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India may have established its supremacy in information technology with companies such as Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys and Wipro, but on a global scale these companies are far from being brands to reckon with.
"These are great Indian companies but not brands. To sustain on a long term basis, pricing and quality would not be sufficient, companies must create a brand for themselves," Al Ries, marketing guru and chairman of Ries & Ries, said in Kolkata on Thursday.
The prime reason, which prevented these companies from becoming great global brands, was lack of focus. "I am good at everything, is not the way to build a brand," Ries said in his hard-hitting speech.
Ries however, has provided a solution to companies like TCS, Infosys and Wipro. He suggested that these companies should develop a second brand to take on the global competition.
"Take the instance of Toyota which launched a second brand, Lexus. It almost took over the mother brand," Laura Ries, daughter of Al and president Ries & Ries, said.
"When you come up with a second brand, there is opportunity to do lot of things. Companies can come up with fabulous names and position it well," said Al Ries.
Addressing a packed audience at the 'Brand Conclave' organised by the eastern region chapter of Confederation of Indian Industry, Ries spelt out few tips for creating a successful brand.
"Indian software companies should look for a name which is appropriate for the business they are in. The other criterion is speakability, the name must sound right in English. For instance, though Sony is a Japanese name, it goes down well in English," he pointed out.
He lamented that India was a well-known intellectual powerhouse but did not have enough good brands.
"Indian companies have so much potential that they can compete globally. They should not just concentrate on providing products at a cheaper rate. That will not work in the long run," he said.
The key branding concept, explained Ries, was to be a specialist as, power lies in dominance. According to him, 50 per cent of one market was better than 10 per cent in all markets.
A case in point was Nokia. Ries portrayed a contrast of strategies pursued by Nokia and Motorola and the end result.
While Motorola was the inventor of cellphones, it was Nokia which enjoyed the highest market share in cellphones at 36 per cent.
Alongside the cellphone business, Motorola started manufacturing personal computers, then came mainframes and also semi conductors. Nokia, on the other hand, exited seven businesses it was in, to focus on its cellphone business.
The end result: The value of the Motorola brand today, stands at $3.1 billion and Nokia $29.4 billion, by Interbrand.
Ries said, the important question that Indian companies must ponder over is, if Finland, a country of five million people can build Nokia, the sixth most valuable brand in the world, why can't India with one billion people.