HDFC Bank, Airtel, SBI most valued brands
Finance, auto brands dominate the list; Indian top 50 brand valuations grow 21%, faster than China, world
HDFC Bank topped the chart of most valuable brands, fourth year in a row, even as demonetisation slowed down the growth for FMCG brands in 2017. However, the value of the top 50 Indian brands grew to ~7 lakh crore, rising 21 per cent over a two per cent decline the previous year and outpacing the value growth of both the China Top 50 and the Global Top 50 according to the BrandZ Top 50 Most Valuable Indian Brands report released on Wednesday.
The top 10 list has not changed much since 2016, with all brands holding on to their spots or going up a place, except Bajaj Auto that has dropped two places to eighth position. HDFC Bank’s brand value grew 24 per cent to ~1,15,000 crore. The number two and three rank holders, Airtel and SBI, kept their spots too. However Airtel’s brand value (~65,522 crore) grew by a meagre three per cent, presumably in the face of stiff competition from an aggressive newcomer Jio, while SBI (~53,363 crore) took its valuation up by 31 per cent.
Auto and financial services brands account for over half of the total top 50 value. However, while finance brands made up 39 percent of total brand value, their share growing by 26 per cent in 2017 over 2016, the sector fares the worst in terms of brand health according to a health tracker instituted this year. The maximum increase in brand values in 2017 was among brands in the telecom and entertainment sector that has seen significant changes in the course of the year.
David Roth, CEO EMEA and Asia, The Store WPP, says: “Indian consumers seek authenticity and value for money, and the meaning of those things is being constantly redefined.”
The automobile category fared well in 2017, grew by 23 per cent in the past year. Also in the list of top five risers in 2017, three out of five were auto brands. ICICI Prudential was the top riser with a value growth of 89 per cent. The second fastest riser was Nestle’s Maggi (66 per cent), rebounding successfully from a difficult year as it managed to align itself with the growing trend for nostalgia according to the report. However, brand valuations for Maggi at ~6,331 crore are still lower than the levels touched in 2014 (~7,150 crore).
While banks and automobiles dominate the list, the FMCG sector slowed to a six per cent growth in value in 2017. Vishikh Talwar, managing director, South Asia, Kantar Millward Brown, said that “Demonetisation gravely impacted sectors where the transactions are cash heavy.” However he believes the sector will turn around since the loss in value was due to “the customer’s inability to transact and not loss of love for the brands.”
Among the seven new brands that have joined the league of 50 most valued brands in India this year, all except one (Whirlpool) wear the made-in-India label. “There has been a resurgence of national identity all around the globe and this is reflected in the brands they choose,” said Roth. Still, on some indicators, global brands have an upper hand. Maggi tops the charts of most loved brands with Amazon and Uber beating Flipkart and Ola. Talwar says, “A consumer chooses whichever brand fulfils his set of expectations. A brand need not be Indian but should be rooted in Indian realities.”
Preeti Reddy, CEO, Kantar Insights South Asia believes that it is difficult to capture the essence of India into a single trend. She says, “India is a complex market with multiple realities.” And brands can leverage the Indian market best if they not only change their advertising strategies, but have different product, distribution, and maybe even communication strategy for rural areas. “It is not enough to merely rejig a brand or a product for rural brands,” she says.