara, Toni Morrison, and Alice Walker. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.1989. Print.

Elizabeth Kella, Elizabeth. Beloved Communities: Solidarity and Difference in Fiction by  Gates, 2000. Print.

HenryLouis Jr & Appiah, KA.Toni Morrison, Critical Perspectives Past and Present. New York: Amistad Press Inc.1993. Print.

Grewal, Gurleen.  Circles of Pain, Lines of Struggle: The Novels of Toni Morrison, Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1998. Print.

Harris, Trudier. 1991. Fiction and Folklore: The Novels of Toni Morrison. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press.1991. Print.

Heinze, Denise and Lewis, Catherine E. ‘Toni Morrison’. Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 143: American Novelists Since World War II, Third Series. The Gale Group. Bruccoli Clark Layman.1944. Print.

Morrison, Toni. Beloved. New York: Penguin, 1999. Print.

—. The Bluest Eye, New York Penguin, 1969. Print.

Primlyn, A.Linda. “The Concept of blackness in Toni Morrison’s Beloved”.IRWLE (2012). Print

Evanjalin Mary Stella

Research Scholar, The American College, Madurai

Abstract

The present study examines not only the individuals’ quest for representing themselves in various means but also how the characters in Amitav Ghosh’s Sea of Poppies attempt to reconstruct their identity by hiding their names, bodies, caste and racial origins and ultimately restart their lives to fill new essence.

Keywords:

Identity ,  oppression, colonialism, rootlessness, self- invention

Identity construction is a prominent element in this novel but appears to be influenced by the ethico-political and socio-economic dynamics that constantly change characters’ roles and trajectories to reconstruct new identities in new milieu. Colonial upheaval interrupts the contours of the roles assumed by the persons in the social context. A superficial reading of the novel might give the impression that it is a historical novel set in the colonial period as it records the dramatic turn of events and destinies befalling the main protagonist and her interaction with a hodgepodge of other characters with whom she moves from land to river and climactically travel through sea. But the creation has a deeper level that Ghosh has effortlessly gone to sea depths by carefully peeling its social, economic and political layers and at a still deeper level, the metaphysical. The episodes which follow the main character, Deeti stress at one level, the struggle between capitalism and socialism; at another level, the narrative appears to be a clash for the hierarchical power. Deeti can also be seen to transform herself into a new identity allowing for meta-fictional reflection and an acceptance of destinies as indicated in her decision to marry Kalua who rescued her from sati.

Even then she did not feel herself to be living in the same sense as before: a curious feeling, of joy mixed with resignation, crept into her heart, for it was as if she really had died and been delivered betimes in rebirth, to her next life: she had shed the body of the old Deeti, with the burden of its karma; she had paid the price her stars had demanded of her, and was free now to create a new destiny as she willed, with whom she chose… (SOP 178).

It seems that Ghosh’s manner of constructing Deeti’s identity in his narrative is a two dimensional process. On the one hand, he combines and imaginatively interprets and interweaves the textual traces from the pages of Sir Gierson’s diary. Gierson mentions in this historical record about his encounter with the father of a female coolie in a village along the Ganges noting that the man “denied having any such relative, and probably she had gone wron

g and been disowned by him” (Bahadur). This diary provides only a little mention of this woman with a processing number, while Ghosh attempts to recreate and fill the blanks left by the archives with his imagination as a novelist and with impulses as an anthropologist.

On the other hand, in the process of narration, Deeti’s character is developed as a product of its origins and circumstances; is also a process of self-invention. Moreover, the two aspects are integrally related with regard to the recognition and construction of identity. According to Singh “Though Deeti assumes another name and caste thus erases her caste identity, she is distinctly recognizable for hereditary caste characteristics.” The meaning of her new name ‘Aditi’ suggests to a mythical Hindu goddess who releases from sin and to a person having a deep inner desire to use her abilities in leadership and to have personal independence. The leadership traits that Deeti possess can be associated to Bass’ transformational leader who creates significant change in the life of people. The followers of such a leader feel trust, admiration, loyalty and respect for the leader who offers an inspiring vision and give them an identity. Towards her fellow people on the ship, Deeti’s conduct is typical of a considerate and trustworthy leader. Soon she comes to be known as bhauji and for many she is a friend, protector and confidant. It happens naturally, as she takes responsibility and speaks for truth and justice. Even Deeti shoulders the responsibility of guarding the single women like Munia, Sarju and Heeru throughout their journey to Mauritius.

