TCS tops India's most valuable brand list: Kantar BrandZ

For the second time in a row, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) with a brand value of US$43 billion has retained the number one position in Kantar BrandZ Top 75 Most Valuable Indian Brands Report.

The 10th anniversary edition of the report also saw HDFC Bank, Infosys and Airtel hold on to their positions in the Top 4 brands, followed by State Bank of India which moved up the rankings by one place to enter the Top 5 mark.

Kantar BrandZ Top 10 Most Valuable Indian Brands 2023

Kantar BrandZ Report also points out the Automotive category produced the Top 75’s two fastest risers: TVS (No.51; $1.90bn) and Mahindra (No.47; $2.01bn) and achieved the second highest category growth at 19%.

Moreover, India’s automotive brands have quickly responded to changing consumer needs, notably the shift in preference from hatchbacks to SUVs, and the demand for electric vehicles.

TVS gained 59% in value and leapt 24 places thanks to a number of successful product launches and a 10-year partnership with BMW that gives it leverage in markets such as Europe, the US and Canada. Mahindra, which grew its value by 48%, has made itself incredibly meaningful in Indian consumers’ eyes and has also significantly boosted its salience.

However, the ranking’s 16 Financial Services brands contribute the biggest chunk of its total value. They grew 6%, thanks to the boom in digital banking, led by Axis Bank (No.17; +28%) and ICICI Bank (No.6; +18%).

In addition, the Telecom providers also performed strongly, resulting in a 17% rise in total brand value. Airtel (No.4; +29%) took full advantage of the end of the price wars to focus on what makes it special and relevant to Indian consumers’ lives. This included offering differentiated digital services, such as the Xstream entertainment app and the Wynk music app. Airtel has also successfully leveraged the rapidly increasing demand among businesses for data and connectivity-related solutions, and digital products that enable the delivery of an enhanced omni-channel customer experience.

Notably, there were four newcomers to the 2023 Indian brand ranking, plus two re-entrants. PhonePe – the highest entry at No.21 – has quickly become India’s leading digital payment app by investing heavily in the strength of its infrastructure, building connections with partner banks, and developing a huge network of merchant acceptance points. Also making their debut are fintech brand Cred (No.48; $2.0bn), photo and video sharing app ShareChat (No.67; $1.33bn) and entertainment platform Star (No.71; $1.30bn).

As per Deepender Rana, Executive Managing Director- South Asia (Insights Division), Kantar, the Kantar BrandZ Top 75 Most Valuable Brands is a global property which is conducted in 51 countries and 522 categories which include 19,250 brands across the world. In fact, it is a big data system which has collected 4.1 billion consumer reviews across 5.4 billion data points.

“For calculating the brand values for this report, we look at marrying two things- the market perception of the brand, and the consumer perception. However, through this report what we really try to highlight is that strong bands matter to the real-life value of the brands as reflected in the stock market and that even when the stock market declines, these strong brands tend to decline less than their competitors and when the market picks up, they bounce back faster than the weaker ones as they are supported by stronger consumer equity,” he added.

With a combined brand value of $379 billion, the top 75 brands in India, have undergone a modest decline of 4% from the previous year given the ongoing economic volatility, globally, which in itself is a testament to Indian brands’ resilience, stability and consistency.

This modest decline, in his view, has been driven by brands in the Business Technology and Services Platforms category, which have a major presence in international markets, and therefore have been impacted by global pressures, recession threats and geopolitical instability.

This year marks the 10 anniversary of the ranking of India’s most valuable brands, during which period the Top 50 have increased almost fivefold in value, from $69.6bn in 2014 to $339.9bn in 2023.

The last decade is a story of strength and resilience because 33 of the brands in the current Top 75 were also in the 2014 ranking.

“The strength of the domestic economy has acted like a shield and that went with Overseas contribution for the Top 30 Indian brands accounting for 31% of brand value, compared with 47% for Japan, 59% for the UK, and 85% for France has protected the ranking from the worst effects of international volatility,” the report stated.

The companies behind India’s most valuable brands have consistently outperformed the key market indices – the SENSEX and the NIFTY50 – with share price growth over 10 years of 99.6% compared with 83.2% and 81.7% respectively.

Furthermore, Rana also stated, “It has been India’s decade. Our GDP has almost doubled with an 82% growth, while the world GDP has grown at 30%. This delta is even more when it comes to the most valuable Indian brands, which have almost quintupled in value (4.9 times), compared to the most valuable global brands, which have grown by 2.4 times. So Indian brands are significant value creators for our economy. We expect this trend to accelerate in the next decade as Indian brands don’t just thrive in India, but also explore growth overseas in their quest to become true multinational giants.”

To this, he added, “Our IT services brands have already done that, with TCS and Infosys already featuring in the Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brand list. The strongest Indian brands have forged powerful connections by consistently adding value to people’s lives, and consumers see them as different to their rivals in ways that really matter. Brands must keep investing in building equity to create future demand, even as they capture existing demand which requires a better balance between short- and long-term strategy.”

Moreover, Soumya Mohanty, Managing Director and Chief Client Officer- South Asia (Insights Division), Kantar, also opined that there is great diversity within the India Top 75 brands as they are a combination of established names and dynamic young brands, both global and local in footprint and what unites them all is their ability to be essentially Indian.

“Through a deep and detailed understanding of consumers in the market, and adopting the local culture and ethos, even huge international brands are seen and cherished as ‘homegrown’. The trust and loyalty this engenders has helped Indian brands to suffer less and recover more quickly from the storms that have buffeted them over the past 10 years,” she said.

She also went on to add that while there are three pillars to the way one creates brand equity- being salient, being meaningful or relevant and differentiation, what has not grown is actually the last pillar which is differentiation and it has about a 24% contribution to brand equity.

On another note, the Kantar BrandZ Most Valuable Indian Brands report also mentions how sustainability credentials have a major influence on consumer decision-making.

“Almost 9% of Indian brands’ Demand Power – a Kantar BrandZ measure of the ability to drive predisposition to buy – comes from perceptions around sustainability. However, only 8% of brands in India are seen as leaders in this area, compared to 11% globally, indicating an opportunity for those that can do more,” the report highlighted.

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