Interbrand Unveils the Keys to Growth for Indian brands through Best Indian Brands 2016

Interbrand India, part of the Omnicom Group, has released its 2016 Best Indian Brands Report, the definitive growth guide to the Top 40 brands in India. This is the fourth edition of Best Indian Brands, which has been identifying the most valuable Indian brands since 2013. This year’s ranking was unveiled at an exclusive event organized in Mumbai.

Celebrating the launch of the report, Gonzalo Brujó, CEO, EMEA and LATAM, Interbrand, said: “Indian brands must accelerate their growth to compete globally. These businesses grew from industries to conglomerates. The conglomerates are now trying to grow global by transcending domains, reinventing around purpose, waking up to strategic Corporate Citizenship. This shift is marked by industry-driven brands transforming to fast moving consumer-centric brands, customer-centric innovations and digital pervasiveness. Historically, diversified and finance sectors have dominated the Indian market. Technology, telecom and auto are the emerging growth sectors. More importantly, healthcare, e-commerce, fashion, luxury and sports are the next big opportunities.”

Ashish Mishra, Managing Director of Interbrand India, presented the Best Indian Brands ranking at the event. Speaking of the transformation that India’s best brands need to make to be counted amongst the Global best, he said, “Indian businesses and brands will need to be the global frontrunners in designing lives and creating better experiences, at the speed of life. This needs the Indian brands to reinterpret themselves in the context of a global role and purpose. Simply because today its all about people – B2H (Business to Human) as against B2B or B2C. And people today are more interested in what we make happen rather than what we make. Thus aligning themselves to a purpose creates an inspiring brand-led culture on the inside, which in turn anchors the multiple micro-experiences for the customer on the outside. This is really the way Indian brands can lead and grow their businesses global.”

Interbrand’s Global CEO, Jez Frampton said, ‘The world today waits as India brims with potential, and I am confident that India is nurturing some truly world-class brands that are set to make their mark on the global stage. We are addressing and celebrating this ambition in Best Indian Brands 2016 by focusing on how to grow Indian brands global. Indian businesses have some very unique challenges to scale to make it big on the global stage.’

The Top Five

This year’s league table sees the top five slots occupied by Tata, Airtel, Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank and LIC. HDFC has risen from Rank 6 in 2014, to rank 4 (replacing SBI in the top 5) with a solid 15% rise in brand value. Reliance Industries and Airtel have swapped the number 2 and 3 spots vis-à-vis last year with a 3% and 8% growth in revenue respectively.

The Top Growth Risers

The top riser this year is Maruti Suzuki with a 16% increase in brand value, driven by a foray into newer segments and an effort to move up the value chain. The brand value of HDFC Bank also grew by a steady 15%, primarily supported by its focus on new solutions and digital pervasiveness. The other key risers were Mahindra (14%), Idea (12%), Infosys (12%) and Dabur (12%.)

New Entrants

This year, the league table has been expanded to track a broader set of brands and present the top forty, up from the top thirty released last year. The new entrants in this year’s report are:

Britannia, IndusInd Bank, Kingfisher, Yes Bank, NTPC, Union Bank, Canara Bank, Ashok Leyland, JSW, Jindal Steel and Power.    

Key Sectors

Diversified Businesses and Financial Services account for the two most significant sector in this year’s league table. While Diversified Businesses make up 37% of the total brand value of this year’s Best Indian Brands table, Financial Services forms 27% of the value. Telecom, Auto and Tech are the other significant contributors to the value, accounting for 9%, 7.5% and 7% respectively.

Methodology

Interbrand's brand valuation methodology is considered the most comprehensive and covers the key areas of financial analysis, Role of Brand index, and Brand Strength scores. Interbrand was the first to introduce the brand valuation concept and, in fact, its proprietary brand valuation technique is one of a select few to be ISO-certified in the world. Beyond resulting in a numeric value, Interbrand’s assessment includes an appreciation of where and how brand and business value can be cultivated. These are the discussions Interbrand wants to create in the Indian market so that Indian brands can experience considerable growth on both a domestic and global scale. The Best Indian Brands ranking employs the same rigorous methodology that is used for Interbrand’s annual Best Global Brands report.