Brands
HDFC is India’s most valuable brand: Brandz India top 50 (2016)
MUMBAI: The third annual BrandZ™ Top 50 Most Valuable Indian Brands ranking released by WPP and Kantar Millward Brown has lot of good and something bad for the marketing industry.
On the positive side, the total value of India’s most valuable brands has risen by 30 per cent over the last three years, with the top 50 brands now worth $ 90.5 billion from $ 69.6 billion in 2014. But, unlike 2015, which saw an unprecedented growth in terms of brand equity that pushed the brand value of top 50 brands to USD 92.2billion, 2016 saw a dip of 2 per cent, mostly owing to a decline in brand value of state-owned banks.
Like last year, the financial sector dominated the top 10 spots accounting for 38 per cent of the top 50s brand value ($ 34.28 billion). HDFC maintained its number one position for the 3rd consecutive year with a brand value of USD 14.4 billion following a 15 per cent growth over the past year. It was followed by Airtel from the telecom sector with a brand value of USD 9.98 billion. State Bank Of India with a brand value of USD 6.352 billion stood at number three. “A brand cannot be built unless each one of us at HDFC Bank believes in it. Fundamentally, a brand is what we stand for in terms of the emotional value and the real value that we want to deliver to the customer. The emotional value is a combination of honesty, trust, integrity and being able to deliver the product at all times to the satisfaction of the customer. The real value is to deliver a differentiated product which changes the life of the customer which we have tried to do in financial services by making it more convenient, ” said HDFC Bank managing director Aditya Puri.
Among the new entrants in the top 50 list are airlines Indigo and Jet Airways at 26 and 36 positions respectively, followed by TVS and Reliance at 48 and 50, respectively.
Top 10 most valuable brands here:
|
Rank 2016 |
Brand |
Category |
Brand value 2016 ($m) |
Rank 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
HDFC Bank |
Banks |
14,438 |
1 |
|
2 |
Airtel |
Telecom Providers |
9,978 |
2 |
|
3 |
State Bank of India |
Banks |
6,352 |
3 |
|
4 |
Asian Paints |
Paints |
4,089 |
5 |
|
5 |
ICICI Bank |
Banks |
3,957 |
4 |
|
6 |
Bajaj Auto |
Automobiles |
3,403 |
6 |
|
7 |
Kotak Mahindra Bank |
Banks |
3,333 |
9 |
|
8 |
Maruti Suzuki |
Automobiles |
2,850 |
10 |
|
9 |
Hero |
Automobiles |
2,807 |
7 |
|
10 |
Axis Bank |
Banks |
2,377 |
8 |
Interestingly, the top four ranks remained unchanged from 2015 rankings, something which The Store WPP, EMEA & Asia CEO David Roth calls an anomaly when juxtaposed against other mature markets or the global ranks.
“Until recently in China, the top most valuable brand list was dominated by the state-owned Chinese companies, but now they are being taken over by technology and entrepreneurial companies. The global top 100 brands list has also seen some major changes. So yes, India is a bit of an anomaly as a developing state to see the same brands maintaining their positions for the last three years. But, I think it’s a matter of India’s growth and development cycle.”
But, that says little about the immense competition that each brand faced to retain its position. According to Kantar Millward Brown managing director for south Asia, Dinesh Kapoor, 27 brands had slipped from its last year’s position while seven more brands dropped off the top 50 margin. “Brands required maintaining at least 35 per cent growth in its brand value to be able to hold on to its position,” shared Kapoor.
Another way in which India drastically differs from the global markets is the absence of the technology brands from the top 50 list.
“Be it Global 100 or Asian market giant like China, technology brands have a huge presence in the top most valuable brands list. We see a clear absence of technology brands when it comes to India’s top 50 brands. Although India has been behind the scene of some of the major global technological innovations, it has been more from a service stand point rather than doing it in a branded way. I think there is a lesson to learn in this,” opined Roth.
