IT biggies are publicising industry ratings to add sheen to their brand value. But there is a flip side, too.
This year, Noida-based HCL Technologies emerged as the top ranked IT services company in Forbes’s prestigious annual listing of the “50 best publicly traded companies in Asia-Pacific” called “Asia’s Fab 50”.
HCL was amongst the only two IT services companies in APAC to make it to this group. No doubt, the ranking has added sheen to the homegrown brand.
Similarly, when Forbes announced the most innovative companies list, Indian IT bellwether Infosys figured prominently at number 15.Though not part of the top 10, Infosys promptly posted it on its website.
There is more. Almost every day, Indian IT firms come out with press releases announcing some industry ranking or rating.
Waking up to the challenge of new age marketing and branding, they are now using global rankings — be it on best employer, best investor or the most green company — to shore up their brand.
When all IT firms, be it Infosys, Wipro, TCS or Mahindra Satyam are running into each other for almost all major bids, industry rankings help them to differentiate themselves from others, say industry analysts.
“Although not a formal need, rankings help break the clutter and attain a higher rung on recall and reputation among buyers. Secondly, an achievement can also be ploughed back to corporate / employee reputation as a matter of pride,” Indraneel Ganguli, Senior Vice President, Global Marketing & Communication of Mahindra Satyam, says.
Mahindra Satyam has been constantly participating in various industry rankings. Recently, it ranked sixth in the list of 20 best employers in a Dataquest CMR Best Employers 2011 Survey.
The branding initiatives also help companies get a top of the mind recall among their clients and compete head-on with the global giants.
Unlike their global peers such as Accenture, IBM and others, Indian software services companies do not have a fancy marketing budget. In such a scenario, the industry rankings help increasing the brand value.
“Indian companies are emerging as the true disruptors of the traditional sourcing models in the global IT Industry,” says Krishnan Chatterjee, Vice President - Marketing, HCL Technologies.
It’s not only the company rankings, the rankings of CEO or top executives also add to the brand image.
For example, when HCL Technologies’ Vice Chairman and CEO, Vineet Nayar was chosen amongst the world’s Executive “Dream Team” by FORTUNE magazine, it added credibility to HCL’s brand.
“Outsourcers are now looking at credibility while making a choice between vendors. The rankings from well-known independent agencies do add to that,” says a senior executive at one of the top five IT outsourcing firms.
Ganguli of Mahindra Satyam feels a lot rides on the credibility of the ranking agency as well. “Rankings matter only where the one who is ranking you has a global standing. Else, it may not always appeal to a localised environment.”
It’s not only best employer, innovator or investor, companies are also using rankings to project themselves as environment-friendly firms.
Recently, the country’s largest IT firm TCS, came out with a statement saying it has been ranked as the “7th most greenest IT company” by Newsweek’s Green Rankings 2011.
Global Industry rankings are like a “cough syrup for smokers”. One cannot ignore the peer pressure; neither can one peg an accurate investment.
However, there is a flip side of hooking your brand onto global rankings.
“You may be ranked number 1 by some agency this year. Next year there is no assurance how you will fare. Some of the parameters on which the rankings are based are beyond the company’s control,” says Jessie Paul, a marketing expert and CEO of marketing advisory firm Paul Writer Strategic Advisory. She was formerly chief marketing officer for Wipro’s IT Business and global brand manager at Infosys.
When using ranking as a branding tool, companies should be cautious.”They should participate in rankings but should not go all the way to brag about it. Once they send out statements about the rankings, it means they endorse it. So, next year if the ranking is not good, the company can’t retract or say they doubt the credibility of the ranking,” she adds.
