Are You Brand Savvy?

On a Sunday evening, while your wife was busy making a list of items that she
wanted to purchase, your five-year old kid insisted on going to Big Bazaar
located at a nearby mall. You may have raised your eyebrow in surprise (at the
kid's suggestion), what you failed to recognize was the power of branding.
Branding a product not only helps a company reduce its time and effort put into
selling the same in the market but also helps it reach out to the target
customer easily. In most cases a strong brand image pulls your customer to you
and all you have to do is offer the best-in-class service and support to ensure
that your customer's experience is everlasting.

Drawing motivation from the above example, wherein brand 'Big Bazaar' had
made an impact on a child and influenced him to an extent where he knew that the
store could meet all his needs, it's about time that solution providers (SPs)
create a strong image of themselves and their companies. The above practice is
also advisable in times of economic slowdown. However, the other important
question to be considered in this case is how important is branding for a
solution provider and his company since he is already into the business of
promoting an array of brands from multiple vendors to the same end customer?

Why brand?

One of the biggest examples of the prower of branding is Xerox. When the
company first started its operations it was into photocopiers. Though over the
years Xerox went on to manufacturing printers as well, today the word “xerox” is
commonly used as a synonym for “photocopy.” Similarly Sony is renowned for its
handy cam and Walkman. People would refer to any portable audio device as a
Walkman, not knowing that the word was a trademark of Sony and not a verb. Thus,
branding is nothing but identification and recognition of a company and the
value it adds to the product portfolio. Solution providers are aware of the
advantages of branding but rarely do they lay emphasis on its exercise.

Sharing his views on the relevance of branding, Prateek Garg of Delhi-based
Progressive Infotech opined, “A brand is the smartest way for the company to
make its identity known to the world. Today, branding is the way to connect with
our customer's emotions, reinforce their positive perception about us and in
turn increase our traction and marketshare.”

Garg further elaborated that branding also helps the consumer to distinguish
a company and the services it can offer from those of another, which in turn is
important to highlight one's potential and create awareness in the market.

N Jaganath, Proprietor, Fourth Dimension Technologies based in Chennai,
mentioned, “The key part of positioning a brand is to ensure that all the people
within a company are carrying the same message. Be it through media or through
the sales team. There are multiple ways of creating a brand but what needs to be
borne in mind is the fact that the message has to be conveyed consistently.”

Creating a brand

There are multiple ways to create a strong brand. Sharing his views on the
advantages his company has been able to enjoy, post the recent brand building
exercise undertaken by him around six months back, Hemant Chabria, CEO of
Kolkata-based Chabria Infotech mentioned that branding helps in establishing a
credibility factor, which in turn is crucial in running the business on a long
term.

“We recently enhanced the look of our company's logo and now our customers
clearly know that all their requirements related to branding will be easily met
once they get in touch with us,” he said.

The new logo of his company not only lays stress on the company's name but
also highlights the punchline which reads 'Chabria-Better IT.'

Chabria further added, “The exercise helped me create a strong recall value
for my company and has indirectly enhanced my business. We place a number of
advertisements and indulge in brand building activities and seminars to ensure
that our customers are able to identify us easily.”

Stating that branding helps a company in creating a recall value in the minds
of the customers, Ajay Sawant of Mumbai-based Orient Technologies said that
branding is one initiative that will help in times of crisis. Three months back
Sawant took a conscious decision of revamping his company's logo so that more
and more customers could identify and distinguish them from others. The new logo
now carries a message (Orient-IT Titans). “This has helped us to get into the
minds of our customers. Besides it has also brought about a change of ideas,
thoughts and action at our end. On the other hand, people have now started
connecting with us leading to increased references within the industry that is
certainly boosting our business to a considerable extent,” said Sawant.

Marketing consultancy

In order to enhance the brand visibility of his company, Jaganath resolved
to change the logo of Fourth Dimension Technologies. Hence, around three years
back he consulted a local marketing agency based out of Chennai and rolled out a
new logo for his company. The new logo was more vibrant and carried the
tagline-Expect More.

Talking about the move, Jaganath mentioned, “Through the new logo we wanted
to ensure and let our customers and partners know that we were changing and were
willing to go the extra mile for them. We also despatched EDMs, mailers and
communicated the same message in every event organized by us.”

