Kantar BrandZ Top 75 Most Valuable Indian Brands 2023- Report_Under Embargo till Thursday 28th Sept, 7.30 PM, IST..pdf

TATA CONSULTANCY SERVICES/HDFC BANK/
INFOSYS/AIRTEL/STATE BANK OF INDIA/
ICICI BANK/ASIAN PAINTS/JIO/
KOTAK MAHINDRA BANK/HCL TECH/
LIC/FLIPKART/VI/TANISHQ/DMART/
RELIANCE RETAIL/AXIS BANK/
MARUTI SUZUKI/BRITANNIA/SWIGGY/
PHONEPE/GOLD FLAKE/WIPRO/NESTLÉ/
LTIMINDTREE/OLA/SURF EXCEL/MAGGI/
WHEEL/HORLICKS/BAJAJ AUTO/DABUR/
DREAM11/OYO/SBI LIFE/NAUKRI.COM/DLF/
NYKAA/INDUSIND BANK/RAZORPAY/
HDFC LIFE/INDIGO/HAVELLS/
MCDOWELL'S NO.1/BAJAJ ALLIANZ/
BROOKE BOND/MAHINDRA/CRED/HERO/
ADANI GAS/TVS/KINGFISHER/BERGER/
SUNFEAST/TECH MAHINDRA/PAYTM/
ZOMATO/JOCKEY/WILLS/TATA MOTORS/
ROYAL STAG/GLOW & LOVELY/LIFEBUOY/
ROYAL ENFIELD/INDIAN OIL/
ICICI PRUDENTIAL/SHARECHAT/
DOMINO'S PIZZA/COLGATE/
BANK OF BARODA/STAR/MRF/
FORTUNE/LUX/LAKMÉ

5
4
THE TOP 75 MOST VALUABLE INDIAN BRANDS
IN 2023 HAVE A COMBINED VALUE OF YEAR-ON-YEAR CHANGE
TOP 10 MOST VALUABLE INDIAN BRANDS 2023
Brand Value (US$M)
$379 BILLION -4%
TATACONSULTANCY
SERVICES
#1
$42,969
BUSINESSTECHNOLOGYAND SERVICES PLATFORMS
HDFC BANK #2
$33,612
FINANCIALSERVICES
INFOSYS #3
$24,170
AIRTEL #4
$22,517
TELECOM PROVIDERS
STATE BANK OF INDIA #5
$14,483
FINANCIALSERVICES
ICICI BANK #6
$12,976
FINANCIALSERVICES
ASIAN PAINTS #7
$12,839
PAINTS
JIO #8
$11,773
TELECOM PROVIDERS
KOTAK MAHINDRA BANK #9
$10,332
FINANCIALSERVICES
HCL TECH #10
$9,361
COMPOSITION OF THE TOP 75
BRAND VALUE BY CATEGORY
Financial
services
$379 Bn
Telecom
providers
Retail
Food & Beverages
Automotive
Paints
Others*
Business/consumer
technology and
services platforms
Personal care - 3%
Home care - 2%
Tobacco - 2%
29%
26%
11%
8%
5%
5%
4%
7%
* Includes Alcohol, Travel Services, Energy, Real Estate Developers,
Gambling, Media and Entertainment, Apparel, Home Appliances
and Fast Food
GDP 2022 (US$M)
GDP GROWTH RATE 2022
FORECAST GDP GROWTH 2023
GDP PER CAPITA 2022 (US$M)
$3.29 trillion
6.8%
5.9%
$8,379
NEW AND RE-ENTERING BRANDS IN THE TOP 75
NEW NEW
NEW
NEW
RE-ENTRY RE-ENTRY
$1,297 72
2023 Brand Value
Financial Services Consumer Technology and Services Platforms
Media and Enterainment
Financial Services
Financial Services Automotive
2023 Rank
$4,473 21
2023 Brand Value 2023 Rank
$1,333 67
$1,303 71
$1,997 48
$1,315 70

7
6
1 51 Automotive 1,896 59%
3 54 Food and Beverages 1,831 40%
4 59 Tobacco 1,748 39%
5 22 Tobacco 4,127 36%
6 4 Telecom Providers 22,517 29%
7 17 Financial Services 5,589 28%
9 19 Food and Beverages 5,326 24%
10 64 Automotive 1,461 19%
LEVELLING UP
WOMEN’S OPPORTUNITIES IMPROVING TOP 10 RISERS
6 Column
Diploma/Graduates/
Postgraduates
36%
28%
Single women
(unmarried/separated)
20%
19%
Savings account
78%
53%
Access to internet
84%
54%
Online shopping
(functional)
37%
16%
Social networking
(social)
43%
22%
2015 2022
Social metrics Economic
metrics
Digital inclusion
LOGGING ONTO GREATER EQUITY
INTERNET USER PENETRATION IN RURAL POPULATION
41%
<24 years
48%
25-44 years
30%
45+ years
PURPOSE IS PARAMOUNT
INDEX SCORES ACROSS INDIAN BRANDS
Convenience
109
101
111
Purpose
113
105
115
Top 30 Top 75 All brands
LIVING IN DIGITAL INDIA
2022 2025
Online shoppers added
in the last 3 years
Active social media
users 37% are millennials
Combined revenue of
10 D2C Brands in FY20
Online shoppers
expected to be added
in the next 3 years
Active social
media users
Addressable market
size for D2C brands
125 M+
500 M+
$0.44 Bn
80 M+
750 M+
$100 Bn+
Brand Value
2023 (US$M)
Year-on-Year
change
2023 Rank Category
Brand
Sr.No

9
8
WELCOME
1 2
INTRODUCTION MOST VALUABLE
INDIAN BRANDS
3
BRAND ANALYSIS CLIENT PERSPECTIVES
4 6
5
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
& BRAND BUILDING
RESOURCES
20 – KEY FINDINGS
22 – ECONOMIC OVERVIEW
26 – ECONOMY & DEMOGRAPHICS
04 – INFOGRAPHIC
10 – WELCOME
12 – WHAT IS KANTAR BRANDZ?
30 – CROSS-CATEGORY TRENDS
38 – FAST-MOVING
CONSUMER GOODS
42 – DIGITAL INDIA
48 – WOMEN IN INDIA
54 – RURAL INDIA
62 – TOP 75 MOST VALUABLE
INDIAN BRANDS 2023
66 – BRAND VALUE
74 – BUILDING RESILIENT BRANDS
80 – FUELLING DEMAND
84 – DEMONSTRATING VALUE
88 – THE BIGGER PICTURE
144 – BRAND VALUATION
METHODOLOGY
152 – GOING GLOBAL
158 –
KANTAR IN INDIA
164 – OUR BRAND EXPERTS
170 –
KANTAR BRANDZ INDIA TEAM
94 –
FLUIDITY, SOUMYA MOHANTY
98 –
THE REMAINING OPPORTUNITY
FOR INDIA’S IT INDUSTRY,
PUNEET AVASTHI
104 –
THE GREAT INDIAN
MONEY MANAGER,
K RAMAKRISHNAN
110 –
UNSEEN BUT GLARING,
POONAM KUMAR
116 –
VALUE TO CONSUMER IS
KEY TO FACING ECONOMIC
HEADWINDS, RANJANA GUPTA
124 – THE TRANSFORMATION
OF BRAND STORYTELLING,
HARISH BHAT, TATA SONS
128 – MAKING CONNECTIONS,
SHASHWAT SHARMA,
BHARTI AIRTEL LIMITED
132 – AI-POWERED PROGRESS,
SUMIT VIRMANI, INFOSYS
136 – UNIQUENESS AT SCALE,
RAVI SANTHANAM,
HDFC BANK

11
10
Welcome
BIG ACHIEVEMENTS,
BIGGER ASPIRATIONS
In the past few months, India has successfully landed a craft
on the surface of the moon – something only three other
countries have ever done before. And it’s achieved that not just
safely but also efficiently. The project cost less than $75 million,
which in space budget terms is tiny.
The landing is cause for celebration in many ways, and I’m
highlighting it here because it says so much about India today
– what has been achieved to date, and where the country’s
aspirations lie.
As we celebrate the brands that feature in this Kantar BrandZ
Top 75 Most Valuable Indian Brands ranking, we are also
reflecting on a decade of change and development in India.
There has been huge economic progress, of course; GDP has
grown by nearly 50%, and the effects of technology have been
immense. But we have also seen change at a very human
level. People have more choice, more freedom, and greater
agency to fulfil their aspirations. Life expectancy in India has
risen by close to five years in the past decade.
Brands play a key role in people’s changing lives, and not just
because many of them supply the products and services that
we all use day to day. Beyond the very powerful practical
benefits of brands, brands also bring emotional value to
people’s lives. They bring trust, excitement, indulgence,
convenience and fun.
These feelings are part of what helps create the richness of
modern life. Progress is not just having more possessions; it’s
the way you feel and what you believe is possible.
Brands play a key role in these feelings and beliefs.
For businesses, there are significant benefits to investing in
brands, and as we face yet another set of macro-economic
challenges, it’s a good time to remember that strong brands
give a business better prospects and heightened resilience.
An abundance of research by Kantar and others leaves no
doubt: strong brands decline less and recover faster during
times of crisis.
It’s not often that I begin a discussion of brands by talking about space
exploration, but as I welcome you to this ranking and report, which
marks 10 years of Kantar BrandZ in India, I feel there’s an important
point to be made.
Deepender Rana
Executive Managing Director,
South Asia Insights Division, Kantar
deepender.rana@kantar.com
In the pages ahead we look at some of the ways this fast-
changing consumer market is evolving, with a specific focus
on digitisation, Indian women, the rise of rural markets, the
after-effects of the pandemic, and global inflation.
There is also a collection of excellent thought leadership
essays from some of our own Kantar experts in India, as well
as special guest interviews and essays from leaders at Tata,
HDFC Bank, Airtel and Infosys – just some of the Indian
brands that are turning local success into global impact.
This is a market of consumers with big aspirations and high
expectations. Brands must also think big – and think beyond
their home market.
The space programme that celebrated a lunar landing
in August was launching its next mission – to put an
observatory in orbit around the Sun – just one week later.
Such is the pace of progress in India today, and a similar
pressure to keep on moving exists for brands.
Kantar BrandZ is where theory meets real-world experience,
and is reflected in the business bottom line. We’re here to
help you understand the present and plan for the future.
Please reach out to any of the Kantar professionals in the
Resources section of this report, or feel free to connect with
me directly.
All the best,
The Kantar BrandZ ranking is proof of that. We began by
measuring just the Top 50 most valuable brands in India,
and if we look at how the Top 50 has fared over the past
10 years, there is clear evidence that strong brands power
strong businesses.
They have improved in value at a compound annual growth
rate of 19% – a tremendous result that demonstrates the real-
world impact of investing in brand building.
But it’s not just that Indian brands have grown in value; they
have shifted in outlook. Brands young and old feature in this
report; many have a rich heritage that predates the internet
age by a century or more. Others could not have existed much
more than a decade ago. What they have in common is that
their success is built on relevance to contemporary consumers.
No longer do Indian brands aim to be ‘as good’ as the global
market leader. They aim to be that leader. To break new
ground, do things better, more efficiently, and often in a
distinctly Indian way.
Fresh perspective
India’s growth on the world stage has been fuelled by its
brands, and vice versa. Over the past decade, the rise to
prominence of our technology services and automotive
brands in particular have, like the lunar landing, broadened
international perceptions of what it means to be Indian.
They signal quality and expertise, and reflect the country’s
growing GDP and its rise up the world’s ranking of economies.
A decade ago, India ranked 10th, after Italy, based on the size
of its economy. By 2030, it is expected to be #3.
Indian brands are also generating what we call ‘soft power’ for
India. Just as Coca-Cola, Levi’s and MTV took American culture
to the world, Indian exports are doing the same. Think not just
of consumer goods and services, but also Bollywood and yoga.
The next decade will see further development of both Indian
brands and Brand India.
How Kantar helps brand builders
Strong brands start with a deep understanding of
consumers. This report and ranking is based on the Kantar
BrandZ model of measuring brand value, linking financial
data with the all-important voice of the consumer.
Through our unique and validated methodology, we will
demonstrate how the different elements of brand equity
directly influence financial value. We can identify and
examine the attributes shared by valuable brands across all
categories, and show how strength in different attributes
can drive market share and help brands justify their pricing.

