Samsung tops Most Attractive Brands Index: TRA

Samsung, the South Korean durable goods maker, has regained its top spot in the ‘Most Attractive Brands’ index for 2017. LG and Sony have both dropped a rank lower from the 2016 report to take the second and third rank this year.  Despite the leadership crisis that the company saw, Tata rose three ranks to occupy the fourth spot this year. From the automobile sub-category, Honda ranked fifth after ranking fourth in 2016 and sixth in 2015. The sixth Most Attractive Brand in 2017 was Apple, which has been steadily climbing to this position after ranking 18th in 2016 and 15th in 2015. India’s Most Attractive Brands 2017 is the fourth in the annual report series from TRA Research.

In the FMCG (diversified) category that has seen massive disruption and heavy competition among brands, Patanjali came in at the top leaving Hindustan Unilever far behind. Patanjali has climbed the overall listing from ranking 371 in 2015 to ranking 87 in 2016 to making it to rank 12 in 2017. Hindustan Unilever Limited was ranked 101 in the overall listing and second in the FMCG (diversified) category. 
It came as no surprise that the surveyed population found Apple to be the most attractive technology brand. HP, Dell, Leveno and Acer made it to the top five list. In the Mobile Phones sub-category, Oppo was ranked number one, followed by Vivo, Nokia, Lava and Gionee. The Chinese brands have captured the attention of the Indian consumer. Oppo jumped 69 spots in the overall listing and was ranked 20 in the overall listing while Vivo jumped 184 spots and secured the 26th rank. 
Google was the most attractive internet brand for 2017 followed by online retailer Amazon, social networking website Facebook, e-commerce portal Flipkart, Yahoo! and Whatsapp. Paytm, the mobile application which became a very useful tool in the days following demonetisation was ranked seven in the Internet category. 
In the Television category, NDTV led the index, followed by Aaj Tak, Sony Entertainment Television, Zee TV and Zee News. It is worthy to note that the newly launched Republic TV that has been ranking very highly in the BARC ratings is ranked 10 in the TV category. In the overall ranking Republic came in at 368. In the print sub-category the Times of India ranked number one.
In the automobile category, Honda was ranked number one, followed by Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Toyota, and Mahindra Auto. This is the first time Mahindra Auto made an appearance in the top five list. In the automobile four-wheeler sub-brand category, Audi is ranked first followed by BMW and Mercedes Benz. 
In the footwear category, Bata reigns at the top although the brand slipped in its ranking in the overall ranking from 12 in 2016 to 29 this year. Regional brands like Khadim's and Lakhani came in at the second and third spots in the footwear category ranking.  

Indian brands like Patanjali, along with Himalaya, Cipla, Bovonto, Dabur, Aachi Masala, Khadim's are gaining more consumer confidence and becoming more attractive and trustworthy every year, the report found.