Samsung Mobiles tops the list of India's most trusted brands

The Brand Trust Report 2016, a study measuring the primary attributes of trust held in brands, has ranked Samsung Mobiles as India's most trusted brand of 2016.

From the consumer electronics segment, Sony has emerged as India's second most trusted brand. Falling down two ranks from 2015, LG is the third most trusted brand. Nokia is ranked fourth and Tata fifth, both replacing each other's rank from the previous year. The sixth position is held by the automobile giant Honda, which has gained one rank over last year, followed by Bajaj from the diversified category. Dell and Godrej maintain their eight and ninth position for the second year running followed by ICICI, which has gone up by 38 ranks over 2015 at the tenth position from the BFSI category. The report is launched annually by TRA (formerly Trust Research Advisory), a sister company of the Comniscient Group.

The Brand Trust Report, the sixth in its series, is the result of a comprehensive primary research conducted on the proprietary 61-Attribute Trust Matrix of TRA. This year's study involved 18000 hours of fieldwork covering 2500 consumer-influencers across 16 cities in India and generated 6 million datapoints and 20,000 unique brands from which the top 1000 brands have been listed in this year's report.

N Chandramouli, CEO, TRA, said on the occasion of the report's launch, "Samsung Mobiles is India's Most Trusted Brand of 2016 as a result of its constant efforts in bringing consumer value through conscious pricing, great quality and exquisite designs. Samsung Mobiles' strategy of focusing on the core intangibles of its brand is evident from its climb to leadership in BTR 2016. Trust is the sole connector between a brand and a consumer and it is important for every brand to analyze its Trust Quotient very closely."

Among India's 1000 Most Trusted brands, 267 categories were listed. The categories with the maximum brands were Food & Beverage represented by 152 brands, FMCG represented by 128 brands, Automobile represented by 72 brands and Personal Accessories represented by 52 brands.

"Some of the important category leaders in Trust are ICICI (BFSI), Oxford (Education), Bharatgas (Energy), Dove (FMCG), Pepsi (F&B), Dabur (Healthcare), Google (Internet), Prestige (Kitchencare), Birla Cement (Manufacturing), Puma (Personal Accessories), Amitabh Bachchan (Personalities), KFC (Retail), Airtel (Telecom) and SpiceJet (Transportation)," Chandramouli added.

Ace your style with Kate Spade
Reliance Industries subsidiary Reliance Brands Ltd (RBL) has partnered NYSE-listed Kate Spade & Co to launch the multichannel lifestyle brand Kate Spade New York in India. The partnership, in the form of a long-term distribution and retail license agreement, will give Reliance Brands the exclusive distribution rights for India.

The newly formed partnership, RBL said, will leverage Reliance Brands's in-depth market expertise in India and the increasing global demand for Kate Spade New York products. RBL will make the products available by establishing a network of standalone stores across major Indian cities later in 2016.

Commenting on the development, Darshan Mehta, president and CEO, RBL, said, "Kate Spade New York's strong heritage and strong design point of view will resonate with Indian consumers, bringing a new dimension to the women's wardrobe."

Expanding into India, according to Craig A Leavitt, chief executive officer, Kate Spade & Company, is an important next step as the company continues to progress along the geographic expansion axis of growth and build global brand engagement. "With India's rapid development and increasingly aspirational consumers, we see significant growth opportunities in the region in the long term," said Leavitt adding that partner with RBL's experience and success in launching premium brands will help it open standalone stores in India.

Store promoting e-store
Aditya Birla Group promoted fashion portal abof.com is taking the brick-and-mortar route to attract aspirational millennials and introduce them to the world of buying fashion online. To this effect the e-retailer has launched its first abof Experience Zone (AEZ) in Bangalore that will allow potential customers to lay their hands on fresh styles, spot trends, browse through the latest fashion content, try clothes virtually, save wish-list and shop online at their convenience.

Commenting on the experience zone launch, Prashant Gupta, president and CEO, abof.com, said, "We are hoping to be able to encourage more and more people to switch to shopping online through this initiative." The fashion retailer scale the experience with 50 more such experience zones across the country by the end of this year.

Incidentally, redefining the rules of apparel retailing in the country, Madura Fashion & Lifestyle (a division of Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd) had launched in December 2015 a similar initiative, calling it innovative and futuristic retail concept for its apparel brand Van Heusen in Bangalore.

Richmond for travel
Internationally acclaimed travel and lifestyle brand Samsonite has introduced a new luxurious collection of hard-side luggage range called Richmond. Inspired by the elite vintage lifestyle, the collection has been designed at par with handcrafted leather goods or luxury automobiles. Epitomising high quality and durability, each piece is made using an ultra-tough material (Makrolon polycarbonate with genuine leather trimmings) that resists wear and tear, keeps out harmful light, and lasts for years. Available in two colour combinations viz. ivory gold with cognac trim and classic black with black trim and, priced between Rs 21,500 and Rs 26,500, the range is being sold through leading Samsonite Black Label and Samsonite exclusive outlets.

—Compiled by Ashish K Tiwari