Tata Group & Ratan Tata Top The PSB 50

Overall awareness of Indian Multinationals low among Global Bizfluentials,Brand image is the most important non-financial driver of regard for companies among Global Bizfluentials,Indian Bizfluentials see their country's entrepreneurial spirit as a significantly bigger driver of recent Indian successes than their Global counterparts do. End Quote

(1888PressRelease) April 12, 2011 - Delhi, India - Tata Group and its chairman Ratan Tata are the best known and most highly regarded Indian Multinational Corporation and business leader among Global Bizfluentials™, a poll released today at the first Penn Schoen Berland Winning Knowledge™ Power Breakfast shows.

The poll ranked 61 Indian MNCs with revenue over 1000 crores and their leaders. The Top Ten companies ranked in the The PSB 50 were:

1. Tata Group
2. Sun Pharmaceutical Industries
3. Air India
4. Jet Airways
5. TVS Company
6. State Bank of India
7. Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC)
8. Indian Oil Corporation
9. Axis Bank
10. Kingfisher Airlines

"Indian companies and leaders must make brand-building their mission," said Mark Penn, CEO, Penn Schoen Berland. "They have come a long way, but they still have a long way to go to make their full mark on global business."

"India is still searching for its GE, its HSBC, and its Microsoft," said Ashwani Singla, Managing Director and Chief Executive, Penn Schoen Berland, South Asia. "The moment is now. India's business leaders have built companies with top-flight market performance. The next step is telling this story - the story of Indian entrepreneurialism - to global audiences."
More than one quarter of Global Bizfluentials™ polled are unable to spontaneously name any Indian multinational company, indicating low overall awareness of Indian brands worldwide. 18% said that Indian companies are not as successful as their global competitors because they are too new to the market, or are not as well known or respected for business.

Underscoring the need for concerted brand-building efforts, Global Bizfluentials™ said that brand image was the third most-important reason why they admire a given company - and the most important factor not directly related to financial performance.

When it comes to company leaders, business vision is seen as the most important factor driving admiration. After Tata, the next most-known and most highly-regarded Indian business leaders were:
2. Mukesh Ambani, Reliance Industries
3. Rahul Bajaj, Bajaj Auto
4. [tie] Vinita Bali, Britannia Industries
4. [tie] Kumar Mangalam Birla, Aditya Birla Group

Indian Bizfluentials are much more likely to credit their own entrepreneurial spirit for their rapid growth than are their peers. 47% of the Americans and 51% of the Europeans polled said that Indian companies' recent success is due in large part to lower costs for employees and materials. However, Global Bizfluentials™ are also quite positive about Brand India. 91% of say that Indian companies have strong futures, and 89% see Indian companies as a good investment.

The sectoral mix of Indian industry is seen as strong, with the IT industry leading a field which also includes construction and infrastructure; automotive (seen as particularly strong regionally); energy and resources; and banking, financial services and insurance. 75% say that India's economy is on the right track, and 57% say that Indian companies are getting recognized globally.

However, marked differences in awareness and regard for particular companies emerged between Indian and Global Bizfluentials. Many global leaders face serious perception issues in their home market, including Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Air India, TVS Company, Sterlite Industries India, and Bharat Forge. Similarly, local leaders such as Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, Larsen & Toubro, Reliance Industries, Godrej Group and Wipro face issues among global audiences.

About The PSB 50
The audience for this study was limited to Bizfluentials™, defined as people who follow more than one source of financial media daily or several times a week. Aged 21-74, they work with a company that trade or operates internationally. The audience of Bizfluentials polled included C-suite and upper management business executives, financial industry professionals, and members of the financial media.

The PSB 50 evaluated 61 Indian multinationals, meaning companies which operate or are traded internationally, established and promoted by Indian nationals in India, with annual revenue over 1000 crores, as well as their leaders, in terms of awareness and regard.

Fieldwork was conducted online among 600 Bizfluentials in India, the US, UK, France, Germany, China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea during the first two weeks of March 2011.

The margin of error for the total sample is ± 4.0%, and larger for subgroups.Mint and UTV-Bloomberg were Penn Schoen Berland's official media partners for The PSB 50.

About Penn Schoen Berland, South Asia
Penn Schoen Berland, is a global communication strategy firm rooted in the science of marketing research that specializes in messaging and strategy for blue-chip political, corporate and entertainment clients. We have over 30 years of experience in leveraging unique insights about consumer opinion to provide clients with a competitive advantage -what we call Winning Knowledge™. Penn Schoen Berland executes polling and message testing services for Fortune 100 corporations and has helped elect more than 30 presidents and prime ministers around the world. More information is available at www.psbresearch.in. Penn Schoen Berland is a part of Y&R Brands and WPP (NASDAQ: WPPGY)

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