Indian media major Zee has embarked on a multi-year drive to quantify and develop its brand influence at home and abroad, following a study last year – the broadcaster's first in this area – that concluded Zee’s corporate brand delivers a 26% uplift to its domestic business.

“There’s a lot of benefit that the product derives from the corporate brand,” says Roland Landers, Zee Entertainment’s head of corporate brand, citing extra leverage with production houses and distribution platforms as examples.

“We wanted to look at how some of the other corporate brands stack up,” Landers adds. “Not necessarily media brands, but other industries.”

To support this endeavor, Landers has hired branding specialist Interbrand to analyze Zee’s main company brand, as well as six core channel brands, to help chart a roadmap that supports the broadcaster's ambition to broaden its global reach and engagement.

The commission follows up on last year's brand study, which was underaken by a different company.

Landers wants to harness the advantages of a strong brand in markets where the brand is less well known too, helping Zee meet its goal of becoming one of the world’s leading media conglomerates.

"As we focus more on local, and also plan to launch global products, we should be also known as a global media company," he says.

While Zee enjoys plenty of affinity among the Indian diaspora, establishing a connection with other audiences requires mores work.

“The biggest challenge is to build authenticity and relevance among a global audience, while adapting to the technological changes,” remarks Ashoo Advani, associate director for Interbrand India.

Zee, which has a well-developed but mature business catering to Indians overseas, has started developing Zee-branded channels for non-Indian viewers in Africa, the Middle East, Russia and Southeast Asia to sustain its international growth.

These tend to be more reliant on ad revenue, prompting Zee to go after a wider viewer base.

Interbrand will help Zee understand demand drivers among international audiences that the broadcaster can focus on, alongside brand elements that need to be leveraged and strengthened, Advani says.

“The ongoing brand valuation exercise will become a key metric for the brand,” he adds.

Peer comparisons

Meanwhile, Landers is also targeting inclusion in Interbrand’s annual review of Best Indian Brands by the end of the year, with an eye on the global edition by 2020.

“Right now, Disney features in last year’s international book of brands by Interbrand,” Landers notes. “We want to be part of that.”

The 2014 Indian edition ranks 40 Indian companies by estimated brand value, with Tata in first place, followed by Reliance and Airtel in second and third place respectively. No media companies featured in last year’s list.

“This puts it into perspective,” Landers says. “We are definitely a well-established brand in media and entertainment, but if you have to stack up with the best from other industries, you need to show up in some of the results."

Landers adds: "That’s why we want to participate in next year’s Best Indian Brands for 2015.”

Interbrand uses ten measures to gauge brand strength. Four are driven from within a company, namely: clarity of positioning; company commitment; brand protection; and responsiveness to market changes.

The other six factors are more visible externally. These are: authenticity; relevance; differentiation; consistency; presence; and consumer understanding.

Globally, Interbrand has worked on a variety of media-related projects, including the launch of Hulu in the US, brand strategy for the BBC and a new post-merger identity for Thomson Reuters.