With Companies eyeing to Wreck more Moolah from Primary Market, Marketing and Communication have become Critical aspects for every Public Issue

In the 1980s, 1990s, and even the early 2000s, all that a company need to do in India to spike up the hype about their organization was to simply announce an IPO. The very act of announcing a public offer used to result in over-hyped discussions about the impending IPO and a subsequent heated mad rush towards applying for the public issue. An IPO announcement – for the investors – was a sure shot god gifted method of making the regulatory bales of hay; and of course, the sun was supposed to shine on forever. The corollary to all this was that there was no particular killing need for any corporation to go overboard in attempting to hype up their IPO. In fact, hyping up an IPO was a sure way to generate cynicism and negative views from the public – about why the company needed to advertise so much in the first place? In essence, all that a company needed to do then was to release an excuse of an advertisement in one of the main newspapers, and leave application forms for the IPO in hundreds of thousands lying around banks and other investment hubs – and the deed was done; the IPO was oversubscribed.

And then the Sensex crashed; and again; and again. With volatility gripping the Sensex, and sense getting drilled into investors about the fact that IPOs need not always give returns, the Indian financial market was faced with a brand new situation. It wasn’t enough whether you were a top performing corporation, unless you were able to advertise your IPO with a post modern fervency, your IPO, more often than not, would end up at getting the short end of the stick by investors. In other words, for the first time, the importance of addressing the marketing issue in an IPO has started taking bigger relevance than the fundamentals of the IPO itself.

So what should be the marketing paradigm that IPOs should follow to ensure success in subscription? Empirical evidence does give some insight. The successful IPO of DLF in mid-2007, which raised $2.3 billion and the market euphoria that got generated over Reliance Power’s $3 billion IPO are critical learning chapters. As a matter of fact, the Reliance IPO received a record 5 million applications from retail investors, got oversubscribed by 73 times and generated a demand worth over $196 billion. It’s a different story altogether that the issue witnessed one of the worst listings on the bourses eroding 17.22% of the shareholders’ wealth on the very first day itself.
 
But then, the biggest take for any marketer in the financial domain was that despite not weighing heavy on fundamentals (the stock is currently trading at Rs.122.35 less than half of its issue price of Rs.281.25 adjusted for a bonus issue of 3 shares for every 5 shares held), the RPower public offer put the market on fire in terms of investor participation – and a structured marketing and communication strategy played the most critical role in the same.

Sudhir Gupta, Consulting Editor of BFM (Banking, Finance, Markets), comments, “An IPO can be successful in today’s times only if IPO managers understand that IPO marketing is much akin to marketing of a soon-to-be-released movie or an FMCG product. Just as companies market their products or services, IPOs too have to ensure a touch of brand marketing and a primal focus on the 4Ps of marketing.”

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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Arindam Chaudhuri on Internet.....
Arindam Chaudhuri: We need Hazare's leadership
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri - A Man For The Society....
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management

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just like divorce rates, Client-Agency break-ups are only on The Rise in The Current times, as there is growing dissatisfaction at both ends of The Relationship. Do they really have to end up this way? What Factors go into The ‘Right’ Agency Selection Decision Process? 4PS B&M Presents An Agency Primer!.

The year is 1971. It’s a lazy afternoon, and Gene DeWitt is nibbling away at his tuna sandwich in the office cafeteria. Gene works in an ad agency, and he’s worked pretty hard in the five years he’s been here. In that time, he’s risen from being a media planner to being the assistant media director – a spectacular rise by any standards. Gene’s career success has mirrored his agency’s – which has grown from being a $60 million firm in 1966 to around $500 million in 1971, gaining new clients flamboyantly and efficiently. The agency must be doing something as flamboyantly right, says the world, to be gaining so many clients so fast.