Expert Speak

A marketing consultant can help in building brand strategy and promoting the brand through communication, segmentation, positioning, customer service strategy, product innovation, advertising and promotion, pricing strategy, sales and distribution and relationship marketing. According to Brand Guru, Jagdeep Kapoor, Chairman and MD, Samsika Marketing Consultants who has built various brands in the IT industry including The Best IT World, “Brand Management and brand building can help service providers during the slowdown and even otherwise. A brand means trust and in these difficult times customers want to trust brands that have a good reputation. Solution providers are should concentrate on informing customers about the benefits of partnering with them.” Jagdeep Kapoor Chairman and MD Samsika Marketing Consultants Branding initiatives an IT companies can undertake: an educational campaign about the benefits of the category and the brand establishing a strong brand service culture bonding and building a relationship with customers creating awareness and demonstration for the benefit of users sharing the latest technologies through their brand

He further added that it was difficult to quantify the benefits of such a
brand building exercise. “It certainly helps your own team in conveying the
message besides enabling the clients to look at your company differently,” said
Jaganath.

However, Garg of Progressive Infotech had a different take on consulting an
ad agency. “Seeking help from an ad agency is like using a double-edged sword.
An ad agency provides creative brand solutions that generate appeal, enhancing
the company's identity. An agency that understands the company's thrust areas
and plans activities highlighting those areas can work wonders for its client.
Besides, their expertise and experience could be well utilized in developing a
superior brand image. However, many a times, agencies may miss out on the
essence of their client's business operations. Ignorance by an agency towards
the company's core strategy, values and structure may work negatively for a
brand,” reinstated Garg.

Inhouse vs vendor brand

At a time when a solution provider is focusing on selling a vendor brand,
how can he ensure that the identity of his company and the services that he is
capable of offering does not go unnoticed? The question holds a lot of
significance for solution providers and one they cannot afford to overlook at
any cost.

Throwing light on the same, Chabria elucidated, “In addition to revamping the
logo of my company, I had undertaken yet another small but significant branding
initiative. Initially, my business card used to carry the names of the brands
that my company was dealing with. However, recently I have changed my card and
the new ones now lay emphasis on the name of my company. Besides, it also does
not carry the names of the brands that my company can provide. I did this as I
believe that a lot of people within the industry now recognize me on the basis
of the years of credibility and confidence that I have been able to create in
the market space.”

Sawant further opined that there is a very thin line when it comes to
promoting your company as a brand and promoting a number of brands
simultaneously. “It basically depends on how you get the project. If the project
has been referred to by the vendor, then in that case a solution provider gets
introduced as a value-added partner and other such fancy names. However, if the
project has come as a result of your team's efforts then one can merrily lay
emphasis on the company. In such a case we pitch ourselves as system integrators
rather than a particular brand. Though we focus more on establishing ourselves
as a brand but at the same time one should not forget that in order to establish
relations in the industry we will have to keep highlighting the vendor brand as
well.”

“Standing up on your own against competition, especially when one has an
array of brands to offer, is a challenge and in such a scenario we build
competencies, do everything it takes to bring the best of breed, scalable and
concurrent solutions to our customers. But how does it get conveyed to them? How
can we truly differentiate our offering? That's the essence of a strong brand
image. When the brand image is consistently and carefully managed, it can become
an organization's most valuable asset. A consistent brand message will give
employees and shareholders a clear, focused understanding of the company as a
whole,” said Garg.

Are you in the way?

What happens when the person running the company becomes a bigger brand than
the company? How does it affect the company once he decides to move out of the
organization?

“Many a times, the CEO not only acts as an ambassador of the company but
epitomizes the values that the company promises to deliver. They both appear
synonymous. No doubt there would be some negative repercussions if he leaves the
organization. But, if done tastefully, a smooth transition would result in a far
less drastic outcome. That's where intelligent succession planning comes into
play. We position ourselves as a solution provider company and as someone who
can provide technology solutions. There is never a clash between the brands that
we are trying to promote and we hold on to our brand image,” added Garg.

Laying stress on having a proper succession plan in place, Sawant mentioned
that since the CEO of the company takes all the relevant decisions on behalf of
the company, it is difficult to separate him from the company. He also suggested
that it is always better for a company to have a proper succession plan in place
so that in the event the CEO or a key decision maker quits, the company does not
lose contact with the market.

Jaganath however had a different view on the subject. “According to me it is
important to build the image of an organization rather than focus on building an
image for myself. I don't think people identify my company with me in fact they
identify the team at Fourth Dimension. 80 percent of the contracts that are
finalized and clients that are converted is done by my team and I play no role
in it. Right from execution to meeting and delivering to the client, everything
is done by my team and thus our clients know the organization better,” added
Jagannath.

At the end of the day, it is important for solution providers to understand
how much branding can help them increase their profits. They need to get their
entire team to believe in the brand so that their customers will also have the
confidence of working with them.

Pooja Sharma

poojas@cybermedia.co.in