13
12
What is Kantar BrandZ?
5.4 BILLION
DATA
POINTS
4.2 MILLION
CONSUMER
INTERVIEWS
21,000
BRANDS
540
CATEGORIES
54
MARKETS
THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE
TO BRAND BUILDING
WHAT IS ?
Kantar BrandZ ranks the most valuable brands in the
world... and shows you how to become one of them.
It is the world’s largest, consumer-focused source of brand
equity insight, which also powers our proprietary brand
valuation methodology.
Kantar BrandZ brings you industry-leading brand
valuations, along with research from the world’s most
extensive brand equity study: Over 4.2 million consumer
interviews covering 21,000 brands across 540 categories in
54 markets.
This brand valuation series began in 1998 to help
researchers, planners, and strategists better understand
the brands they worked on. Our reports rank, analyse, and
honour the world’s top brands.
Kantar BrandZ has become a global standard brand value
ecosystem, featuring our flagship Global Most Valuable
Brands ranking and report. It also features country and
regional rankings across six continents, and world-class
thought leadership on building strong brands.

15
14
HOW DOES
WORK?
The proportion of the total $ value
of the parent company that can
be attributed to the brand in
question, considering both current
and future performance.
STEP
01
FINANCIAL
VALUE
($)
BRAND
CONTRIBUTION
(%)
The proportion of financial value
generated by the brand’s ability
to increase purchase volume and
charge a premium.
STEP
02
The amount that the brand
contributes to the overall business
value of the parent company.
Kantar BrandZ valuations isolate
the value generated by the
strength of the brand alone in the
minds of consumers i.e. with all
other elements removed.
STEP
BRAND
VALUE
($)
03
We start by examining relevant corporate financial data
and stripping away everything that doesn’t pertain to the
branded business.
We also conduct ongoing, in-depth quantitative consumer
research with more than 170,000 consumers annually,
and globally, to assess consumer attitudes about, and
relationships with thousands of brands.
Then a team of our analysts combine those inputs with a
financial model of the business to determine the brand’s
ability to generate value.
The result is a holistic portrait of brand equity: one that
incorporates how the market values a company’s brand
assets – and how ordinary people do, too.
WHAT CAN
DO FOR YOU?
STRONG BRANDS:
DELIVER SUPERIOR SHAREHOLDER RETURNS
ARE MORE RESILIENT IN TIMES OF CRISIS
RECOVER MORE QUICKLY
Kantar BrandZ research data is uniquely linked to financial outcomes. Our
analysis has repeatedly proven that businesses that invest in their brands
outperform the market… and that investing in your brand remains the most
powerful way to grow.
What’s more, we can show you how. Our data and frameworks work to create
a forensic portrait of a brand’s strengths, weaknesses and opportunities, within
one or many categories and markets.
Get essential insight on category trends and macroeconomic shifts – and
how brands compare across crucial building blocks of brand value like Trust,
Meaning, Innovation, Difference, and Responsibility.

17
16
Don’t just take our word for it
University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School has studied Kantar BrandZ brand valuations and compared
them against the real-world ups and downs of business.
They found that Kantar BrandZ equity metrics are an excellent predictor
of ‘abnormal’ business returns – those not explained by historical share
price performance and company results alone – and that adding Kantar
BrandZ measures to their models allowed them to predict business
performance with 99.5% accuracy.
What they also found was that Difference contributed most to the
best business results.
THE BUILDING BLOCKS
OF BRAND EQUITY
The most valuable brands in the world have built powerful connections
allowing them to create shareholder value faster, resist market downturns,
and recover sooner from recessions. Brands with powerful connections
have three essential qualities: they are Meaningful, Different, and Salient.
Behavioural science has taught us that our brains store
memories using three types of mental connection:
knowledge, feelings, and experience. Brands with a balance
of each come to mind most easily – quickly activating the
brain’s memory-retrieval processes.
Effective marketing delivers all three informing us of what a
brand is or does; providing an emotional context and tapping
into our emotional needs; and ensuring a positive experience
of the brand when used.
The strongest brands – ones that have built up deeper
and broader connections over time – end up with three
essential qualities: they are Meaningful, Different, and
Salient to consumers.
Brands with powerful connections are...
Meaningful: The extent to which brands create clear and
consistent functional and emotional connections with
consumers. Meaningful brands meet people’s needs in a
way that demonstrates warmth.
Different: The extent to which a brand is seen to offer
something that others don’t and lead the way. Different
brands are hard to substitute and often offer something new.
Salient: The mental availability of the brand - how
quickly and easily it comes to mind when choosing
between options. A brand’s most fundamental role is
as a shortcut for decision-making.
KANTAR BRANDZ ANALYSIS PROVES THAT STRONG BRAND EQUITY IS GROWING SHARE PRICES
FASTER AND HIGHER OVER THE LONG TERM
% growth vs. 2006
To February 2020 and to April 2023
February 2020 April 2023
SP 500
162
231
Kantar BrandZ Strong Brands
228
321
Kantar BrandZ strong brands portfolio grew +228% vs. 2006 share prices
by February 2020
In absolute terms, over the next
3 years it added a further
Compared to +69% for the SP 500
+93% growth

19
18
INTRODUCTION
20 – KEY FINDINGS
22 – ECONOMIC OVERVIEW
26 – ECONOMY DEMOGRAPHICS

21
20
MARKET CORRECTION PUTS
BRANDS UNDER PRESSURE
Key Findings
Top 75 Indian brands worth
$379 billion
The Kantar BrandZ Top 75 Most Valuable Indian Brands
this year has a combined value of $379 billion. This is 4%
lower than the value of the Top 75 a year earlier and reflects
the strain that businesses and consumers have been
under in recent times – a perfect storm of supply chain
challenges, rising interest rates, and market uncertainty.
By comparison, the Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands
declined in value by 20% between 2022 and 2023. In this
context, and given that so many of India’s most valuable
brands serve a global market, a dip is to be expected.
Variation reflects category
stresses
While the overall value of the Top 75 ranking is down 4%
this year, this average perhaps masks some of the much
bigger ups and downs that many of the individual brands
have seen. The main downward force on the ranking
has come from a decline in the value of brands in the
Business Technology and Services Platforms and Consumer
Technology and Services Platforms categories, which
have significant exposure to international markets. Real
Estate Developers and Energy brands also saw big falls.
Financial Services, Telecom Providers and Automotive
brands, meanwhile, have had a good year overall thanks to
a boom in digital banking, the end of price wars in mobile
phone services, and a fast response on the part of several
carmakers to changing market demands.
4 new entrants to largely
stable ranking
There are 58 brands in the Top 75 that have featured every
year since 2019; this year, there are four new entrants
and two brands have re-entered the ranking after some
time away. PhonePe is the highest of the newcomers, in
21st position, a digital payments brand that has caught
a wave of consumer interest in online financial services.
Cred (ranked 48th) is another in the same sector, and
stands out for taking a break from category norms with its
communications around consumer credit. ShareChat, the
photo and video sharing app, provides access in 14 local
languages and has quickly become a hit. It joins the Top
75 in 67th. Star entertainment services makes its Kantar
BrandZ debut this year, and Bank of Baroda and MRF re-
enter the ranking after some time away.
Top performers highlight value
of brand
The value to businesses of investing in brand equity is
underlined by our analysis of the Top 75 this year. Those
names that have worked hard, over many decades in some
cases, to stand out in consumers’ minds as being different
to their rivals in ways that really matter, are those that
have reaped the rewards later. These are the brands that
have had resilience baked into them, and when the market
correction came, they fell less far and recovered more
quickly than the rest. This resilience is evident in the stock
market performance of the companies behind the brands.
Investing in brand building pays off.
Convenience high on
consumers’ wishlist
The brands with the highest levels of Demand Power – a
Kantar BrandZ metric that is closely linked to market share
– are those that consumers perceive as offering the greatest
convenience and having the strongest sense of purpose. As
the world gets ever busier, people are looking for ways to
conserve their time and save it for the things that matter
most to them. Expectations of convenience have been
bolstered by broadening access to technology and all that
comes with it – from ecommerce to digital banking.
Stand out to justify pricing
The Indian brands that do the best job of justifying their
pricing – and even justifying a premium – are those that
strike consumers as being truly distinctive. They offer
something that no other brand can. Often that stand-out
factor comes from a brand being seen as a specialist in its
field. Brands with what we call Pricing Power are best placed
to resist the pressure to discount when consumer budgets
are strained; these brands are seen as being ‘worth it'.
Sustainability credentials
are becoming more important
by the day
Public concern around sustainability – and this includes
the fair treatment of people as well as taking care of the
planet – is a much bigger influence on consumer decision-
making here in India than it is in much of the rest of the
world. Our analysis highlights two important findings: the
more sustainable brands tend to drive market share, and
perceptions around the sustainability of the Top 75 brands is
lower than for all Indian brands. There’s an opportunity here
to build brands while doing the right thing.

