Chandigarh's trusted brands 'totally differ' from rest of India's

Chandigarh’s choice of India’s ten most trusted brands is totally different from the case with the rest of India, according to a research done by Trust Research Advisory (TRA), a part of the comniscient group.

The Brand Trust Report, India Study, 2012, reveals that LG emerges as the upcountry union territory’s most trusted brand, followed in sequence by two rank outsiders—Cadbury’s and Ponds. Cadbury’s is, on an all-India basis, ranked 28th, while Ponds stands at 39th. Even more surprisingly, Shell, which ranks 118th at the national level, is ranked 9th in Chandigarh—the country’s richest city, known for its planned layout and often called Pensioner’s Paradise.

Overall, Chandigarh’s top-ten list features six brands that are absent in the all-India top 10 list. The pan-India list has Nokia and Tata retaining their first and second positions respectively. Both companies occupied the same ranks last year as well. Sony, the Japanese electronics leader, slipped to a fifth position this year, outranked by the two aggressive Korean behemoths—LG (3rd) and Samsung (4th).

Maruti Suzuki has improved its position of last year by one notch and is India’s 6th most trusted brand this year. Bajaj (7th) is a new entrant in this year’s top ten (12th last year), while LIC and Airtel positions remain unchanged vis-a-vis last year—at 8th and 9th rank respectively.

Reliance slipped to 10th—from 6th last year.

The report, listing India’s 1,000 most trusted brands, was released here on Wednesday after a comprehensive primary research conducted on 61 components of trust—a proprietary tool of Trust Research Advisory (TRA). The research is conducted with 2,718 ‘influencer’ respondents from 15 cities, generating more than 2 million data-points from 12,000 hours of research. Indian Statistical Institute helped create a statistically robust Brand Trust Index, which has been used to hierarchically rank India’s brands on the basis of trust.

Sachin Bhosle, head (research) at TRA, said the report would help brands understand and improve their trust with consumers. “Trust, as a value, helps the brand deliver powerful and innovative experiences to its consumers. It, thus, goes beyond insights and products,” he added.

The report, priced at Rs 10,000 is available across major book stores, online book stores and TRA offices.