Brand Trust Report 2012 also throws up some strange names like DLF and Air India

Shukti Sarma

There are names that inspire trust without asking. Like Google or Apple or mom-made food. Then there is the other kind of trust, like people’s trust in the government to perform even worse. But there are also names that make you wonder at what makes them trustworthy.

The Brand Trust Report 2012 has come up with some predictable and some surprising names which Indians trust. Nokia and Tata top the list once again. Nokia, whose market share has come down significantly globally, manages its hold on in India. Tatas too remain the second most trusted brand—despite the company’s name being linked to Niira Radia in the second generation (2G) scam.

However, Nokia’s Korean arch rivals— LG and Samsung are not far behind—they occupy the third and fourth positions, beating Japanese giant Sony. The others in the top-ten list are Maruti Suzuki, Bajaj, LIC and Airtel.

Undertaken by Trust Research Advisory (TRA), the survey takes into account the responses and views on 17,000 brands from over 2,700 participants across 15 cities in the country. It also included personalities as brands. 2011’s newsmaker, Anna Hazare, beat Sachin Tendulkar (after all, that 100th ton is still pending) to become the most trusted personality. Who are the other most trusted people in India? Salman Khan, Amitabh Bachchan and Aamir Khan. Incidentally, ‘Bodyguard’ Salman Khan was once involved in a hit-and-run case, and in hunting of an endangered deer species. But like his NGO ‘Being Human’, which has emerged as the most trusted name in the social sector, the Dabaang star has bounced back.

‘Most Trusted’ leaders in some other categories are Armani in branded fashion, NIIT in education, ONGC in energy, PVR in entertainment, Taj Hotels in hospitality, Google in internet, ACC in manufacturing and Thomas Cook in services.

There are names which seem to be resilient even in the face of controversy.  Like leader in technology, Hewlett Packard—which became the centre of a sexual harassment scandal in 2010 and saw the exit of the then CEO Mark Hurd. The scandal has refused to die, despite HP’s many achievements in the last year. But maybe the incident hadn’t affected the Indian market—as HP continues to be the most trusted name in terms of computer and printer equipment.

Likewise, Pepsi, despite many reports and lawsuits about unwarranted content within bottles in other countries (traces of harmful fungicides in fruit juices imported from Brazil, a dead mouse in USA), is named the most trusted brand in the food and beverage category.

There are other Indian names which come as surprise. Like DLF in the construction category—which has been slapped with a Rs630 crore fine by the Competition Commission of India for setting a bad example as a market leader by following unethical anti-customer policies. Even the almost-bankrupt Air India, which has some negative incident reported about it almost on a daily basis; has been named as the ‘most trusted’ in its field.