23
22
Economy
ECONOMIC OVERVIEW
While much of the world is mired in gloom about the state of world
economics, politics, and plenty else, there’s a sense of relative buoyancy
in India – a cautiously positive outlook regarding economic growth and
development, and a feeling among consumers that the challenges they
face are manageable.
Inflation might be a new phenomenon to generations
of consumers in the Western world, but here in India, we
know inflation well. Even rates around the 6-7% mark, as
we’ve seen over the past year, are not enough to spook a
population that knows from experience that these things
come and go.
What is newly challenging, however, is India having to deal
with a global market for exports that is grappling with the
effects of inflation, and at the same time managing strained
supply chains and geopolitical tensions.
India’s economy grew at 6.8% in 2022 – outpacing almost
every other major economy – and putting the country in fifth
place globally based on size of GDP, taking over from the UK.
The International Monetary Fund is predicting growth of 5.9%
for India in 2023, putting the country’s growth well ahead of
its neighbours but also much of the rest of the world. Growth
in the US, for example, is expected to be around 1.6%, global
growth is expected to average 2.8%, and China is on track for
growth of 5.2% after a 3.0% increase in 2022.
If the wind in India’s sails continues to blow, the country will
surpass Germany to become the fourth-biggest economy in
2026, and will then have Japan in its sights.
Businesses seeking to diversify their manufacturing supply
chains by moving beyond China are looking at India afresh;
Apple has increased its India-based production and hinted
that more is on the way, and the CEO of Taiwan’s Foxconn
has expressed keenness to ‘deepen partnerships’ in India.
A burgeoning manufacturing sector would help India address
one key barrier to future growth: employment opportunities.
This is a market with young and growing population – and
a fairly high unemployment rate, which in early 2023 was
6.8%, down from 8.2% a year earlier. The number of people
comprising India’s workforce is already over 900 million, and
could soon be bigger than China’s. Job creation is essential to
the health of the national economy.
Varied effects
The impact of wider economic change on people’s everyday
lives in India is not well represented by averages. This is a
market in which few people are average; there is a resilient
and affluent upper class that, for now, remains largely
unaffected by inflation, and a large tier of low-income
earners who have been protected from rising prices for
essentials by government aid schemes and subsidies.
The proportion of households with total monthly income of
₹40,000+ has doubled in the past three years, from 3% to
6%. At the same time, the proportion in the ₹15,001-20,000
bracket has also surged, from 17% to 23%.
The effect of this shift on shopping habits has been
considerable; 59% of people now say they prefer premium
products, up from 42% three years ago, and 52% (up from
41%) say they pay extra to personalise products to suit their
style and tastes.
Rich getting richer – changing incomes 2019-2022
Population Income Groups (2022 AHI)
Base: All India Urban, 15 to 55 yrs: 2019 - 38007, 2022 - 39798
Source: Kantar TGI 2019,2022 Kantar Global Monitor
1.2%
(US$9000)
19
3
17
197
3%
0.7%
18%
78%
7%
(US$6000-9000)
24%
(US$3000-6000)
68%
(Upto US$3000)
2019 2022 Population
(2022 - in Mn)

25
24
The automotive sector tells a compelling story about
buoyancy at the top end. In the 150CC+ bike segment, for
example, there’s been a surge in sales of premium bikes
and, as a result, higher demand for premium fuels and
accessories. Even among first-car buyers, there’s a shift from
hatchbacks into an emerging compact SUV category as
people raise their expectations of product and experience.
At the lower end of the income scale, the effects of the
pandemic and then post-pandemic inflation have been
dampened by ongoing government aid. Grants of free food
grains, launched during COVID times, were extended for the
whole of 2023. The impact of this is to free up spending for
other products and categories such as education – widely
viewed as children’s ticket to a better life than their parents
have had.
The resilience of the top and the bottom of the consumer
market is powering what we’re calling ‘K-shaped’ growth.
In between the rich and the poor is what we might call the
‘squeezed middle’ – people who have a little money and
some job security, but who are definitely feeling the pinch on
household budgets and are worried about what lies ahead.
What’s clear is that consumer sentiment and behaviour are
not tracking back towards their pre-COVID ‘normal’.
Overall, there is a sense of cautious optimism. People feel,
after three years of being unpleasantly surprised by global
events, that the next nasty shock may be just around the
corner. This is tempered somewhat by a desire to move on
and make the most of the opportunities available now.
What’s curious is that how people feel about the future isn’t
necessarily commensurate with people’s current situation.
Those in the most precarious position now are often those
feeling bullish about what’s ahead. In a sense, for them,
things can only get better. Others with more security are
often more nervous about the future, Kantar research shows.
Overall, though, the picture is one of cautious optimism; a
considerably more rosy outlook than the global average.
Things are going very/fairly well financially
in my country
Uptick in optimism
Percentage of customers who agree
Things are going very/fairly well with my personal
financial situation
Source: Economic Survey - '22-23 Kantar Global Monitor
2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
0
10
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
43% 44% 46%
35% 35%
60%
72%
77%
79%
70%
India Global
2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
0
10
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
54%
57% 58%
55% 53%
68%
82%
82%
82%
74%
India Global
Shifting from valuations
to value creation
The heat surrounding Indian start-ups for the past few
years has dissipated, with the cost of borrowing and a
decreased appetite for risk having a cooling effect on
investor sentiment.
Rather than plunge into new deals, investors are opting to
focus instead on profitability, backing proven businesses in
their existing portfolios. This is a global phenomenon, not
just an Indian one, although the ‘funding winter’ is hitting
Indian start-ups hard.
The number of unicorns born in India dropped from 44 in 2021
to 23 in 2022. Globally, there was a 55% drop in the number
of start-ups attaining a valuation of $1 billion or more.
GlobalData figures show that 459 venture capital (VC) deals
worth $3.4 billion were closed in India between January and
May 2023, a substantial decline on the 851 deals worth $13.3
billion closed in the same period a year earlier.
In April, India’s Business Today reported that the first
quarter of 2023 saw no new unicorns created, compared
to 14 in the same period a year earlier.
Yet there is one irresistible lure for investors, even in the current
conditions: artificial intelligence. Among the leading AI deals
struck so far in 2023 is the $250 million investment by Qatar
Investment Authority, as well as further funds from Microsoft
in Builder.ai, an AI-powered software creator, and Mad Street
Den, a computer vision and AI company that raised $30 million
in a funding round led by Avatar Growth Capital.
Economy

27
26
26
CENTRES OF POPULATION
TOTAL POPULATION 2022:
1.44 BILLION
POPULATION GROWTH RATE:
0.8%
URBAN POPULATION 2023:
36.4%
RATE OF URBANISATION (2020-2025 EST):
2.33%
Economy Demographics
27
POPULATION BY AGE
GDP 2022: $3.29 TRILLION
GDP GROWTH RATE 2022: 6.8%
FORECAST GDP GROWTH 2023: 5.9%
GDP PER CAPITA 2022: $8,379
GDP
3.3 MILLION KM2
1.2 MILLION MI2
29 STATES AND 7 UNION TERRITORIES
LAND AREA
NUMBER LIVING ON LESS THAN
$2.15 PER DAY: 146 MILLION
POPULATION BELOW POVERTY LINE
LANGUAGES
MEDIAN AGE
38.4
33.2
31.1
28.7
40.6
38.5
FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT
US$BILLION
2018
42.2
2019
50.6
2020
64.0
2021
47.4
2022
52.3
24.77%
68.42%
6.8%
0-14 years 15-64 years 65 years and over
Hyderabad
Bangalore
Chennai
New Delhi
Mumbai
Kolkata
10.8 million
13.6 million
11.8 million
32.9 million
21.3 million
15.3 million
22 OFFICIAL LANGUAGES
121 LANGUAGES
AROUND 20,000 DIALECTS
Sources: International Monetary Fund, Statista, CIA World Factbook, India Briefing, Scroll.in.

28
INDIA IN FOCUS
30 – CROSS-CATEGORY TRENDS
38 – FAST-MOVING
CONSUMER GOODS
42 – DIGITAL INDIA
48 – WOMEN IN INDIA
54 – RURAL INDIA

31
30
CROSS-CATEGORY TRENDS
Cross-Category Trends
HYGIENE FOCUS SWITCHES
TO WELLNESS
The importance of prioritising good health was thrown into
the spotlight during the COVID-19 pandemic, and consumers
responded by doing what they could to improve and maintain
their physical health. Now that the crisis has subsided, and
sales of soap, sanitiser, and home cleaning agents have
subsided to their pre-pandemic levels, Indian consumers
are taking a slightly different approach to looking after
themselves, shifting their focus from health and cleanliness
to health and wellness.
Kantar research shows that two-thirds of Indians say they
are actively trying to improve their health, and not just their
physical health. A higher proportion of Indians than the
global average say they are consulting with mental health
or traditional healing practitioners, practising meditation or
mindfulness, eating natural, organic food, and monitoring
their own health on a regular basis. Health now means not
just physical strength and fitness, but also feeling good to
look good, having confidence, doing what makes you feel
good, eating and sleeping well, and having an active lifestyle
and a positive outlook.
Sport is seen as a serious life pursuit not just for health but as
a career; while most Indian boys have grown up with dreams
of playing cricket for their country, that aspiration is becoming
more common among girls now, and Indian athletes’ success
on the global stage is inspiring interest in other sports. Indian
men and women are world leaders in sports as varied as
javelin, wrestling, archery, and boxing.
It is a curious paradox that consumers are turning both to
nature and digital technology to pursue their health goals.
The positivity around natural and traditional personal care
products, catalysed by the rise of Patanjali, continues to have
momentum, though with messaging focused less on the
importance of longevity or tradition and more on the benefits
of products and their ingredients.
Kantar Worldpanel’s research shows that sales (by value) of
‘natural’ products have grown at an annualised rate of 7.7%
between the pre-pandemic and post-pandemic periods, while
sales of products claiming to support immunity have grown
by 17%.
Our ICUBE research shows that there are more than 31 million
Indians buying medicine online, and 53 million accessing
healthcare of various kinds online, from fitness coaching
to medical consultations. Health technology is on track to
be a high-growth category in the coming years, and the
big opportunity for brands seems to be in linking the desire
for better health and wellbeing with products and tools
enabling people to achieve it. More than a quarter of India’s
social media users follow health and fitness influencers. The
opportunity is in integrating products, guidance, inspiration,
and services into a wellness ecosystem that meets a range of
consumer health and lifestyle needs.
Ananda Spa, for instance, is offering online wellbeing
programs as well as in-person spas, while Apollo 24/7 gives
people online medical consultations at their convenience and
enables them to order medicines or book lab tests online.
Healthkart, PharmEasy, and Netmeds are also offering the
flexibility and personalisation of healthcare that consumers
now seek; 53% of Indians now say they will pay a premium
to personalise what they buy, up from 41% in 2019. Lenskart’s
augmented reality spectacles try-on tool responds to these
converging trends.

