COVID-19 impact: Top 100 Indian firms likely to lose $25B of brand value

New Delhi: The coronavirus pandemic is likely to shave at least USD 25 billion off from the January 2020 cumulative brand value of top 100 domestic brands, says a report.

According to the latest report by Brand Finance, globally, the top 500 brands could see a value erosion of USD 1 trillion from their January 2020 brand value, following COVID-19 disruptions.

“As the new coronavirus pandemic wreaks havoc on the global and national economy, the country’s top 100 most valuable brands could lose up to 15 per cent of brand value cumulatively, a potential drop of nearly USD 25 billion compared to the original valuation as of January 1, 2020,” the report said.

Brand Finance has assessed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic based on the effect of the outbreak on enterprise value, compared to what it was on January 1, 2020.

The report further said the Tata Group has retained the title of the most valuable brand, breaking USD 20 billion brand value mark for first time this year and the group”s luxe hotel brand Taj is the strongest brand in the country with brand strength index score 90.5 out of 100.

This is despite the fact that the value has increased by only 2 per cent to touch the USD 20-billion-mark, making it the only domestic brand to touch this milestone.

LIC retained its second position with a value of USD 8.1 billion, followed by Reliance at third (USD 7.9 billion), Infosys fourth (USD 7.08 billion), SBI at fifth slot (USD6.4 billion).

Others in the top 10 list include, HDFC Bank at sixth place, up one notch from last year, followed by Mahindra (7th) which is down a notch from last year, IndianOil (8th) gaining a whopping 15 notches, HCL at ninth slot losing one notch from last year and Airtel was at the tenth slot losing eight notches.

Also, the Tata Group is the only domestic brand to feature in the top 100 of the Brand Finance global 500 2020 list, the agency said in a statement on Monday.

Savio D’Souza, director of Brand Finance, said, the sheer size and diversity of the Tata Group, which employs over 720,000 across 100 countries, could mean that it emerges from the pandemic, relatively speaking, unscathed.

Thanks to the strategic industry shift from oil & gas to the retail, media and telecoms sectors, the brand value of Reliance Industries moved up one notch to the third, following a 25 per cent value growth to USD 7.9 billion. The brand now claims 34 per cent share of market revenue in the telecom sector.

Despite the troubles plaguing them, banking brands did see solid growth in the year with 14 of them in the ranking list, with a cumulative brand value of USD 24.9 billion, recording an average brand value growth of 25 per cent.

State Bank of India (up 8 per cent to USD 6.4 billion) and HDFC Bank (up 22 per cent to USD 5.9 billion) have retained their positions in the top 10, with the latter climbing one spot to sixth in the ranking following a healthy 24 per cent growth over the previous year.

But following the pandemic, banks are set to lose at least 20 per cent of their value.

Brand value is the net economic benefit that a brand owner would achieve by licensing the brand in the open market. Brand strength is the efficacy of a brand”s performance on intangible measures relative to its competitors.