Consumers crown Colgate, Hero is hero
India’s first consumer awards by Awaaz (part of CNBC TV18) based on a survey by AC Neilsen ORG Marg were presented at Delhi. Winners included Life Insurance Corporation, Maruti, Colgate, Hero, Videocon, Rin, Lux, Titan, LG, Godrej, ICICI Bank, Nokia, Airtel, Tata Group, UTI, National Insurance, Lee and Sharekhan.
The infamous Marlboro Friday announced to the world that the brand was dead and that all brand building efforts by marketers had been in vain. This time around, it was not a Friday but a Thursday (July 7), when a completely different kind of hypothesis was worked out by India Inc. — courtesy the results of the country’s first ever consumer awards carried out on behalf of Awaaz consumer channel (part of the TV-18 India Group) by AC Nielsen ORG MARG. The awards spanned 21 product and service categories like banking, consumer durables, automobiles, lifestyle, telecom and FMCGs across 21 cities and 7,000 respondents. The awards were presented at the Intercontinental Hotel in Delhi — and at an event that was, perhaps, too successful. There was no room for late entrants, who witnessed the proceedings from the comfort of the bar on TV monitors. Praful Patel, Minister for Civil Aviation, and politician-activistactress Shabana Azmi did the honours. Post the presentation, Euphoria, unfortunately, played to an almost empty ballroom — the bar was elsewhere, and that’s where the attendees were. And the winners were…
What is it that makes a brand popular and what are the parameters that influence the consumers to make an informed choice? What brand attributes make for continued brand loyalty? Is it about product quality or imagery or a mix of both? These are only some of the questions that brand managers have been grappling with for years. And with the results of this survey, marketers can hope to get some answers.
With the explosion of choices available today, it is the humble consumer, who is the king of all he surveys. The millions of rupees spent on brand building are after all targeted at him. And in the end, it is the consumer
alone, who decides which brand stays in the marketplace. The results are out and so is the soul searching. The brands that made it can take some time out to rest on their laurels; the ones that didn’t can start reworking their brand mantras.
In fact, while delivering the keynote address, Civil Aviation Minister Patel said, “The Indian
consumer is driving the economic growth today. The demographic profile of people is changing as the purchasing power is increasing. Today, the consumer is the king driving the business and this is a great platform to recognise and honour that consumer.”
