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The Murugappa group

The Murugappa group is by far the largest business conglomerate in South India, having several well established operating companies under it. All these companies subscribe to the group’s unique philosophy and character. Given this commitment to belonging to the Group, the group management felt the need to isolate the drivers of corporate reputation and the extent of their influence on ongoing value creation.

To this end the group leadership invited EQUiTOR, to determine the extent to which the corporate brand drivers influence value creation for the operating

Bharti Axa

Bharti AXA General Insurance is a player in the highly regulated and competitive insurance market in India. In 2011, Bharti AXA GI was considering the launch of a “Direct” business on the lines of the popular international model in which the entire customer engagement cycle, including purchase, is carried out online. The management of Bharti AXA (BA) believed that the overall insurance market was characterised by low customer involvement and poor brand loyalty. In the countdown to the launch of the direct business, the management took cognizance of the fact that any activity that involved building favourability or advocacy must be preceded by a singular definition and understanding of the BA Direct idea.

EQUiTOR was sought to analyse primary research, benchmark competitor brands and provide insights into the target positioning for the disruptive, new model. BA Direct has since nurtured the business model and been a target for potential acquisitions.

BIT Mesra

BIT Mesra was born out of Mr. B.M.Birla’s dream of making India self sufficient in high quality engineering, a discipline he believed imperative to the growth of the nation. True to his vision, BIT has been a pioneer in introducing new disciplines into the specialised higher education space.With the rampant proliferation of engineering institutes focused on producing assembly line employees to service the IT, ITES and e-commerce boom in India, the leadership of BIT thought it essential to articulate its differentiation and reclaiming its stake of being a pioneer in thought leadership in India.

With the help of EQUiTOR, BIT Mesra has been successful in defining an exciting future for itself, drawing on its gene of pioneering thought leadership

EQUiTOR was sought to analyse primary research, benchmark competitor brands and provide insights into the target positioning for the disruptive, new model. BA Direct has since nurtured the business model and been a target for potential acquisitions.

Chlorophyll

The integrity and commitment of the founders of this boutique brand services company has become a leitmotif now embedded deeply into the culture of the organisation. chlorophyll’s founders possess both the cutting edge capability as well as the personal credibility as lighthouses in the arena of building brands. When they sought EQUiTOR, they were keen to convert the size of business to be more in proportion to inordinately wide and deep goodwill that they enjoy.

With EQUiTOR’s support, some key questions such as what the organisation wants to be known for (beyond the founders), the beneficiaries of its renewed offering and the organisation to be built here on, have been addressed.

Dormakaba

Dormakaba GmbH formally entered India in 2004 as the world leader in Glass Architecture fittings. In a rapidly growing market, characterized by inexpensive local brands or Chinese imports, how does a premium global player set the standards and grow the market itself? This was clearly an offering for the emerging, globalised India. By marrying their special needs with Dormakaba’s global strengths in design and technology.

EQUITOR helped the client to sharply define (and thereby justify) Dormakaba’s premium value proposition in India. This unique proposition resulted in a re-structuring of the entire value chain, so that it was aligned single-mindedly to the delivery of this proposition. By installing a Process Score Card, each element of the value chain was provided a performance metric. The business has grown 17 fold in the last 5 years since EQUITOR first worked with Dormakaba. In 2007, Dormakaba was recognized as the best German JV by the Indo German Chamber of Commerce.

Duroflex

Duroflex is India’s largest exporter of sleep and comfort products along with being one of three big names within the category in India. With the domestic market firmly in the grip of the unorganised sector, led by local ginners primarily selling low-end cotton and foam filler mattresses, growth has been steady. However, with an expanding base of considered purchasers, a much larger market for a quality mattress, addressing specific sleep requirements seems inevitable. Towards this end, Duroflex wished to stake its claim at the earliest.

With the enablement of EQUiTOR, Duroflex has been successful in defining a new future for itself, cast out of appropriating a clear space in an expanding market pie.

Infosys Finacle

When the management of Finacle™ approached EQUiTOR, its products had been deployed in over 130 banks across 65 countries and had seen an unprecedented growth with a CAGR of nearly 35% in the last 5 years. In spite of the impressive growth and the proven ability to take on the best in the business, Finacle™ contributed a mere 4% to the revenues of its parent company, Infosys®. The management specifically sought to understand how the future earnings of Finacle™ could be secured and in so doing, make a higher contribution to the revenues of Infosys®.

