There is one significant truth: all commodities when placed in a labelled pack become brands; and all brands have the potential of becoming Superbrands. This is true particularly of an evolving market like India where hundreds of millions of people are waiting in the periphery to catch the wind that will bring them the benefits of liberalisation.
As their living standards improve they will migrate from the ubiquitous bag, made from last month’s newspaper, to branded goods manufactured by the organised, excise-paying
sector. Superbrands are designed to catch this upward migration of buyers and capture the upper end of this new market as it evolves.
However, Business Superbrands – save some categories which straddle both ends of the market spectrum – discharge a different role. Their strengths support and build businesses. Indeed, so crucial is their function that if you take away business brands the industrial fabric of a nation will collapse.
Put another way, Business Superbrands are the fundamentals of an economy.

When Caesar haughtily declared "I am constant as the northern star, of whose true-fix'd and resting quality there is no fellow in the firmament,” he provided a classic definition of a Superbrand.
A Superbrand stands out; its quality is unmatched, it is constant and it is visible to all. But what is constant is not the quality of the product per se but the nature of the Superbrand itself. A Superbrand is continuously making efforts to update, to improve, gauge emerging needs and reinvent itself in response.
In an evolving economy, it displays an additional and vital characteristic: it provides the leadership of a role model.
The consumer judges the quality of all goods and services by comparison with a relevant Superbrand, which in turn helps the entire market raise its standards.
The effort to identify India’s strongest business brands and to provide an insight into them is, therefore, an attempt to raise the standard of both the manufactured product and the services on offer.
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The corporate world has long lived by the doctrine that it is price that matters and it is price alone that wins over customers. But those days are nearly gone.Today, brands occupy a prime space in a consumer’s mind, price notwithstanding.
So, what exactly is a Superbrand? I believe a Superbrand is the most valuable real estate in the world – a corner of the consumer’s mind.
The role of Superbrands is evolving by the day. It is no longer a product that simply fills a need, it is a product that answers questions relevant today; the increasingly uncomfortable questions pertaining to health, safety and
environment. Superbrands are slowly taking on the role assigned to guardians.They are becoming protective of customers and by enlightening today’s exceedingly intelligent audiences are helping them make informed decisions that
support both, their families and the ecosystem.
Superbrands are more significant today than at any other time in the history of human kind.

When trust is created in the hearts and minds of consumers a brand is created. When the brand is nourished and stays in connect with customers, Superbrands are created. This strong brand equity establishes the rational and emotional values that bond the consumer to an organisation’s products or services.
In evolving markets the perception of what the brand represents are being constantly re-evaluated. How the brands respond to this evolution will determine continuation of these Superbrands.
The status of a Superbrand is reserved for those who achieve the extraordinary – way beyond sales. In today’s technological and knowledge-based society when consumers have multiple choices sustained investment in the brands’ development and promotion is mandatory. However, the winning formula will lie in weaving the brand into the emotional fabric of the culture. Making it part of our everyday lives, interests, values and aspirations.
Superbrands are more than products, they are experiences.

 

A global market, a plethora of choices, fierce competition, escalating costs, price wars, changing values and preferences of successive generations, discerning customers, educated decisions…out there, is indeed, a heady mix to set a
marketer's adrenaline pumping. The challenge is to change attitudes; capture mindshare and engage an ever-evolving customer in a sustained relationship of abiding trust.
Building Superbrands in an evolving market is a significant opportunity that precisely addresses this relationship of trust and instantaneous appeal. It takes an astute marketer with indepth customer insights to effectively connect them in simple yet unique and compellingly powerful ways. Superbrands are brands that become generic to their categories over time. Some classic associations include Xerox and photocopiers, Federal Express and overnight delivery, Aquaguard and pure, safe drinking water and several others.
Superbrands create the differentiation between winners and 'also-rans'. Just as the saying goes - "Personality can open doors, but it takes character to keep them open,” so too, brands can create appeal but only Superbrands ensure that this appeal endures.