The central theme that runs through the novel is identity. Throughout it we learn how a person’s identity can be defined by different aspects, including appearance, family, relationships, men, oppression and liberation, motherhood, and age. The novel explores the devastating effects of colonialism on individual’s lives, and how it has consequences on the rest of their lives.

Work Cited

Ghosh, Amitav. Sea of  Poppies. London: Penguin, 2008. Print.

Auradkor, Sarika Pradiprao. Amitav Ghosh: A Critical Study. New Delhi: Creative

Books. 2007. Print.

Grewal, Inderpal. Gender in a Transnational World. New York: McGraw Hill, 2001.

Print.

Jaishree, N. ‘Struggle, Displacement and the Quest for Identity in the Select Novels of

Amitav Ghosh.’ Diss. Bharathiar University, 2008. Print.

Kachru, Braj. B. “South Asian English: Toward an Identity in Diaspora.” South Asian English:

Structure, Use and Users. Ed. R.J. Baumgardner. Delhi: Oxford University

Press. 1996. Print.

Pennycook, Alastair. English and the Discourses of Colonialism. London: Routeledge,

1998. Print.

Weil, Simone. The Need for Roots. London: Routledge, 2002. Print.

Lee Qingwen Christopher

Working Paper

January 2017

Abstract:

In this 21^st century, the concept of corporate branding holds much significance to organisations engaged in business-to-business marketing. As organisations face multiple challenges and increasing expectations from their stakeholders, there is a growing realisation that a strong corporate brand requires contributions from both the organisation and its stakeholders for it to be sustainable. This paper facilitates a comprehensive review and understanding of the implications of corporate branding for brand management in a competitive market. Moreover, the paper integrates the abilities of both colour and language to develop a unique branding concept that adopts a three-step process model (AER) – attraction, engagement, retention that serves as a guide to organisations on how to strategically communicate their brand in a way that stakeholders are willing to identify with.

Keywords:  

Brand management, Brand strategy

Introduction

There has been much discussion over the significance of corporate branding for organisations engaged in business-to-business marketing. An interconnected and integrated world brings multiple challenges and complexities to organisations seeking a competitive advantage. As such, organisations recognise the need to build a sustainable corporate brand in order to meet these challenges.

Today the concept of an organisation is such that it is no longer a static entity but rather a dynamic social co-construction negotiated by all its stakeholders.^1-2 Jones³ argues that organisations’ need to establish their corporate brand to meet the increasing expectations of their stakeholders in order to maintain corporate legitimacy. As such, Taylor and Van Emery⁴ therefore argue that the corporate brand should not be considered a construct separate to communication but rather a result of communicative processes between all stakeholders.

The Corporate brand

Argenti and Druckenmiller⁵ argue that an organisation engages in corporate branding when it markets the organisation as a brand. However, while the original concept of the ‘brand’ can be traced back to the marketing approach adopted when selling a product, the corporate brand aims to differentiate the organisation from its competitors and has an added dimension of interacting with multiple stakeholders.⁶

In addition, unlike product branding which is focused solely on marketing the product, corporate branding is a process that involves building stakeholders’ emotional affinity with the brand,⁷ and in this way the organisation is able to create value for both its stakeholders and other businesses. Moreover, the corporate brand has the potential for greater strategic impact than product brands for it is based on a more credible brand identity, namely, the identity of who the organisation really is and what it is really about.⁸

The corporate brand has several implications for brand management at the organisational level.⁹ For example, a corporate brand shapes the image its stakeholders and other businesses have of the organisation and helps stakeholders identify with the brand. In other words, the corporate brand allows the organisation to relate to all its multiple stakeholders through inculcating a relationship between stakeholder and brand.¹⁰

The corporate brand and its stakeholders

Stakeholders are “groups without whose support the organisation would cease to exist”.¹¹ Stakeholders need to be considered when organisations make strategic decisions. In addition, as stakeholders experience and relate to the corporate brand, they evaluate and draw informed conclusions about the corporate brand.¹² In essence, the profitability of the organisation is dependent upon the organisation’s willingness and ability to recognise all its stakeholders as important contributors to the corporate brand.¹³

In this paper, consumers are not included as stakeholders. This is because this paper focuses on corporate branding for organisations engaged in business-to-business marketing. Moreover this paper finds that product branding and its target audience is a construct separate to corporate branding. Therefore, stakeholders are defined as other businesses, as well as the organisation’s internal employees, who interact with the organisation.

