THE ECONOMIC TIMES, 2 JANUARY 2013

COCA- TOYOTA

ADIDAS TATA MOTORS

PEPSI AXE

FASTRACK AUDI

THUMS UP VOLKSWAGEN

NOKIA FROOTI LAKME

SPRITE VASELINE PEPE JEANS

TWO WHEELERS REEBOK HYUNDAI SUZUKI

(LAPTOPS) MERCEDES MAHINDRA (CARS) HP

(MOBILE What better way than a hot new survey to get you, dear PHONES) (LAPTOPS) BLACKBERRY LENOVO PROVOGUE reader, excited about 2013? Brand Equity's Most

(LAPTOPS) Exciting Brands is a new annual research property from APPLE DOVE DIESEL Brand Equity and Nielsen. It speaks directly to the youth (MOBILE PHONES) SAMSUNG APPY L’OREAL to discover the brands that capture the imagination of these fickle, hard to impress consumers. The survey and SONY VAIO CANON its methodology will be tweaked and expanded in the

(LAPTOPS) YAMAHA SAMSUNG TVS (MOTORCYCLES) years to come, to better represent the universe of brands relevant to young and to capture those that stand (LAPTOPS) (SONY) DELL CYBER-SHOT HARLEY DAVIDSON out as the buzziest, trendiest and most exciting. Hop

(MOBILE PHONES) aboard, and rest assured it's going to be a wild ride TITAN FORD MICROMAX

PHOTO: THINKSTOCK; DESIGN: SHUBHRA (TABLETS) (TABLETS) MIRINDA SONY DELL

FANTA SKODA RAY-BAN

(MOBILE PHONES) BMW SONY TOMMY HILFIGER

MARUTI NIKON NIVEA

MOUNTAIN DEW HTC WILD STONE

(MOBILE PHONES) LEVI'S LG

HONDA CARS TROPICANA SPYKAR

(TWO WHEELERS) (LAPTOPS) HONDA HCL JAGUAR

(MOBILE PHONES) SLICE PETER ENGLAND MOTOROLA

(TABLETS) (LAPTOPS) SAMSUNG ACER KILLER GALAXY

(MOTORCYCLES) 7UP BAJAJ HERO MOTO CORP

APPLE iPAD GM / CHEVROLET REAL

BATA RED BULL UNITED COLORS OF BENETTON

PUMA LEE CALVIN KLEIN

(LAPTOPS) ROYAL ENFIELD LG

(LAPTOPS) WOODLAND TOSHIBA NISSAN

(MOBILE PHONES) NIKE VIVEL KARBONN

MEN I WOMEN I KIDS

PARK AVENUE JOHN PLAYERS SET WET EXPERIENCE THE GENUINE SPIRIT OF POLO AT ATUSPA EXCLUSIVE STORES. For storo dotails, log on to www.uspoloassn.com I For Business Enquiries: [email protected]

Also available al ______ LTfestyte S p Iis Ii gIobu hi stylé (TABLETS) CENTRO APPLE iPHONE FIAT LENOVO stanrnax .J4IHIND IAy1lDI and all Ioadin prern JUl multi brand outlets. THE ECONOMIC TIMES, 2 JANUARY 2013 2-3 I \ Y\ I 2013 is set to be an exciting year for , what with stepping into role of title sponsor at IPL, Coke celebrating two decades in India (and almost certainly Mobile thinking of ways to derail its competitor's LEVI'S MERCEDES AXE NOKIA COCA-COLA ADIDAS official sponsor status), and Thums Up now backed by serial Bollywood -man Salman PARK AVENUE BMW VASELINE BLACKBERRY PEPSI REEBOK Khan. However the excitement around the category and its appeal to the youth is of an PETER ENGLAND MARUTI DOVE SAMSUNG THUMS UP BATA even earlier vintage as the first edition of Most Exciting Brands proves LEE HONDA VIVEL iPHONE PUMA

