Anil Kumble, India Inc bosses grace ET's Best Brands Awards

ET Edge, an Economic Times Initiative, in collaboration with Nielsen held the first edition of ‘The Economic Times Best Brands 2014’ last week. The day-long summit brought together India Inc bosses from across sectors to discuss industry best practices for building brands in the age of the connected consumer.

While the day was about work, the evening was all about play, with the Economic Times Best Brands coffee table book being unveiled and the custodians of the ‘Best Brands’ being toasted.

Spinning with Kumble

Though far removed from the world of branding, Anil Kumble took the crease to address a gathering of marketing and branding experts. Unveiling The Economic Times Best Brands coffee table book as Chief Guest, he revealed he knew a duck about branding principles but could expand on “how not to spin a ball and yet take wickets for 18 years”. Ever the recipient of good advice on how to net more endorsements, the ‘10/74’ bowler said that he came a cropper on bagging them because “I remained who I was and did what I thought was appropriate always”. For that, the Indian cricket fan will truly be grateful.




Amul’s cow tale

At a panel discussion, R S Sodhi, MD, Amul, quipped about Amul’s C-to-C, cow-to-consumer, approach. This led moderator Harish Bijoor, of Harish Bijoor Consults, to hark back to the time he worked with Tata Coffee, which required him to understand Amul’s business model. During an interaction with Dr Verghese Kurien, Bijoor let slip that Amul was “falling between stools”, with its multiple products. Dr Kurien’s simple response: “Young man, we can do anything, as long as it is about the cow.”



(​Left to right: Sam Balsara,CMD, Madison World with S K Swamy, Chairman, R K Hansa BBDO)

Light moment with L’Oreal boss

L’Oreal India’s MD, Jean-Christophe Letellier thinks “everyone is beautiful” but Indians even more so. Having pleased the audience, Letellier let out his Diwali plans. This year, he will be in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. “Last year, I went to the Taj Mahal the very day after Diwali and there wasn’t a soul to be seen!” said he in amazement.