Stakeholders are presented the corporate brand through their interaction with the organisation’s internal employees.¹⁴ As such, Harris and de Chernatony¹⁵ argue that the organisation’s employees are central to the process of building a brand. They explain that employee behaviour can either reinforce the values that are communicated by the organisation or undermine the credibility of the brand. The organisation’s core values influence the consistency and credibility in the building of the corporate brand.¹⁶

Gylling and Lindberg-Repo¹⁷ explain that because corporate brand communication has shifted from ‘what the brand has to offer’ to ‘the brand is who you are’, the organisation should ensure that its employees’ live the organisation’s core values and thus its brand. Stuart¹⁸ argues that it is essential for all employees of the organisation to speak the same language of the corporate brand in order to live the organisation’s brand. In other words, the employees must present the “corporate story” especially through the way they interact with stakeholders and other businesses.¹⁹

As the organisation’s internal employees interact with stakeholders, the more consistent the stakeholders’ brand experience is with the stated brand promise, the higher the competitive advantage the organisation has.²⁰ Therefore as part of any organisation’s branding strategy, while the corporate brand should be representative of the organisation’s values and culture, more importantly, organisations’ should engage in internal branding as part of their branding strategy.

Significance of the corporate brand in the 21^st century

The corporate brand reflects the organisation’s strategy^21,12 and how the brand is communicated shapes the organisation’s reputation. Brands, according to Keller and Lehmann²² are one of the most valuable assets that organisations have. A brand “creates value and influence”.²³ Furthermore, the organisation’s brand has the ability to “motivate members by imparting value”²⁴ if the organisation is able to establish a sustainable corporate brand.

The concept of integrating sustainability in branding has taken on increased importance especially in today’s context. Porter and Kramer²⁵ argue that sustainability is “an inescapable priority for business leaders in every country.” In addition, a report published by World Business Council for Sustainable Development²⁶ explained that a brand can increase its value by integrating sustainability into its current organisational practices.

In an increasingly competitive commercial environment, the corporate brand becomes a valuable resource in helping organisations differentiate themselves from their competitors.²⁷ Moreover, as stakeholders seek an emotional affinity with the brand, they often look to brand differentiation that is meaningful based on its sustainable practices.²⁸

This paper aims to show why developing an effective branding strategy on the Internet is crucial to establishing a sustainable corporate brand. This paper proposes that organisations adopt a three-step process model (AER) of developing their brand communication strategies through the dimensions of attraction, engagement and retention. Moreover, relatively little research has focused on exploring how colour and language together, impact organisational branding strategy on the Internet. This paper develops a branding concept utilising both colour and language that serves as a guide to organisations on how to strategically design and communicate their brand values in a way that stakeholders are able and willing to identify with.

Corporate branding on the Internet

The Internet has effectively integrated all forms of communication technologies. Ross et al.²⁹ argues that similar to the function of both the telephone and television, the Internet provides an avenue for individuals to conduct intimate conversations with friends and family, and has the ability to efficiently convey information to large groups of audiences, respectively. As such, the Internet has resulted in a fundamental shift as to how people communicate.

Today organisations recognise the capability of the Internet as a platform to communicate, how their brand operates as a collective entity as well as their values. More often than not, stakeholders are seeking a brand that shares the same values as them. Bartels et al.³⁰ explains that a setting that allows for open communication such as the Internet will lead to greater willingness to identify with the brand.  Therefore, it is beneficial for organisations to develop a branding strategy on the Internet.

According to the Global Internet User Survey³¹, more than 98% of Internet users indicated that they view the Internet as essential when accessing knowledge and education and “nearly 75% of users strongly agreed that access to the Internet allows them to seek any information that interests them”. Therefore, developing an effective branding strategy on the Internet is crucial to establishing an organisation’s brand.

Insert Table 1 – Internet User Statistics, here

The Internet today has more than 3 billion consumers³² (see Table 1). Over the last ten years 2005-2015, there has been an increase of about 2150 million consumers. This works out to be a more than 200% increase in consumers’ online presence since 2005, making it rather imperative for organisations to target this demographic.

