• Investment World
• eWorld
• Brand Line
• Mentor
• Life
• Brand Quest
• The New Manager

Stocks

• Quotes
• SE Diary
• Scoreboard
• Open-End Mutual Fund

Cross Currency

• Rates
  
  

Shipping

• Ports
  
  

Archives

• Yesterday
• Datewise
• Resources
• In Focus
• In Depth
• Events 2007

Group Sites

• The Hindu
• The Hindu ePaper
• Business Line
• Business Line ePaper
• Sportstar
• Frontline
• The Hindu eBooks
• The Hindu Images

Archana Venkat

Below-the-line branding activities are more important for IT companies that sell intangibles such as service.

Patni has sponsored activities (provided Patni branded clothing and accessories) undertaken by employees, whether it be running in the Mumbai Marathon or biking up the Himalayas.

“This is important to us because it means the employee is proud of wearing our brand. I do not care if he wins the marathon, but on that day he is my brand and present on the scene of action,” Khosla says.

Aditi Technologies gained immense popularity for one of its videos circulated on YouTube. The video showed what employees did to have a good time at work. Within a few weeks, over two lakh people had watched the video; TV channels carried the clip and management publications published stories.

“This reinforced our brand element of fun and freedom at work,” says Ravindran Kittu, the company’s Marketing Director. Today Aditi also writes blogs and delivers webinars focused on other attributes of its brand – emerging technologies and product outsourcing.

A couple of years ago, Infosys Technologies too launched its external corporate blog as part of its ‘Flat World’ campaign. A spokesperson says this has enabled the company to “keep the conversation fresh with new ideas”.

Events is another below-the line branding activity that generates huge response from IT companies.

Ajuba Solutions, a healthcare revenue cycle management firm, is one such firm that regularly participates in inter-corporate events, sports and cultural. Its in-house music band ‘Seraphim’ won a competition recently while many sports trophies gleam its office.

Says Devendra Saharia, Co-Founder and President, “These activities are in line with our branding differentiators of focus on ‘developing human capital’ and ‘job engagement’.” That Ajuba consistently wins awards for its employee-friendly HR policies is proof of this.

More Stories on : Advertising | Branding

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Mane matters

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line