The Hindu Business Line : Nokia is CII Brand of the Year

Mr Sanjeev Sharma, Managing Director, Nokia India, receives the CII Brand of the Year Award from Mr Suresh Krishna, Chairman and Managing Director, Sundram Fasteners Ltd, in Chennai on Thursday. — Shaju John

Chennai , Feb. 17

MOBILE phone brand Nokia was named the CII Brand of the Year in a contest that saw three made-in-India brands among the 10 finalists.

Mr Sanjeev Sharma, Managing Director of Nokia India Pvt Ltd, received the glittering lotus-shaped trophy from Mr Suresh Krishna, Chairman and Managing Director of Sundram Fasteners, at a CII Brand Summit event on Thursday evening.

The 10 finalists, apart from Nokia, included Titan, Eveready, Dabur Chyawanprash, Indane, Fair & Lovely, Lux, Pond's, Rin Advanced and Pond's Body Lotion. There were 135 entries in all.

Mr Sharma, receiving the award, said Nokia was judged by brand consulting firm Vertebrand as among the 10-most valuable brands in the world, and it was an honour to receive the award in India, too. For the CII award, too, Vertebrand was involved in the process of evaluating the brands before short-listing 10 of them who made presentations to a five-member jury, which included Mr K.N. Shenoy, Mr Gurcharan Das, Mr S. Ramachander, Mr Mani Ayer, and Mr Dorab Sopariwalla.

Speaking before presenting the award, Mr Krishna said that while Indian companies competed on the world stage in a variety of industrial products, Indian brands would not have arrived until they offered something that people could touch, feel and see. He hoped that in the next decade or two, an Indian consumer product brand would have made the world stage. "Finally, the image of India depends on what products common people can touch and feel," he said.

Mr N. Murali, Chairman, Brand Summit, 2005, and Joint Managing Director, The Hindu group of publications, said that for the third edition of the Brand Summit, the CII was looking for something unique that would differentiate the event. While it debated over an award in different spheres, it finally plumped for a `brand of the year' award as it did not want to dilute the focus.

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