 "Siemens sharpens the pitch")
For much of its nine-decade-long association with India, German engineering major Siemens has kept a low profile in the country. But it now wants this to change. The company has set aside Rs 8 crore for a campaign aimed at sharpening the brand's positioning with customers and reaffirming its credentials for the 'Make in India' initiative.
The campaign is part of the global 'Ingenuity for life' initiative that was launched early this year to commemorate the 200th birthday of founder Werner von Siemens. By bringing its global campaign into the country, experts believe that the company wants to send out a message that India is a key part of its international plans and that it is not taking its relationship with local governments and consumers for granted. Hence in India, along with the campaign, the company has also announced that it would invest to invest €1 billion as part of its expansion plans. According to Siemens CEO Sunil Mathur, smart cities, energy and mobility are the three sectors being zeroed in for the Make in India initiative. "Make In India is actually made for Siemens," he says.
Engineering change
Siemens believes that it can do more in the areas of electrification, digitisation and automation, the three thrust areas that it has identified for growth. The company has been aggressively participating in bids in the transmission sector, railways electrification and in infrastructure building for smart cities. While Siemens has established its credentials in these areas with its business partners over the years, the company believes that it can do more to let more people know about its association.
As a business-to-business brand, it has never really focused on building a direct connection with consumers in the country, except on special anniversaries or national events. While this has worked in the past, changing power structures and the company's growing national ambitions are bringing about a change in the wayit comunicates with its core constituencies.
"For me, 'ingenuity' means engineering expertise, entrepreneurial spirit, innovation and the willingness to give our best for society. 'For life' means that we at Siemens create long-term value. This is what holds us together and unifies us. It gives us pride," says Sunil Mathur.
The goal is to make sure that Siemens has a key role to play in the planned infrastructure push that the new government has promised. For instance, the company wants to be a part of the country's solar capacity addition as a developer of the requisite transmission system. It is also raising its game to be part of the wind energy generation programme in the country. To ensure that it is a name to reckon with at the opportune time, the company is building greater awareness about itself as an engineering giant with deep Indian roots.
An outside-in approach
In 2013, Siemens had launched a campaign that spoke about the technologies and solutions the company offered for businesses in India. It was an inside-out approach, Mathur says.
The new campaign offers a different perspective, it is more of an 'outside-in' approach, he says. It emphasises the value of technologies and solutions to customers and to the society we live in. "It conveys Siemens'unrelenting drive to create value for customers, employees and society especially by acting as a reliable and responsible partner," he adds.
The company looked at a sharper positioning for its brand after an intensive few months of interviewing customers and employees globally. Four core brand values were identified. "These values define how Siemens employees think, act together and work together with customers, partners and the society," Mathur says. These are, he elaborates: Knowhow (expertise in electrification and automation, enhanced by digital competences), Innovation (innovative technologies that create customer value, Reliability (committed to the highest quality, delivering proven outcomes) and Responsibility (making a lasting contribution to customers, employees and the environment).
The company believes that Siemens brand is one of the world's strongest corporate brands and this asset must be maintained and developed further.
Going to the people
The company is using a mix of traditional and new media to run its campaign in the country. Like most brands today, it has understood the power of digital marketing and has launched films under #SoundOfWork that have no dialogues, just a soundtrack that's an amalgamation of sounds generated in Siemens' factories.
"Films convey that Siemens has been a technology leader and a long standing partner to India's infrastructure growth and it is now geared up to provide necessary solutions in the ever changing economic environment," Mathur says.
The campaign aims to show how the brand's technology impacts society. Thus one of the stories is about how Siemens supports the power transmission network in north India, bringing light and heat to homes. Another is about integrated mobility systems that ensure high capacity utilisation and availability for the metro line in Gurgaon. The message is loud and clear: Siemens wants to step out of the shadows of its business partners and reach out directly to consumers. But will it find its way to the right audiences?
The campaign is part of the global 'Ingenuity for life' initiative that was launched early this year to commemorate the 200th birthday of founder Werner von Siemens. By bringing its global campaign into the country, experts believe that the company wants to send out a message that India is a key part of its international plans and that it is not taking its relationship with local governments and consumers for granted. Hence in India, along with the campaign, the company has also announced that it would invest to invest €1 billion as part of its expansion plans. According to Siemens CEO Sunil Mathur, smart cities, energy and mobility are the three sectors being zeroed in for the Make in India initiative. "Make In India is actually made for Siemens," he says.
Engineering change
Siemens believes that it can do more in the areas of electrification, digitisation and automation, the three thrust areas that it has identified for growth. The company has been aggressively participating in bids in the transmission sector, railways electrification and in infrastructure building for smart cities. While Siemens has established its credentials in these areas with its business partners over the years, the company believes that it can do more to let more people know about its association.
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As a business-to-business brand, it has never really focused on building a direct connection with consumers in the country, except on special anniversaries or national events. While this has worked in the past, changing power structures and the company's growing national ambitions are bringing about a change in the wayit comunicates with its core constituencies.
"For me, 'ingenuity' means engineering expertise, entrepreneurial spirit, innovation and the willingness to give our best for society. 'For life' means that we at Siemens create long-term value. This is what holds us together and unifies us. It gives us pride," says Sunil Mathur.
The goal is to make sure that Siemens has a key role to play in the planned infrastructure push that the new government has promised. For instance, the company wants to be a part of the country's solar capacity addition as a developer of the requisite transmission system. It is also raising its game to be part of the wind energy generation programme in the country. To ensure that it is a name to reckon with at the opportune time, the company is building greater awareness about itself as an engineering giant with deep Indian roots.
An outside-in approach
In 2013, Siemens had launched a campaign that spoke about the technologies and solutions the company offered for businesses in India. It was an inside-out approach, Mathur says.
The new campaign offers a different perspective, it is more of an 'outside-in' approach, he says. It emphasises the value of technologies and solutions to customers and to the society we live in. "It conveys Siemens'unrelenting drive to create value for customers, employees and society especially by acting as a reliable and responsible partner," he adds.
The company looked at a sharper positioning for its brand after an intensive few months of interviewing customers and employees globally. Four core brand values were identified. "These values define how Siemens employees think, act together and work together with customers, partners and the society," Mathur says. These are, he elaborates: Knowhow (expertise in electrification and automation, enhanced by digital competences), Innovation (innovative technologies that create customer value, Reliability (committed to the highest quality, delivering proven outcomes) and Responsibility (making a lasting contribution to customers, employees and the environment).
The company believes that Siemens brand is one of the world's strongest corporate brands and this asset must be maintained and developed further.
Going to the people
The company is using a mix of traditional and new media to run its campaign in the country. Like most brands today, it has understood the power of digital marketing and has launched films under #SoundOfWork that have no dialogues, just a soundtrack that's an amalgamation of sounds generated in Siemens' factories.
"Films convey that Siemens has been a technology leader and a long standing partner to India's infrastructure growth and it is now geared up to provide necessary solutions in the ever changing economic environment," Mathur says.
The campaign aims to show how the brand's technology impacts society. Thus one of the stories is about how Siemens supports the power transmission network in north India, bringing light and heat to homes. Another is about integrated mobility systems that ensure high capacity utilisation and availability for the metro line in Gurgaon. The message is loud and clear: Siemens wants to step out of the shadows of its business partners and reach out directly to consumers. But will it find its way to the right audiences?