33
32
IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE
DRIVING SUSTAINABILITY PUSH
D2C – PROVIDING A SHORTCUT
TO SUCCESS
India is on the front line of environmental damage, with
catastrophic weather events being linked to climate change,
as well as changing rainfall patterns and dangerously high
levels of air pollution meaning that the environment is on
everybody’s mind. But being on their mind and affecting
their shopping list have long been two different things, and
a wide gap exists between what people say they’re worried
about – and what they’re actually prepared to do about it.
This gap appears to be closing, however, and Kantar’s
research shows that consumers feel businesses have an
obligation to create more sustainable products and services –
and make it easier for consumers to identify and afford them.
Kantar research shows that 84% of Indians say they want
to buy environmentally sustainable products, 62% try to
avoid using disposable products, even if it’s less convenient,
and 54% now say they will pay more for products that are
better for the environment. Just under half say they’re buying
second-hand items to reduce waste. They are trying to do
their ‘bit’ but expect businesses to match their energies;
almost two-thirds of Indian consumers say businesses and
governments are more responsible for creating sustainable
solutions than they are. There is a much stronger feeling
in India than the average in the rest of the world that
brands should make environmentally sustainable products
affordable to them, not exclusive to a wealthy elite.
Brands are heeding the call of consumers to move towards
sustainable and affordable options. Many of the businesses
that have been launched in recent years are making claims
about being clean or green, and for those that are linking
their stated purpose with what they’re actually producing,
there’s been a warm consumer reception. The organic, fair-
trade cotton clothing business ‘No Nasties’, which launched
in 2011, is very clearly linking its mission with what it describes
as an acute climate crisis. In 2022, its earnings rocketed by
more than 900%. The cosmetics brand Forest Essentials,
based on Ayurvedic principles, has been expanding beyond
India, and in late 2022 opened its first London store.
Bigger businesses are also promoting their sustainability
credentials, as well as snapping up start-ups that began
with a sustainability-led mission. Unilever has invested in
skincare start-up BeMinimalist and vegan beauty brand
Plum Goodness, while WOW Skin Science, which began as a
wellness brand, is now a nature-based personal care brand
that saw revenue grow 3.4X in 2022.
The continued growth of both social networking and
ecommerce has fuelled a surge in the number of businesses
that are cutting out the retail middleman and going
D2C (direct to consumers). The ability to build a business
and a brand without having to negotiate listings with
retailers and arrange distribution has lowered the barriers
to entry for huge numbers of small and micro businesses,
which are linking online listings with digital payments to
build successful enterprises.
Sellers of everything from coffee, traditional foods, treats,
and personal care items are now operating online, serving
an estimated 400 million ecommerce users in India. About
half of Indian businesses and merchants are now either
operating online or are gearing up to; this is a huge jump
in the past couple of years, given that only 4% were in the
same position in 2019.
Kantar’s ICUBE research shows that more than one-
third of the country’s internet users are buying via social
media platforms; a trend that is only expected to gather
momentum over time. That’s more than 57 million people
buying via social – with many more to come. And they’re
not just in urban areas, but also Bharat (rural India). The
social commerce business Gobillion, founded with the goal of
making ecommerce social and accessible to people in small
towns across India, has been growing sales at the rate of
more than 70% per month so far in 2023.
While the time it takes for a brand to become well-known
and achieve strong sales has come down significantly, many
of these nascent businesses are focusing almost exclusively
on sales and not differentiation or brand building. This is
potentially risky; if they are known, but only for offering
something that competing businesses already provide, then
they are eminently replaceable in consumers’ minds as soon
as something less expensive or more exciting comes along.

35
34
INFLUENCERS ARE TRULY SHAPING
PURCHASE DECISIONS
CONSUMERS ARE VOCAL FOR
LOCAL – IF IT’S GREAT
For anyone who scoffed at the audacity of online content
creators calling themselves ‘influencers’, it’s definitely time
to eat some humble pie. Kantar research shows that the
average internet user in India now follows 7.5 influencers.
A quarter of people follow at least one influencer, and
40% follow more than five. That’s an audience of 26 million
people following influencers.
Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram are the platforms
where consumers prefer to connect with influencers; Kantar
research shows that 58% of people who follow an influencer
do so via Facebook, 56% do it via YouTube and 46% on
Instagram, with far smaller proportions (sub-10%) linking
with influencers on either LinkedIn or Twitter. Short video is
the preferred format, with YouTube Shorts, Snapchat, and
Facebook Short videos winning plenty of interaction.
Kantar TGI research shows that in urban India, the
consumers most likely to follow influencers tend to skew
male and young (age 15-24).
The influence of influencers is a global phenomenon but
it’s one that our data shows is gaining particular traction in
India. Here, 42% of consumers in our TGI research said they
followed a broad range of social media influencers who were
famous, popular, or entertaining, compared to 29% globally.
Half of social media users in India say it’s important to
them that they seek ideas and advice from social media
influencers, compared to a 25% global average.
This influence affects not just how internet users spend their
time but also how they spend their money. Our Influencer
Pulse study found that three in five consumers in India
say they’re likely to try products based on influencers’
recommendations. Trust tends to go up according to the
number of followers someone has, and the effect on trial
and purchase decision-making is highest among people
aged 45-55.
One curious phenomenon is that people say that, on
average, they trust influencers more than they trust
celebrities. Scepticism that the superstars endorsing
products in TV ads would actually use the product they’re
advertising abounds; there’s a sense that influencers are
more authentic, even if they are being paid (and that
sponsorship must legally be made clear).
Brands as varied as Tetley, Colgate, and Amazon have
been working with influencers, often deliberately seeking
out people who are not super-well-known to build their
authenticity. Colgate, for instance, worked with a YouTuber
who had less-than-perfect teeth, and Forest Essentials
partnered with a woman living in the Mumbai slums for
its communications.
Authenticity and consumers’ desire to be part of the
conversation around brands can be a double-edged sword,
as several brands have found. A YouTube influencer who
posted criticism of a sugar-rich milk drink-mix product
had his criticisms widely shared, before removing his post
after being contacted by the brand. That move that led to
another large-scale public conversation about the rights
and wrongs of the product and the brand’s handling of
the controversy. The idea of having one-way conversations
between brands and consumers is old hat, and brands
are being judged not just on what they say, but how they
engage in conversation.
No, this is not about flag waving and patriotism, but rather
about unprecedented levels of openness to try and trust
home-grown brands – as long as they’re good. The days
of international brands being seen as bringing with them
superior quality and social cachet are gone, with consumers
justifiably content – proud, even – of the products and
services that have been developed here at home.
Look at local ride-sharing service Ola, which has a
significant lead in market share over global giant Uber
(around 59% compared to 41%), although both also face
tough competition from smaller rivals. Ola has more
than 100 million registered users, compared to roughly
93 million+ for Uber. Both offer, essentially, the same kind
of service. Both have introduced in-app features to help
allay concerns around passenger safety, both offer easy
payment, and their rates are highly competitive, though
Ola perhaps has the edge here. Ola also offers ride-
sharing options that help bring down the cost of a fare to
individuals. The service is perceived as being a great choice,
and it’s this rather than the brand’s local heritage that helps
Ola win the race.
It's a similar story with Flipkart, which leads in India’s
ecommerce market ahead of global rival Amazon. Flipkart,
which was launched locally but is now owned by Walmart, is
not just the ‘local’ alternative to Amazon but a strong one.
Products and services have much in common with Amazon,
though Flipkart has always focused on the reliability of
quick deliveries. Flipkart has also honed its local-language
interfaces to make shopping easier, and has launched
Shopsy, offering bargain-priced items designed to appeal to
less-affluent rural consumers.
This growing affinity with local brands is not about falling
out of love with foreign brands. In fact, consumers often
don’t know whether brands are local or not, and many
global brands have been available in India for so long that
they feel local. What this comes down to is that there is no
longer an advantage to being foreign; the brands that are
seen as being most relevant locally are those that tend to
have the edge.
Increasingly, being ‘local’ means more than being Indian.
Tata Tea Premium, for instance, has been promoting specific
products designed to suit taste profiles in different regions of
India, and promoting them via region-specific ad campaigns.
The tea blends, packaging design and communications all
have a distinctly local (regional) flavour. Similarly, Britannia
Good Day snacks recently launched a hyper-local TV
advertising campaign for its range of products focused on
the idea of ‘happy celebrations’. Each ad presents a different
perspective on what makes a day a good day, featuring local
cultural references and filmed in six local languages, rather
than being shot in one and then dubbed.

37
36
ASPIRATION
PROVIDES
INSPIRATION
While the government has set its sights on India becoming
a 5T (US$5 trillion) economy, and has been investing in
physical infrastructure and developing digital, business-
friendly policies to work towards that goal, individuals are
shaping their behaviour according to their own aspirations.
Consumers want to do more, see more, and provide more
to their children than they have had, and are ensuring
that when they have funds available, they are investing in
making their dreams a reality.
The government’s investments will help make some of
these individual aspirations more achievable. The country is
spending 1.7% of its GDP on transport infrastructure in 2023
– around double what the US and most western European
countries spend – to improve road and rail networks, as
well as create jobs. Investment in new tracks, coaches,
electrification, and station facilities is at the heart of railway
spending, and there are new roads and road upgrades
planned, plus new airports, heliports, and water aerodromes.
The government’s huge digitisation programme (more on
this on page 42) is also helping people achieve their goals,
making it easier to set up and scale up online businesses.
People’s appetite for digitising their lives is evident in not
just the growing number of online businesses, but also the
huge sales achieved at India’s two recently opened Apple
stores, in Delhi and Mumbai.
There’s a strong desire to live life well and make money to
secure a better future; the number of people taking holidays
post-COVID is tremendous, despite the fact that air fares
have gone up considerably in price. Kantar TGI data shows
that while 62% of people enjoy going back to a holiday
destination somewhere familiar, there’s a growing hunger
for something out of the ordinary; 51% of people now say
they prefer to holiday somewhere that’s ‘off the beaten
track’, up from 47% in 2019.
Aspiration is also evident in the number of Indian students
going abroad to study. This is not a new phenomenon, but
it’s one that’s gathered momentum in the past two years.
In 2023, 68% more Indian students went abroad to study,
Ministry of Education figures show, and there was a similar
rate of increase the year before.

39
38
Growth driven by value,
not volume
The growth story for fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG)
brands in India has for many years been about volume
sales. Expanding distribution beyond the biggest towns
and cities, appealing to a widening of consumers, and
encouraging existing buyers to purchase more frequently.
Times have definitely changed, however. Volume sales
have been stagnant for some time, and growth for most
brands has been the result of higher value sales based on
inflationary price rises.
Prices have gone up for urban and rural shoppers, and while
rural consumption was somewhat insulated as prices started
to go up, sustained high inflation means that household
budgets nationwide have been put under some strain.
The effect of rising prices for essentials is felt across the
board; many homes spend 40-50% of their total income on
FMCG goods and fresh food items. Whatever is left must
cover apparel, entertainment, and all other ‘non-essentials’.
When the bill for essentials goes up, what’s left for the rest
is squeezed.
Smarter shopping
Of course, few consumers simply drop entire categories
from their shopping lists. They shop smart in order to make
their budget stretch as far as possible.
Consumers are looking for better value, not necessarily
the lowest prices, and they are still open to spending when
it comes to categories and brands they feel deliver them
something special.
This is still a highly aspirational market, and premium
brands that demonstrate how they justify their pricing are
faring well. Dove haircare, for example, is a premium option
that is growing, and products that offer specialised benefits
are also faring well. Sensodyne toothpaste for sensitive
teeth, for instance, as well as hair products designed to
address specific problems, such as ‘hair fall’.
And, in a country with such a large population as India,
even a small percentage of the total remains a large
addressable audience. This means there’s still a fair-sized
market (if a small percentage of the total) for super-
premium products. In fact, many of the fast-growing
D2C brands that are flourishing right now are priced
at a premium to supermarket brands, particularly in
personal care.
Brands that have a portfolio of products and sub-brands
are also proving resilient; if people can no longer afford or
justify to themselves a higher-priced product, these brands
are ready with a more economical replacement to trade
down to.
Change in approach
Brands are responding to the shift in spending habits.
Some are launching smaller packs to make purchases more
affordable, while others are upping the size of a pack and
keeping the price steady, to provide better value.
In marketing communications, there’s a focus on the quality
or longevity of a product or pack – pointing out that it will
last a whole month, for example – and brands are offering
special prices for a bundle of goods, but there’s little
appetite for buying or becoming the cheap option.
Consumers want a good deal, not a cheap deal, and brands
thinking long term will want to represent more in people’s
minds than just being the cheapest.
FAST-MOVING
CONSUMER GOODS
Fast-Moving Consumer Goods
Shopping for bargains
Discounts, best prices, and convenience increasingly sought
by consumers
Top 2 box scores Overall (2022)
Index (2022
vs 2019)
I look for the lowest possible
prices when I go shopping 62% 146
I always look out for special
offers/discounts that are given
for brands
60% 142
I am prepared to pay more for
products that make my life easier 61% 140
I tend to hold out on buying
things I want until they go on sale 55% 141
I prefer prmium products 59% 139
I buy new products before most
of my friends* 52% 123
* Upper socio-economic classes are early adopters when it comes to
product purchases