Attraction

When developing a branding strategy, organisations need to consider how the individual mentally represents the world, whether he or she thinks ‘in pictures’ or ‘in words’³³. This is because it is important to consider how the brand is communicated, for the brand message can be positioned to either be visual or more informative in nature to meet the needs of the organisation’s stakeholders.

This paper proposes that organisations utilise colour as a strategy when building a brand that is attractive and sustainable. Colour affects individuals because of certain innate unlearned associations. This is because as we grow up, we learn to associate various colours with our environment. Colours attract our attention, especially those that are vibrant and distinct. Colours suggest different values, remind us of the things we see and identify us with our culture. At times, we use colour as a heuristic when making decisions³⁴. In other words through colour, a brand can establish an effective visual presence that stakeholders are attracted to and can identify with.

The seven-second-colour theory as explained by Chang and Lin³⁵ states that as individuals, we have the ability to recognise and memorise the colour and shape of any brand within seven seconds. In addition, Gatewood, Gowan and Lautenschlager³⁶ found that with stimuli that was initially viewed as neutral or positive, repeated exposure to an object resulted in an increased in the positive evaluation of the object. This effect occurred even when subjects were not instructed to evaluate the objects to which they were exposed.

A major point of interest is that these findings indicate that mere exposure to information is central to an individual’s perception of image.³⁷ In essence, these two studies showed the importance of utilising colour effectively to establish favourable stakeholder perception towards the brand during the crucial first seven seconds or when the individual first encounters the brand.

Engagement

Brand communication campaigns should utilise stakeholder involvement. Stakeholders are more likely to be engaged with the brand when they perceive a connection between the brand message and their self-concept.³⁸ Moreover, stakeholders are more likely to remember the brand that engaged them the most.³⁹ Volkswagen, through their advertisement helped individuals identify their values with the corporate brand. Volkswagen depicted a black sheep amongst other sheep in a flock to portray how an owner of a VW Golf should be an independent and self assured person just like the personified characteristics of the car. The personality of a black sheep in Italy is the symbol of independence and willingness to go one’s own way⁴⁰. Therefore when developing a branding strategy, organisations should inspire stakeholder identification with the values espoused by the brand.

Another way to engage stakeholders is through the establishment of brand communities. Brand communities perform important functions on behalf of the brand such as the sharing of brand values and perpetuating the culture of the corporate brand.⁴¹ In addition, the low cost of interaction with stakeholders and other businesses in cyberspace⁴² allows organisations to establish their brand presence through the setting up of niche brand communities (eg. Muniz and O’Guinn⁴³). These niche brand communities in turn create opportunities for the organisation’s stakeholders to share their brand related feelings and experiences with others.⁴⁴ Therefore, it is imperative that organisation provides the necessary support to sustain these communities.

Chang and Lin⁴⁵ in their study selected several international brand logos among the top 100 brands from ‘Interbrand’ that included Coca-Cola (Red in colour), Starbucks (Green in colour), IBM (Blue in colour) and Burberry (Black in colour). Participants were then asked, “What messages do brand colours convey from the corporate perspective?”  Interestingly participants were able to identify the brand’s identity and personality through its colour traits³⁴.

Participants in Chang and Lin⁴⁶ research considered the red of Coca-Cola to represent excitement and passion, while blue conveyed stability and reliability of IBM’s products. Also, Fraser and Banks⁴⁷ found that the colour blue connotes intelligence, communication and trust. Connelly et al.⁴⁸ noted that brands that used the colour green were perceived to be more ethical in their organisational practices. Some participants even noted that that red curve of the letter C of Coca-Cola represented energy. Perhaps it is also worth considering how a purely black and white brand design can be useful as a differentiation tool from other brands, especially in such a competitive market.

Language too, matters in branding. For example, Nike’s advertisement slogan “Just Do It” comes across as compelling us to do something, perhaps to buy their latest designer sports shoes or celebrity endorsed exercise attire. Why slogans such as this are important for corporate branding is because besides evoking emotions and creating a positive association with us, Nike, through their slogan attempts to create a meaning that resonates with the values of their stakeholders. Furthermore in the process of doing so, Nike gets their stakeholders involved in communicating their slogan and therefore their brand.

