Nokia, Mallya still among the most trusted: Study

All odds are against handset maker Nokia and Vijay Mallya, billionaire owner of India?s premier passenger carrier Kingfisher Airline, but customers trust them more.

Nokia tops the list of trusted brands and liquor baron Mallya, who owns the world?s largest selling beer brand, trails behind only Ratan Tata, chairman, Tata group, which makes salt to steel, as the most trusted business personality.

The two stood among 17,000 unique brands in a survey ?The Brand Trust Report – India Study 2012? , released jointly by the Trust Research Advisory (TRA), a researcher on brands and companies and the Indian Statistical Institute.

??Nokia is not only the most trusted brand, but also maintains a clear majority with a 25% lead over Tata,?? says N Chandramouli, chief executive officer, Trust Research Advisory.

The handset maker, whose market share had been beaten down by half to 35% in past few years, now faces threat from rivals Samsung and Indian and Chinese low cost equipment makers. Yet, it held on to the top rank, with Tata Group trailing behind it.

Brand experts and consultants reckon that Nokia?s association with Indian consumers is unique and it has always been a ?top-of-the-mind? brand.

??Ubiquity of a brand and the emotions attached to it determine the choices of the consumer,?? says Harish Bijoor, chief executive officer, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc. ??It also depends on what is heavily advertised.??

??Nokia?s stickness and familiarity with subscribers kept its trust with customers intact,?? says Ramanujam Sridhar, founder and chief executive officer of Brand-Comm.

Consumers are more familiar and trust depends on familiarity, says Anand Halve, co-founder of chlorophyll, a brand building and consulting agency. ??That is why brands like Nokia, LIC and Air India feature as most preferred brands.??

Nokia and Tata are followed by Korean consumer electronics makers LG and Samsung. Samsung?s rival Sony slipped to fifth from third last year.

Customers have blurred perceptions about some companies. ??The distinction between RIL and ADAG is often blurred in the consumer?s mind,?? says Chandramouli of Trust Research Advisory. ??It is the brand name Reliance that people connect to.??

??The average consumer?s perception is not determined by balance sheet issues,?? says chlorophyll?s Halve. Mallya?s decision to bring Formula One to India also took up his brand value by notches.