Homegrown brands must do more to reach the top

On only three Indian brands making it to the list of top 10
Though diversified, all three (Tata, Godrej and Bajaj) have come into this list by virtue of what they were and not necessarily by what they are today. While Godrej has been doing a lot with its communications strategy, it will be difficult to find a singular communication from the Tata stable -- Nano is a focus but there is nothing done on a collective manner. As for Bajaj, it is there because of continuous legacy. A lot is still required to be done by the homegrown brands to reach the top.

On spending versus investing towards brand building
Brands these days are largely spending because investing means knowing where the future is going to be. It’s also about knowing where to spend the money. It’s like building a house. So if you buy bricks or cement and other materials for the house then it’s investing. But if you are buying things that have nothing to do with building the house then it’s spending money. Brands need to move towards investing by having a horizon to say that this is where I want to take the brand.

On how to invest in brands
Brands should move away from traditionally available methodology of just working towards making it look good. That’s not the way to do it. Wanting consumers to believe something by showing some one in white dress and saying this toothpaste is good, that is not going to happen.

At some point the brand’s attractiveness will go away. Understanding of the consumer and their preferences is what will build trust and attraction.

On brands using social networks to build trust and attractiveness
Reach in any form is important. Social media allows the brand to have a conversation. A key attribute for any brand is the ability to listen. Those who listen are able to progress better. But social media is also a double-edged sword. Hence, brands should never go on the social medium unless they truly prepared to deal with eventualities.

On TRA’s soon to be introduced tool Brand Pulse
We are targeting December launch for this tool. It allows individuals, brand manager in large and small corporations to use the analysis to put together their brand strategy. It will be a pay per use online service as against a complete report which tends to be very expensive unless you are a large corporate or a media agency.