41
40
What to expect
Inflation in India has actually come down over the course
of 2023, and FMCG sales in the Feb-April quarter were
rising – up 8% in urban areas and 4.2% rurally, Kantar
Worldpanel data shows.
At that rate of growth, average FMCG spending per
household is on track to hit ₹20,000 by the end of 2025.
There are six categories on which the average household
spends more than ₹1,000 annually; before the pandemic,
there were only two – edible oils and atta. Now, this level
of average spending also applies to toilet soaps, tea,
washing powders, and biscuits.
Along with biscuits, chocolate and noodles, ready-to-cook
mixes have also seen rapid increases in spending. There
has been an explosion of brands in the snacking space,
particularly among those taking the direct-to-consumer
(D2C) route. While these brands may not become overnight
successes, this is reflective of a category that has started
evolving and has a long way to go.
Ecommerce is a rapidly growing part of the FMCG market,
accounting for around 6-7% of total sales. Given that in
categories like mobile phones the proportion of online sales
is about the 35-40% mark, this suggests there remains
considerable scope for growth in online grocery.
Other shifts include not just the arrival of new D2C
competitors in FMCG but also heritage brand Reliance,
which has scale and a retail network to help it make a big
impact, fast. Reliance bought the 50-year-old Campa
Cola brand last year and is now taking on Coke and Pepsi
with pricing around 20% lower than the multinationals.
Reliance has also launched Scrubz, for dishwashing.
In the months ahead, we can expect continued growth
in FMCG overall, with rural growth starting to play
catch-up with urban rates if forecasts of a good monsoon
come to pass.
Fast-Moving Consumer Goods

43
42
DIGITAL INDIA
LEADING THE WAY IN
AN ONLINE WORLD
Digital India
While the rest of the world has been digitising fast, India has been
becoming a digital-first nation at a blistering pace. Boosted by the
twin catalysts of government investment and COVID-induced necessity,
India’s digital landscape has been utterly transformed.
The effect has been tremendous, not just for bringing
convenience and opportunity to Indians who had previously
been excluded from many aspects of the country’s progress,
but also for the national economy.
Several of India’s digital developments for the domestic
market now look poised to become India’s gifts to the world,
such is their rapid growth and ease of use.
Aadhaar is the world's largest biometric identification system
and has been described by World Bank Chief Economist
Paul Romer as ‘the most sophisticated ID programme in the
world’. It uses facial recognition to authenticate someone’s
identity, and can be used for a range of functions, from
government workers clocking on and off at the office, to
voters using it as ID at polling booths.
Its biggest impact has been in providing people with easy
access to government benefits such as unemployment
payments, food and fuel subsidies, and tax filings. It also
provides access to government examinations, some salaries,
and some banking facilities. It was set up primarily to
streamline delivery of social security benefits and subsidies –
reducing fraud and enhancing transparency.
DigiYatra (meaning ‘digital journey’) is another government-
backed development that uses facial recognition at airports
to enable passengers to go paperless when taking domestic
flights. The technology was launched in December 2022
and began in Bengaluru, Delhi, and Varanasi, before being
extended to Hyderabad, Kolkata, Pune, and Vijayawada.
What’s been a bigger game changer, however, is the rollout
of India’s United Payments Interface, or UPI, which allows
Indians to easily and instantly transfer money between
accounts, either from a customer to a business or between
consumers. It has more than 260 million users and in March
this year was used for a record 8.7 billion transactions.
In short, it’s huge. But UPI’s growth story may have only
just begun. International expansion has started, enabling
Indians living abroad to send remittances back to India
without the usual fees. This is a huge market – remittances
to India were more than $100 billion in 2022, the highest
of any country in the world. UPI is being widely rolled out
in Nepal, and is already available to Indian consumers
shopping abroad in some markets.
Expansion is being helped by participation in UPI by
some big global names in fintech, including Google Pay
and Paytm. UPI is even being talked about as a potential
alternative to SWIFT.
And then there’s ONDC, the Open Network for Digital
Commerce, the recently launched (2022) non-profit
company established by the government to broaden access
to ecommerce. We’re in danger of wearing out the term
‘game changer’, but ONDC is definitely another one in
India’s digital playbook.
An open-source platform enabling even the smallest
vendors to sell online, ONDC also provides protection for
consumers by centralising data collection and storage,
payment, and delivery information.
Digital change,
real-world impact
It is difficult to overstate the effect that all these
developments are having on the way people work, shop,
and live in India. Around 15 million wholesale and retail
establishments are now online, and around 50% of micro
and small businesses are digitally active.
Kantar’s annual ITOPS study, which seeks to understand
SME businesses and their planned investments, found that
in 2019, half of the businesses in India were offline only;
today, that’s less than one in 10. The digitally engaged
segment among SME businesses has more than quadrupled
in four years, accelerated by COVID and given a huge
boost by the availability of digital payments infrastructure
and the ONDC.
SMEs ride the digital wave
Source: Kantar ITOPS
10
60
50
40
30
20
2018 2020 2022
0
12%
34%
54%
Offline: With no internet connectivity
Digitally engaged: Using digital technology investing
online e.g. buying, sell or communicating
56%
20%
9%

45
44
The clicking consumer
India’s digital ecosystem has created the conditions in which
ecommerce can flourish. Our ICUBE research shows that 125
million Indian shoppers went online for the first time in the
three years to 2022. In the three years to 2025, a further 80
million are expected to be shopping online. The proportion
buying FMCG goods online shot up from 2.9% in 2019 to
15.6% in 2022.
Already, India has more fintech users than the US.
Newcomers to ecommerce are not just teenagers getting
online independently for the first time. Many of India’s new
online shoppers are much older; 33% of those shopping online
for the first time in 2022 were aged 35+, our research shows.
Among urban Indians, we’re finding that shoppers are
combining online and offline formats to suit their changing
needs. Both will still be relevant in the coming years. In
2022, Kantar research found that 54% of people said they
usually browse the internet to find products they like before
buying them in-store, and 52% said they usually visit stores
to look at items they later buy online.
The sudden upsurge in ecommerce is another example of
consumers ‘leapfrogging’ stages in development that in
some markets have taken place over decades.
Almost all of the people who have gained access to
the internet in the past few years have done it via a
smartphone, completely bypassing desktop and laptop
computers. Similarly, they have gone straight from cash
to cashless and digital, without ever having a credit card.
This leapfrogging is also symptomatic of India’s pace of
economic development, not just digitisation. In the car
market, it’s not unusual for a consumer to go straight from
a hatchback to an SUV, without spending a decade moving
slowly up the range.
Jumping stages Emergence of SUVs
Mobile first
Internet user size (overall level, by PC and mobile device)
Making connections
Share shift in car body type (%)
2022 2025
Online shoppers added
in the last 3 years
Active social media
users 37% are millennials
Combined revenue of
10 D2C Brands in FY20
Online shoppers
expected to be added
in the next 3 years
Active social
media users
Addressable market
size for D2C brands
125 M+
500 M+
$0.44 Bn
80 M+
750 M+
$100 Bn+
Living in a digital India
Source: Kantar ICUBE 2022
2012 - 2016
•
Launch of 4G affordable
smartphones
•
Growth of ecommerce
100
Million
100
Million
2016 - 2019
• Launch of Jio
• Demonetisation
50
Million
2020 - 2022
• COVID-19
•
Surge in OTT and smart device
adoption
Active internet users Smartphone internet users
PC internet users
2012 2016 2019 2022
SUV
NON-SUV
2022
47%
53%
2012
95%
5%
Source: Kantar ICUBE, Urban
Source: Kantar ICUBE, Urban
Digital India

47
46
Taking the direct route -
the rise of D2C
Another manifestation of the digitisation of commerce is
the boom in D2C or direct-to-consumer businesses, which
are disrupting the traditional wholesale-retail-consumer
chain by cutting out the middleman and going straight
to the consumer.
India’s D2C market was estimated to have been worth $55
billion in 2022 and is forecast to top $100 million by 2025.
These businesses occupy a vast range of categories, from food
and health/wellness to fashion, beauty, and pet products.
Pandemic restrictions on movement helped create the
conditions in which D2C brands could flourish; now that
they have been lifted, some online-only brands are dipping
a toe into the world of physical retail, to broaden their
appeal and accessibility.
Yet there’s something special for consumers about D2C
brands and the way they feel about them. Kantar research
shows consumers love the sense that they’ve ‘discovered’
a brand on their own. They also love the idea of buying
‘direct from the source’, and they appreciate the scope
for personalisation that D2C brands are often able to
provide. By building a relationship directly with consumers,
these brands are able to foster a closeness that’s difficult
to match if they interact via a retailer; the brand can
understand each user’s browsing patterns and buying
habits, learn their preferences, and provide relevant and
welcome rewards or incentives.
ID Fresh Food, for instance, has used livestreaming from
its giant kitchen to show exactly, and in real time, how its
products are made. Over 50,000 people tuned in over 48
hours. There’s closeness and intimacy, despite the distance.
Ad spend follows eyeballs online
The popularity of digital media platforms has, not
surprisingly, been growing apace. But it’s not just the
number of people spending time online that’s been rising;
it’s also the amount of time they spend there.
Around 86% of people in urban India report having watched
TV in the past month (2022 data), which is roughly the same
as three years ago. The proportion saying they’ve used the
internet in the past month has shot up, though, from 43%
to 64% in those same three years.
Kantar’s TGI research shows that while time spent watching
television has risen, on average, from 2.5 hours in 2019 to
2.6 hours in 2022, the time spent watching online video has
grown more radically, from 1.3 to 1.9 hours a day. Overall,
digital’s share of time spent across media has grown 21%
CAGR since 2019.
There’s a growing number of ‘cord cutters’ – people
discontinuing their traditional TV usage and shifting entirely
to the OTT (over the top) entertainment space. Around
82 million Indians have cut the cord and no longer tune
in to traditional TV, our ICUBE 2022 study shows, and
the overwhelming majority are watching their OTT video
content on a mobile phone rather than a smart TV.
This reflects the increasing sense of attachment consumers
have to their phones, and the fact that mobiles are now
a tool for work, entertainment, shopping, socialising, and
all of daily life. In fact, 52% of urban Indians now say they
could not live without their phone, compared to 44% three
years ago.
The most popular genres of content consumed via OTT are
comedy, reality shows, action, and drama, while traditional
TV still proves to be a magnet for consumers seeking out
news, TGI data shows.
Levels of advertising spend are rising at world-leading rates
in India, fuelled largely by investment in digital media;
digital is forecast to account for just over 53% of all ad
spend in 2023.
Forecast ad market growth in 2023
Share of media
2013 v 2023 (%)
SOURCE: GroupM, This Year Next Year, Dec 2022
SOURCE: GroupM, This Year Next Year, Dec 2022
16.8%
6.3%
6.3%
3.4%
2.5% 2.2%
4.4%
TV
41.2%
32.0%
Audio
4.3%
1.3%
Newspapers
36.0%
9.7%
Magazines
2.0%
0.1%
Outdoor +
cinema
6.2%
3.0%
Digital
10.3%
53.9%
2023
2013
Digital India