Thinking about all this, Gene is quite pleasantly surprised to see the group’s founder walk into the cafeteria, and choose Gene’s table to park himself. Gene dotes on the founder and knows that the agency has grown so fabulously well purely because of the fact that this very man had mastered the art of getting clients – that’s what the world said. And that’s the rarest of rare arts, Gene knows. Making full use of the gifted opportunity, Gene gets into conversation with the founder; and after the initial introductions, jumps at the first opportunity to ask the founder the question he’s always wanted to ask. In Gene’s own words, “I told him that I was amazed and delighted by the rapidity of the agency’s new business growth and asked him what his ‘secret’ formula was?”

The answer to that question makes the import of this primer, the totem of this pole, the crystal of this ball.The founder replied that while he tried to do much to market the agency to the clients, he just couldn’t point out to that one tactic that made clients choose his agency over others! The fact that this founder was none other than the legend called David Mackenzie Ogilvy made the statement more noteworthy than ever. If the lord of advertising did not know what were the factors that clients considered to chose his agency, then who would?
 
For any company/client, choosing an agency is the most critical part of ensuring a long-term profitable relationship. More often than not, uber haste by clients at the initial agency selection stage – perhaps because clients are too blinded by the agency’s brand name, or past work, or famous employee credentials – has resulted in a relationship that is damaging not only to the media communication of the client, but critically bloodying to the sales of the company’s products. But how then should companies be choosing their agencies?

To decode that very concept, 4Ps B&M went across the industry and the globe, to both sides of the story, to the clients, to the agencies, to experts... to give CMOs and clients the 10 sacrosanct commandments that make up the essential checklist while choosing an advertising agency. Then again, will following these tactics enable you to get the best agency? Well, we really don’t know that! But if we accept Ogilvy’s doctrine, then not following these will surely increase the probability of ending up with the worst ones. In essence, it is unpardonable for you as a CMO to ignore these ten rules while selecting an agency. If you’ve stayed with us till now, you’ll stay with us till the end; here you go:

1. Be specific about what you exactly want from the agency
‘Time is Money’. And this ineluctably is not debatable. Time has become more valuable then it ever was. Information explosion brings with it a paucity of adequate time to utilise information relevantly. In such a scenario, the idea of random pitches doesn’t sound very charming. To cut to the chase, it’s the CMO’s duty to do his/her homework before calling for a pitch to the gadzillion ad agencies around them. Says Anup Chitnis, Executive Creative Director, Ogilvy & Mather, South Asia, “Random pitching makes the floor too wide and open for multiple agencies and eats up a lot of energy and time on both sides. Clients should be more savvy with respect to what exactly they want from an ad agency; and based on that, they should call for a selective pitch”. Simultaneously, it is essential for the ad agency to do the requisite homework on the client before complaining about too many pitches. Adds Ajay Kakar, CMO, Aditya Birla Financial Services, “Something I learnt during my stint at Ogilvy was that you should yearn to be most valued by those who most value brands. If you think the client is flippant, don’t pitch.” In addition, on the topic of specifications, Rahul Mathew, Executive Creative Director, McCann Erickson avers, “The stuff we present during pitches stays confined within the walls of the client’s boardroom. I wonder why the idea presented during pitches never makes it to the final stage.” So, if you, as a client, didn’t like what an agency showed you during the pitch, why did you choose them in the first place? The corollary – if you chose them for potatoes and then ask them to handle tomatoes, quality is the first thing that goes up the altar.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
IIPM ranked No 1 B-School in India
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs
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Prof. Rajita Chaudhuri's Website
IIPM Proves Its Mettle Once Again....
Arindam Chaudhuri on Internet.....
Arindam Chaudhuri: We need Hazare's leadership
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri - A Man For The Society....
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management

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Back in August 2008 when Anand Mahindra, MD, Mahindra & Mahindra got his hands on Kinetic Motors’ assets to pave way for the Group’s entry into the two-wheeler segment, critics cautioned that the buy may prove to be a costly affair as M&M had no expertise in the two-wheeler industry. However, Mahindra stood his ground on the decision and proved everyone wrong by selling one lakh units in just 10 months from the day he launched the first model.

