Brand Value: Why Indian and international don't mix

The absence of Indian brands in the recently released Interbrand Best Global Brands 2013 was conspicuous, despite large brand value size. Here's the reason why.

After enjoying leading position for 13 years as a globally recognised brand, Apple has toppled Coca-Cola to become the leading global brand, this year. Google, another technology major, has pushed Coca-Cola, the most widely recognised global beverages brand, to the No. 3 spot. The startling finds were part of the 14th Best Global Brands 2013 report released by global brand consultancy firm Interbrand, worldwide on Monday.

Apple was at the No. 2 position last year, while Google was at No. 4. With a brand value worth $98.316 billion, Apple has appeared on Interbrand's annual list since 2000. According to the list, the rising brands are Facebook (No. 52), Google (No. 2), Prada (No. 72), Apple (No. 1) and Amazon (No. 19). The 2013 list also showed Discovery (No. 70), Duracell (No. 85) and Chevrolet (No. 89) as new entrant brands on the list.

Meanwhile, Nokia (No. 57), Nintendo (No. 67) and Dell (No. 61) saw erosion of their value in percentage as well as ranks in just a year. While Nokia, which held No. 19 rank, witnessed a massive 65 per cent dip in brand value, Dell (ranked No. 49 last year) saw 10 per cent decline and Nintendo (ranked No. 56 last year) recorded a descend of 14 per cent. The report also indicated how BlackBerry and Yahoo! have fallen off the list altogether.

Interestingly, the top 5 leading global brands are dominated by technology brands - IBM and Microsoft come in at No. 4 and No. 5 positions - with the lone exception of Coca-Cola as a beverage brand; perhaps, an indication of changing times and the way brands create relevance in customers' lives.

However, what's noteworthy is the absence of a single Indian brand in the list. In its first Interbrand Best Indian Brands 2013 report, which was released in July this year, Tata, Reliance and Airtel occupied the top three positions.

Tata boasts of having $10.907 billion in brand value, which would ideally place the brand between Canon (No. 35, $10989 billion) and Zara (No. 36, $10.821). Yet, that is the not the case. Similarly, Reliance, with $6.247 billion brand value, could earn a place between automobile brands Porsche (No. 64, $6.471) and Nissan (No. 65, $6.203).

But such is not the case. When afaqs! asked why, despite large brand value, Indian brand names couldn't make it to the global list, Ashish Mishra, managing director, Interbrand, explained that Interbrand evaluated a brand as 'global' based on a set of criteria.

Mishra said that there must be substantial publicly available financial data. Secondly, the brand must have at least one third of its revenue coming from outside the country of origin. Thirdly, the brand must have a presence (to the tune of at least 5 per cent of its revenues) coming from North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. Fourth, economic profit for the brand must be positive over the long term. And fifth, the brand must have a public profile and awareness beyond its own marketplace, especially world's top 10 GDP nations.

"While Tata, Reliance and Airtel might fit the first four criteria, they do not as yet have a public profile beyond India (and maybe, some of their export markets). That is why Indian businesses might have become global businesses but they're yet to become global brands," Mishra reasons.

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