Nokia is the most trusted brand of India

The Trust Research Advisory has released the Brand Trust Report 2012. The Brand Trust Report, India Study, 2012 (BTR 2012), lists India’s 1000 Most Trusted Brands.

Among the brands to make it to the top of the list Nokia and Tata have retained their first and second positions from last year as India’s top two Trusted Brands this year. LG grabbed third place on the list, followed by Samsung. Sony (earlier in third place) slipped to fifth position this year. Maruti Suzuki improved its position of last year by one position  to become India’s sixth 'Most Trusted Brand'. Bajaj ranked seventh and was followed by LIC, Airtel and Reliance.

For North India, Nokia, continues to lead but Tata (second place for India) slips down to sixth place.

South India agrees with the rest of India as there's no change in the order of the top five most trusted brands.

Among 22 personalities listed among in the Brand Trust Report 2012, Anna Hazare topped the list as he moved ahead of Sachin Tenudlkar, Salmna Khan, Amitabh Bachchan and Aamir Khan. Most Trusted leaders in some other categories are Armani in branded fashion, DLF in construction, NIIT in Education, ONGC in energy, PVR in entertainment, Pepsi in F&B, Dabur in healthcare, Taj Hotels in Hospitality, Google in Internet, ACC in manufacturing, Thomas Cook in services, Being Human in the social sector, Hewlett Packard in technology, and Air India in Airlines.

Commenting on the report, N. Chandramouli, chief executive officer, Trust Research Advisory said, “In life, without trust, there is nothing. Each time a human engages with anything, the basis for all decisions is trust. Be it brands, other humans, or just ideas, one will react to them on the basis of the trust it generates.Last year was tumultuous for several brands, but those which focused on trust, have gained market-share, revenues and profits. On the other hand, the brands which have focused only on the latter, have invariably lost both. Focus on building trust and all else will follow automatically”.

On the nuances of the report, Chandramouli added. “The Brand Trust Report maps the brand topography of India on the universal metric of Trust –a proxy for all the different experiences that any brand generates. The study is very subtle and distinctive regional preferences become visible depending on the cultural influences of the specific area. The seeming duality of 'uniqueness and universality’ of Brand Trust can be understood with reference to our unique tastes in music, though general classifications of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ music are universal. Trust also follows the individual-collective principles similar to music.”

The report, the result of a primary research conducted on 61-components of trust – a proprietary tool of Trust Research Advisory. The research is conducted with 2718 ‘influencer’ respondents from 15 cities.