Cut to September 2010, M&M is again the talk of the town with the launch of Mojo (a 300cc motorcycle) and Stallio (a 110cc motorcycle), which mark its foray into the motorcycle segment. Without a miss critics are back in job too questioning whether Mahindra will be able to replicate the same success that it achieved with scooters. However, a visibly confident Anand Mahindra says, “We are geared up to redefine the biking experience in India with the Stallio and the Mojo, which are a potent blend of global technology and innovation.”

But then, with players like Hero Honda, Bajaj Auto and TVS Motors already bubbling in the industry with their huge portfolios, one cannot deny the fact that it will not be a cake walk for Mahindra this time. Going by the experts’ views, a lot will depend on how M&M positions its bikes in front of the already established players. On that note, while the recently launched Stallio is an out and out competitor to Hero Honda’s Splendor (India’s largest selling motorcycle), Mojo is the first 300cc bike in the country, which aims at establishing brand Mahindra in the segment by carving a niche for itself. Explains Devendra Shinde, Vice President – Marketing, Mahindra 2 Wheelers, “Stallio will be a volume puller for us, while Mojo, which is a sports cruiser, will establish Mahindra as a brand in the motorcycle segment.” Adds Anoop Mathur, President, 2 Wheeler Sector and Member of the Group Executive Board, M&M, “These world class bikes are worthy additions to the Mahindra’s product portfolio and are part of our commitment to establish an end-to-end two wheeler business in every segment of the industry.”
 
The company seems to be very particular about how the bikes are to be positioned. So, even before the bikes were launched, the company released a teaser campaign, depicting itself as a technologically ahead bike-maker. And if Shinde’s words are to be believed, then consumers will get to see a lot of it in the upcoming communications.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
IIPM ranked No 1 B-School in India
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs
IIPM: Management Education India
Prof. Rajita Chaudhuri's Website
IIPM Proves Its Mettle Once Again....
Arindam Chaudhuri on Internet.....
Arindam Chaudhuri: We need Hazare's leadership
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri - A Man For The Society....
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management

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It’s the 21th largest oil company in the world with over 8,900 km of pipeline. It’s one of India’s most valuable brands.
 
Talk about oil, and adjectives that come to mind are – slippery, dense, dirty. Famed and respected? Not sure?! But when the Incas called it ‘liquid gold’, they certainly understood the power it could generate. And going by the fact that Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. (IOCL) garnered revenues and profits to the tune of $54.28 billion and $2.25 billion respectively during FY10 alone, the corporation seems to have long understood why the Incas were known for their prosperity!

In fact, the value of the IndianOil brand is not just limited to its commercial role as an energy provider but straddles the entire gamut of exploration & production, refining, transportation & marketing, petrochemicals & natural gas and downstream marketing. It’s a brand that generates immediate trust in minds of Indians! And why not? Battling against odds in a challenging business environment (thanks to last year’s slowdown), India’s No.1 commercial enterprise and flagship oil major, IndianOil notched up another year of sterling performance for FY2009-10. It not only once again outperformed other Indian corporates to lead the pack (followed by biggies like RIL, SBI, BPCL, HPCL, Tata Steel, ONGC and Tata Motors) in Fortune ‘Global 500’ listing of the world’s largest companies by sales for the year 2010, but also got listed as India’s ‘Most Trusted Brand’ in the ‘Gasoline’ category in a Readers’ Digest-AC Nielsen Survey. What’s more? Ranked at 125, IndianOil emerged as the 21st largest petroleum company in the world in the Fortune’s list. In fact, the brand has steadfastly climbed from 226 in the year 2002 to 191 in 2003, 189 in 2004 to 170 in 2005, 153 in 2006, 135 in 2007, 116 in 2008 and 105 in 2009 in the Fortune ‘Global 500’ club.