49
48
EMPOWERED, ASPIRATIONAL,
AND INFLUENTIAL
Women In India
The challenges facing women
in India are many, deep rooted,
and well documented. But there
are signs that real, meaningful
change is afoot, and brands
are showing they can be part of
supporting that change, as well as
reflecting the evolution of women’s
roles in society.
India now has more women than men for the first time
since records began, and the life expectancy of women has
improved to now exceed that of men by 2.7 years. Enrolment
in higher education is higher for girls than boys (27.3%
compared to 26.9%), and there are now 18% more women
in higher education than there were even just five years ago.
These are all huge changes that will have repercussions on
family life and career expectations – not just for women now,
but for generations.
Women are playing a more prominent role in public life, too.
In the 2019 national elections, there were more women voters
than men – another first. And the share of seats held by
women in local government bodies stands at 44.4%.
The country’s athletes are winning medals and accolades;
the national women’s football team ranks more highly in FIFA
rankings than the men’s team, India’s women wrestlers are
Olympic medallists, and Nikhat Zareen is a two-time boxing
world champion in the women’s competition.
Women are playing a bigger role in the nation’s economy;
there are now 350 million women in paid work, a figure that
is expected to reach 470 million by 2030. They represent more
than 20% of Indians owning micro, small, and medium-sized
enterprises, and 39% of senior management roles are held by
women (the global average is 31%).
A cohort in fast transition
Source: TGI
Diploma/Graduates/
Postgraduates
36%
28%
Single women
(unmarried/separated)
20%
19%
Savings account
78%
53%
Access to internet
84%
54%
Online shopping
(functional)
37%
16%
Social networking
(social)
43%
22%
2015 2022
Social metrics Economic
metrics
Digital inclusion

51
50
There is no chance for the welfare
of the world unless the condition
of women is improved. It is not
possible for a bird to fly on only
one wing
Swami Vivekananda
Evolving attitudes and
aspirations
Women are not just taking on new roles, but also rethinking
their outlook on the world and how they feel about
themselves. Kantar research shows that when it comes to
beauty, for instance, there’s a growing determination to be
confident, authentic, and proud of who they are, marking
a shift away from a need to measure up to ideals set by
Bollywood. Health and wellbeing are now widely seen as
being part of what makes a person look and feel great.
An extension of that is the growing number of women
taking time for themselves, guilt-free, driven by passion
and pleasure, not just responsibilities. They’re using their
time for their own pursuits; women are the fastest-growing
consumer cohort in the travel sector, for example, and
spending by women on solo experiences such as dining,
travel, and salon and spa visits has doubled in the space of
just four years.
As India becomes a digital-first economy, the inclusion of
women in financial services will have huge significance.
As well as accessing bank accounts and government aid,
rural women are now also buying insurance products,
applying for loans, and making investments. Kantar’s Rural
Barometer shows a significant lift in the proportion of rural
women who are active in financial planning, and this is
particularly strong among rural women from lower socio-
economic groups. In just one year, the number of women
who say they are part of household financial planning in
rural India has soared by 15%.
Clearly, the bottom of the income pyramid has been a
major beneficiary of digital-led financial inclusion in terms
of, firstly, a bank account that enables minimal shrinkage
in direct benefit transfers to them. Additionally, they
have better access to healthcare through their inclusion
in the government’s Ayushman Bharat health insurance
programme, and they can access credit for their personal
needs and for business development.
Advertising change
Brands are demonstrating through their communications
that they are both supportive of women’s greater freedoms,
and reflecting the changes they see in society.
It’s been eight years since laundry brand Ariel launched
its ‘Share the load’ campaign to encourage couples to
divide household chores equally. Other brands positioning
themselves as leaders of change include Havells, which
urges consumers to ‘Hawa Badlegi’ (‘Be the change’) in its
ad showing newlyweds registering their marriage and each
taking the other’s name.
Genuine change within the home does seem to be afoot.
Kantar research among women aged 15-55 in 2022 found
that 73% believed the burden of household tasks is shared
by men and women in their household – up from around
half just three years earlier.
This shift in the prevailing view of what’s to be expected
from men and women means advertising has also changed.
Old stereotypes – incompetent men struggling in the
kitchen or laundry, for instance – are no longer seen as
funny. And slice-of-life vignettes that might, a decade ago,
have shown a mother proudly serving her family at the
table have been subtly replaced.
Now, it’s not uncommon to see a man serving his wife
coffee as part of a bigger story; his act of kindness is not
the main event but an incidental detail.
Financially included,
making decisions
A gradual improvement in the proportion of women
accessing financial services has been given a huge boost in
recent years by the digitisation of banking and identification
checks. The effect has been especially marked in rural
areas, where government subsidies and aid – delivered as
part of pandemic and post-pandemic recovery programmes
– have largely been paid directly to women, rather than to
families via men.
There are now growing conversations between women about
financial security and investment, and our research shows
more women than men are making investments and planning
for tax. Almost half of women across all classes of town are
following the stock market, and 82% of women say they
discuss their investment plans with their family and friends.
Women now account for 39% of digital transactions in
urban India, up from 34% in 2019, our ICUBE data shows;
among urban women, 39% have a debit card, up from 14%
in 2019.
Outside the major centres, the gender gap is being bridged
largely due to increased access to formal banking, often
because of internet connectivity and digital services, and
due to government direct benefit transfer schemes.
Staking a claim – accessing government benefits
Incidence of accessing government benefits
% Respondents
Base: All Respondents
Source: Kantar’s Rural Barometer
Men
73
78
Women
78
71
December 2021 December 2022
Women In India

53
52
Ads for cosmetics and hair care tend to focus on the way
they give women confidence, rather than catching the
attention of male admirers. As beauty ideals change,
Unilever has changed its Fair Lovely product range to
Glow Lovely.
In advertising around financial services, women are depicted
in non-traditional workplace roles such as engineers, bank
managers, and architects. These representations feel subtle
and authentic rather than tokenistic.
One touching piece of advertising that shows just how
much times have changed is by Mondelez for Cadbury
Dairy Milk, which, in the 1990s, created a TV ad showing
a girl celebrating her cricketer boyfriend hitting a six.
In the latest version, a young female cricketer hits a six
and her boyfriend celebrates. The original ad is not
referenced, but those old enough to remember will
instantly connect the two.
Kantar research shows that brand equity and short-term
sales go up when brands use ‘gender progressive’ depictions
of women in their advertising. The impact is greater in India
than in other key markets.
Breaking with tradition
Strongest impact for women and girls in India
+43
+28
+47
+33
+41
+28
+51
+32
Brand equity Short-term sales likelihood
The bigger picture
The broadening of opportunities for women is part of a wider
move across India towards greater inclusivity regarding
people who are ‘different’, whether that’s regarding age,
religion, place of origin, or something else. Difference is now
seen as something to be celebrated.
To some degree, this embracing of difference extends to
gay and trans people, although there are still strong pockets
of conservatism.
Boundary-pushing of this nature tends to be seen more
online and in social media rather than in more mainstream
media such as TV.
For brands, it can signal positivity, inclusion, and modernity.
But in modern India, being progressive does not come
without risk. Even people who haven’t seen an ad campaign
deemed to be controversial are often willing to protest
about it and boycott a brand, generally out of concern that
traditional Indian ways are being trampled on in the name
of progress.
Starbucks, for instance, found itself on the sharp end of
criticism from a vocal minority of consumers when it created
a TV ad featuring parents subtly showing, over an iced coffee
in Starbucks, their acceptance of their son’s decision to
identify as a woman. There was a sense that the brand had
brought unwelcome ‘Western woke’ views to India.
Similarly, Tanishq had to withdraw an ad that proved
controversial for showing a Muslim woman organising a baby
shower for her Hindu daughter-in-law.
With movies featuring LGBT characters performing well at
the box office, and discussions about legalising same-sex
marriage in India, these conversations are gradually evolving.
Women In India
Difference in average percentile for ads in the top quartile on
UnStereotype Metric

55
54
BHARAT RISING
THE TRANSFORMATION
OF RURAL INDIA
Rural India
The development of India’s smaller towns and villages is not just a story
of social justice – improving living standards and access to employment
and education – but also one of economic advancement for the nation
as a whole.
As Mahatma Gandhi famously said, ‘The future of India
lies in its villages’. For businesses in India, this is certainly
true. While urban consumers have traditionally been the
ones with the most money, best internet access, best
infrastructure, and closest proximity to modern-trade
retailing, there is considerable value beyond the big cities,
much of it untapped.
The gradual shifts that were already under way in rural
development were supercharged by changes largely
brought about by the pandemic – and the government’s
measures to alleviate the economic and social stresses that
it delivered.
The adoption of digital technology – firstly, getting online
and then using social networking and ecommerce –
alongside the financial inclusion of women, thanks largely
to digital banking, have brought about change at a pace
previously unknown.
Add to this the investment in road and rail infrastructure, and
it’s clear that India’s rural consumers are better connected
– physically and digitally – than ever. This digital revolution
is creating a more level playing field of information access,
cutting through previously exclusive brackets of class and
gender divide.
The rapidly digitising rural India is increasingly accessing
media content that is like their urban counterparts,
through digital content and influencers, and are striving to
buy products that were otherwise perceived to be of low
relevance to rural consumers.
This march towards a better lifestyle has been enabled by
digital, but is principally driven by the changing structure of
household decision making, with a greater say for women in
decisions about the family and the home. Improving access
to higher education and employment among women in rural
India is accelerating this change. Women today constitute
38% of the workforce in rural India.

