Conviction, commitment and perseverance: Sanjiv Puri’s tips for creating world-class Indian brands

Diversified conglomerate ITC Ltd. which has proliferated into a major multinational corporation over the past two decades with its array of brands across sectors, is a prime example of an Indian company making big globally. Apart from its growing sales and successful expansion into multiple sectors - from fast-moving consumer goods and paperboard to luxury hotels and agri-commodities, ITC’s success is also rooted in its brand-building exercise. From creating the first thousand crore wheat flour brand in the country - Aashirvaad - to establishing its stationary brand Classmate - ITC has traded a journey that very few could.

Sanjiv Puri, Chairman & Managing Director of ITC and a company veteran stressed upon the importance and challenges of creating world class brands from India. Puri, 61, is the winner of the Business Today Best CEO Awards in the Large Companies category. In a conversation with Sourav Majumdar, Editor, Business Today at the BT Mindrush event, he shared some interesting tips and his experience in creating world class brands.

According to Puri, conviction, commitment and perseverance are three of the most crucial characteristics that the management needs to have to achieve the task. “First and foremost, we have always played according to our strengths and aligned them with market opportunities. Second, the product is at the centre of your brand. The product and quality have to be right, As a challenger in a competitive, globalised marketplace second best quality has no chance to succeed. The quality by itself is not adequate. You must bring on to the table something superior, differentiated and unique and create a world class brand. That requires deep investments in research & development and we have done that ahead of the curve,” says Puri.

Additionally, the next most crucial aspect of creating a world class brand is the brand should have relevance and in the context of the consumer in society. And needs to be backed by deep insight. “To build brands, you need to have the conviction, commitment and perseverance to do that. It has taken many years to do it and now we are enjoying the fruits of that,” he adds.

According to him, the ITC life sciences & technology is the largest innovation centre in the country with 800 patents under its belt. After CSIR (Council of Scientific & Industrial Research under the Ministry of Science and Technology), it ranks next.