Telecom Gamble Paying Off? Reliance Jio On Its Way To Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands Within Three Years, Says Report

The rate at which Reliance Jio is currently growing, the company will be among the 100 most valuable brands globally within three years, according to a report by communication services provider WPP and market research firm Kantar Millward Brown.

Although launched in 2016, Indian consumers see Jio as "Meaningfully Different" as Airtel, which entered the market in 1995, said the report titled "BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brand for 2019".

"True 'disruption' to me is where a new brand or proposition enters a market and impacts or re-defines a particular category in a way that benefits all consumers, whether they are a customer of that particular brand, or not. Jio, the Indian telecom provider, is a good example," said Martin Guerrieria, Global BrandZ Research Director, Kantar.

Jio, which disrupted the Indian telecom provider category with its deep discount prices for data consumption, now has a subscription base of over 340 million. Jio's current brand value is $4.1 billion, according to the report.

"At launch, Jio provided free data for the first six months and only then introduced comparatively modest pricing," Guerrieria said.

"Jio immediately built a lot of volume. Customers of market leaders Airtel and Vodafone also felt the benefit of the 'Jio effect' as they were forced to drop their data prices to compete and retain customers," he added.

E-commerce giant Amazon this year surpassed Apple and Google to reach the No. 1 rank in the BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands.

With a 52 per cent year-on-year increase, Amazon achieved a brand value of $315.5 billion.

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)