Eastman⁴⁹ explained that he chose the name Kodak for his brand because the “K” had an “incisive sound” and as a result it could not be easily confused with other words or brand names. Therefore it is important for organisations to choose words that are unique to communicate the brand. Moreover, it is important to ensure that the words chosen are part of everyday lexicon so that the corporate brand is understandable and relatable.

Language can sometimes be utilised as a directive in brand communication campaigns. Alka-Seltzer in the early 1960s, marketed their discomfort and pain relief tablet with the slogan “Plop, plop, fizz, fizz. Oh, what a relief it is”. What makes this slogan effective for corporate branding is that contained within its slogan is model behaviour to follow. Upon further analysis, we see how the individual is encouraged to use twice as much of the product. To their stakeholders, Alka-Seltzer presents itself as a corporate brand that is approachable and one they can seek out for assistance.

Language conveys brand attributes and has the ability to shape stakeholder perceptions and attitudes towards the brand. Using an example closer to home, SpeedPost is a courier service in Singapore. In addition, their services include international deliveries. “SpeedPost” conveys the impression that you will be engaging an efficient courier service.

Therefore as we have seen, language matters in branding. Every word used in crafting the brand communication campaign plays a role in shaping stakeholders impression of the corporate brand. This is because language used in such communication campaigns tends to be associated with the image of the brand. Therefore when developing a branding strategy, organisations should invest the effort to create experiences that engages their stakeholders and shapes their attitudes towards the corporate brand.

Retention

Organisations should use metaphors when developing a strategic corporate brand. Sackmann⁵⁰ defined metaphors as mental pictures that are able to substitute a thousand words. Moreover O’Malley and Tynan⁵¹ argue that the language of branding is becoming more metaphoric in nature. In corporate branding, metaphors can be utilised as a personification metaphor where the “brand is person”⁵², whereby human characteristics are ascribed to a brand⁵³.

Lakoff and Johnson⁵⁴ suggested some examples of metaphors included “ She’s weighed down by responsibilities”, “Tomorrow is a big day” and “I see what you mean”. Lakoff and Johnson⁵⁵ suggest a technique for structuring metaphors is to use a TARGET IS SOURCE format. Gibbs⁵⁶ in explaining the mapping of the metaphor “Love is a Journey”, showed how this metaphor is created. The knowledge about journeys is mapped onto knowledge about love and, this correspondence allows us to reason about love using the knowledge we use to reason about journeys⁵⁷.

Applying this metaphor-mapping concept to corporate branding, Microsoft, in their brand communication campaign included the question “Where do you want to go today?” This conveys a sense of potential achievement for both stakeholder and Microsoft when they embark on a metaphorical journey together. In other words through this metaphorical association of going somewhere, Microsoft conveys their corporate brand as relevant and accomplished. The New York Times described this global branding campaign as a “humanistic approach to demystifying technology”⁵⁸.

Allstate Insurance serves as a good example of utilising both metaphors and colour to convey brand attributes. Allstate with their slogan “You’re in good hands” conveys a sense of support and concern towards stakeholders, which accentuates the positive aspect of the corporate brand. Moreover Allstate has successfully utilised the colour blue in the design of their logo that has the additional positive effect of, portraying themselves as competent and efficient⁵⁹.

Therefore as we have seen, metaphors are relatable and relatively easy to interpret. In addition metaphors help stakeholders and other businesses to elaborate on the distinctive features of the organisation’s corporate logo that aids in their processing of brand attributes. Moreover metaphors help stakeholders to draw inferences that they might not have made should the mappings have been explicit⁶⁰. Therefore when developing a sustainable corporate brand, organisations should consider utilising both colour and language to differentiate themselves from their competitors.

Conclusion and management implications for corporate branding

This paper has brought to light the importance of utilising both colour and language as a branding strategy to establish a sustainable corporate brand. In addition, this paper has showed why developing an effective branding strategy on the Internet is crucial to establishing a sustainable corporate brand. Moreover, this paper presents a unique branding concept that adopts a three-step process model (AER) that serves as a guide to organisations on how to strategically communicate their brand in a way that stakeholders can identify with.

