A partnership of big retail with small
must not be missed as an
opportuntiy. Imagine if an Aditya
Birla Retail contracted 2,00,000
existing small kirana shops to partner
in their retail spread. Every one of
these small kirana shops would get
the benefit of an organized front-face
in terms of branding, and of course
the benefits of mass sourcing. For the
retail brand, this would mean a quick
2,00, 000 outlets that sport the brand
name of the company. Also, this
would mean 2,00,000 business
people in small retail can continue
their livelihoods. They would bring
passion and a deep understanding of
the local market for the big retailer.
Every outlet could be co-branded.
More-Ghaanshyam Stores and a
More-Shetty Stores!
Indian retail inroad can be made by
the big player only on a win-win
format of big and small, and not to the
exclusive benefit of the big alone!
My prediction is that in the next six
years, the face of Indian retail will
look very different from what we see
today. Today’s big ones might just
vanish altogether. Bubbles burst, you
see!
In one of your columns you said,
"The brand is a thought therefore
thought leadership equals brand
leadership." Can you elaborate on
this?
My definition of a brand is a simple
one. The brand is a thought. A simple
thought that lives in people’s minds.
This is a powerful thought. Planting
this thought in the mind of a person
is a skill, an art, a science and a
philosophy. This is branding.
Business success today is defined by
the success that the brands of
companies achieve in the
marketplace. Brand leadership is
therefore thought leadership. If you
are able to leverage your brand to
advantage, you are a winner in the
marketplace. Therefore, I recommend
businesses to pay a lot of attention to
their brands and the thoughtleadership
stances they take.
An obvious question regarding
Indian brands. Why do we not find
even a single brand in Businessweek-
Interbrand’s Global 100 brands
list? When do you think one of the
Indian brands would make into this
list?
We are a nascent brand economy. Our very belief in brands is new. It will
take time. Another ten to twelve
years, and expect a brand on the list.
We will be there. Sooner than later.
India can do it. We are already
topping many lists. Look at the
Financial Times ranking of Business
Schools in the world. The Indian
School of Business at Hyderabad has
been ranked 15 in the world. All in a
matter of seven years! This is big
achievement!
If you have to bet on five brands
that have the potential to make into
this list, what would they be? What
do you think these brands should do
to break the jinx?
It could be Tata. It could be Reliance.
It could be Nano. It could be
anything! And what about Infosys?
Or TCS? Or Wipro?