JOHN PLAYERS TOYOTA LAKME SONY MAAZA WOODLAND

PEPE JEANS TATA MOTORS L’OREAL HTC MIRINDA NIKE

PROVOGUE AUDI NIVEA LG CALVIN KLEIN

DIESEL VOLKSWAGEN WILD STONE MICROMAX MOUNTAIN DEW POWER

TOMMY HILFIGER HYUNDAI SET WET MOTOROLA SLICE CONVERSE Cola Nation SPYKAR MAHINDRA REVLON KARBONN 7UP FILA

Amit Bapna munication. Piggybacking on the growing popularity of football as a sport in India, Pepsi created campaigns he findings of the first ever Most Ex- that set the world's most popular sport against cricket citing Brands survey reaffirm that in and cricketers. The first commercial 'Ab badlega game' spite of supposedly sexier categories like featured the brand ambassador Ranbir Kapoor arguing Going To The Underdogs What Generation Gap? mobile phones and tablets, excitement with a young football fan about why cricket is better. The oth- about colas continues unabated. Three cola er campaign featured cricketers and footballers playing T brands feature in the Top 5 rankings: Coca- against each other — Chelsea's Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard What's a survey Ravi Balakrishnan brand director, Reebok India says, "Our youth When Nokia decided to focus on the youth in Delshad Irani kept the bike in the running for decades. Yamaha at No 14 is an in- Cola emerges as the most exciting brand fol- and Fernando Torres against Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virat Kohli, centric activities predominantly revolve India, Viral Oza, chief marketing officer After teresting case of a brand's aura persisting over a generation lowed by Pepsi at 3 and Thums Up at 5. Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh. The idea was to showcase the without a few didas is the second most exciting brand, around social media. We have a simple strategy claims, the company was up against a chal- uch like the famous recipes handed down generation to (thanks to cool bikes like the RD 350 cc), although its presence in Not bad for a category that was created way back in 1886, possibilities in a country which is cricket-mad but also very football-in- with Reebok (also owned by Adidas) at 8, 'Be Exciting. Not Intrusive.'" Some of these in- lenge: "None of the people managing the brand decades in generation or the stories grandfather started, father the market today is at best niche, with the likes of Hero, Bajaj and when Atlanta based pharmacist Pemberton stirred up a fragrant, terested. For the T20 series that was held in Sri Lanka, the campaign was surprises? Among Abeating the world's most popular sport- clude ‘Tone My Avatar’ on Facebook which al- are young. Some of them were young compared Membellished and son wrote, some brands too are part of Honda way ahead of it. Yet, Yamaha's association with fast and caramel-colored liquid and combined it with carbonated water. As per all about "Na tameez se khela jata hai na tameez se dekha jata hai" (rough- ing goods brand Nike at 33. In the mobile lows people to follow the lead of a virtual per- to me but were not part of the core target." He the market the family album. It doesn't matter how much and how furious bikes does make it more exciting than its Japanese coun- legend, the concoction initially sold a measly 9 glasses at five cents a glass ly translated as the rules of the game have changed — it is no more the curveballs thrown handset space, Nokia at 6 and BlackBerry at 10 sona to a few calories. Reebok created what believes the results of Most Exciting Brands fast the times change, the new family-tree branches or the new terpart in India (Honda), which comes in at No 24. for almost a year. Today Pemberton's creation, famously known as Coca- played or viewed in the same decent manner as it was done earlier). All are considered more exciting than Samsung it claims is the first ever online flash mob by up- vindicate the company's decision to step out of catering to brands that get launched. A mere handful of brands have man- As Roy Kurian, national business head, India Yamaha Motor, Cola, is a ubiquitous brand, selling in over 200 countries and all set to cel- the campaigns have the same irreverence and tongue-in-cheek tonality. in the first edition of Mobile that hangs shy of the Top 10 at 12 or the loading a series of videos sent in by users its comfort zone, to the point of coming up with aged to appeal not just to the customers who made them, but to says with every generation the brand has tried to match their ex- ebrate 20 years of its return to India after being exiled Views Samir Gupte, president, OgilvyAction, the brand activation