Value of BrandZ Most Valuable Indian Brands soars 34%

In their strongest year yet, the collective value of India’s Top 50 brands grew 34%. WPP and Kantar’s BrandZ™ Most Valuable Indian Brands analysis reveals brand value was boosted by rising consumer confidence, the country’s return to rapid economic growth and consumers becoming increasingly brand aware.

HDFC Bank has retained its No. 1 spot for the fifth consecutive year with a rise of 21% to a brand value of $21.7 billion. The bank has built a reputation for its sustainable livelihood initiative by introducing smaller loans worth as little as $175 that can be accessed via its bank branches.

Trust is an important key driver of brand value, with its impact on corporate performance a key theme in this year’s BrandZ ranking. This is exemplified by HDFC Bank, which continued to build trust by clearly communicating the benefits of its products to consumers and delivering differentiated financial services offerings consistently and repeatedly.

Rapidly evolving marketplace and new brands

The new 2018 ranking has grown from 50 to 75 brands to reflect the strength of India’s growing economy and a marketplace in which more local brands are emerging to present consumers with increased choice.

For the first time, the ranking also incorporates brands from key and growing sectors such as technology (IT services), technology (online); durables and home appliances, tobacco, and entertainment (TV stations). Privately owned brands, where financial information is publicly available, and unicorn brands based on their most recent valuations are also now included. (Full details in ‘Notes to Editors’.)

As a result of these changes, there are seven new entries in the top 15. Insurance brand LIC comes in at No. 2 ($19.8 billion) thanks to the key role played by its pension plan business whilst Tata Consultancy Services ranked No. 3 ($15.0 billion), having leveraged digital technologies to drive growth and business transformation. Other new high-ranking brands include e-commerce retailer Flipkart (No. 11, $4.1 billion), e-comm payment wallet Paytm (No. 12, $4.1 billion) and Zee TV (No. 15, $3.8 billion).

“A booming economy and an increasingly digital world are re-shaping India’s brand landscape and creating new opportunities. Brands that get it right, regardless of whether they are established players or newcomers are reaping the rewards. However, there is no room for complacency in this fast-paced environment where so many ambitious companies are ready to rise to the occasion,” says David Roth, CEO EMEA and Asia, The Store WPP.

Ranking highlights

Other findings highlighted in this year’s BrandZ Top 75 Most Valuable Indian Brands include:

• There are 30 newcomers in the expanded ranking: These include Jio, Flipkart and Paytm, which have all seen growth in brand value, as well as Ola (No.21, $2.7 billion) and travel agency MakeMyTrip (No. 68, $0.8 billion).
• Family dispersion is creating new brand opportunities: With young professionals moving to cities for work, there are openings for brands to offer new services. For example video calls are hugely popular, and have been made feasible for many people through Jio reducing the cost of data. Paytm and the advent of digital banking allow instant money transfers from family members working in the city to their relatives in rural areas. E-commerce brands are riding the boom in gifting, particularly during national festivals.
• India’s most valuable brands are outperforming the market: BrandZ’s Top 50 Portfolio has beaten India’s SENSEX stock market index. The stock portfolio of the India Top 50 increased 39.2% over five years, while the India’s SENSEX rose only 21.4%.
• Automobile and insurance brands lead the growth chart: Four of the Top 10 Risers (brands with the greatest year-on-year value increase in relative terms) are in the automobiles and insurance categories. Auto brands TVS and Maruti Suzuki rose 71% and 56% respectively, with this sector representative of the overall economic growth in India following several consecutive good harvests driving strong rural demand. Insurance brands ICICI Prudential (50%) and Bajaj Allianz (49%) led the way as the sector responds to increasing competition including a government-backed life insurance scheme.
• Financial services (banking and insurance) is the most valuable category: There are eight bank brands in the ranking worth a total of $50.4 billion, followed by insurance, where the five brands included are worth a total of $25.9 billion. Together they make up 35% of the total ranking value.

Background and methodology

The valuation behind the BrandZ™ Top 75 Most Valuable Indian Brands was conducted by Kantar Millward Brown, which specialises in brand equity research and brand valuation. The methodology mirrors that used to calculate the annual BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands ranking, which is now in its 13th year.

Commissioned by WPP, the ranking combines rigorously analysed financial data from Bloomberg and Kantar Worldpanel with the opinions of over 160,000 Indian consumers since 2007, gathered for over 3,438 brands in more than 77 categories. The BrandZ Top 75 Most Valuable Indian Brands is the most definitive and robust ranking of the country’s brands available, and all brands ranked meet the five eligibility criteria:

• The corporate parent is listed on a stock exchange in India. (No change from prior years.)
• The brand originated in India and its corporate parent is listed on a recognized stock exchange outside of India. (New, in prior years, the corporate parent needed to be listed on an Indian stock exchange.)
• The brand is privately owned, but its complete financial statements are publicly available. (New, in prior years only publicly traded companies were eligible.)
• Indian unicorns have their most recent valuation publicly available. (New, in prior years unicorns were not ranked.)
• All banking activities—both B2C and B2B—are now considered. (New, in prior years banks had to earn at least 25% of revenue from B2C activities.

The suite of BrandZ country rankings and reports now covers 17 markets, including China, Indonesia, Latin America, Brazil and Saudi Arabia as well as Spain, the UK, France, Germany, the U.S. and Italy.