Tuesday, September 02, 2008

INDIA INC’S BRAND SHEET

Purva Bhatia
The Economic Times

A reading of this year's Brand Finance India's Top 50 (Company) Brands list with last year's throws up some important lessons for Indian businesses. With 11 debutants in the Top 50 list edging out some of the erstwhile corporate biggies, the message for India Inc., is quite clear--that history and financial heft alone won't guarantee a strong brand--a prerequisite to business success in an environment where tangible differentiators in land, capital et al are fast becoming parity. For a host of companies, who barely managed to hold on to their positions and valuations this year, the writing on the wall is clear too--that a brand can easily whither in the paucity of strategic, sustained investments, as it seems to have happened with as many as eight companies, primarily from the oil sector, which witnessed a drop in their Brand Power Rating (BPR), a critical measure of brand health.

The latest Brand Finance study finds that companies in sectors like telecom, finance and auto have shown healthy signs of growth this year. The czar of India Inc., Reliance Industries (RIL) once again flaunted muscle by emerging as the most valuable brand, at Rs 26,801-crore, on BF Top 50 list. However, the increase in valuation is only marginal, and its BPR too slipped from A to BBB+ this year.

The pecking order in the IT/ITeS sector remains much the same with Tata Consultancy Services being the strongest brand, moving up the brand valuation and rating ladder. The brand is worth Rs 19,592-crore and is rated AA. Wipro, India's third largest software services exporter, is now worth Rs 12,974-crore. Infosys Technologies has shown positive signs in brand valuation moving from Rs 7,341-crore to Rs 8,334-crore.

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