arm iPhone which is at a distant 35. demonstrating their flexibility via dance. initiatives that made people within the system multiple the next generation, and in some cases, the pectations. Although priced moderately, the from the country in the late 1970s. of the Ogilvy Group, "While advertising tries to create imagery for these Most Exciting Brands While Adidas declined to comment on the re- Besides it has started a series of branded a little uncomfortable. The result: aggressive one after. How do they do it? In a world full aim always is to create an aura of exclusivi- Competitive brand battles are nothing new, brands non-traditional media, be it activation, events (sporting and sults, the brand has a long history of engagement gyms in Delhi and Mumbai and aims to enter all on-ground promotions like 'Blown away by Lu- generations of consumerist philandering how do ty. Kurian shares an example of just that. In but few have been waged as consistently as others) or concerts help build differentiation and association with are a few marketers with cricket particularly with Sachin Tendulkar, categories of fitness from the usual suspects mia', and films like a recent one for the Asha 311 these chosen few manage to attract and re- 2008 when they launched the R15, there was a the cola wars. To the people working on the brands especially in this category." Come India's Most Admired Sportsperson (see Page 4). like running and aerobics to the more exotic, which establishes that it's a phone more for the of consumers, tain the attention of multiple genera- "no-test ride" policy in effect. "So people did these brands, there is seemingly never a 2013, Pepsi is set to jump headlong into its who have given Perhaps the greatest and most successful adver- like yoga and dance. young brat than for his 's middle-aged tions? And, as if that's not Herculean say 'we go to Mercedes and we'll get a test dull moment. Says Santosh Padhi, co- IPL association as the title sponsor. tisement for the brand is seeing Tendulkar step The survey comes as good news for both friend. Even 'Trendify', Nokia's latest campaign some brands enough, these brands have managed to drive, but not for this one lakh bike,'" he re- founder, Taproot India, "In a category Thums Up is one brand that has global (and out to bat for the last decade and a half wearing brands especially considering they found them- for the newly launched Lumia 510 is squarely stay in the "exciting" realm when it comes calls. Those who love the brand liked the con- like this, where the product is not there been keeping the testosterone levels Adidas ST shoes, a co-branded range. Realising selves in the midst of a controversy through aimed at the young. Says Oza, "We know kids still have it to the holy grail of marketers, the youth, cept and bought it, test ride not included. to sell (unlike a mobile where the fea- high with its macho star associa- that backing just one sport — however iconic and mid 2012, the full impact of which continues to like to share and there's social currency in- that's generation now. Thus, making Yamaha, in essence, a commu- tures are being sold) what is being tions — on TV and print as well on sometimes even local) mass popular — is unlikely to pay off in the long unfold. The global operations of Adidas alleged volved in sharing. Even if you are not a trend, While most brands on Brand Equity's nity brand in the country. ` —— pushed is the imagery and all three ground. The signing of Salman run, Adidas has increased its focus on football fraud that it estimates to be to the tune of 870 you spot one and it makes you cool." list of Most Exciting Brands in the coun- According to Shripad Nadkarni, founder brands have done a damn good job, when Khan as brand ambassador in market leaders a with training programmes from Chelsea FC and crore. A recent audit report by E&Y indicates BlackBerry claims it started addressing the try have been around for their fair share director, MarketGate, what sets these brands compared to any other category." 