Tata brands vault to $6 bn

The value of the Tata brand is expected to have gone up six times over the past eight years""from $1 billion in 1997 to $6 billion now. The latest round of brand-valuation exercise of the group is being conducted by Interbrand, an independent agency, using data available in public domain.

In the 1997 exercise, only five companies, including Tata Tea, Tata Motors and Tata Steel, were taken into consideration.

"The company's total number of brands has now grown to 17 and the group expects the valuation to be a minimum $6 billion. The actual valuation may be much more," Tata Sons Executive Director R Gopalakrishnan said here today.

Making a presentation on "Brand Tata" at the Bombay House, the group's headquarters, Gopalakrishnan said the objective of the exercise was to assess the current valuation of all Tata brands and the strength of the group's products. "We undertake such an exercise every five years," he added

The process will involve all brands across group companies""from Tata and Taj to Tetley, Indica and Indigo. The brands will be assessed on parameters like integrity, quality, nation-building abilities and dynamism. The process is expected to be completed in a "few weeks".

The group is now promoting the Tata brand beyond Indian shores, especially in South Africa where it has forayed into telephone services and automobiles.

It is also trying to reach out to the "gen-next" through it products and services. This is being done by roping in youth icons like Narain Karthikeyan and Sania Mirza.

The valuers will also collate information from around 2,500 Tata products users before finalising the brand value.