57
56
Digital rural landscape
It is difficult to overstate the pace of digitisation in rural
India. The number of rural internet users now exceeds
the number of individuals in rural areas, and eight out of
every 10 new users are from rural India. Adoption of digital
technology is not limited to the young, or to any other
particular rural consumer group; Kantar’s ICUBE research
shows that 54% of the non-agricultural workforce in rural
India are active users of the internet, while 40% of their
farming counterparts are connected.
Logging on to greater equity
Internet user penetration of rural population
48%
25-44 years
30%
45+ years
41%
24 years
The rural digital story is not just about new users coming in;
they are also rapidly maturing as digital natives. Rural India
today has more social media users than urban India; usage
of online services is broad-based and diverse, with online
transactions leading the way. Around 60% of rural India’s
active internet users are using OTT and social media.
User growth across online activities: 2022 vs 2019
Urban FMCG Volume Index
Rural FMCG Volume Index
Online
transactors
150%
OTT
109%
Social
media
105%
Online
gaming
105%
New everything
This evolution in the way people discover, research, buy,
and share is changing the rural economy – and the homes
of rural consumers. As per Kantar’s ICUBE, 8 million
connected TV homes are in rural India, 3 million own a
car, and 1.6 million own an iPhone, which represents 33%
growth since 2019.
In FMCG, total volume sales last year amounted to $32
billion across India, 51.1% of which was generated in rural
areas. Consumers in rural areas are now buying more of
everything; personal care products, home care, tech, cars,
phones – you name it.
MAT*
Sep’ 20’
100
MAT*
Sep’ 21’
101
MAT*
Sep’ 22’
98
MAT*
Sep’ 20’
100
MAT*
Sep’ 21’
103
MAT*
Sep’ 22’
104
Source: Worldpanel Division, Kantar
*MAT = Moving annual total
Rural India

59
58
Urban – Penetration (%)
Growth: MAT* August 2022 vs MAT* August 2021
Rural – Penetration (%)
Growth: MAT* August 2022 vs MAT* August 2021
Dishwash liquid
12.6 14.0
15.7
17.4
Washing liquid
12.4
15.3 15.4
18.7
Fabric softener
21.8
25.7
29.1
32.0
Face wash
12.6
16.0 16.0
18.0
Washing liquid
5.3
6.4 6.3
7.4
Fabric softener
8.3
10.4
11.2 11.6
Source: Kantar Worldpanel
Communications beyond
the big cities
Any sense that rural consumers are somehow the ‘country
cousins’ of city dwellers has evaporated. The emergence of
a ‘digital Bharat’, in which people have access to many of
the same media messages, shopping opportunities, and
online business opportunities of their urban counterparts.
Rural Indians strongly identify with the government’s push
to create ‘Atma Nirbhar’, or a self-reliant India. They are
proud of where they’re from and, when launching digital
businesses of their own, are often in no hurry to head to the
big smoke.
This shift in mindset is important for advertisers to
appreciate. No longer is it funny to laugh at ads showing
a rural person lost in the city. Similarly, brands should not
imagine they can take their urban marketing plans from five
years ago and apply them now to an urban audience that’s
‘catching up’.
What applies in rural India is the same rule of marketing
that applies everywhere: it’s vital to engage with consumers
with relevant, resonant messages on the most credible and
appropriate platforms.
There are regional differences, of course, but brands should
steer well clear of tokenistic representations of people who
are presented in ways that make it obvious where they’re
from. Half-hearted localisation – using the same ad but
shot against half a dozen different ‘local’ backdrops – is
unlikely to succeed, either.
We at Kantar are seeing more clients make the effort to
dub advertising into local languages for different regions,
and create hyper-local campaigns – with not just different
talent or languages, but, in some cases, products tailored
to local tastes.
Rural India

61
60
BRAND ANALYSIS
62 – TOP 75 MOST VALUABLE
INDIAN BRANDS 2023
66 – BRAND VALUE
74 – BUILDING RESILIENT BRANDS
80 – FUELLING DEMAND
84 – DEMONSTRATING VALUE
88 – THE BIGGER PICTURE

62 63
Brand Value
2023 (US$M)
Brand Value
2023 (US$M)
% Brand Value
Change 2023 vs 2022
% Brand Value
Change 2023 vs 2022
Rank Rank
Brand Brand
Category Category
1 TATA CONSULTANCY SERVICES
Business Technology
and Services Platforms
42,969 -6%
2 HDFC BANK Financial Services 33,612 3%
3 INFOSYS
Business Technology
24,170 -17%
4 AIRTEL Telecom Providers 22,517 29%
5 STATE BANK OF INDIA Financial Services 14,483 6%
6 ICICI BANK Financial Services 12,976 18%
7 ASIAN PAINTS Paints 12,839 -16%
8 JIO Telecom Providers 11,773 10%
9 KOTAK MAHINDRA BANK Financial Services 10,332 -13%
10 HCL TECH
Business Technology
9,361 3%
11 LIC Financial Services 8,414 -32%
12 FLIPKART Retail 8,075 -9%
13 VI Telecom Providers 6,439 -1%
14 TANISHQ Retail 6,333 1%
15 DMART Retail 5,905 -14%
16 RELIANCE RETAIL Retail 5,873 -8%
17 AXIS BANK Financial Services 5,589 28%
18 MARUTI SUZUKI Automotive 5,441 -5%
19 BRITANNIA Fmcg 5,326 24%
20 SWIGGY
Consumer Technology
4,601 -5%
21 PHONEPE Financial Services 4,473 N/A
22 GOLD FLAKE Tobacco 4,127 36%
23 WIPRO
Business Technology
3,991 -42%
24 NESTLÉ FMCG 3,926 -4%
25 LTIMINDTREE*
Business Technology
3,790 N/A
26 OLA
Consumer Technology
3,232 -6%
27 SURF EXCEL FMCG 3,193 10%
28 MAGGI FMCG 3,007 5%
29 WHEEL FMCG 2,943 5%
30 HORLICKS FMCG 2,941 -9%
31 BAJAJ AUTO Automotive 2,887 9%
32 DABUR FMCG 2,875 -8%
33 DREAM11 Gambling 2,765 -3%
34 OYO Travel Services 2,754 -10%
35 SBI LIFE Financial Services 2,649 -2%
36 NAUKRI.COM
Consumer Technology
2,537 -23%
37 DLF Real Estate Developers 2,403 -3%
38 NYKAA Retail 2,390 -36%
63
*LTIMindtree's brand value is reflective of consumer opinions on LT brand only (pre-merger)

65
64
Brand Value
2023 (US$M)
% Brand Value
Change 2023 vs 2022
Rank Brand Category
39 INDUSIND BANK Financial Services 2,373 9%
40 RAZORPAY Financial Services 2,357 -6%
41 HDFC LIFE Financial Services 2,337 -2%
42 INDIGO Travel Services 2,270 17%
43 HAVELLS Home Appliances 2,251 -17%
44 MCDOWELL'S NO.1 Alcohol 2,152 13%
45 BAJAJ ALLIANZ Financial Services 2,147 -8%
46 BROOKE BOND FMCG 2,142 -3%
47 MAHINDRA Automotive 2,008 48%
48 CRED Financial Services 1,997 N/A
49 HERO Automotive 1,976 -6%
50 ADANI GAS Energy 1,975 -56%
51 TVS Automotive 1,896 59%
52 KINGFISHER Alcohol 1,856 -10%
53 BERGER Paints 1,851 -18%
54 SUNFEAST FMCG 1,831 40%
55 TECH MAHINDR A
Business Technology
1,816 -19%
56 PAYTM Financial Services 1,801 -24%
57 ZOMATO
Consumer Technology
1,776 -43%
Brand Value
2023 (US$M)
% Brand Value
Change 2023 vs 2022
Rank Brand Category
58 JOCKEY Apparel 1,759 -8%
59 WILLS Tobacco 1,748 39%
60 TATA MOTORS Automotive 1,712 24%
61 ROYAL STAG Alcohol 1,651 2%
62 GLOW LOVELY FMCG 1,555 -3%
63 LIFEBUOY FMCG 1,482 -13%
64 ROYAL ENFIELD Automotive 1,461 19%
65 INDIAN OIL Energy 1,407 5%
66 ICICI PRUDENTIAL Financial Services 1,358 -24%
67 SHARECHAT
Consumer Technology and
Services Platforms
1,333 N/A
68 DOMINO'S PIZZA FMCG 1,317 -18%
69 COLGATE FMCG 1,317 -3%
70 BANK OF BARODA Financial Services 1,315 N/A
71 STAR Media and Entertainment 1,303 N/A
72 MRF Automotive 1,297 N/A
73 FORTUNE Food and Beverages 1,295 -16%
74 LUX FMCG 1,287 -8%
75 L AKMÉ FMCG 1,285 3%
65

67
66
INDIAN BRANDS HOLD
STEADY IN TOUGH TIMES
Brand Value
The total value of the Kantar BrandZ Top 75 Most Valuable Indian Brands
is down 4% on 2022 levels, a relatively small dip when we consider that
the Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands posted a collective 20% drop
over broadly the same period.
India’s leading brands have performed well compared to
those in other markets (China’s ranking fell 19% this year,
Italy’s 19%, and the UK’s 14%). In fact, the value of the
Top 30 Indian brands has now surpassed that of Japan
(in 2022) and the UK (in 2022).
When we look at value growth over not just one year but
several, a bigger, more positive picture comes into focus.
Brand values flatlined during the pandemic, then bounced
high, and have since made a slight correction that is well
explained by external market and category forces.
As consumers and investors pulled themselves out of the
pandemic period, they were drawn to brands that they
believed offered safety and security. They felt safe, and this
was a good time to be a strong brand. Since then, investor
worries about external factors – global macroeconomic
pressures and geopolitical instability – have dampened
markets and, in turn, brand values.
The bigger picture
Growth over pre-pandemic values
+21% CAGR vs. 2020
Source: Kantar BrandZ Top 75 Most Valuable India Brands 2018-2023
2018
Annual
Increase
2019 2020 2022 2023
0
50000
450000
400000
350000
300000
250000
200000
150000
100000
393.3 Bn
228.2 Bn
215.8 Bn
378.6 Bn
215.6 Bn
+6% -4%
+82%
-6%

69
68
There is remarkable stability in the India Top 75; 58 brands
have been in the ranking consistently since at least 2019, and
many of those for much longer.
This year, the Top 4 brands are unchanged. Tata Consultancy
Services (TCS) again leads the field, with a brand value
in 2023 of $42,969 million. In second place is HDFC Bank,
followed by InfoSys and Airtel.
State Bank of India rises one position this year to take fifth
spot and ICICI Bank is up three places to sixth, pushing Asian
Paints down to seventh. Jio is up two places, and Kotak
Mahindra Bank and HCL Tech round out the Top 10.
Top 10 Most Valuable Indian Brands 2023
Rank 2023 Brand Category
Brand Value
2023 (US$M)
% Brand Value Change
2023 vs 2022
1
Business Technology
42,969 -6%
2 Financial Services 33,612 3%
3
Business Technology
24,170 -17%
4 Telecom Providers 22,517 29%
7 Paints 12,839 -16%
8 Telecom Providers 11,773 10%
9 Financial Services 10,332 -13%
10
Business Technology
9,361 3%
Brand Value

71
70
The strength of the domestic economy – and the fact that
so many of the Top 75 brands primarily serve a domestic
consumer market – is one of the key reasons why the Ieading
Indian brands have proved so resilient over the past year.
Only 31% of the total Proportion of overseas contribution
in the Top 30 among the India Top 75 ranking comes from
international markets. This compares to 47% for the leading
Japanese brands, 59% for UK brands and 85% for French
brands. We look at the Top 30 because in some Kantar
BrandZ markets, only the Top 30 are reported.
This focus on domestic consumers has protected the ranking
from the worst effects of international volatility; indeed, the
categories and brands that have had the biggest buffeting
are those with the most exposure to international markets.
To some extent, it could be said that the strength of the
Indian economy has been reinforced by strong Indian brands.
New kids on the block
There are four newcomers to the Top 75 this year, and two
brands (Bank of Baroda and MRF) have re-entered after
some time away.
The newcomers represent three categories – Financial
Services, Media and Entertainment, and Consumer
Technology and Services Platforms.
PhonePe has quickly become India’s leading digital payment
app, in a country where the preference for going cashless
has accelerated at a tremendous pace. A government push
towards digital payments, and the need to go digital during
the pandemic, have helped electronic financial services
become the norm, and PhonePe is the clear market leader,
ahead of Google Pay, Paytm and all the ‘regular’ banks’
digital offerings. It’s achieved this by investing heavily in
the strength of its infrastructure, building connections with
partner banks, and developing a 30 million+ network of
offline merchant acceptance points.
Cred, meanwhile, has been building its brand by challenging
what ‘credit’ means in the minds of Indian consumers.
Targeting the middle classes with strong marketing and
attractive rewards such as big discounts and cash-back
offers, Cred is also using humour – rare in this category – to
communicate both its offering and its points of difference.
A partnership with the Indian Premier League, and the viral
‘Great for Good’ campaign starring former national cricket
captain Rahul Dravid, has created plenty of buzz.
New and re-entering brands in the Top 75
Rank 2022 Brand Category
Brand Value
2023 (US$M)
New/Re-entry
21 Financial Services 4,473 New
48 Financial Services 1,997 New
67
Consumer Technology
and Services platforms
1,333 New
70 Financial Services 1,315 Re-Entry
71 Media and Entertainment 1,303 New
72 Automotive 1,297 Re-Entry
Brand Value