2012 has worked particularly FC Bayern Munich. It recently sponsored Bass- fake sales deliberately engineered to show exag- youth at the time when it began moving past the of time, some have witnessed not one but apart is their ability to constantly innovate The cola brands have been on a journey well, especially with his dream trouncing camp, an electronic music festival held in Mum- gerated revenues for the Indian operations of enterprise segment. Says Krishnadeep Baruah, two or three generations go by. Maruti, Ti- that has resulted in broad basing their ap- of constant reinvention, building their run at the box office with Ek Tha bai and Delhi, making a serious entry into a more Reebok. McPherson admits the controversies director - marketing, BlackBerry India, "When tan, Bata and Yamaha (all in the Top 30 peal beyond the core. Consider Titan at 16. brands around cultural references, including Tiger and Dabbang 2. Prior to youth lifestyle oriented space. have had some impact on marketing: "Things we looked at the category in 2009, the data point- Most Exciting Brands) are some stand-out This division of the Tata Group was set up in cricket, football, adventure, music and films. Khan coming onboard, the brand In the case of Reebok, Steve McPherson, did slowdown in the middle half on the retail ed to the fact that the smartphone intenders examples. 1987; today it has the lion's share of the Says Tanuka Ghoshal, assistant professor - market- used the South-based star Mahesh and media front. Our strategy through this year were between 15 and 25 years of age." The com- For Maruti it all began with our version watch market in India and is the fifth largest ing, Indian School of Business, "For a low in- Babu as its face with the campaign Aaj was to keep the momentum alive through social pany claims to have addressed this segment via of the iconic VW Beetle, the Maruti 800. watch producer in the world. In 1992 it volvement product that's often purchased on im- kuch toofani karte hain (let's do some- media initiatives and asset activations like a fresh model launches, introducing colour op- Now of course the car maker has a lineup launched Titan Raga, a range exclusively for pulse, and where brand loyalty is typically low, thing exciting today). CrossFit Activation with our global ambassa- tions, working with operators for more econom- of products ranging from swanky hatch- women (the first of its kind) at a particularly sales thrive on one and only one thing: The challenge for all these brands is to adapt to a dor Lewis Hamilton." ical monthly plans and building BBM as a backs to utility vehicles that'll make the pivotal time for the country and economy. salience and top-of-mind recall." In her view, world in which one-way communication is giving way to Faced with a massive stock surplus, both closed, secure social media platform. Besides, compact 800 look just like a fly on its wind- Since then the brand has expanded its busi- this is what leads to a category that is overac- two-way consumer engagement and participation. Adidas and Reebok had one of the most com- an app allowed young users to prepare for apti- shield. But, according to Mayank Pareek, ness verticals from watches to eye wear and tive with each brand vying to outdo the other Shares Samyak Sanjoy Chakrabarty, chief youth mar- prehensive sales ever seen in the Indian retail tude tests using their BlackBerrys. When asked chief operating officer, Marurti Suzuki its consumer segment from young adults to on share of voice and consequently share of keter, DDB Mudra Group, India, "It would be harakiri to landscape. Everything in the stores was on of- about how it feels having beaten Samsung Mo- India the key to the car maker's success, teens with the Fastrack brand that's quite mind. The brands strive to achieve this take this target audience for granted, and that's why the fer, not just a stray shelf with designs and bile reputed to be the value leader in the Indian and its longevity, in the Indian market is simply a far cry from the mother brand's through a plethora of exciting and creative cola brands are always engaging with them whether colours that no one wanted. A lot of previously market, Baruah says, "We are really excited at ACE. It's not a car or a complex formula or more elegant and timeless appeal. Says Nad- campaigns. through presence at the key touch points such as canteens, pricey models with loads of badge value were having been able to make an impact on a seg- an abbreviation of company jargon that will kani, "Brands like Maruti and Titan have been For Coca-Cola, the leader of the pack in this bars, college events, or live events and properties like the suddenly a lot more accessible. The company is ment that we clearly identified and worked very strain those brain cells. It simply stands for Anticipate, Create, in complete synch with the changing Indian consumer." survey, what worked well was the insight of inte- Coke Studio etc, which ensure top of mind recall." not willing to admit it, but this just may have hard to meet the