Brands from Gujarat stressed on authenticity, quality: IIM-A director

Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIM-A) director Prof Errol D’Souza on Saturday pointed out that a key message that several major brands from Gujarat chose to drive home was one of the product being authentic, likeable and of quality.

Prof Errol was the chief guest at the event to launch the book ‘Brand Magic – The Art and Science of creating successful brands’, by Alan D’Souza and Prashant Pareek, detailing brands born in Gujarat and how they achieved iconic status. The event was held at Ahmedabad Management Association (AMA) and organised by MICA, whose in-house publishing press ‘MI-Press’ published the book.

The book covers journey of 10 brands — Amul, Astral Pipes, Balaji Wafers, Fogg, Havmor, Jio, Rasna, Sugar Free, Symphony and Wagh Bakri — as well as the ethos and broader values relied on by the respective companies to build such brands.

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“All the stories about the brands in the book are stories of how they delivered maintaining high level of quality and vouching for the authenticity of these brands, that too at a time when we were in the license raj,” said Prof Errol.

Author Alan D’Souza said that the book seeks to celebrate the brands that emerged out of Gujarat and the brand magicians who made it happen.