Insert Table 2 – Application of Colour to branding, here

Insert Table 3 – Application of Language to branding, here

Insert Figure 1 – Proposed process model (AER), here

In this 21^st century, the concept of corporate branding is of much significance to organisations engaged in business-to-business marketing. The role of the corporate brand has changed. As organisations seek a sustainable competitive advantage, the corporate brand can no longer “just stand there, they must stand for something”⁶¹. The corporate brand must reflect the value system espoused by the organisation. In today’s context, the organisation’s employees are representatives of the corporate brand to the organisation’s stakeholders and other businesses.

This necessitates going beyond employing a short-term strategy simply in pursuit of increased profitability for the organisation. Building a sustainable corporate brand necessitates a long-term commitment from the organisation and its employees, to their stakeholders. The organisation must align its core values with its human resource practices such that their employees will reflect the values and culture of the organisation that invites stakeholder identification. Moreover for a corporate branding strategy involving colour and language to be effective, the organisation’s employees must believe in the brand message being communicated and most importantly, they must live the brand. Therefore it is the hope of this paper that organisations will see the value of making the long-term investment into establishing a strong corporate brand.

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JYOTI SHARMA

Phil Scholar, Economics Department

M.D.U,Rohtak

Abstract : Neo -classical growth theory come out as a path breaker  by considering knowledge as a major component of economic growth, instead of considering economic growth led by productivity. Recently, global economies has also started recognizing the contribution of knowledge to total factor productivity and consequently to sustainable long term economic development .Keeping in view the emerging trend, this paper analyze the status of India as a knowledge economy at national and global level and trace the issues which come in the way of India to become a knowledge based economy.

Keywords– knowledge economy ,KEI, status, issue

1. INTRODUCTION

The term “knowledge-based economy” results from a fuller recognition of the role of knowledge and technology in economic growth. Knowledge, as embodied in human beings (as “human capital”) and in technology, has always been central to economic development [].  In the last few years , importance of knowledge is recognized in economic development as it play catalyst role in making country more dynamic.

There are certain elements which are essential for a country , in order to transform itself into a knowledge economy, which includes – investment in education, incentives to innovations, up-to-date information infrastructure and competitive and cooperative economic environment. Collectively, these elements constitute the framework of knowledge economy

Thus, investment in these four pillars of knowledge economy required to create its simultaneous effects on consumption and production sector, which will automatically assured the sustained economic development accompanied by  social and economic welfare. Thus, being one of the largest economies and fast growing economy (GDP growth rate: 7.6% in 2017), it is essential to trace the status of India in terms of becoming knowledge economy.

2. REVIEW OF LITERATURE:

D.Chen,C.Dahlman ; analysed the importance of knowledge for long term economic growth by introducing the knowledge economy framework.Paper also explained the knowledge assessment methodology (KAM) used by world bank.

3. Research methodology and objective

The study was based on the secondary data collected from websites books research paper etc. There are three major objectives of the study:

1. To analyze the status of India as a knowledge economy at both national as well as global level ;
2. To examine the challenges in the way of India to become a knowledge economy ;

• To provide suggestions to overcome those challenges.

4. STATUS OF INDIA AS ON KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY:

• India’s position in the Global knowledge economy:

There are various methods used and developed to analyze  nations performance in terms of knowledge readiness. Among them, one globally recognized method is knowledge assessment methodology  (KAM) was developed by world bank to benchmark  countries position relative to others in the global knowledge economy. India’s position in the global knowledge economy was analyzed through three indicators which are explained below :

• Knowledge economy index (KEI):

Knowledge economy index is the average of the performance score of a country on the focus performance of knowledge economy. Figure. 1 shows the performance of India in KEI at global scenario.

Although,  from figure .1, it was cleared that  India’s performance not improved since 1995 ,but it was only performing well then South Asia region , thus still more need to be done to fully utilize knowledge for its development.

Figure .1 Knowledge economy index : India   and the world,1995 and most recent period.

Source: World Bank ,knowledge assessment methodology  ,http://www.worldbank.org/kam.

• India and four pillars of knowledge economy:

 India’s position can also be analyzed at global level on the four individual pillars of the knowledge economy as shown in figure 2.

It was clear from the figure below that all countries ,except S.Africa and India, have improved their recent performance since 1995 , in comparison to 1995 .Overall KEI score of India slightly shift in back position due to non appreciable performance in the education pillar and in information infrastructure pillar, completely contrary to its major competitors China ,which has marked its position at global level in information  infrastructure.

