Tata is the top brand in India

Warc, 7 August 2014

MUMBAI: Tata Group, the multinational conglomerate, has been named as the top Indian brand out of 40 leading companies listed in the latest Best Indian Brands report from Interbrand, the brand consultancy.

Now in its second year, the report said Tata's brand value of INR 598.37bn is 80% higher than that of Reliance Industries (INR 332.67bn), the second most valuable brand in the country.

Tata's brand value increased by 16% since last year's inaugural report, Interbrand said, and it pointed to the "stellar" success of Tata Consultancy Services, Tata's IT firm, as noteworthy.

Tata achieved success in other sectors too, leading Interbrand to extol how it "leveraged its values of integrity and excellence, to make a difference to the lives of the everyday Indian".

Second-placed Reliance Industries increased its brand value by 12.5% over the past year, while telecoms company Airtel is ranked third with a valuation of INR 294.77bn.

In descending order, the other brands in the top ten include State Bank of India (INR 206.94bn), LIC (INR 195.8bn), HDFC (INR 178.21bn), Infosys (INR 173.21bn), Icici (INR 148.05bn), Mahindra (INR 133.44bn), and Godrej (INR 128.29bn).

However, despite their success – and of the other 30 brands – Interbrand noted that very few appear in its international rankings of best global brands.

"Not just Indian but very few Asian companies have managed to build valuable international brands," said Ashish Mishra, managing director of Interbrand India, in comments reported by ibbonline.com.

"In my mind, it has to do with a prevalent business belief that brand is a cost, rather than a strategic and long-term investment. Here businesses clearly lead the brand and are not led by it, with the brand mostly relegated to being an expression tool."

He suggested that, "If Indian companies begin to change their brand mindset, the opportunities are limitless."

Data sourced from Interbrand, ibbonline; additional content by Warc