INDIA’S TOP BRANDS€¦ ·  · 2012-09-05of Indian-origin in the top 100, ... companies spend 6-7% of revenues on advertising and ... ASIA’s TOP 100 BRANDS Singapore Rank Brand

BY RAJESHWARI

SHARMA

rajeshwari.s@livemint.com

NEW DELHI

A cooperative, a state-owned insurance firm that was, until a few years ago, a monopoly, and a multinational mobile-phone maker are the top three brands in India, according to a new study released on Friday.

Amul, a brand owned by the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), and Nokia are the top Indian brands, according to Asia’s Top 1,000 Brands, a survey by media, advertising and marketing magazine ‘Media’, brand consultancy Asian Integrated Media Ltd and market research company Synovate.

However, there are no brands of Indian-origin in the top 100, although several brands that are available in India figure in the list. “It is because most Indian brands are not available across regions within the country and outside,” said

Harish Bijoor, a marketing consultant.

Amul’s strategy of using “umbrella branding” has paid off, according to R.S. Sodhi, chief general manager, GCMMF. “Our strength comes from consistency, trust and relevance of our products.” Sodhi claimed that Amul’s advertising and marketing spend has never exceeded 1% of its revenues. Most other food companies spend 6-7% of revenues on advertising and

marketing, he added. “They (GCMMF) are not big

spenders compared to Britannia or Nestle. Despite a limited budget, Amul’s creatives—in

the form of billboards or the Taste of India campaign—have always managed to evoke a larger-than-life brand feel, consistency and spirit of Indian culture in a contemporary way,” said Shashi Sinha, executive director, FCB Ulka, GCMMF’s advertising agency.

GCMMF, which ended 2006-07 with Rs4,200 crore in revenues, launched more than two-dozen products in the past two years.

Nokia has more than a 70% share of the mobile-phone market in India, a country with around 188 million mobile telephony subscribers. “Nokia has revolutionized the way we keep in touch,” said Subhash Kamath, CEO, Bates Group, the company’s agency in India.

“Amul and LIC are heritage

brands. It’s their benign equity that makes them so enduring,” said Bijoor. “If you look at any list pertaining to brands, the bulk of the toppers are the lowest common denominator brands—the ones that have moved from shelves and touched lives of millions of people,” he added.

The nine markets covered by the survey are: China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, India and Indonesia. Synovate

interviewed people in the 15-64 years age group; sample sized varied from 500 in all markets to 750 in India and China.

CHINA

INDONESIA

MALAYSIA

PHILIPPINES

INDIA

TAIWAN

THAILAND

SINGAPORE

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

Nokia

Sony

Colgate

Coca-Cola

Panasonic

Honda

7-Eleven

Samsung

Nestlé

Adidas

BrandRank

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

Yahoo!

Nike

Nescafe

Canon

Starbucks

Sony Ericsson

Pampers

Google

Darlie

Pepsi

BrandRank

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

LG

Yamaha

Toyota

Wall’s

Lipton

Maggi

Shell

Wrigley’s Arrow

DHL

Cadbury

BrandRank

31

32

33

34

35

36

37

38

39

40

Rolex

Watsons

VISA

Sunsilk

Toshiba

Marlboro

Pantene

Sharp

Apple

Toys “R” Us

BrandRank

41

42

43

44

45

46

47

48

49

50

Lay’s

Panadol

BMW

Hewlett-Packard

Huggies

Mercedes-Benz

Philips

MasterCard

American*

Motorola

BrandRank

51

52

53

54

55

56

57

58

59

60

Pocari Sweat

Uni-President

FedEx

H&S#

Seiko

Pepsodent

Pedigree

MSN

Rejoice

Nissin

BrandRank

61

62

63

64

65

66

67

68

69

70

Heineken

McDonald’s

Häagen-Dazs

Sprite

Acer

Close up

Singapore Airlines

Whirlpool

Magnolia

Ferrero Rocher

BrandRank

71

72

73

74

75

76

77

78

79

80

100 Plus

Mitsubishi

Cathay Pacific

Suzuki

Nikon

Sanyo

Breeze

Gatorade

Hitachi

Pioneer

BrandRank

81

82

83

84

85

86

87

88

89

90

KFCˆ

Tide

San Miguel

Shangri-La

Dell

ExxonMobil

IBM

Nivea

California Fitness

Surf

BrandRank

91

92

93

94

95

96

97

98

99

100

JVC

Kodak

Pond’s

Caltex

HSBC

Fanta

Knife

IndoMie

Wyeth

MasterKong

BrandRank

ASIA’s TOP 100 BRANDS

SingaporeRank Brand

1

2

3

Nokia

SingTel

Singapore Airlines

TaiwanRank Brand

1

2

3

7-Eleven

CPC

Uni-President

ThailandRank Brand

1

2

3

Nokia

Mama

Sony

IndonesiaRank Brand

1

2

3

Aqua

Pepsodent

Honda

ChinaRank Brand

1

2

3

MasterKong

Nokia

Mengniu

Hong KongRank Brand

1

2

3

7-Eleven

Watsons

Coca-Cola

MalaysiaRank Brand

PhilippinesRank Brand

IndiaRank Brand

1

2

3

Amul

LIC

Nokia

1

2

3

Nokia

Colgate

Sony

1

2

3

Colgate

Mercury Drug

Sony

INDIA’S TOP BRANDS

*American International Assurance (AIA)/American International Underwriters (AIU)/American International Group (AIG)Source: Synovate #Head & Shoulders ^Kentucky Fried Chicken

HONG KONG

Graphics by SANDEEP BHATNAGAR