A Brand Of Their Own

In order to clearly differentiate their offerings from those of the
competition, solution providers need to look at unconventional means. A strong
branding and image-building exercise is one such significant activity. While
neither the exercise can be carried out overnight nor the results be delivered
instantaneously, a sustained effort does promise to bring about a difference to
their business. And the sooner they get on with this, the better it is. 

In a time when an increasing number of partners are graduating to
solution-based selling, the holy grail of 'differentiation' doesn't seem
to escape them here as well. In the good old days of product selling, they could
easily identify themselves as ones offering cheapest price, or ones selling X,
Y, or Z brand. But no more so. For those who have decided to adopt a
solution-driven business model, now have to deal with a range of brands, often
competitive. Further, when they themselves are looking at growing their
businesses, they can't afford to let the vendor's brand overshadow their own
identity.

Then there's competition, which has almost similar profile like theirs,
deals with more or less the same vendors, has a matching technical skill-set.
And to make matters worse, these rivals pitch at the same set of clients that
other solution providers have. And what's more, the issue doesn't end here.

There are endless stories and well-set traditions of vendors favoring certain
partners at certain point of times for certain interest of theirs. Then there's
this customer, who despite being convinced about the worthiness of a solution
provider to meet his needs, may still have a not-so-favorable perception about
him.

So what does all this essentially boil down to? Just one word: Branding.

While most of the solution providers have their own unique strengths, most of
the time it has not got much to do with what they are selling or at what price.
A great deal of customer's decision to engage with that solution provider is
based upon the kind of image former carries of the latter. Simply put, its about
the brandshare and hence mindshare that a partner enjoys of a customer, which
ultimately decides whether or not the deal belongs to him.

However, all this talk is not just particular to IT business alone, in fact,
it applies to all sorts of business. However in the IT solutions space, concepts
like branding and image-building-which were relatively unheard of until
recently-acquire great importance considering the fact that the parameters on
which solution providers can differentiate their offerings is fast dissolving.
Further, given the fact that solutions, unlike product sale, is quite intangible
in nature, makes it more important for the provider to put an effective brand
architecture in place.

Also, in a time, when vendors themselves are jostling to get the customer's
attention, it becomes more important for a solution provider to create a strong
image and messaging for his own organization, to keep the customer engagement
alive for a long period of time.

CHICKEN AND EGG STORY

For solution providers, where margins are not free-flowing, the decision to
spend on a branding exercise may not come easily. The main concern is whether to
make better money first and then invest on branding or spend on brand-building
and then wait for business to become better. And apparently, it is this dilemma
that most solution providers get caught in.

However, as Nitin Shah, MD, Allied Digital Services puts it, "Branding
is not something where the entire investment happens overnight and profits can
be reaped the very next day. It's a continuous process and the returns also
come in a similar fashion."

What Management Thinkers Say On Branding
“Successful brands get into the mind slowly. A blurb in a magazine, a mention in a newspaper, a comment from a friend, a display in a retail store. After a slow buildup, people become convinced that they have known about the brand forever”  -Al Ries and Laura Ries	“Customers build an image of a brand as birds build nests: from the scraps and straws they chance upon”  -Jeremy Bullmore
“Your brand image is primarily an emotional construct. Emotion is probably always more powerful in swaying people than reason, but people like to be able to rationalize their choices”  -Drayton Bird	“Any damn fool can put on a deal, but it takes genius, faith and perseverance to create a brand”  -David Ogilvy

According to him, branding is a gradual effort wherein over a period of time
it works toward creating a favorable mindset among customers or decision-makers.
"It is a process which helps you acquire new customers as well as demand
premium for your services," remarks he.

On a different note, if a solution provider does decide to get on to brand
building, he should be cautious so as not to overdo it. It has largely been seen
that any kind of over-branding tends to have a negative impact on the business.
The idea is to engage in subtle yet impactful brand-building and sustain it over
a long period of time. "Do a good job nd then talk about it and keep
repeating the same process after every major project is accomplished. This keeps
the company image alive among clients and in the market," advises Nitin

SUBTLE ELEMENTS

What is also crucial for the organization is to have a well-defined vision
and mission statements, a clear and demonstrable value-system, and a set of
ethics which it can proudly talk about. While these are very fundamental to one's
business, they also serve as a foundation stone for an organization's brand.

