There is no doubt that power is shifting to from West to Asia with China and India being in the fore-front. Indian and Chinese economies were the saving grace during the recession period (Europe is still reeling under that). Asian conglomerates are topping charts globaly when it comes to growth numbers.
According to the latest TLG’s index of emerging market ‘Thought Leaders’, 16 of the top twenty brands were indigenous Indian firms. The index jointly released by Globescan along with TLG was based on inputs given by senior execs, newspaper editors & Government ministers – They were asked about the brands with power to change the attitudes and behaviour of consumers, employees or politicians positively.
Top 20 Indian Thought Leaders Ranking
| 1. Infosys Technologies | 11. Hero-Honda Motors |
| 2. Tata Group | 12. Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) |
| 3. Google India | 13. Bharti Airtel Limited |
| 4. Maruti-Suzuki | 14. Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited |
| 5. Larsen & Toubro | 15. Aditya-Birla Group |
| 6. Nokia | 16. The Oberoi Group |
| 7. State Bank of India | 17. HDFC Bank |
| 8. Facebook | 18. Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories |
| 9. Hindustan-Unilever | 19. Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited |
| 10. Mahindra | 20. Hyundai Motor India Limited |
It is interesting to note that Out of top 10, only 3 companies are not Indian companies. While UK & US Thought Leader index are dominated by Technology companies, Indian list has mix of Auto, Manufacturing, FMCG & technology.
Here are the key findings as put across by the TLG Index
- Western brands need to watch out. Self-confident Indians place seven local champions in their Top 10. (UK index had just four indigenous British brands.)
- Index leaders have successfully penetrated Western markets. Infosys (No 1) and Tata (No 2) are both true global corporations, with significant investments in US and UK.
- Top-rated brands exploit high value sectors previously dominated by the West. Infosys develops 3D phone screens. Tata makes Jaguar / Land Rovers.
- Indians value engineering and construction. In India, civil engineering giant Larsen & Toubro comes 5th. By contrast, US and UK dominated by tech and consumer brands.
- Apple fails to crack India. The tech giant topped both US and UK indices, but slumps to 40th in India.
The last particular point is quite interesting – While Apple topped in both western markets, it is placed very lowly in India and it is obvious why – Apple has made India a dumping ground for its products. Probably, in longer run, Apple will regret not giving Indian consumers enough importance.
What do you think?
I think GMR Group has to be in the list… even though its not about ranking n all…
That is really a great achievement. India during recession has shown that what a stable economy we have. Also studies shows that the economy growth rate of India is higher than China which is really a good news. Now the only thing which needed to be done for making Indian economy really strong is the evolution of small businesses.