Revitalising the Commonwealth brand
By Lopa Patel, 7th July 2011

C. Raja Mohan, one of India's leading strategic analysts, has recently suggested that India could play a major role in revitalising the Commonwealth as a "significant international alliance of English-speaking democracies"*. However, this is an idea that journalist John Elliott in his "Riding the Elephant" blog pooh-poohs citing the Commonwealth as "moribund and inadequately led". In pure brand terms of course, the Commonwealth has a great deal of "brand equity". First established in 1949, it reaches 1.8 billion citizens (about 30 percent of the population); it is current brand; the organisation has infrastructure and presence in 53 countries and it has the English language as a major unifying currency. So can the Commonwealth brand be revitalised?

C Raja Mohan recommends that "India take over the leadership role from London because, as a rising power, it can influence the Commonwealth's economic prospects, offering technical, economic and security aid to the smallest states"*. Indeed, the Commonwealth benefits from the demographic dividend by having India as one of its member states - a high proportion of its population is young which is vital for brand longevity. In geographic terms, having Canada and Australia as member states means that the Commonwealth covers a large proportion of the globe and having tiny states like Malta and Tuvalu ensures a diversity of need.

Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of the Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, said "The strength of our Commonwealth lies in its unity of vision of pluralism, liberalism, democracy and political institutions amid the diversity in race, ethnicity and religion." And therein lies the brand dilemma. Seen as largely political and ceremonial, few people consider the Commonwealth as an organisation for economic progress. Little surprise than that it is led by a retired Indian Diplomat to help carry out Her Majesty The Queen's formal, ceremonial duties.

Commonwealth Enterprise Partnerships

But consider the possibilities. What if the organisation were to form The Commonwealth Enterprise Partnership, allowing for a free flow of goods between member states with no paperwork or levies; had a Commonwealth currency and significantly invested in encouraging bilateral trade among small businesses in member states? Would this not help revive interest and revitalise the brand? Creating a Commonwealth technical standard for goods and services could create a market large enough for innovative new products from member states. And a "Common Market" of 1.8 billion customers would help the Commonwealth compete with emerging nations like Brazil, Russia and China.

Historically, the UK has commercially chosen to align itself with Europe, but exploring the possibilities of alignment with the Commonwealth may give rise to new opportunities. In the brand terms, the words "common" and "wealth" are easily understood and meaningful to all the organisation's customers - the people. So extension of the Commonwealth brand could be readily achieved relatively economically and it would have nearly fifty years of brand loyalty behind it.

Commonwealth Court of Justice

Establishing a Commonwealth Court and aligning each member state's jurisdiction to the Commonwealth could at a stroke help capitalise on the intellectual property of individuals and businesses in the form of trademark and patent protection whilst also increasing the depth of the democratic rule to member states struggling to redefine their own constitutional parameters.

The Commonwealth brand since its inception has been wedded to politics and so perhaps repositioning the brand into areas like the economy, the environment, health and education would help revitalise the brand. The Commonwealth has several gems in its treasure chest: the Commonwealth Games are a flagship established sporting event allowing athletes who may not qualify for the Olympics to participate; the Commonwealth Foundation helps provide access to opportunity and the Commonwealth of Learning focuses on educational opportunities. Add the cultural activities of organisations like The British Council, for example, into the melting pot and the creative and entertainment industries could help lead the revitalisation of the Commonwealth brand which already has a great deal of brand equity to its name.

The Commonwealth: a 21st Century brand?

Part of the revitalisation would involve organisational change: the CEO would need to be drawn from the young, dynamic and diverse business communities the Commonwealth serves and even the role of The Queen as its head needs discussion - perhaps a Patron drawn periodically from among the Member States might endear the Commonwealth brand to its customers more and help blow away the cobwebs of its historical colonial past to boot. And of course, the issue of self-government versus the Commonwealth would need to be a topic of ongoing debate and discussion.

As a brand the Commonwealth has all the key ingredients: brand loyalty, longevity, solid brand values, market penetration and reach. Whether it can be revitalised into a brand for the 21st Century remains open for discussion.

References:

* Could India co-lead the Commonwealth? (from John Elliott's Blog)

About The Commonwealth

The Commonwealth was founded after the London Declaration of April 1949. Today's Commonwealth is an association of 53 countries. Its 1.8 billion citizens, about 30 percent of the world's population, are drawn from the broadest range of faiths, races, cultures and traditions. Members range from vast countries like Canada to small island states like Malta; from India, the largest democracy in the world, with more than one billion people, to Tuvalu, with its population of about 11,000.

The Commonwealth Secretariat, established in 1965 is the main intergovernmental agency of the Commonwealth, facilitating consultation and co-operation among member governments and countries. The Commonwealth Secretariat is headed by the Commonwealth Secretary General and is located at Marlborough House in London. Its sister inter-governmental organisations are the Commonwealth Foundation (also based at Marlborough House) and the Commonwealth of Learning (in Vancouver, Canada).

The work of the Secretariat is guided by the decisions of Heads of Government and governing bodies. It responds to global developments and the needs of member countries and its activities are results-oriented. The Commonwealth Secretariat's Strategic Plan and work programme is directed by the mandates set by Commonwealth Heads of Government, who meet every two years.

The Secretariat is governed by a Board of Governors on which all eligible member governments are represented. The Board meets annually in May to review the Secretariat's work and approve its future and budget.

The Board is supported by an Executive Committee. The Executive Committee meets on a quarterly basis to monitor the implementation of the Secretariat's work programme. The Executive Committee comprises the eight largest contributors to the Secretariat's total resources, plus two members from each region of the Commonwealth: Africa; Asia-Mediterranean; the Caribbean and the South Pacific.

Visit www.thecommonwealth.org for further information..