Then there are people, who serve as best 'brand ambassadors' for the
company. It is extremely important that they carry themselves well in the
market. The way they interact, their inter-personal skills, ability to
understand and convince customers, all speak volumes about the company's
image. Towards brand-building, it is crucial for a solution provider to identify
all the qualities and characteristics that would differentiate his business from
that of the competition.

Next comes the efforts to emphatically illustrate these differentiators in
the marketplace. These should logically get followed by some kind of PR
activity, not necessarily on a big scale. This could include organizing end-user
seminars, publishing technology write-ups, participating at exhibitions, and
ensuring publicity for significant projects/deals won by the solution provider.

Further, there are other aspects like a company's logo, its website,
corporate brochures, and other collateral which contribute significantly to what
its brand is made out to be. While a company's logo should be such that its
leaves a lasting impression on one's mind, its website should clearly
underline what makes that organization and its offerings different from others.
The content of the website should never be generic and instead should be seen as
a strong business communication tool. Likewise with the corporate brochures.



A BRAND NEW DAY

Ask anyone the difference between Coca-Cola, Pepsi or any other brand of
cola. Chances are they really won't be able to talk about many a difference.
Actually, there aren't many, bar some minor variance in taste. On a more
familiar terrain, let's talk of any brand of PC itself, be it an IBM, HP,
Zenith or a locally-assembled system. The difference is neither in the processor
nor motherboard nor the hard-disk and they offer more or less similar
performance.

But where the real difference lies, is the brand. Something, which has been
built over many years and sustained with right positioning and demonstrable
differentiators.

For solution providers too, there couldn't be a better time than now to
take up the task of brand creation for their business. What is essential to
remember is that brand-recall is never an overnight phenomena and hence the
longer the brand sustains and correctly reflects what it truly stands for, the
more are the chances of it attracting a wider acceptance in the marketplace.

Also, once the brand is well-established, solution providers can gladly
demand a premium for their services and customers would only be willing to pay
for the same. In fact, once the image or brand is well-accepted, even the most
intangible offerings can leverage on the existing brand-recall.

The best case in point is Intel and its Intel Inside campaign. The company
branded the most abstract thing at that point of time, which was the inside of a
PC, and found a way so that people can actually identify with something as
abstract as that.

According to Lexicon "A brand name is more than a word. Its the
beginning of a conversation." And in order to provide that much-needed
dimension of beyond-the-ordinary growth, solution providers now need to give a
start to this conversation.

GOLDIE

Branding For Business Growth

An IT business player for nearly two decades, Allied Digital Services (ADS)
realized the need to engage in a brand-building exercise pretty early. While it
didn't go all out spending recklessly for creating its brand, it took small
and gradual steps towards the same. For the company, one of the most important
tasks has been to talk about the significant projects that it accomplishes.
"Only when we talk of the good work that we have done, would any amount of
additional brand-building be of any help," remarks Nitin Shah, MD, ADS.

Additionally, the company put great emphasis on internal branding, where its
image and positioning was rightly conveyed to its own employees. Considering
employees as brand ambassadors, ADS ensured that each of them were well-aware of
its value-systems and ethics. Going ahead, the company extended its brand
creation exercise through a variety of medium.

It roped in a public relations firm to handle all its publicity-related
activities. This way it ensured a strong image portrayal in the media, hence
making a far-reaching impact on its existing as well as prospective clients.
While Nitin admits that there are no clear-cut ROI equations to justify the
spend on branding in order to improve business, he adds that the effect of
branding can be consciously felt.

Today, there are quite a few cases, where some new customers approach the
organization purely on the basis of
the image that they already have of ADS. And Nitin's philosophy on branding
has been quite simple: Doing business is
one part of story, while growing it is another. And it is branding that takes
care of the second.