This all has been possible because it dared to get into brand differentiation of petroleum and oil. Petroleum was an unglamorous business, a commodity arena where brands had no role to play, at least in India. But IOCL changed that paradigm through its continuous efforts at building its brand and establishing itself as a trusted name. The ever popular ‘Servo’ brand of lubes is one such example (leave aside brands like Indane LPG, XtraPremium petrol, XtraMile diesel) of how sound investment in branding and an unflinching focus on the customer can create marketing magic. “There are two aspects to our promotion to promote brands which need support by way of ads and through brand building strategies,” an IndianOil official tells 4Ps B&M. The approach, besides the run-of-the-mill dealer incentives and on-field activities, involves agreements with other trusted brands like Citibank and Coca Cola, which further helps IOCL leverage its brand image.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
IIPM ranked No 1 B-School in India
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs
IIPM: Management Education India
Prof. Rajita Chaudhuri's Website

IIPM Proves Its Mettle Once Again....
Arindam Chaudhuri on Internet.....
Arindam Chaudhuri: We need Hazare's leadership
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri - A Man For The Society....
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management

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Three years back, whenever Ratan Tata spoke about his Nano dream, you would have heard people classify the star-gazer’s project, a quixotic pipe-dream. It seemed an impossible peak to conquer. Then the slowdown marred 2008 occured. It was a time when the world weathered the worst phase that macroeconomics had to offer since World War II. To make matters worse, repayment problems (to both creditors & suppliers) became the impedimenta for the group’s two flagship brands – Tata Steel & Tata Motors. The situation had worsened to such an extent that Tata had to seek financial help (amounting to £1 billion) from the UK government to save the Jaguar-Land Rover (JLR) brands. Ratan Tata’s inorganic aspitations had started looking more like an ignis fatuus. The Tata brand was under threat. But amidst this turmoil, a shrinking global economy, Ratan Tata stood tall. He showed no fear. When UK’s most renowned agency Brand Finance came out with its annual valuation of the world’s top 100 brands in 2009, it showed how the second half of 2008 had played havoc on the best of global brands; some of them had lost almost 60% of their value in a matter of a year. In all, the top 100 had lost 24% of their value (y-o-y). Tata, the only Indian brand that made the list, had only lost a lesser 16% and had actually moved up the ranking, with a brand value of $9.92 billion. A year later, it is still India’s most valuable brand on Brand finance’s list, having appreciated by 13% (y-o-y) to touch $11.21 billion. The ICMR-4Ps B&M ranking proves the same.

The past year has seen brand Tata grow in leaps, be it either the deliveries of the much-awaited Nano (which boosted Tata Motors’ equity by making it the second-largest seller of passenger vehicles in the Indian market) or the inorganic moves of Tata, which finally started showing promise during 2009. Of course, many buy the fact that it is the calculative Tata management’s inorganic strategies have made a huge contribution to building the goodwill that won this brand the 2010 Most Valuable brand crown. [It was #2 last year.] Says Prof. Alison Richard, Vice-Chancellor, University of Cambridge (UK), “In going global, various details are important to note, like the right time to venture and the choice of target. I think the Tatas do this sort of homework very well, which help its brand appreciate in value. For instance, when they acquired Daewoo, it was a loss-making company, but had the potential to make inroads for Tata into markets like Korea. And that’s exactly what has happened.”

So what are the key forces that gave the brand the desired torque? Recent quarters have seen a revival in the financials of Tata Steel’s Corus subsidiary, with the company reporting a consolidated bottomline of `1,825 crore in Q2, FY2010 – a happier tale than the loss of `2,209 crore that it posted in Q2, FY2009. The reason for this is obvious. With the revival of European market’s economic engine (fuelled by the automotive, construction, engineering and aerospace businesses), Tata Steel’s UK entity is finally up and running. All this, after a painstaking integration process, lasting three years. The company has even managed to lighten its interest liabilities by 32% (y-o-y) to Rs.597 crore as of date.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
IIPM ranked No 1 B-School in India
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs
IIPM: Management Education India
Prof. Rajita Chaudhuri's Website

