Another post related to Nasscom Product Conclave 2010 . And this one is highly influenced by the talk by Ajay Sharma from Shrishti Soft. I attended a session on “Products going global” , on how Indian products are slowly breaking the myth surrounding the “lack of proven Indian strength in the product space”. The panel spoke about their personal experiences and their perspective on why the Western world still sees us primary as a “services” leader ( that is slowly changing now ). One aspect brought out by Ajay from Shristi was the “Jugaad” culture imbibed in the Indian DNA.

Funny because today I found myself doing the same. My son suddenly woke up at 3:45am and told me “amma – I have to dress up like a tree for fancy dress today”. He promptly dozed off, leaving me in a frenzy. So, there I was, at 4am fumbling with scissors, fevicol, glitter, and green chart paper trying to create something with the semblance of a tree. I managed to get him dressed up in green and brown , ready to board the bus by 7:30 am – jugaad at its parental best !

Needless to say, this happens in every office in India – and it works. What Ajay said was that when we go global, we need to bear in mind that the cultural ethos in the Western world doesn’t care much for this. I would go one step further and say that no customer anywhere in the world, would buy a product from you, if he/she is made to believe that “we don’t have it ready right now, but we’ll scramble and manage to get it up and running tomorrow”. The bottom line is that you need to convey to your customer that you have everything under control – careful planning and strategizing is needed.

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This is an important  topic in today’s competitive market -Buyers are more demanding and there is lot of pressure to cut costs, improve efficiency etc. Therefore, more than ever companies have to distinguish themselves in the crowd and that is not an easy task. This is where branding strategy comes into play. We are working with an emerging company with expertise in a niche area and helping them brand this business unit.

How does that work? It starts with a complete understanding of the client context – their strengths, weaknesses, challenges etc and this is garnered through interviews with  stakeholders  such as management, employees and customers. With a sound grasp of the internal context, we need to do a similar study of the market. This includes understanding  buyers and influencer behaviour. The idea is to know the market, what it demands and expects and then map your business’ strengths/capabilities with that. Once that is done, the branding path becomes clearer and you will know how to position yourself and what are the vehicles required.

For example, if the market is mature and opportunities exist to provide support services – then, positioning yourself as a value adding player with business and domain understanding will not be of much use as that is not something the prospects are looking at. On the other hand, it will be useful for an emerging market. So, it is critical to understand the market thoroughly and zero in on what their pain points are.

Very often we find companies not performing a holistic exercise of market + internal context. They end up positioning themselves based on their internal context which may not always be effective for the market they are targeting. Today, you have to know your customer intimately, the way their business operates, the industry challenges,  the way they think, the way they take decisions  and so on. Once you know the market you are operating in, it becomes easier to address/engage them. Sometimes, it will require you to change the way you are working  - you may need to acquire different kind of skills and approach the market in ways that you are not used to – this change as usual will be challenging but worthwhile for the market you want to target.

Branding involves not only aspects that are external facing but also aspects that are internal to the company. The branding strategy should be harmonious across all stakeholders and it is not sufficient to just address the customer/prospect community. With a comprehensive approach and sustained efforts, it is possible to make a dent on your target market.

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Making consumers love your brand is the ultimate goal of any marketer. Apple, especially in today;s context, is often held as an example of a brand that is loved. I read an article in a recent Scientific American magazine that underscores the power of the Apple brand.

Apple recently held a cruise event called MacMania 10 where 102 macphiles, as they call themselves, paid good money to hobnob with fellow macphiles for a week!

The week long interactions also offered an opportunity to discuss what could be better with apple products as well.

As I finished reading the article, I was even more impressed with the way in which the company has built its brand. The takeaways were that, it is important to persist with your vision and way of thinking. It is easy to now talk admiringly about apple and its products, but there were times when the company’s vision and strategy were truly tested.

The company and its founder stood their ground, and banked on innovation to see them through.

The other aspect that stood out for me is really about building a community of loyalists who then become your biggest ambassadors.

I would welcome your views on building likeable brands.

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An article in the Economic Times yesterday spoke about GE, one of the largest outsourcers to India, planning to derisk India and expand relation ships in other locations like China and Latin America.

This is not very surprising considering that GE has been a pioneer as well as a hard nosed buyer. GE has been known for outsourcing large volumes of work at low price points, and on occasion also invest in the vendor. As such, whether to work with GE because of the volume of business or to stay away because of dependence on a powerful buyer who negotiates hard, has been a dilemma for many Indian companies.

Infosys, in retrospect, had a chance to wean away from GE at a time when it was relatively “easier”. Many of the the other first tier players and the top 20 in India continue to do substantial business with GE.

GE’s strategy is to expand its presence in other emerging markets- it was one of the first companies to check out China. TCS set up operations in China to service GE; GE also works with local Chinese players. Now, one reads that GE is unhappy with China’s attitude and is reconsidering its growth plans. That is the risk that vendors have to take.

Likewise, GE has business interests in Brazil and other parts of Latin America, and vendors either need to shore up their presence, or choose to not compete for such business.

At a time when vendors are going global with their operations and buyers (albeit a few), are globalizing their outsourcing strategy, lessons learned from GE would be really relevant.

It would be great to hear your views on this topic.

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Keeping existing customers happy and growing with them is acknowledged as a wiser option than trying to gain new customers. Customer satisfaction studies gain importance in this context as you make an attempt to understand customer’s views, what excites them, what annoys them and what can trigger to expand their relationship with you and so on. Typically, customer satisfaction  studies are conducted at the overall company level. There was an earlier blog on the benefits of a CSAT.

However, there are several more areas where customer feedback can be valuable and here are a few examples -

a. When you want to test market an idea  for a new product/solution/service – organize a dry run among your existing customer base

b. Detailed Feedback on specific processes/offerings

c. Validation of your brand positioning and suggestions from customers based on their experience

d. Mystery shopping – this is relevant for customer-service oriented companies (Banks, call centers/BPO companies) where a neutral party can  pose as a potential customer and give feedback on their experience with a particular department

This is not an exhaustive list but was meant to drive home the relevance of customer feedback. It will be great to hear your experience too.

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