Brands
BrandZ to launch second report in September 2015
MUMBAI: Ever since coming to power in 2014, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made frequent foreign visits, and his purpose of travel was to promote a brand – “Brand India.” Be it Madison Square in the US or Allphones Arena Sydney or the recent Middle East trip, Modi was concisely making efforts to convey the message that India is a destination for business explorers and investors. The argumentative Indians argued the pros and cons of every travel of his, though the Indian diaspora welcomed him with full houses, claps and slogans, back home he earned titles like NRI Prime Minister etc.
A little more than one year down the line, what impact did Modi’s foreign visits have? Has “Brand India” succeeded in making a mark in investors’ mind? Has a government with absolute majority made a big difference in bringing in adequate reforms, which in turn will enhance the brand value? Where are Indian brands placed in terms of brand valuation, are they forging towards being dominators or do MNCs still stand tall in the top spot when it comes to brand valuation?
The second edition of the BrandZ Top 50 Most Valuable Indian Brands, which will be released by WPP and Millward Brown on 9 September, 2015 will answer many such questions.
BrandZ is a global rankings study that uses a unique brand valuation methodology that combines officially released financial data and consumer-driven brand equity measurement to calculate brand value. The valuation studies were introduced globally in 2006, in China in 2011 and Latin America in 2012 and have received an overwhelming response internationally.
Speaking to Indiantelevision.com, Millward Brown South Asia director Prasun Basu says, “The study will reveal key insights on trends in the Indian market by WPP companies across India, insights into how brands drive financial growth, the brands with the greatest potential for growth, the elements that have led to successful brand building in India and the way forward for building valuable brands in India.”
The study analyses brands across various key business sectors including banking, automotive, telecom, personal and household care, foods, beverages, and insurance.
Basu asserts, “Clear and concise communication, which has a concrete purpose gives brands the wings to fly. Communication is an important aspect, which impacts a brand and now with social media proliferation, consumer insights are easily accessible. Brand communication managers need to be on top of the data and curate communications around that.”
“We created a stock portfolio of the BrandZ Top 50 Most Valuable Indian Brands 2014 and compared its performance over the past five years with the performance of India’s Sensex. Between May 2009 and May 2014, The BrandZ India Top 50 Portfolio appreciated 201 per cent compared with a rise of 74 per cent for Sensex. The BrandZ India Top 50 Portfolio includes all the brands in BrandZ Top 50 Most Valuable Indian Brands. Sensex is a weighted Index of 30 stocks listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange,” adds Basu.
BrandZ collates data by studying more than two million consumer insights, interviewing over 25,000 consumers directly. “In 2015 edition of the report, we will have over 500 categories and 200 brands analysed,” informs Basu.
“Last year’s report had many encouraging factors for the Indian marketplace and brands, Banking sector’s HDFC topped list followed by telecom giant Airtel, the report subtly told the entire fraternity that there is huge potential of growth,” he adds.
“India is at the threshold of becoming an economic superpower with evolved consumers. The process of valuing brands paves the way for growth strategies for various Indian companies in an otherwise very competitive environment. The report also consists of inputs and opinions by brand experts across WPP companies in India that highlights the dynamic nature of the Indian market and brand-building strategies. This year’s report will have a lot of positives and that’s all I can say before its launch,” concludes Basu.
Brands
Ahmad Muneeb elevated to VP – HR centre of excellence at Zepto
MUMBAI: Zepto has elevated Ahmad Muneeb to vice president – HR centre of excellence, placing him at the helm of the company’s total rewards, executive compensation and organisational effectiveness as the quick-commerce firm powers through a high-growth phase.
The move follows his stint as senior director of the HR COE, where he played a central role in preparing the company for IPO readiness while scaling its people analytics capabilities. During this period, Muneeb helped align complex performance management structures with more streamlined and scalable employee experience frameworks.
In his new role, he will steer the design of total rewards strategies, executive compensation planning and organisational design, while also overseeing performance management, employee experience initiatives and people analytics programmes.
Before joining Zepto, Muneeb spent nearly three years at Meesho, where he held multiple rewards and HR business partner roles. Earlier in his career, he worked as a senior rewards consultant at Mercer, advising high-tech clients on compensation benchmarking, pay structures and talent-focused reward frameworks.
He began his hr journey at Cognizant, where he supported compensation programmes for nearly two lakh employees across India and worked on m&a compensation alignment and skill-based pay initiatives. Prior to moving into HR, Muneeb started his career as a software engineer at Netcracker, bringing a technical grounding to his people strategy work.
With a mix of consulting rigour, start-up agility and enterprise-scale experience, Muneeb’s elevation signals Zepto’s continued focus on building robust people systems as it races towards its next phase of growth.
Brands
Dell names Aishwarya Sudhakar director of marketing intelligence
INDIA: Dell Technologies is doubling down on artificial intelligence in marketing. The company has elevated Aishwarya Sudhakar to director of marketing measures and intelligence engineering, tasking her with building an enterprise-wide framework for AI-led measurement and customer intelligence.
In the role, Sudhakar will oversee unified data strategy, advanced modelling and context engineering: areas increasingly central to how large technology firms link marketing performance to business outcomes. Her remit includes shaping scalable systems that support Dell’s next phase of AI deployment across marketing functions.
Sudhakar steps into the position after holding a series of senior roles at Dell, including AI lead for marketing orchestration, senior manager, and senior data scientist in customer insights. Across these roles, she led global teams working on large-scale machine learning models, data pipelines and customer analytics.
Before joining Dell, she began her career at Tata Consultancy Services as a systems engineer and later founded Oclor, a shopping discovery start-up, where she built end-to-end technology platforms. The combination of enterprise-scale data work and entrepreneurial experience has shaped her focus on product-led, engineering-first innovation.
As technology companies seek sharper attribution and intelligence in an AI-saturated market, Dell’s move underscores the growing importance of marketing measurement as an engineering discipline rather than a reporting function.
Brands
Gaurav Pathak returns to Adidas in key accounts leadership role
GURUGRAM: Adidas has appointed Gaurav Pathak as director of key and field accounts, bringing back an executive who began his leadership career at the company.
In the role, Pathak will be responsible for deepening strategic partnerships and expanding key, field and export accounts, with a mandate to accelerate growth across the Indian market. The appointment marks a return to Adidas after nearly a decade across premium retail and footwear brands.
Pathak most recently served as head of retail and business development at Ecco, where he focused on partner-led growth, market risk mitigation and operational scale. Before that, he spent eight years at House of Anita Dongre Limited, rising to general manager and leading regional operations across western and southern India.
His earlier career includes a stint as regional sales manager for Karnataka at United Colors of Benetton India and a six-year run at Adidas, where he held sales leadership roles.
With competition intensifying in India’s lifestyle and footwear market, Pathak’s brief will centre on strengthening field execution while aligning large accounts with Adidas’s broader commercial priorities.
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