Vodafone is India's most admired marketer

Vodafone, Hindustan Unilever, Bharti Airtel, Nokia and PepsiCo are India’s ‘Most Admired Marketers’, best in the marketing class of India Inc 2009. The top-flight marketing companies are India Inc’s most admired, thanks to marketing and strategy innovation, million-dollar ad budgets and some of the finest marketing executives in the business.

In a nation-wide survey, which premier research agency IMRB conducted on behalf of Brand Equity, Vodafone emerged as the most admired marketer in India. HUL was ranked number two, while Bharti Airtel, Nokia and PepsiCo occupied the next three slots (For full details, see today’s Brand Equity). Marten Pieters, CEO, Vodafone Essar, was delighted at being number one and said that Vodafone’s No 1 ranking is a reflection of “a strong understanding of the business, customer centricity, desire to constantly innovate and do all this with speed, simplicity and trust”.

HUL, considered by many to be the university of marketing and a school for CEOs, came in at number two, thanks to a fierce onslaught the company is facing in recent times both from MNC rivals and local competitors. Nitin Paranjpe, CEO & MD, HUL, and a marketing man himself, attributes Lever's success to a culture of “innate curiosity and an obsession with understanding the consumer holistically”.

In deciding on the most admired marketers, IMRB surveyed 550 senior marketing and advertising executives across Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad on five parameters — innovation, quick response, 360-degree media spread, visibility and effective usage of brand ambassadors. The spirit of these marketers is best captured by Manoj Kohli, CEO, Bharti Airtel, the company that ranked third, who says, “We are a dissatisfied company. There’s always a way to do it better and to do a lot more.”
Each of these companies has raised the bar for their peers as well as those who are bound to follow them into one of the fastest growing markets in the world.

None of them, however, believe that they have peaked and are determined to stretch the frontiers of marketing. D Shivakumar, country manager, Nokia, believes that marketers have to be conscious of falling into the 2C trap — complacency and confusion. He says, “Most marketers in large firms tend to have the security guard mentality. It’s time to be the architect!”

Rounding off the top 5 is PepsiCo, whose global chief Indra Nooyi recently told ET that the future belongs to India. A company known for its memorable advertising and ability to adapt to local conditions, PepsiCo is likely to fight harder to climb up the rankings. Says Sanjeev Chadha, chairman, PepsiCo: “What sets an outstanding marketer apart are three things. First, ‘foresight vs insight’. Understanding where the consumer is going tomorrow, as against only knowing what she needs today. Second, an ability to build the brand's ‘share of conversation’ rather than ‘share of voice’. Making it play a greater role in our consumers’ increasingly crowded lives. Third, the essential, special ‘sauce’ of every PepsiCo team member: the will to win, and the passion to make a difference.”