New Delhi: The first Indian edition of WPP's BrandZ report on the top 50 most valuable Indian brands is out and HDFC Bank has taken the top spot with a value of $9.4 billion. Commissioned by WPP, the survey was carried out by research agency Millward Brown.
HDFC Bank was followed by Airtel ($8.2 bn), State Bank of India ($6.8 bn), ICICI Bank ($3.5 bn) and Bajaj Auto ($3 bn) among the top five brands. The combined brand value of all the brands in the ranking was almost $70 billion.
“Growth in India has bettered in the last few years. Post election the mood has improved and there is optimism all around. India has thus become the hotbed for both growth and development. We started with BrandZ Top 50 in China and within three years went to Top 100. Our belief is that we will get to see it in India as well,” said Sir Martin Sorrell, CEO, WPP Group.
The criterion for selection includes: the brand or corporate brand owner was publicly traded in India; it reported positive earnings; it operated in a consumer facing category, not B2B; and in the case of banks, at least 25 per cent of business came from retail business.
The formula used to derive at the Brand Value: Financial Value * Brand Contribution = Brand Value.
The rankings combine rigorously analysed financial data from Bloomberg and Kantar Worldpanel with consumer opinions gathered for over 500 brands in 37 categories.
Of the top 50, 17 are multinational corporations, 26 are private Indian brands and seven are state-owned.
"India is unbranded and under advertised in our view but has been a strong force. We have crossed $500 million of revenues for the first time in India. Despite elections, it has projected strong growth and (the Narendra) Modi government has come out stronger. People are optimistic," said Martin Sorrell, CEO, WPP, at the launch of the report.
"Brand India has a lot of positive and negative attributes. But the Prime Minister has already indicated his willingness to address those issues," he said. Talking about what is BrandZ and how it is used, David Roth, CEO of The Store, WPP, said it was Sorrell who came up with the concept to find a "common framework of understanding on how brands work and relationships consumers have with brands, which enables us to service brands".
Citing the example of China, which benefited immensely because of its strong image abroad, Sorrell said there is a direct co-relation between the foreign direct investment inflows and brand image perception of a country.
Sorrell highlighted the emphasis for a strong brand India given by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “While it is a direct co-relation from a tourism point of view, which is clearly one of the strengths of the Incredible India campaign, it also touches up on aspects like infrastructure, education and technology," he said.
He said the mood is better post the elections and people are optimistic. “Whether that results in increased spending is yet to be seen,” he added.
He adds the report highlights that the stronger the relationship a brand can build with consumers in its category and the more it can leverage that scale, the more profitable and sustainable it becomes.
Here is the list of top 20 brands in India:
Name – Category – Brand Value 2014 (US$m)
1 HDFC Bank -- Banks -- 9,425
2 Airtel -- Telecoms -- 8,217
3 State Bank of India -- Banks -- 6,828
4 ICICI Bank -- Banks -- 3,536
5 Bajaj Auto -- Automobiles -- 3,034
6 Asian Paints -- Paints -- 2,812
7 Hero MotoCorp – Automobiles -- 2,164
8 Idea -- Telecoms -- 1,882
9 Kotak Mahindra Bank -- Banks -- 1,721
10 Reliance Communications -- Telecoms -- 1,636
11. Maruti Suzuki – Automobiles - 1,510
12. IndianOil – Motor Fuel – 1498
13. McDowell – Alcochol – 1,395
14. Kingfisher – Alcohol – 1,345
15. Castrol – Lubricants – 1,264
16 Nestle – Food and Diary – 1,228
17. Mahindra – Automobiles – 1,196
18. Maggi – Food and Diary – 1,228
19. IndusInd Bank – Banks – 1,059
20. Horlicks – Food and Diary – 1,018.