In an evolving market, there are myriad factors that go into making a brand. At the epicentre is the ever-changing, smart, gen-next consumer who values quality, time and money and the brands’ ability to fulfil these requirements. When brands are able to accomplish this they transcend into another orbit called Superbrands.
A Superbrand is considered an asset and acts as a Trust – a kind of an assurance policy for the consumer. It doesn’t any longer compete on mere functionality but instead it pushes the limit and consistently raises the bar to add meaning to its consumer’s life. A Superbrand doesn’t just fulfil a need at a given price, it actually establishes an emotional connect with them.
Global Superbrands like Coke, Microsoft, Google,Tata, Mercedes and Nike have all created a unique emotional bond with their consumers. It is this, more than anything else, which helps them give their stakeholders exceptional benefits
and returns.

In an evolving competitive environment brands are relevant more than ever before. Brand building and brands have acquired a dimension that goes beyond the product attributes or tangible benefits. Brand values that include emotional and intangible benefits and brand experience have become critical factors in this competitive scenario where the consumer has become all powerful and also faces a multiplicity of choices. Brand delivery over a sustained period becomes even more critical for brands. A brand that consistently delivers and that which builds on tangible and rational benefits to create that emotional bond with the consumer – ultimately becomes a Superbrand.
Superbrands stand out in the market place both for tangible and emotional benefits, for their best-in-class product or service attributes and are the ones that are resilient and enduring – reaching an iconic status. Not all good brands can become Superbrands.
Superbrands undoubtedly are in a league of their own.

Brands are points of recall and reference in the minds of consumers and the public at large. They not only influence purchase decisions but also create perceptions about the organisations that own them.
Studies have shown that consumers in emerging markets demonstrate a greater propensity to believe that international brands are of better quality than local brands but this doesn't necessarily translate into purchasing behaviour. A large section of these same opined that they were more likely to buy a local brand over an international product if both were of comparable price.
Is there an angle of emotional satisfaction in the consumer’s mind here? Is it linked to nationality? Or aftersales experience? Or word of mouth? Or even peer pressure? For a local brand to emerge as a Superbrand it is incumbent upon it to ascertain the answers and create the perception of quality global brands have. For global brands, the challenge is to be able to integrate culturally with the local ethos.

Intangibles like literacy, knowledge, craftsmanship, patents and brands play a vital role in building a developing economy. As an emerging market, India is experiencing heightened consumerism. The challenge of growing here is not just
concluding the right mix of global and local attributes but being constantly innovative.
The Indian consumer is both price sensitive and quality conscious. While it has normally been accepted that it is the private sector which develops and nurtures brands, in the context of today’s India, even public sector companies have risen to the challenge. Some of their wards are truly outstanding.
By creating brands that go beyond simply fulfilling a need, companies fashion Superbrands. Superbrands in turn create brand equity amongst consumers and wealth amongst stakeholders.
There can be no better role that a Superbrand can discharge.

Gold mine! These are the words that comes to mind when I think of Superbrands. I would however hasten to add that a Superbrand is no guarantee that corporate cash registers will keep ringing for ever.
Heavy is the head that wears the crown, for along with the title of Superbrand comes super consumer expectations. To stay ahead and retain this superiority, brand owners and brand managers need to sustain a high standard of deliverables, in line with changing attitudes and perceptions.
In the competitive environment that is today plagued with an ever increasing number of me-too products and price propositions a Superbrand helps elevate products to another plane and reassure consumers of better product
performance and higher quality standards. A Superbrand provides marketing professionals with a cutting edge tool to penetrate deeper into the market; when that happens brands transform themselves into gold mines.

Brands epitomise trust and loyalty. They are developed as labels of ownership by organisations. Brands reflect the collective aspirations and ambitions of their proprietors, their employees and customers. Brands are built over a period of time with persistence and perseverance. But brand loyalty involves regular strategic interventions and mid-course corrections. Brands display the commitment and distinctive service rendered by the employees and the distribution channel of the organisation.
Powerful and successful brands – called Superbrands – give companies a cutting edge in the market place. They are the organisations’ most valuable assets. For example, LIC has become a generic name for life insurance in the country. It is
a great strength that everyone in the company is proud of. Organisations should, however, not enslave a brand. Brands must be allowed to evolve and change with the time for by nature, they are restless, dynamic and must continuously undergo a process of evolution. It is this that keeps them young and effervescent.