IIPM Proves Its Mettle Once Again....
Arindam Chaudhuri on Internet.....
Arindam Chaudhuri: We need Hazare's leadership
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri - A Man For The Society....
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management

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The top man takes us through harlequin mills & boon’s strategy for india
 
Teenage girls, middle-aged women or grannies in India – all have grown up reading Mills & Boon and swooning over the ‘tall, dark & handsome’ prince charming. Manish Singh, Country Head, Harlequin Mills & Boon India shares with 4Ps B&M his company’s India strategy

Mills & Boon has always had a cult following among readers and generations after generations girls have been obsessed with the talk, dark & handsome princes featured in your books who come as the night in shining armours and save the poor girl. In today’s modern era is the audience still looking for these saviours or has the book lovers appetite changed?
Mills and Boon heroes still play a very pivotal role in the plot. He must be charismatic and supremely attractive, often wealthy and powerful. But the heroine herself has changed. Our heroines are now modern women with a career and a mind of their own and are looking for an enduring romantic relationship on their terms. So naturally the prince charming had to do more now than to just look good.

How big is the Indian market for you considering Harlequin Mills & Boon books are sold in over 25 languages in over 100 countries on 6 continents?
The Indian market is growing very fast and the English language market is also growing at 10% per annum. Then here 60% of the population is youth and unlike in the past they make their own decisions. So there’s a great potential and we think we have a lot of options to explore in the market. If we take the global sales, I think in case of India, we are close to 10% and in the last few years we have almost doubled our sales in India.

What is the TG that you are catering to in India?
We have readership from the age of 16 to 60 years. We have different product offerings for different age groups. Like Modern is a series that talks about international affairs, while Desire is all about seduction and passion. Romance series talk about romance and emotion, and then we have Special Moments that emphasises on relationships.

Any plans of launching books in Hindi or any other regional language in the near future?
We are already publishing in 26 languages. Our research shows that there is a very small market for Hindi readers, but we are open for the future because it is a promising market.

What is your distribution strategy in India?
We’ve a unique distribution model in India and worldwide. We have exclusive distribution arrangements with Living Media Pvt. Ltd., which is part of the India Today group. Our distribution strategy is unique because we follow the magazine kind of a model, wherein new titles are introduced every month and the old ones are recollected. This model gives viewers a new product every time. We follow the cascading distribution model. The Indian operations are responsible for the whole of south Asia. Books are also sold to Sri Lanka and Bangladesh and the books that are recollected are not sold back in India.

Is your pricing strategy for selling in India the same as in other parts of the world?
Yes, the strategy in India is the same as around the world. Habitual consumers indicate multiple purchasing habits, so we need to make the books affordable because nobody reads one and nobody reads for one month. The books were costlier earlier because then we were exporting books but now they are much cheaper. Previously they were being sold at `250 and now they are sold for `99 only.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
IIPM ranked No 1 B-School in India
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs
IIPM: Management Education India
Prof. Rajita Chaudhuri's Website

IIPM Proves Its Mettle Once Again....
Arindam Chaudhuri on Internet.....
Arindam Chaudhuri: We need Hazare's leadership
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri - A Man For The Society....
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management

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In an exclusive conversation with 4Ps B&M, Sanjay Gupta, VP - General Merchandise, Spencer’s Retail, talks about how they plan to grab a bigger market share through private labels
 
Which are the core markets that Spencer’s has focused on since it moved out of the joint venture with Dairy Farm International Holdings in 2006?
During the time of joint venture with Food World, we were just a Chennai centric brand. But, after the split we have become popular in other states as well, which includes West Bengal, Eastern UP, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh. In fact, today we are present in more than 16 cities and are planning to increase that number by the end of this fiscal.

