· Tata brand value down 4% but Natarajan Chandrasekaran is steadying the ship
· Over half of India’s 100 most valuable brands grew brand value at least 10%
· Indian brands grew in value 15% this year, ahead of the 11% global average
· IT services continue to rise: Infosys up to 4th, HCL to 9th, and Wipro to 11th place
Every year, leading valuation and strategy consultancy Brand Finance values the brands of thousands of the world’s biggest companies. A brand’s strength is assessed (based on factors such as marketing investment, familiarity, preference, sustainability and margins) to determine what proportion of a business’s revenue is contributed by the brand. This proportion is projected into perpetuity and discounted to determine the brand’s value. India’s 100 most valuable brands are featured in the Brand Finance India 100.
Strong brand value growth characterises the 2017 Brand Finance India 100. The total value of India’s top brands has increased 15% this year, ahead of the global average of 11%. 68 of India’s 100 most valuable brands have grown in value this year, with 54 of those enjoying double-digit year-to-year percentage growth. There are however some notable exceptions, including India’s most valuable brand, Tata, which fell to US$13.1 billion from last year’s US$13.7 billion.
There has already been intense speculation as to whether brand value has fallen due to Tata’s board room drama. In Brand Finance’s view this is emphatically not the case. Tata’s Brand Strength Index score in fact improved significantly this year and its brand rating was upgraded from A+ to AA+. Corrective action has been taken quickly and the stakeholders at large have not been significantly affected.
Brand Finance’s CEO David Haigh comments, “The brand value drop of 4% is clearly not positive, however it is a lesser decline than between 2015 and 2016, when brand value fell 11%. Tata is present in a number of industries in which operating conditions are very challenging for all participants. In this context the slight decline can be seen as a stabilisation in challenging times. As Tata’s new chairman, Natarajan Chandrasekaran, settles in and attempts to streamline the conglomerate’s activities, we expect Tata to return to brand value growth soon.”
IT services brands continue to be one of India’s great success stories, dominating not just the national rankings but the international rankings of their sector too. All of India’s major IT services brands have grown in value this year, including TCS within the overall Tata portfolio. Even as other Indian brands perform strongly, IT services brands are managing to improve their national ranks. Infosys is up from 5th to 4th, HCL from 10th to 9th and Wipro from 12th to 11th.
The biggest improvement in rankings however comes from Indigo Airlines which is up from 95th last year to 62nd now. India’s biggest airline recently announced the addition of 35 new routes and increasing frequency on existing ones.
At the opposite end of the scale, the iconic Taj Hotels brand has fallen 14 places to 93rd with brand value dropping below US$300 million. Like so many other hotel brands it has been hit by the impact of technology, with aggregator sites creating pricing pressure and Airbnb introducing competition.
This year’s fastest falling brand is Micromax. The tech firm has lost 39% of its brand value and nearly fallen out of the top 100, placing 95th. Micromax is struggling to compete following the influx of strong Chinese mobile brands such as Oppo and Vivo into the Indian market in the last couple of years.
ITC is India’s most powerful brand. It is India’s only AAA rated brand, with a Brand Strength Index score of 86. ITC has been expanding its strategic presence, beyond tobacco, for over a decade. In the last four to five years it has become a formidable competitor in the food and beverage, personal care, apparel and stationery sectors, challenging incumbents that have dominated those industries for over a century. This broad spectrum of excellence is making ITC a household name across India and contributing to the brand’s strength.
Mahindra, a stalwart of Indian enterprise has re-entered the top ten this year, after posting healthy growth in its flagship automotive division and strengthening its presence in SAARC countries. Mahindra’s agricultural division and its tractors business are well-established strengths while more recent initiatives such as crop-care solutions, seed distribution and power solutions through Mahindra Powerol are poised to accelerate growth. This year brand value is up 21% to US$3.6 billion.
Notes to Editors
For more definitions of key terms, methodology and more stories, please consult the Brand Finance India 100 report document.
Brand values are reported in USD. For conversions into INR, please consult the Brand Finance India 100 report document or hover over the ‘i’ button on the web version of the table and select INR.
