Journal


Title   Ruthless Exploiters or Fallen Angels? : Global Lessons in Brand Crisis Management for Indian MFIs
Author's Name   A. Shivakanth Shetty
ISSN   0974-7281
Page(s)   27-37
Volume No.   4
Issue Month   January 2012
Keywords   Brand Crisis, Brand Equity, Brand Management, Brand Rejuvenation, India, Micro Finance
Abstract   The recent series of incidents like the unfortunate spate of suicides amongst the micro finance borrowers in Andhra Pradesh, unceremonial sacking of the CEO of SKS Micro Finance, lack of transparency, government’s decision to cap the interest rates charged by the Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs), the dwindling loan collection rates, huge and unrealistic salaries charged by the promoters have tarnished the image of MFIs and taken the sheen out of their Rs. 30,000 crores industry in India. These troubled and cornered institutions in India have learnt a painful lesson that brand building and management is no more a luxurious task but have become an existential imperative for the survival in an increasingly becoming tough terrain of micro finance industry in India. Therefore, this is the high time for these institutions to indulge in brand crisis management and cultivate service brand equity to help themselves to come out of the present crisis and reverse their fortunes in the near future. The present paper evaluates the relevance, strategies and significance of full fledged brand crisis management for the troubled MFIs in India. It also aims to draw few relevant lessons from global empirical evidences of brand crisis management of these institutions carried out across the world ranging from Latin America to Asia and Europe to Africa.



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