You have been focusing a lot on creating private labels. Isn’t it difficult to make your presence felt in categories where an external established brand is already present?
In a marketplace there are both national as well as regional brands. And I think this is where the private labels come into picture. They fill in the gap between the two. While they offer a better quality than the regional brands, the price at which they come is much lower that what national brands charge. Though the challenge to establish a private label is always there, branding it solves that problem. In fact, our first private label, Smart Choice, is very popular among customers today. Further, we are in the process of creating more brands which include Tasty Wonder, Brooms, Living Smart, et al, in categories that range from corn flakes to laptop bags.

Don’t you think you have missed out big time in cities like Delhi?
The pre-slowdown era was a time when every retailer expanded aggressively and we too were no exception. However, we learnt few lessons during the process when we had to pay huge rental cost with the rise in real-estate prices. In fact, our stores in Delhi where not able to cope up with it and as such post-recession we thought it’s feasible to invest in core-geographical areas where we can easily reach the breakeven.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
IIPM ranked No 1 B-School in India
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs
IIPM: Management Education India
Prof. Rajita Chaudhuri's Website

IIPM Proves Its Mettle Once Again....
Arindam Chaudhuri on Internet.....
Arindam Chaudhuri: We need Hazare's leadership
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri - A Man For The Society....
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management

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After Kerala Tourism hiring seven ad agencies, Himachal Tourism followed suit by hiring six creative agencies after a month long multi agency pitch, which included names like Percept and Lowe Lintas. It’s apparently the new mantra for success for state tourism departments to help expand states’ tourist footfalls. Himachal attracted more than 1.1 million tourists in 2009. Kerala District Tourism Development Officer, Kamal Chand says, “This step was essential as we want more and more people to come. We have hired the best for our promotions to help boost arrivals and create awareness about the destination.” Regional tourism is evolving in India; yet, India is far from being rated amongst the top global tourist attractions of the world – leave of course exceptional destinations like Goa.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM ranked No 1 B-School in India
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs
IIPM: Management Education India
Prof. Rajita Chaudhuri's Website

IIPM Proves Its Mettle Once Again....
Arindam Chaudhuri on Internet.....
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Mayur Sahni, Senior Market Analyst, IDC Asia/Pacific
 
Last Thursday, Democrat Senator of New York Charles E Schumer equated Infosys, and thereby Indian IT companies at large, to being a ‘chop-shop’, ‘that outsource good, high-paying American technology jobs to lower wage, temporary immigrant workers from other countries’. Leading on, it wasn’t surprising to note the proposed increase in levies for H1-B visas but more importantly it resonated the branding of Indian IT companies in US and global markets. While Schumer’s views may not reflect a globally consistent perception, they do reflect the brand perception of Indian IT companies as low-cost, off-shore, companies.

The quintessential question is - Have Indian IT companies made the transition to global brands? During a lecture at MIT, Thomas L Friedman (author of the New York Time bestseller, World is Flat), described Infosys as a “Premier Indian High-tech company’ and herein resonates the issue - ‘Indian’ high-tech company VS ‘Global’ high-tech Company. We live in a global economy and more importantly a flat economy where businesses operate across disparate environments, source globally, and deliver globally. Indian IT companies provide solutions and services to global companies for requirements that are geographically diverse by leveraging resources that are globally distributed. Yet, their perception is unchanged.

The issue really is at the core of the messaging approach. A quick browsing action though the “About Us” link on corporate websites of many Indian IT company will reveal that most of them do not position themselves as a ‘global’ player in the first paragraph; and even if they do it is prefixed with a superlative which could be unsubstantiated. First, we need to move from a superlative based messaging process to a value-based marketing model. Most Indian IT companies’ position their marketing budgets towards focused customer messaging based on building market credibility. While this gives them a focused and controlled messaging opportunity, there remains the gap of setting a media platform which has a global audience. Secondly, firms must consider dropping clichéd tags such as ‘largest’, ‘biggest’, ‘fastest’, ‘strongest’ which are self-laudatory, and rather focus on the value they bring to clients. Hence, they need to build a sustainable marketing model. Yet, not many IT firms have ‘brand’ managers, rather marketing mangers that carry sales targets!