needs of. If you don't offer rele- Engage. Step one, anticipating the wave of change, which is cru- The same applies to shoe retailer Bata. Before the age of Choos grating the brand with popular culture, through its In this task, the role of digital and social media is pivotal. played a role in making the youth view these vant product services, your offering will have no cial. To identify a trend at the decisive moment of its arrival and and Manolos, Indians traveled to Bata stores to stock up on every- campaigns and on-ground properties, informs Anupa- Today's youth is consuming multiple screens and brands are cog- brands more favourably. While reiterating value." For his part, Srivastava considers him- not when it has matured is perhaps the key to what follows. For thing from black school shoes for the kids and rubber ones for ma Ahluwalia, VP - marketing, Coca-Cola India. Campaigns nisant of this reality. Different brands are doing this with varying de- Reebok's commitment to the Indian market, self baffled by the success of Nokia and Black- instance, Pareek points out over the past eight years the average rainy days for the whole family to more formal wear for that first like "Ummeed wali dhoop, sunshine waali aasha" that exhorted people to grees of success and engagement. For instance, Pepsi's football cam- McPherson clarifies, "2012 is an exception. The Berry. He says, "Samsung is a strong brand. car buyer is seven years younger than he used to be. Now that's interview. With stores across the country, in towns both big and believe in a "better tomorrow", followed by the summer campaign, which paign generated a huge volume of conversation on social media — it implementation of the sale should, hopefully, Maybe the fact that it is in many categories significant in high-value purchase categories like auto. However, small, Bata has been providing sole for the nation since 1932. At profiled cricket as India's most loved sport and featured the iconic reached out to more than 150+ million users online and garnered close not be seen as a method to measure the per- meant the focus was a little diluted. I think the he says, just recognising changes in consumers and buying pat- No 29 Bata is one brand that has survived over generations, but Sachin Tendulkar, and finally the Coke and meals campaign, which to 570 million impressions across all platforms. Pepsi T20 Football formance. Rather it should be seen as a means youth likes brands that are exclusively their terns is not enough, "You have to create the appropriate products clearly rivals like Adidas (at No 2) and Reebok (No 8) enjoy much spoke of happiness around mealtimes, seem to have worked well for the Facebook activation got 2.5 million engaged users and added 1 million to sort out the disarray, if any, and pave the way own. Maybe Samsung is more mainstream." He to fit that change." Then comes the third element of ACE that is more mind space. brand in creating buzz. new fans. The way forward for cola companies, will be to invest exten- for a healthy future in the business." Adman however adds, "Relative positions are more im- engagement. What appeals to father and mother will certainly At the end of the day though what these examples make abun- Pepsi positions itself as "a curator of pop culture across the world." sively in creating experiences that allow on-ground activation and dig- turned marketing consultant Suman Srivasta- portant than absolute ones." The true test will not always appeal to son and daughter. The tools of engagement dantly clear is the fact it doesn't matter if you are an analogian or The excitement has been kept alive by carrying forward it's iconic ital media to converge seamlessly. va of Marketing Unplugged suggests, "Both in be if these brands manage to hold on to their may change with time, but the brand values don't. a digital native. When the brand sticks to the right chord, age be- 'Change The Game' plank shares Homi Battiwalla, EVP - Colas, Hydra- terms of product and pricing Reebok and Adi- hard won spots next time around. And that is something Yamaha, the Japanese brand has at- comes just another number. tion & Mango Drinks, PepsiCo India. The campaign re-energised the [email protected] das are perhaps more Indianised," as a reason tempted to master over the years. Their "Kando" philosophy, brand. In 2012 the same central thought was carried forward in all com- for their impressive ranking. [email protected] that's Japanese for excitement, loosely translated of course, has [email protected] Methodology AA ------

