Brands must not ignore the power of brand equity: Kantar BrandZ report

The recently released Kantar BrandZ India Top 75 report notes brands that invested in brand-building activities accelerated their value by 98%. However, it also highlighted that the average brand power of the top 75 brands has been constantly dipping over the past few years.

Source: Kantar BrandZ India Report 2022

Kantar Insights Division Managing Director Soumya Mohanty noted, “While the top Indian brands showed phenomenal growth during the past two years, in fact, pivoting strongly during Covid by defining consumer trends and benefiting from them, we have noticed a perpetual decline in brand equity. The top 75 brands are still much above the average brand score when it comes to brand building parameters, but the average brand power for these brands, too, is declining.” 

She insisted that brands with a strong brand equity and power could only remain above the rest as she said, “To be a part of the brand sets that beat the sensex, you have to invest in brand equity.” 

Mohanty further shared that three aspects that no company could afford to miss in today’s time are: bringing relevant salience; standing true to their purpose; building responsible brands for a sustainable world. 

As per the Kantar research, brands that developed a relevant salience, meaning the mental availability for consumers in a positive manner, witnessed a jump in their average valuation. 

Source: Kantar BrandZ India Report 2022 

Mohanty gave the example of Oreo that has been offering distinctive indulgence and localised experience through constant innovations. The brand love score for Oreo has risen from 91 in 2019 to 126 in 2022. 

When it comes to brand purpose, brands that have defined a clear purpose and are standing true to them have witnessed a 62% growth in their valuation. Tata Tea’s “Jaago Re” initiative was highlighted stating that a brand staying authentic to the cause and walking the talk would see significant improvement in brand score. 

For Indians, the sustainability goals that matter are very basic wherein they want brands to contribute to causes like: no poverty, zero hunger, good health, clean water and sanitation, climate action, life below water, and life on land. 

Mohanty also emphasised that brands could have a 108% uptick in brand value if purpose is layered with sustainability. 

TCS named India’s Most Valuable Brand 

Meanwhile, in the 2022 rankings for ‘India’s Most Valuable Brand’ Tata Consultancy Services took the top spot away from reigning champion HDFC, with a brand valuation of $45.52 billion. 

HDFC Bank ($32.7 billion), which had held the position since the first ranking was unveiled in 2014, slipped to the second position. 

Explaining the reasons behind the slip, Kantar Insights Division Managing Director Soumya Mohanty said, “The absolute brand value of HDFC has increased like most brands in the top 75. It’s just the relative ranking that has slipped down.

In 2021, Kantar BrandZ Report was about most purposeful brands*

She added, “TCS, on the other hand, has worked extensively well on several fronts, right from being a solid service provider in the global B2B space to being a purposeful brand.”

TCS first entered the Kantar BrandZ list top 10 in 2018 at the third spot with a brand valuation of $14.99 billion. It remained on the third spot in 2019 as well with a brand value of $18.16 billion.

In 2021, Kantar BrandZ Report was about most purposeful brands* 

As per the report, India’s strongest brands have bounced back from the pandemic to increase their brand value by a massive 35% CAGR since 2020, when COVID-19 hit the country. India’s top 75 brands are worth a combined $393 billion, equivalent to 11% of India’s national GDP. There are brands from 23 different categories in the 2022 Indian Top 75. There are a total of 14 new comers, from 11 categories, including online gaming, education, apparel and real estate, reflecting the diversity and dynamism of the Indian economy. 

Here are the top 10 brands: