Branding themselves, at last

Last week, the Delhi-based Nucleus Software Exports' global sales and marketing team, headed by Niraj Vedwa, was busy wooing prospective clients at Cards Asia Pacific in Singapore.

Though Cards Asia, one of the biggest events organised by credit card companies, was over last Friday, Vedwa's team is already on to its next big job.

Sales and marketing executives at the Rs 89 crore software export company are preparing for the high-profile banking software event, Siboss, to be held in Geneva in October.

Vedwa claims it makes sense for Nucleus, a CMM Level 5 company, to participate in all major international banking software events. " It offers us an opportunity to market and promote ourself in the international market where we can net new business," says Vedwa.

Nucleus Software is not the only company making an effort to promote, market and brand itself in the global arena. Big boys like Wipro, Cognizant and Infosys too are leaving no stone unturned to establish their software brands overseas.

There's clearly a reason why India's software exporters are attempting to brand themselves.

" It is difficult to differentiate the top-tier Indian vendors. Almost all are SEI CMM level 5 assessed, have excellent and diverse technological skills and are low cost," observes Stephanie Moore, leading software analyst at Giga Information Group.

Adds National Association of Software and Service Companies (Nasscom) president Kiran Karnik: " There's a greater case for Indian IT companies to differentiate themselves and focus on branding since their traditional selling points "� strong process capability, cost-effective delivery and skills availability "� will no longer be seen as distinctive by customers. Branding is particularly relevant for software services, since the benefits are more intangible."

In fact, companies follow a range of branding and promotion exercises that may be as varied as telemarketing, direct mailers, e-marketing or high-powered seminars and workshops.

Though HCL BPO (which has telecom, insurance and banking clients) is not a software company, it has taken the lead in creating a brand for itself in the US and UK markets via the seminar and networking route.

"We organise at least four to five seminars on subjects relevant to our target segment," says Sumit Bhattacharya, executive vice president (marketing & strategic planning) at HCL BPO.

Besides, Bhattacharya says that the best way to build a brand is to address the influential people in its consumer segments. " CEOs and CFOs are our prime targets and we invite them to power breakfast meetings involving sessions with high-profile international speakers," says he.

Such initiatives make sure that while HCL BPO does not sell itself brazenly, it manages to build some brand equity, adds Bhattacharya.

Others rely heavily on the Net instead: domain websites, referral and feeder portals, webcasts, Net sessions and e-mail blasts are used effectively.

Wipro Technology, for instance, bagged a multi-million dollar deal from major computer manufacturer because it posted a white paper on data warehousing on a prominent online forum. The client got in touch with Wipro and the deal was sewn.

Says Wipro's chief marketing officer Sangita Singh: " Putting up the white paper on an online forum was part of an e-branding exercise. It's worked well." Its success can be gauged from the fact that close to 25 per cent of the new business the company generated came from web leads.

For close competitor Cognizant Technology, net sessions have also been fruitful.

In the last one year, the company held at least eight net sessions on a range of topics. " The sessions, conducted either by a Cognizant customer or an industry analyst like Gartner or Giga, help generate leads resulting in new customer relationships," observes R Ramkumar, chief knowldege officer at the New Jersey-headquartered company.

Infosys, meanwhile, invited Senator Larry Pressler to its board of directors. " That gives the company an edge over its Indian rivals when it comes to wooing clients in the US, especially, the government. It adds credibility to the Infosys brand," points out Karnik.

But branding efforts do not stop here. Most companies scramble to be a part of prestigious industry research bodies.

Analysts like Rita Terdiman of Gartner and Giga's Stephanie Moore are revered figures in the field. A negative comment by them on a company's ability to deliver can spell doom for the company. " These researches have high credibility in the US. Being ranked by a study means instant validation," says HCL's Bhattacharya.

Besides participating in research studies, stock exchange listing has also become a branding tool. For Indian companies like Infosys and Wipro, the decision to list abroad was a conscious branding effort.

Says Srinivas Uppalari, general manager, corporate marketing, at Infosys: " Our NASDAQ listing is a conscious strategy aimed at increasing our brand awareness, globally."

In fact, Wipro's decision to list on the New York Stock Exchange rather than Nasdaq was its statement in branding. " The NYSE was seen as a more respected and stable exchange where listing norms are normally tougher," a Wipro insider points out.

Yet not everyone feels that Indian software companies at actively branding themselves for the global market.

Says Praveen Kankaria, founder CEO of the US-based Impetus Technology Inc.: "Considering the size of the opportunity, the marketing efforts of the Indian companies are pathetically small. How many clients actually call up a mid-size Indian company asking it to work for them," he asks.

Good question. Still, a beginning has been made. And at the end of the day, most marketing officers feel that a company's happy customers continue to be their best brand ambassadors.