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Brand Finance is the world’s leading brand valuation consultancy. Bridging the gap between marketing and finance for more than 25 years, Brand Finance evaluates the strength of brands and quantifies their financial value to help organizations of all kinds make strategic decisions.
Headquartered in London, Brand Finance has offices in over 20 countries, offering services on all continents. Every year, Brand Finance conducts more than 5,000 brand valuations, supported by original market research, and publishes over 100 reports which rank brands across all sectors and countries.
Brand Finance also operates the Global Brand Equity Monitor, conducting original market research annually on over 5,000 brands, surveying more than 150,000 respondents across 38 countries and 31 industry sectors. Combining perceptual data from the Global Brand Equity Monitor with data from its valuation database enables Brand Finance to arm brand leaders with the data and analytics they need to enhance brand and business value.
Brand Finance is a regulated accountancy firm, leading the standardization of the brand valuation industry. Brand Finance was the first to be certified by independent auditors as compliant with both ISO 10668 and ISO 20671 and has received the official endorsement of the Marketing Accountability Standards Board (MASB) in the United States.
Brand is defined as a marketing-related intangible asset including, but not limited to, names, terms, signs, symbols, logos, and designs, intended to identify goods, services, or entities, creating distinctive images and associations in the minds of stakeholders, thereby generating economic benefits.
Brand strength is the efficacy of a brand’s performance on intangible measures relative to its competitors. Brand Finance evaluates brand strength in a process compliant with ISO 20671, looking at Marketing Investment, Stakeholder Equity, and the impact of those on Business Performance. The data used is derived from Brand Finance’s proprietary market research programme and from publicly available sources.
Each brand is assigned a Brand Strength Index (BSI) score out of 100, which feeds into the brand value calculation. Based on the score, each brand is assigned a corresponding Brand Rating up to AAA+ in a format similar to a credit rating.
Brand Finance calculates the values of brands in its rankings using the Royalty Relief approach – a brand valuation method compliant with the industry standards set in ISO 10668. It involves estimating the likely future revenues that are attributable to a brand by calculating a royalty rate that would be charged for its use, to arrive at a ‘brand value’ understood as a net economic benefit that a brand owner would achieve by licensing the brand in the open market.
The steps in this process are as follows:
1 Calculate brand strength using a balanced scorecard of metrics assessing Marketing Investment, Stakeholder Equity, and Business Performance. Brand strength is expressed as a Brand Strength Index (BSI) score on a scale of 0 to 100.
2 Determine royalty range for each industry, reflecting the importance of brand to purchasing decisions. In luxury, the maximum percentage is high, while in extractive industry, where goods are often commoditised, it is lower. This is done by reviewing comparable licensing agreements sourced from Brand Finance’s extensive database.
3 Calculate royalty rate. The BSI score is applied to the royalty range to arrive at a royalty rate. For example, if the royalty range in a sector is 0-5% and a brand has a BSI score of 80 out of 100, then an appropriate royalty rate for the use of this brand in the given sector will be 4%.
4 Determine brand-specific revenues by estimating a proportion of parent company revenues attributable to a brand.
5 Determine forecast revenues using a function of historic revenues, equity analyst forecasts, and economic growth rates.
6 Apply the royalty rate to the forecast revenues to derive brand revenues.
7 Discount post-tax brand revenues to a net present value which equals the brand value.
Brand Finance has produced this study with an independent and unbiased analysis. The values derived and opinions presented in this study are based on publicly available information and certain assumptions that Brand Finance used where such data was deficient or unclear. Brand Finance accepts no responsibility and will not be liable in the event that the publicly available information relied upon is subsequently found to be inaccurate. The opinions and financial analysis expressed in the study are not to be construed as providing investment or business advice. Brand Finance does not intend the study to be relied upon for any reason and excludes all liability to any body, government, or organisation.
The data presented in this study form part of Brand Finance's proprietary database, are provided for the benefit of the media, and are not to be used in part or in full for any commercial or technical purpose without written permission from Brand Finance.