he Most Exciting Brands survey was were considered relevant for the youth and in- QUANTITATIVE BRAND EVALUATION 'completely applicable to the brand'. carried out among 15-24 year old youth, cluded Accessories, Apparel, Auto - four METHOD: STAGE 3: The final brand rating was arrived T belonging to SEC A households. The wheeler, Auto - two wheeler, Cameras, Cold STAGE 1: Each respondent was asked to indi- at through the following steps:- study was conducted in four cities — Beverages, Laptops, Mobile Phones, Personal cate the familiarity for each brand on a four- GStep 1: Average score for each respon- Bengaluru, Delhi, Kolkata and Mumbai. The Care, Sportswear/Footwear and Tablets. point scale: dent = (Attr1+Attr2…+Attr6)/6) design sample per city was 156, and the total These 141 brands were divided across six 1 - I have not heard of this brand GStep 2: Multiply the brand score by the design sample was 624. Interviews were con- matched panels on demographic parameters 2 - I have heard of this brand, but know noth- familiarity score/weight. This was either ducted at Graduate and Post-Graduate col- at the city level. Each brand was ing about it 3 or 4 as those rating the brand 1 or 2 on fa- Accessories4 Camera Laptop leges in each city. The study is considered to evaluated by 104 re- 3 - I have heard of this miliarity were directly considered to have be representative of the youth within each spondents in total. brand and know a little a brand excitement score of zero given city. In order to ensure about it GStep 3: The total of all the brand scores The study construct was based upon the that no major brand 4 - I have heard of this (across respondents) was calculated and methodology of Brand Equity’s Most Trusted which may be per- brand and know it quite then divided by the total number of re- Brands. Respondents were asked to evaluate ceived as 'exciting' well spondents (including those with score of 0 FASTRACK YAMAHA CYBER-SHOT (SONY) APPLE GALAXY (SAMSUNG) each brand they were 'familiar' with on a set of by the youth in gen- as described in step 2) i.e. the average was attributes on a 10 point scale. eral was missed, STAGE 2: The re- taken on the overall base of respondents i The Brand Equity editorial team along with each respondent spondent evaluated who were asked about that brand, i.e. cod- the Nielsen research team discussed and re- was asked one all brands that had ed 1/2/3/4 in familiarity scale to get the i TITAN HONDA NIKON DELL iPAD (APPLE) viewed various researches done among youth open ended ques- been rated by overall brand score. on 'brands' to arrive at this list of attributes for tion at the begin- him/her as 3 or 4 on i the study. The following six attributes were ning of the survey the familiarity scale Thus, the final score for each brand is on a identified: — the brand they stated above. Those base of all respondents, irrespective of their Attribute 1: "This brand sets the owner or user considered the most who rated any brand as level of familiarity. RAY-BAN BAJAJ CANON LENOVO SONY apart as a trendsetter" exciting — irrespec- 1 or 2 on the familiarity This final brand rating for all the brands is Attribute 2: "This is a brand to aspire for" tive of product/service scale were not asked to directly compared and sorted in descending or- Attribute 3: "This brand is fun/lively" category. evaluate that brand (their der to determine the Most Exciting Brands. Attribute 4: "This brand has got style" As expected, outside the individual brand excite- Apart from evaluation of the brands on pa- i Attribute 5: "This brand does exciting advertise- pre-listed 141 brands, only a ment score was consid- rameters of excitement, these respondents TIMEX ROYAL ENFIELD FUJIFILM SONY VAIO DELL ments/events /communication" handful of brands were listed as ex- ered to be zero) were asked to indicate their most admired i Attribute 6: "This brand is edgy/irreverent" citing by fewer than 1% of the respondents. I Respondents were asked to react to a battery icon or the person they admire the most in After considerable brainstorming by Hence, only these 141 pre-listed brands were of six statements that define brand excite- Sports, Politics, Business and Entertainment. i Brand Equity and the research team at included in the final ranking. The data was ment on a '1' to '10' scale where '1' would mean This question was completely open-ended. CASIO SUZUKI LUMIX (PANASONIC) SAMSUNG LENOVO Nielsen, 141 brands were selected for field- weighted to correct for actual sample achieve- that the statement 'doesn't apply to the brand They were also asked to indicate the sporting work. These brands covered categories that ment at centre level. at all' and '10' would mean that the statement is activity they found most exciting.