Top 75 India brands bounce back in value post Covid-19

After a drop in total value, the top 75 brands in India have bounced back to a combined worth of $393 billion, growing at 35 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) since 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic struck.

Topping the rankings this year are Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) with brand value of $45,519 million, followed by HDFC Bank and Infosys at $32,747 million and $29,223 million, respectively, according to the Kantar Brandz 2022 report.

The total value of the top 75 Indian brands had dropped 6 percent in 2020 over 2019 due to a drop in the brand value of companies in the banking and automotive sectors.

"There is a rebound effect compared to 2020. And then there is growth of tech brands including the B2B (business to business) technology category that includes brands like TCS and Infosys, which is now close to 24 percent of our total valuation, and then there is consumer tech that includes Swiggy, Zomato brands which is 11 percent. Both these categories combined have added to the growth," Soumya Mohanty, managing director, insights division, Kantar, a data analytics and brand consulting firm said.

"Technology has seen the highest growth as a category and is one-third of our total valuation. Globally, tech is the driver of growth in overall valuation and there are three countries in the world where technology comprises a significant part of the total valuation. One is the US, then China and India. India is now higher than China in percentage contribution of technology to the total valuation," said Mohanty.

She added that TCS is the new number one and has displaced HDFC Bank, which currently ranks second with a brand value of $32.7 billion. HDFC Bank had held the top position since the first ranking was unveiled in 2014.

"TCS is also one of the brands that has entered the global top 100 most valuable brands ranking and along with Infosys has seen maximum growth in brand value," Mohanty added.

The top 10 most valuable Indian brands contribute over half of the ranking's total value and there has been significant movement at the top in addition to the two most valuable brands switching positions, the Kantar report said.

There are two new entrants, Infosys which has risen to rank third from 12th, and ICICI Bank with a brand value of $11 billion, which has climbed two places to number nine compared with the 2020 rankings.

State Bank of India with a brand value of $13.6 billion has risen four places to rank sixth.

"We have 14 new entrants across 11 categories and there are about 11 startups and the number of startups has increased year-on-year. More startups are entering because they are disrupting the market and have headroom to grow. Also, some of the large ad spenders are startups unlike traditional brands which tend to go dark whenever there is an issue. So they (startups) are investing behind brand building. This is what is helping the startups to grow," said Mohanty.

Brand value of the startups category has increased from $23 billion in 2020 to $44 billion in 2022.

"Edtech and foodtech are the big segments in the startup space and the pandemic has played a role in increasing their brand value. But that is where we have to see how the change in behaviour is going to impact them. With education, we need to be careful because during the pandemic even younger children were taking online courses, which may change a bit. So education is wait and watch, while food delivery is here to stay," she added.

India's leading brands have grown despite global economic headwinds, and putting the disruption from COVID-19 behind them, said Deepender Rana, executive managing director, South Asia, insights division, Kantar.

"The challenge now is to sustain momentum as inflation bites worldwide and consumers and businesses adjust to the new normal. Brand owners will need to work harder to identify and build on what makes them worth paying for and ensure ROI (return on investment) on their marketing expenditure to avoid a margins squeeze," he said.