EQUiTOR undertook an exhaustive two part exercise comprising an international audit with key decision makers across the banking industry followed by a Brand Valuation focusing on garnering a deeper understanding of the drivers of value for Finacle™. A year since the exercise, Finacle™ has augmented its position as the flag bearer of the Infosys® product portfolio and is a critical contributor to the five year business plan of Infosys®.

Titan

In 2003, TITAN’s watch division had completed a McKinsey study and was embarking on a complete restructuring strategy. A Brand valuation was undertaken to quantify the influence of the brand on value creation. The drivers of brand value were isolated, using which; the organization was recast .A completely new five year business plan was then drawn up. Consequently, Titan is back amongst India’s most admired brands. Within a year the share price had reached Rs.188 (up from Rs.40).

Once the plan was submitted to the analysts the target price for Titan Industries was revised to Rs.319. Over the next two years the share price peaked at Rs.1782, representing a gain of 4200% over a 4 year period. During this period the market changed by 470%. At the end of the five year period closing in March 2010 the company had achieved 96% of the revised plan which was 3 times the old plan and 5.5 times on the PBT.

Mother Dairy

Mother Dairy was born out of the government’s desire to create self- sufficiency in food for its citizens. From this mandate, Mother Dairy has today become a trusted provider of fruits, vegetables, oil and milk under different brands. As the organisation entered into its middle age, the leadership was keen to re-discover the winning traits that had brought them this far.

Our discovery and subsequent workshops with the leadership enabled us to re-cast the organisation for the future, based on their re-defined DNA. Cross-functional project teams have since embarked on testing new sources of momentum and margins based on the intrinsic drivers of brand value for Mother Dairy.

NBC

By the request of the CK Birla corporate leadership, EQUiTOR undertook an exercise with one of its leading operating companies, NBC, a brand owned by National Engineering Industries. NBC is a close competitor to international giants such as SKF and FAG in the bearings category.

In the first phase of the intervention, a valuation of the NBC Brand was carried out, in order to assess the current value of future earnings, attributable to the NBC brand. In the phase thereafter, a disruptive business-planning workshop was held with the senior management of the organisation.

Prestige

The Prestige Group had built a specific reputation on the back of its ability to undertake and execute projects in a distinctive manner. This reputation had enabled it to extend its services from the mainstay of construction into Turnkey Interiors and Property Management Services. One of the questions that the management sought to ask in the light of the impending public listing was whether this reputation which was till then understood implicitly and not in economic terms, gave them additional financial value beyond what was captured in their Balance Sheet.

Our valuation exercise was able to demonstrate that the reputation of Prestige substantially influences enquiries, conversions, time for closure and unit sale price in all of the business units, thereby significantly reducing long term risk and creating shareholder value. The findings were also used as a basis to determine a fair listing price for the builder.

Tata

7 years into an internal brand licensing program, and on the verge of a major international thrust, the group was keen to assess how much value the TATA brand was driving for the group, by itself. Using the Economic Profit approach, 17 group companies were studied to isolate the direct impact of the TATA brand in driving wealth creation.

Consequently, the TATA brand emerged as one of the 100 most valuable names on the planet. However, relative to the same 100, the TATA brand could clearly play a larger role in creating value for its shareholders. By isolating the value, role and drivers of the TATA brand, the exercise provided a strong foundation for positioning the group internationally.

Thomas Cook India Limited

The Thomas Cook brand, having been nurtured over the years by caretakers across the world has now come to occupy the enviable position of being the most admired name in travel. As a licensee of the brand, a key question the Indian management asked itself was about the utilization of this asset. Did the Thomas Cook brand influence critical business metrics such as consideration and ticket size? Was there adequate focus and investment into amplifying the impact of the Thomas Cook brand on performance?

A segmented brand valuation demonstrated the intrinsic worth of the brand. The drivers of value, isolated by the valuation, provided clarity on the opportunities uniquely available to Thomas Cook, not just to achieve the existing business plan but to create a disruptive new plan based on entry into new businesses.

Zee Entertainment Enterprises

As the first private player in broadcasting, the shadow cast by the presence of the ZEE corporate brand has been unparalleled. In the 20 years of its existence, the value created by the corporate brand was apparent in the industry status accorded to Zee by its peers. However, in the light of day-to-day operations driven largely by the product brands (individual channels), the value recognition of the corporate brand took a back seat.

In the first exercise, the management of Zee requested EQUiTOR to financially isolate the value of this corporate brand. Using the value creation enabled by the brand as a pivot, a plan for achieving of the 2020 ambition was put in place, providing analysts and investors greater clarity on the robustness of plans for the future