Although Indian companies are increasingly spreading their wings beyond the country's border, building strong international brands remains one of the key challenges for Indian businesses, felt Sanjiv Ahuja, chief executive officer of Orange UK and International, and one of the most successful-brand builders in the world.
Ahuja, a member of France Telecom's Group Management Committee, said while Indian companies have good brands, the problem is that not many outside of India know about them.
Citing the examples of Tata -- which he said had spent $1.5 billion buying foreign companies even before its Corus acquisition and earns 30 per cent of its revenues outside India -- as well as Wipro, which has a $25 billion market cap, Ahuja said despite their big businesses and reputation few outside India are familiar with their brands.
"Take Tetley Tea for example," Ahuja said. "Few people actually realize that it is owned by Tatas. Or for that matter, take a look at Wipro, one of the biggest companies that employs 61,000 people. How many people in the US that you meet socially have ever heard of Wipro?" he asked.
"These are not household names [outside India]. Therefore, I very strongly believe the need for very strong international brands, brands that inspire, brands that transcend geography and speak to people in their own languages and brands that are loved around the world," Ahuja said while delivering a keynote address at the 3rd annual South Asian Business Conference at the Columbia University recently.
Noting that building a global brand is not an easy task, he said hardly any Indian company has succeeded in doing it so far.
Ahuja said not one Indian company figures in the list of top 100 international brands, the names of which are published annually by Brand Finance.
"Every year Brand Finance compiles a list of 250 most valuable brands in the world and nine out of those ten brands in 2007 were American -- Coca-Cola was number one, followed by Microsoft, Wal-Mart IBM and Hewlett Packard. The Asian brands were also prominent on the list, including Toyota and Honda, with eight Asian companies in the top 100. Unfortunately, there is not a single Indian brand in this 100," Ahuja said.
Why do brands matter so much?
Pat came the reply from the Columbia alumnus in computer science. "Brands matter because brands determine what we eat, wear and drive. . . and in many ways how we live," he said. "Brands encapsulate our hopes and dreams and aspirations. In some ways they give us an identity," Ahuja said.
According to him, a person who drives a Rolls-Royce makes a statement about himself and his lifestyle, a statement that is instantly understood by anybody who has ever heard of Rolls-Royce.
"But for a brand to work, it has to deliver on its brand promise and deliver it consistently. It must continually meet customer expectations. Great brands like Nike, Google, Coca-Cola, Cadbury do that and do that every single day. They establish a deep lasting bond with their customers," Ahuja said.
In response to a question on how Indian companies could add values to their brands, Ahuja, who began his career at IBM in 1979 as a software engineer, said Indian businesses can start by raising the profiles of the leaders at an individual level.
He said that a business leader with a strong personal brand can become a part of the company's brand.
"Who in this city has not heard of Donald Trump? Some people become brands in their own right whether it is David Beckham or Michael Jordan. Indian business leaders, usually -- and there are exceptions -- are not known for personal flamboyance, but they could be more visible than they are at present," he said.
"But that is not enough. What this is about is Indian businesses and the Indian economy. Indian business should choose to emphasise more strongly their Indian origin. Every nation has a brand and when a country's brand is liked and trusted, people are generally more likely to buy that country's products and services," he said.
To buttress his point he gave the example of Japan, which, he said, has a fantastic national brand that is associated with quality and reliability, which is something that has helped the country.
"People buy products from Lexus and Toyota and Honda because the brands are synonymous with high quality," he added.
Ahuja, whose keynote was received by the 200-odd audience with rousing appreciation, said India does not have as high a profile as Japan, but generally people have a good experience of the Indian brand.
"There are a lot of positive perceptions of India. But they generally side with the growing optimism of the country's future. India's brand is about the promise of India's future. But if people are going to go on believing the Indian national brand, India and Indian businesses will have to deliver on those promises. And deliver consistently," he said.
"Clearly, the government has a role to play in that in getting the regulatory environment right, ensuring that the basic infrastructure like airports is in place and that it works. There is a lot that needs to be done to get the infrastructure to be at an acceptable level," he said.
"But Indian businesses also have a key role in keeping the Indian brand promise of a bright future. And the best way they can do it is to deliver on the promise on their own brands. A strong national brand will influence the people to think of more products and services from that country, leading to greater demand from that country and a higher profile for brand India," Ahuja said.
He was optimistic about Indian brands ultimately making a mark internationally.
"This cynicism [about Indian brands] will go way once there is a belief in the brand of India, belief in the brand of the companies.
Today, India as a nation is a more confident nation and it has started delivering," he said.
"India always had wonderful potential, but it is in the just a decade or so that it has stared delivering on its potential, he added. "It will take a while, because the level of cynicism does not go away overnight, but it will."