73
72
CATEGORIES AND GROWTH
Tech stalls as finance fires up
The composition of the Top 75 and the performance of
several key industry sectors explains the slight decline in the
overall value of the ranking this year.
The biggest contributor of value to the ranking is the Financial
Services category, which has seen a 6% increase in value
overall this year thanks to the continued rise of electronic
banking and digital payments. Axis Bank posted a brand
value increase of 28% in 2023, and ICICI Bank rose 18%.
Telecom Providers have also had a good year; the price wars
that began when Jio burst onto the scene have calmed
down, and brands have been focusing on differentiating in
ways other than price in their communications, justifying
reasons for prices to start going up. Airtel has had a
particularly good year as a result, with a value increase of
29%, and Jio has grown 10%.
What has dragged down the value of the ranking is the
Business and Consumer Technology category. While some
of the brands in this sector have a strong focus on local
consumers and have proved quite resilient (HCL Tech, for
instance, has grown 3% in value), some of the more valuable
brands in the ranking are more international, and therefore
ebb and flow with the conditions in international waters. TCS
and Infosys fall into that category, and both saw declines in
2023. Overall, the category lost 10% of its value.
Composition of the India Top 75
Brand value by category
Financial
services
$379 Bn
Telecom
providers
Retail
Food Beverages
Automotive
Paints
Others*
Business/consumer
technology and
services platforms
Personal care - 3%
Home care - 2%
Tobacco - 2%
29%
26%
11%
8%
5%
5%
4%
7%
Highs and lows - analysis by category
Category Brand Value (US$M) Year-on-year growth
Tobacco 5,875 37%
Automotive 86,097 19%
Telecom Providers 40,729 17%
Home Care 6,136 7%
Financial Services 108,213 6%
Travel Services 5,024 1%
Food and Beverages 20,468 -2%
Gambling 2,765 -3%
Media and Entertainment 1,303 -7%
Apparel 1,759 -8%
Business Technology and Services Platforms 86,096 -10%
Retail 28,577 -11%
Personal Care 9,801 -16%
Paints 14,690 -17%
Home Appliances 2,251 -17%
Fast Food 1,317 -18%
Alcohol 5,660 -20%
Consumer Technology and Services Platforms 13,478 -33%
Estate Developers 2,403 -37%
Energy 3,382 -42%
Total 378,603 -4%
Brand Value
* Includes Alcohol, Travel Services, Energy, Real Estate Developers,
Gambling, Media and Entertainment, Apparel, Home Appliances
and Fast Food

75
74
INVESTMENT DELIVERS
RETURNS
Building Resilient Brands
The strongest brands, according to
our Kantar BrandZ calculations,
have fared relatively well, with our
equity figures showing that both
globally and in India, consumers’
opinion on brands has remained
consistently strong.
Consumers have kept their faith in the biggest brands
because they have, not just recently but over decades in
many cases, made powerful connections with consumers
and consistently add value to their lives.
There is powerful evidence over many years – including the
tumultuous times of recent times – that having a strong,
valuable brand provides a layer of protection from the
buffeting that all brands get when storms hit. Strong brands
decline less and recover faster than other brands.
Among the most valuable Indian brands, this is certainly the
case. The benefits of this value stability (and often growth) is
felt not just in the marketing department but in the business
bottom line.
Invest in brands, reap the rewards - the long-term value of brand building
Strong brands have consistently outperformed the key market indices – the SENSEX and the NIFTY50 – and have also
repeatedly recovered faster from the lows.
Kantar BrandZ India Top 75 Portfolio vs. SENSEX India vs NIFTY50
(Aug 2014 - July 2023)
Kantar BrandZ India Top 75 Portfolio SENSEX India NIFTY50 India
-20.0%
0.0%
20.0%
40.0%
60.0%
80.0%
100.0%
120.0%
140.0%
August 2014 July 2023
81.7%
99.6%
83.2%

77
76
How do they do it?
The brands that have managed to grow beyond their
category averages have done it in a range of ways.
Automotive brands TVS (up 59% in value), Mahindra (brand
value up 48%) and Tata Motors (up 24%) have been adept
at responding quickly to changing consumer needs – most
notably the shift away from a long-standing preference for
hatchbacks towards SUVs, and away from petrol or diesel
vehicles towards electric vehicles.
And Royal Enfield (up 19% in brand value) has not only
benefited from the exit from India of Harley Davidson but
has also made itself a cult brand for Millennials, with a
waiting list of up to six months for new models.
What all these winning brands share, regardless of their
category, is strength in the building blocks of brand equity.
Leading brands from India and, indeed, all over the world,
share three essential qualities, and these apply to brands in
every sector you could imagine, from fast food to financial
services.
The strongest, most valuable brands – ones that have built
up deeper and broader consumer connections over time –
are Meaningful, Different and Salient. Here’s what we mean
by that:
Meaningful means the extent to which brands build clear
and consistent emotional connections and are seen to
deliver against consumer needs. Being Meaningful – or
relevant – to consumers shows the depth of the connections
you are making, in terms of knowledge, feelings, and
experiences.
Different in this context means the extent to which a brand
is perceived as offering something that others don’t, and
leading the way. Difference is what helps brands justify their
pricing, and it’s what makes the biggest impact on financial
returns for brands.
Salient brands have what we call mental availability, so
they spring quickly and easily to mind when someone is
making a decision about using or choosing something.
Salience is much more than brand-name awareness or
fame. It is recognition for something consumers see as
relevant and valuable.
These three building blocks of brand equity work together in
a feedback loop. Ideally, brands will have a good balance of
all three; excelling in one or two areas cannot make up for
deficiencies in another.
In reality, most brands do have a changing balance of
these three attributes over their lifetime. Young brands
often launch with a strong focus on Difference, and become
more Meaningful and Salient over time.
Brands that have strong Meaningful Salience tend to drive
higher sales volumes and market share. They generate
strong Demand Power, which looks beyond distribution,
discounting, and other in-market reasons why someone
might choose one brand over another. It’s a measure of
what’s going on in the mind of the consumer. Demand
Power represents public perceptions of a brand and how
desirable it is to consumers.
Brands that have strong Meaningful Difference generate
great Pricing Power. That’s a brand’s ability to justify its
price and potentially command a premium – vital for driving
both sales and profitability during difficult times. If a brand
is perceived as being special and it stands for something
(it’s Meaningfully Different) – then consumers are less likely
to substitute it just because there’s a cheaper alternative.
Closing the loop
Brands that are Meaningful, Different, and Salient
stay on track
I
n
novation Com
m
s
a
n
d
P
R
Responsible Reputation
Responsible Reputation
Innovati
o
n
C
o
m
m
s
a
nd
PR
Experience
Demand Power
Meaningful
SALIENCE
Pricing Power
Meaningful
DIFFERENCE
This visual is not just neat; it’s a reminder that brand
builders’ work is never done. The ultimate goal is to achieve
stronger consumer predisposition than your competitors,
and this will always be an ongoing arms race against them
and their activity. Staying out in front requires constant
input, ideas, and energy.

79
78
The most valuable Indian brands are, on average, stronger
performers on Meaningful Difference than the global
average. Within the India Top 75, we see that the most
Meaningful, Different, and Salient brands are those that
are the most valuable.
Kantar BrandZ Indian Most Valuable Brands
Top 30 vs Top 75
Different
116
122
Salient
132
139
Meaningful
121
126
Top 30 Top 75
Lessons for marketers
1
The Indian brands that improved their Demand
Power in the past year were the ones that showed
the strongest resilience in their brand value.
2
The brands that improved their Meaningful and
Salient scores were those with the strongest brand
value growth.
3
The brands that grew both their Demand Power
and their Pricing Power were able to grow in value
by being Meaningfully Different.

81
80
IS YOUR BRAND DRIVING
CURRENT AND FUTURE
DEMAND POWER?
This is one of three big questions
that marketers in India need to
be asking.
It’s an important question because the Indian brands that
improved their Demand Value in 2023 were the most resilient.
And, here’s the even better news: brands that increased their
Demand Power over a longer period – from 2019 to 2023 –
generated almost 4X the brand value growth of those that
posted a decline in demand.
Yet across the India Top 75, Demand Power has been
gradually declining.
Fuelling Demand
Going down
Average Demand Power of Kantar BrandZ Top 75 Indian
Brands over time
Purpose is paramount
Index scores across Kantar BrandZ Most Valuable Indian Brands
2020
191
2022
173
2023
161
2019
212
Making it happen
Strong Demand Power happens as a result of building
Meaningful Salience. The brands that have grown in value
in the past year have increased their perceptions of being
Meaningful and Salient.
That ‘and’ is crucial. Salience alone has not had anything
close to the same positive impact. Brands that have
increased their Salience have actually seen their brand
value decline, by 8%, on average. Those that are now more
Meaningful and Salient have gained an average of 9% in
value; a huge difference.
Consumer choice in India is increasingly being driven
by perceptions of Purpose and Convenience. Purpose is,
essentially, what a brand’s reason for being is beyond simply
making money.
There are variations in drivers of choice across categories
– being seen as a ‘specialist’ matters more to buyers of
telecom or tech, while provenance counts for a lot when
people are buying a motor vehicle, and ‘superiority’ matters
when people are choosing food, drinks, or personal care
items. On the whole, though, Purpose and Convenience are
helping brands across categories prove their relevance to
people’s lives. The better brands are at being purposeful and
convenient, the higher their average brand value.
109
101
Convenience
111
113
105
Purpose
115
Top 75 All Brands
Top 30

Kantar BrandZ Top 75 Most Valuable Indian Brands 2023- Report_Under Embargo till Thursday 28th Sept, 7.30 PM, IST..pdf

Kantar BrandZ Top 75 Most Valuable Indian Brands 2023- Report_Under Embargo till Thursday 28th Sept, 7.30 PM, IST..pdf

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Similar to Kantar BrandZ Top 75 Most Valuable Indian Brands 2023- Report_Under Embargo till Thursday 28th Sept, 7.30 PM, IST..pdf

Similar to Kantar BrandZ Top 75 Most Valuable Indian Brands 2023- Report_Under Embargo till Thursday 28th Sept, 7.30 PM, IST..pdf (20)

More from Social Samosa

More from Social Samosa (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Kantar BrandZ Top 75 Most Valuable Indian Brands 2023- Report_Under Embargo till Thursday 28th Sept, 7.30 PM, IST..pdf