Kapoor feels that the clear absence of Indian tech giants from the list is largely due to the companies not being listed. “You have to consider the methodology that goes into making this ranking. In order for a brand to be eligible for consideration for the list, it needs to be owned by a company listed on a stock exchange in India. But, most of the tech companies that we speak of aren’t listed. The other big difference from global trends is the retail brands which have a strong presence in the more mature markets, whereas in India, only one retail brand — Reliance Retail — has made it to the top 50 list.
The report also warns marketers of the weakened brand loyalty among consumers. Internet penetration has risen sharply as the number of people living in rural areas accessing internet almost doubled over the past year, with almost 69% of urban internet users using the internet every day. This access educates consumers while providing them access to larger diaspora of premium brands available at affordable prices.
While marketers have a lot to take away from the insight behind BrandZ India top 50 brands report, GroupM south Asia CEO CVL Srinivas shared what agencies can learn from this. “Reports like BrandZ are very useful for us who are in the business of media management for clients. In this age when competition is increasing and consumer’s attention span is decreasing, along with number of policy changes, a consolidated study like this helps us map a better strategy for our clients. For example, the need for a brand to be present in multiple touch points with a singular communication idea and what it does to the brand’s value is the learning.”
Brands
Estée Lauder to shed 10,000 jobs as new boss bets on digital shift
The cosmetics giant raises its profit outlook but stays silent on a possible merger with Spain’s Puig, as job cuts deepen and a three-year sales slump weighs on the turnaround
NEW YORK: Stéphane de La Faverie is not done cutting. Estée Lauder announced on Friday that it plans to eliminate as many as 3,000 additional jobs, taking its total redundancy programme to as many as 10,000 roles, up from a previous target of 7,000 announced a year ago. The company, which owns La Mer, The Ordinary, Tom Ford, and Aveda, employs roughly 57,000 people worldwide. The mathematics of what is now being contemplated is stark.
The fresh round of cuts is expected to generate a further $200 million in savings, bringing the total annual savings from the programme to as much as $1.2 billion before taxes. That money, De La Faverie has made clear, will be ploughed back into the turnaround.
A CEO in a hurry
De La Faverie, who took the helm in January 2025, inherited a company that had endured three consecutive years of annual sales declines. His response has been to move fast and cut deep. A significant portion of the latest redundancies reflects his push to reduce headcount at US department stores, long a cornerstone of Estée Lauder’s distribution model but now a channel in structural decline. In their place, he is accelerating the shift toward faster-growing online platforms, including Amazon.com and TikTok Shop, a pivot that is reshaping not just where Estée Lauder sells but how it thinks about its customers.
The numbers are moving in the right direction
Despite the pain, there are signs the medicine is working. Estée Lauder raised its profit outlook for the remainder of the fiscal year, guiding for adjusted earnings per share in the range of $2.35 to $2.45, above analyst estimates and a notable step up from the $2.05 to $2.25 range it had guided for in February. Organic net sales growth is expected to come in at 3 per cent, the company said, at the high end of the range it set out in February.
The share price tells a mixed story. After De La Faverie took charge, the stock surged nearly 60 per cent, buoyed by investor optimism that a longtime company insider could finally arrest the decline. But 2026 has been rougher: the shares have fallen 27 per cent this year, weighed down by disappointing February results and the overhang of unresolved merger talks with Spanish beauty giant Puig Brands SA. The company gave no additional details about those discussions on Friday, leaving the market to guess.
Silence on Puig
The proposed tie-up with Puig remains the most consequential unknown hanging over Estée Lauder. A deal with the Barcelona-based group, which owns brands including Carolina Herrera and Rabanne, would reshape the global luxury beauty landscape. But with nothing new to say and a turnaround still very much in progress, De La Faverie is asking investors to trust the process.
Three years of sales declines, 10,000 job cuts, and a merger that may or may not happen. At Estée Lauder, the overhaul has barely started.