Figure .2  CROSS COUNTRY COMPARISIONS ON THE FOUR PILLARS OF A KNOWLEDGE    ECONOMY,INDIA  & COMPATITORS, 1995 & MOST RECENT PERIOD

Source: World Bank ,knowledge assessment methodology  ,http://www.worldbank.org/kam.

• India’s knowledge economy scorecard:

Scorecard of nation includes three variables for each of the four pillars of the knowledge economy ,accompanied by one variable of performance HDI as shown in figure 3.

India’s performance is not appreciable  if it was compared with its closest competitor Brazil and China. It can be interpret from figure 3 that India was able to mark its presence among other nations only in the case of indicators related to economic and institutional regime( regulatory quality and rule of law ) but still lags behind China and Brazil relative to the indicators of information infrastructure ,researchers and education pillar of knowledge economy.

 Figure .3 India, China  and Brazil         knowledge economy scorecard

Source: World Bank ,knowledge assessment methodology  ,http://www.worldbank.org/kam.

4.2  Indian states and knowledge status :

After analyzing India status as a whole in the global knowledge economy, it will be appropriate to analyze the status of education within the country a glimpse of Indian states knowledge status is shown in figure 4 below.

Figure 4 STATE GDP AND LITERACY    RATES

SOURCE:  Census of India. (2011). State of Literacy. Provisional Population Totals – India, 1–

5 . Issues& solutions :

Some of the main issues which come in the way of India to transform itself into any knowledge economy were discuss below:

• .Efficient utilization of public resources required to improve the quality and efficiency of education system and system must be developed in such way that it will full field global and domestic market labor related requirements.

• more focus on the primary and secondary education in terms of quality.

• inducement and support to all higher education in order to improve their quality, instead of focusing on certain like IIT.

• Inducement to private sector to make investment in research and development.

• In order to transform to a knowledge economy, India required integrating the demand of the market into the education system..
• In order to recognize its position in emerging global innovation market India also required progressive patent laws and a robust IPR regime.

5. The arena of innovation not to be limited to few areas or sectors. For instance, in India R&D is always supposed to be linked to science related field like pharmaceutical, and so on and that s why research in these areas normally more funded and sponsored, which ultimately discourage the investment in research and development related to others streams or field.

6. New product development is necessary for intra industry trade as commodities involved in intra industry trade is equally profitable as inter industry trade commodities.

7. Absence of proper planning, lack of effective project management methods and lack of technical literacy are major challenges for managing a ICT projects in India.

  Solution

  In order to tackle down above shows following steps and strategy required to be adopted

• Defining priorities and establishing budgets

• Adopting systemic, integrated approaches for the different policy planks at all levels of

government

• Mobilizing state governments, which are key to the Indian economy and its modernization

• Multiplying experiments and publicizing concrete initiatives that clearly exemplify the

move to a knowledge-based economy.

6. Conclusion

Although , India is able to mark its position in the global scenario as one of the emerging nations, but still transforming itself into a knowledge based economy is hard nut to break ,in the fast growing technical global environment .It will be beneficiary for India to fully utilize its human resources  by making investment and focusing to increase its productivity , in order to generate spread effects  as done by China.

REFERANCES:

Census of India. (2011). State of Literacy. Provisional Population Totals – India, 1–140. https://doi.org/00-001-2011-Cen-Book (E)

Chen, D. H. C., & Dahlman, C. J. (n.d.). THE KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY , THE KAM METHODOLOGY AND WORLD BANK OPERATIONS.

Data, C. (2014). Gross State Domestic Product ( GSDP ) at Current Prices ( as on 31-05-2014 ), (18), 2014.

Distribution, G., & Co-operation, O. F. O. R. E. (1996). THE KNOWLEDGE-BASED ECONOMY, (96).

Economy, K. (n.d.). Knowledge economy.

Economy, K. (2005). II Singapore ’ s Transition to the Knowledge Economy : From Efficiency to Innovation, 79–87.

Words,K.(2004).tHeknowledgeeconomy,199–220. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.29.010202.100037

 http://knoema.com/GII2017/global-innovation-index-2016

https://knoema.com/WBKEI2013/knowledge-economy-index-world-bank-2012