Bringing these elements together will form the basis of a global brand identity that’s consistent, sustainable and aligned to the company’s’ long-term vision and core values. In the new economy, market dynamics will require IT companies to consistently innovate and up the ante in brand image. A key potential facilitator will be innovation in its true sense and not tweaking of delivery models, technology frameworks but creating something new ground-up. Web 2.0, cloud computing, intelligent infrastructure were not recent technology areas where Indian firms have had to play catch-up to industry peers.

It’s evident that Indian IT companies have what it takes to create strong global brands and there’ve been significant efforts undertaken by some. Yet the underlying focus on sales & profitability, stock & stake-holder value has made most of them focus on short-term benefits. The larger picture does remain unaddressed. So while there will be growth in business the essence of creating a truly global brand may be missed.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

IIPM ranked No 1 B-School in India
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs
IIPM: Management Education India
Prof. Rajita Chaudhuri's Website

IIPM Proves Its Mettle Once Again....
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MD PRABHU S HAS TAKEN ON THE ROAD LESS TRAVELLED BY TAKING ON THE LOW MARGIN SEGMENT OF IT SERVICES TO SMES/MSMES YET IN A CANDID TETE-A-TETE WITH 4PS B&M, FEELS HAS ALL IT TAKES TO SUCCEED
 
Cindrel Infotech, quite unlike following the path of providing BPO services and then moving on to providing IT solutions to devloped country clients, has turned the other way to cater to the SME/MSME segments in the country. With developing products to help small businesses understand and analyze basic financial numbers and make timely decisions, Cindrel might just prove to be one of the harbingers of change to transform the SME/MSME businesses in India.

IT solutions is a domain where there are many players ranging from biggies like Infosys to smaller outfits. Amidst so much clutter, how do you differentiate yourself?
We focus on adding value to the Indian SME customers by providing them decision support systems to improve the profitability of their business. Most of the IT players are busy in serving the corporate customers of the world. Our focus is to empower the SME / MSME customers with accurate and timely information in their hands.

When did you start operations and what were the initial challenges?
We started operations a couple of years back. It took us nearly an year and a half to develop a product that the market needed. Today, our flagship product adds a lot of value to many customers in India. The first challenge we faced was in understanding the real needs of the customer and developing a solution that actually works for the customer. The next big challenge that we faced was in getting the SME customers to manage data efficiently and providing them with simple solutions that work.

How has the journey turned out to be so far?
So, far the journey has been fantastic and thrilling . We have customers who vouch for us today. However, looking ahead, there is a long way to go…

You have a solution called eyeTprofit. What is special about this product and what was the rationale behind launching it?
EyeTprofit (EYE THE PROFIT) is a unique product in the market place. It is more of a decision support system that the top management can use to understand their current position and take steps to improvise their business. The speciality of the product is that it coexists with other system(s) (that the customer may have) and aggregate information from these system(s) to empower the management users with accurate and timely information to take decisions. Today, it has support for most of the RDBMS, the ubiquitous Tally application, DBMS like Foxpro, Access etc and even excel sheets. Features like conditional business alerts make our product unique. We noticed that most of the SME customers were struggling with excel sheets to provide useful information to the management. Most often, the information was prone to human errors or was not provided to the management on-time. We realized that most of the SMEs had a latent demand for this kind of a solution.

What are your views on the competition in this sector?
Any sector will invariably have competition. Competition is definitely needed to evolve the market. Having been a pioneer in this segment, we feel we would have an edge over others.

What is your leadership style. How does it work for you?
I believe in a participative leadership style. I give complete freedom to my team and have a open, collaborative culture at office. I consider all my associates as part of the business and we all work as a big family.

For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2011.

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

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