The Hindu Business Line : Accent on performance

CONSULTING and outsourcing company Accenture is on a brand-building exercise. After launching a campaign in television and the press — which talk about the company's expertise to turn around its clients' businesses to high-performance businesses — it is now looking at a series of promotions, sponsorships and at scaling up its internal communication activities to reinforce its brand positioning: `Accenture can help your business become a high-performance business.'

"Whether you are a client or an employee you can look to Accenture when you are seeking innovation, originality, pioneering, transformational and revolutionary solutions to business challenges," says Rekha Menon, Head (India Geographic Services), Accenture.

"The campaign also highlights the fact that we are leveraging Indian talent to deliver solutions to complex business challenges faced by our clients in India and globally," she adds.

Considering the company's success in India over the last one year, Menon says a corporate brand-building exercise was required. "The growth that we have seen in India (over 100 per cent growth in one year in number of people) and the transformational work that we do for Accenture's clients in India and across the world has given us the opportunity to further the Accenture brand. Therefore the investment in building a corporate brand."

The ad campaign, titled `Go on. Be a Tiger' features golfer Tiger Woods, who, Menon says is the most appropriate brand ambassador. "Tiger Woods' strength, mastery, discipline and relentless focus on winning are universally recognised qualities that mirror the characteristics of a high-performance business, making him the ideal representative for our market positioning."

However, an industry observer feels that going in for an advertising campaign and signing up a brand ambassador is an expensive way of brand building for a company like Accenture which caters to a small audience in the business world. "A direct marketing or PR exercise would have made more sense instead," he says.

Menon clarifies that the ad campaign is just part of a larger brand-building exercise. Accenture has always adopted an integrated marketing approach to help achieve its business goals, she says. "For instance, we develop our own events or partner with industry associations for marquee events. This enables us to showcase our expertise and share our experiences with the industry. We leverage our intellectual capital to drive a series of thought leadership activities. We understand the drivers of a high-performance business or Government. Our quarterly newsletter Outlook is one medium through which we share our thoughts with our clients."

The company is also looking at reinforcing its brand values with both existing employees and potential employees. In the case of employees, Accenture maps the course of their time with the organisation, identifies the moments the brand touches them and tries to create a sense of pride/aspiration for the brand at those touch points. When it launched its delivery centre in Chennai, for instance, it used an integrated marketing approach by using advertising (print, online and outdoor), media relations and on-ground events to create brand visibility and brand salience.

The other touch point is when employees go through an induction programme when they join the company. Recognising that India is fairly unique given the influence of family on an individual's choice of employment, the family is invited during the induction to interact with the leadership team so that there is greater appreciation of the company.

Suresh Kumar, Director, Mindspark Consulting, feels that the entire brand-building exercise is being done keeping in mind the buoyant Indian market and the opportunity in all the three spaces that the company operates in (technology, HR and business consulting).

"Accenture has realised that its playfield, like other businesses, has also got very competitive in India, with many players. This is a nice campaign that seems to achieve the twin objectives of gaining early mover advantage as a B2B initiative as well as attract good talent. And Tiger Woods, unmistakably a global icon, as their brand ambassador is a perfect fit."

Accenture, by focusing on advertising, claims to be the first technology, outsourcing and consulting company to do so. Will the others follow suit?

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