In this day and age where a single customer has thousands of brands to choose from, how can corporations in India protect their brands to become the first choice of any buyer?

Gone are the days when companies in India more or less operated in a monopolistic environment. Post liberalisation has not only led to an inflow of multinational competitors, but more so has increased the choices for the Indian customers. In such an environment, can companies protect their future just by looking at their profits at the end of the year? Certainly not. The concept of brand value is still at a nascent stage in the Indian market. However, companies in India today have just started realising the importance of brand as an economic value generator. The concept of brand valuation was pioneered by Interbrand Corporation, a global brand consultancy which generates ranking for the Top 100 Global Brands every year. One of the most surprising things in the league table is that no Indian company ranks in the top 100. Does that mean companies like Infosys, Wipro, Tata and Reliance have not yet reached the level of being considered as