Mumbai: Superbrands India, an independent body comprising legendary advertising, marketing, research and media professionals mandated to recognise excellence in branding and promote the discipline of branding itself, has announced the much anticipated first list of the winners of India's very first 'Oscars in Branding' — The Superbrands. The winners have been identified to be the strongest brands in their respective categories and have been chosen from among over 700 short-listed consumer brands.

The Superbrands India 2003 list includes ACC, Airtel, Allen Solly, Amex, Apollo, Aqua Guard, Archies, Ashok Leyland, Band Aid, Bata, Blue Dart, Boost, Boroline, Cinthol, ColorPlus, Dhara, DHL, ESPN, Femina, Fuji Films, Gili, Godrej Refrigerators, Goodknight, Hero Honda, Horlicks, Hutch, ICI Dulux, ICICI Prudential, ITC Welcomgroup, Jaquar, Jet Airways, Johnson's Babycare Range, Kerala Tourism, Kitply, Levis, Louis Phillippe, Moov, NIIT, Parryware, Phillips, Pizza Hut, Raymond, Reid & Taylor, Revlon, Sahara, Saridon, SIFY (Satyam), Star TV, State Bank of India, Strepsils, Tanishq, Tata Cars, Tata Salt, Tata Tea, Tata Trucks, The Economic Times, The Times of India, Thomas Cook, Timex, Titan and VLCC.

Says Anmol Dar, managing director, Superbrands India, and chairperson, Superbrands India Council: "Being the competitive market that India is, there is a lot for business and industry to learn from the success of these brands. The Indian Superbrands are the best of the breed and consumers are instinctively aware of their distinction."

The winners will be felicitated in a gala event later this year, which will also feature the release of the first edition of Superbrands, the book, a chronicle of India's strongest brands for 2003. "I'm certain that this inaugural edition and the subsequent books will become collector's item — a historical perspective of brand development in India and the brand themselves who make the grade to this exclusive hall of fame," says Dar.

The Brand Council evaluated over 700 consumer brands in the country under 98 different categories to identify the Indian Superbrands for the year. The Brand Council, chaired by Dar, has doyens from the world of commerce and industry. They include: Dalip Sehgal, executive director, Hindustan Levers Ltd; KMS (Titoo) Ahluwalia, chairman, AC Neilsen ORG-MARG; Mike Khanna, CEO, J Walter Thompson; Nabankur (Nauby) Gupta, group president and full-time director, Raymond Ltd; Piyush Pandey, group president and national creative director, O&M; Pradeep Guha, president, Bennett Coleman & Company; Sunil Alagh, former managing director and CEO, Britannia Industries Ltd; Tara Sinha, chairperson, Indian Institute of Mass Communications; and Yogi Dewashwar, chairman, ITC.

The Superbrands Organisation has been tracking the branding phenomenon for the past 10 years. The criteria for selection of the winning consumer brands include perceived brand image plus the brands' mind share, goodwill, consumer loyalty, trust and emotional bonding.

The Superbrand juggernaut has now rolled out to 26 countries around the world including the UK, the US, France, Australia, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Holland, Hong Kong, Malaysia and India. Launched in the year 1993, Superbrands is a concept developed by UK marketing guru Marcel Knobil, the founder of the Superbrands Organisation and the chairman of the Superbrands Council, UK.

Every year, the councils in each country Superbrands operates in, select the top brands under various categories and award them the status of Superbrands. The brands are judged on the basis of established criteria. Participation, strictly by invitation, is extended to only those brands, which in the opinion of the council have attained a status of eminence. The council itself comprises of the most outstanding minds in the industry.

Comprehensive research is undertaken to identify the brands in various categories and that offer the consumer significant emotional and/or physical advantages over its competitors, which (consciously or subconsciously) customers want, recognise and are willing to pay a premium for. The Brand Council, composed typically of doyens of business, industry, advertising, marketing and media — then reviews each of these brands and pronounce judgement.

Superbrands maintains its councils in the following countries — Australia, China, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, Morocco, the Netherlands, Norway, the Philippines, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, the UAE, the UK and the US.