Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder while money lies in the vault of the account-holder. But do the twain ever meet? In the past few weeks there were two studies that were released amidst much publicity. One listed India’s most “attractive” brands in 2015. The other was the BrandZ top 50 most “valuable” Indian brands for 2015.
First, the disclaimer: These are two distinct studies done by two separate companies. While the most attractive brands study was done by the Comniscient Group’s TRA Research, the methodology and valuation for the most valuable brands was done by Millward Brown.
Naturally, the parameters for evaluating attractiveness and value were different too. TRA classified attractiveness as a virtue that’s deeper than external appearance. It classified the quality based on four appeals — emotional, rational, aspiration and communication. The premise of TRA was that, “it’s a combination of these four aspects that’s responsible for the quality and force of the magnetic pull in a brand.” The brand valuation methodology by Millward Brown combined consumer research with financial analysis. Its rationale was that brands which succeed are those that are meaningful, different and salient. These three attributes called brand contribution were married with the brand’s financial value to calculate brand value.
But do those brands that fare high on the valuation scale score on the attractiveness front as well? With 13 brands in the Top 50, accounting for 41 per cent (or $38.1 billion) of the total value of India’s fifty most valuable brands, the financial sector dominated the valuation scoreboard. The biggest risers over the previous year were Union Bank of India (ranked at number 46, with a growth of 72 per cent in value), Punjab National Bank (no. 22, +61 per cent) and IndusInd Bank (no.13, +46 per cent). Banks also dominated the top 10 with as many as five slots belonging to that sector.
However, when it came to attractiveness, the sector was a laggard. Valued at $12.6 billion, HDFC Bank was India’s most valuable brand. But the bank came at a distant number 74 on the attractiveness index. India’s third and fourth most valuable brands State Bank of India and ICICI Bank fared only slightly better. They ranked at 65 and 61, respectively, on attractiveness. LIC, which was the leader in the BFSI (banking, financial services and insurance) space when it came to attractiveness, failed to find a spot in the top 50 most valuable brands list.
There was a similar contrast for other sectors as well. In a sector that spends vast amounts of money on branding, Asian Paints was valued at $3.9 billion and was the fifth most valuable brand. However, in attractiveness it was ranked at 238. Another brand in the same segment, Berger, was at 35 in the most valuable list. However, it was ranked at a lowly 409th spot in the attractive brand rankings.
The telecom sector bridged the gap to some extent. While Airtel was India’s second most valuable brand, Idea was ranked 11 on the most valuable index. However, in terms of attractiveness the brands were ranked only at the 18th spot and 30th place, respectively.
In top gearHowever, there was one segment that came out shining in both reports and was consistent both in valuation and attractiveness. That honour belonged to the auto sector. Bajaj, Hero and Maruti Suzuki occupied spots in the top 10 most valuable brands ranked at 6, 7 and 10, respectively. As if on cue, in terms of attractiveness all the three brands were ranked at 9, 11 and 12, respectively — the exception being that Bajaj was ranked as a diversified brand and not just as a two-wheeler maker in the attractiveness index.
Even Royal Enfield, which entered the top 50 most valuable brands for the first time at the 50th place, did not fare too badly on the attractiveness scale as well. It was ranked at the 157th place. But the most attractive brand in the auto space was Honda. Ranked at sixth place, Honda did not figure in the BrandZ rankings (because the valuation study tracks only listed companies). So is there a quick fix to look good and stay wealthy? One could start by asking the automakers.