Case Studies

Invigorating and
Celebrating a
Legacy Brand

Industry : Manufacturing | Commodities
Segment : Brand Salience

Context : Third generation legacy company wanted to define itself and self-actualize across its three businesses, nine locations and 5000 employees. Required a business communications ecosystem, new corporate identity, brand salience through change communications.

Context & Challenge: Organically growing company often confused with branches of a larger extended family. Hazy legacy affiliations. Indistinct, weak persona. Highly conservative, conflicting, embedded behaviours. Several disparate satraps and sub-cultures.

Creation of organisational salience. The need to define and express the brand through identity, stakeholder engagements and internal cultures.

Response: DNA re-definitions, a new brand Identity, allyships, identity shaping practices. Creation of ownership, pride and salience across businesses, corporate holding, corporate brand expression and marketing.

Execution Highlights : The exercise was implemented, reinforced and recognized across multiple stakeholders over an extended period.

Positioning as a blend of youthful dynamism and tested, trusted wisdom. A blend of the old (wise) and the new (dynamic) expressed character. Identity shaping practices, literal as well as subtle.
Sustained articulation of key messages. Expression and engagement across diverse vectors. Accent on experiential communications to create word-of-mouth referrals as much as share of voice. Institutionalisation of identity defining practices which over time became intrinsic habit and behavior to people, culture. Among others, in a heavily factory and shop-floor driven organization which had old entrenched divides, creating a concept of empowered, interactive engagement.
A more open, inclusive discourse. High visibility, cross functional, cross business communication initiatives to promote leadership position and recall in the category. Multiple stakeholder communications and community relations practice. Robust engagements and resonance for the corporate brand. Identification, nurturing and showcasing new areas of brand extension which made a consumer connect for an entirely B2B business model.

Outcome: Instillation of unison and pride. Robust and visible brand persona and salience. Wide reference amongst key stakeholders and over time built as a voice of the industry. From a non-existent function, the communications team secured 36 peer reviewed tier I awards and prizes competing against marquee brands. The corporate entity is today an employer of choice, a key voice in industry and easily recognizable through its brand expression.

Expressing a Global
Marquee Technology Brand

Industry : Telecom | Technology
Segment : Brand Salience & Public Affairs

Overall Context : A Fortune 50 technology global corporation, marquee technology brand. At the forefront of several technologies, a global end-to-end leader of telecom and wireless technologies. Present in India since the 1980s but not appreciated in the public discourse for what it represented and what it did, or as a current category leader. Several chronic and evolving issues spanning image, public affairs, crisis.

Response: A Reputation Management led embedded appreciation among stakeholders as end-to-end domain expert as well as market leader. Proof point led perception as co-creator of Indian telecom revolution and creator of IPR in India. Iconic reclamation of brand space with high recall ATL, BTL, TTL campaigns. Strategic CSR first and till date unique in category. A focus on occupation of high ground on domain knowledge and sector leadership. Driven through share- of- voice and share- of- mind. Showcasing one of the only two innovation design and nanotechnology labs outside the United States --advocacy, thought leadership. Advent of a new re-energized brand presence in mobile devices with the USP of versatility, partnering Indian telecom revolution and embedded with the mass customer with a sub=$40 phone. Highly localized ATL, BTL and TTL programmes to launch, support and enhance the mobile devices business. Customised to stakeholders, customers, geographies, price and feature. India Subcontinent market selected as pilot for a UN led sub-US$ 40 mobile device proved the relevance and credentials. Initiating, driving and owning the concept and conversation of wireless internet/IoT much before it was embraced mainstream. Evangalized the cutting-edge work | pilots around this with demo ecosystems.

Outcome: The brand optimized its market presence and competitive advantage through a unique business communications and brand management approach. Deepened appreciation and respect from all stakeholders and creation of consumer’s brand love. Select Examples :

i) Segment: Public Affairs

Context & Challenge : Excessive pressure from regulators and peers to set-up manufacturing facilities in-country. The tech giant was seen as a laggard and unwilling to commit brick and motor presence. Pressure from media, the government and industry. The closest competitor who dominated the mobile devices space exploited this.

Response : Took the positioning that this tech giant had invested in India during the 1980s, well before liberalization and well ahead of India as an investment destination. This demonstrated faith in the calibre of the country and commitment to India. The investment was in high-end architecture, semiconductors, nanotechnology and encryption besides custom software. The investment incrementally created cutting-edge products and solutions which served not only the global requirements of the corporation, but actually raised the bar on industry standards and in cases fostered emerging trends. THIS was creation of IPR in India for the world and at the high-end of investment with highly skilled professionals.

Juxtaposed this position against the low-end semi-skilled screwdriver based investment through local manufacturing by competitors. Quality and intrinsic worth of the investment was constantly underlined. This moved the narrative to the other end. Once the corporation actually put down a brick and motor plant, positioned it as coming full circle. Once again the only comprehensive, end-to-end brand which designed, enabled and manufactured in India for the world. The opposition had nothing to respond with. And this became a key message in overall positioning of the brand as well as the corporation in the country and beyond.

Outcome : The corporation was able to turn disadvantage into distinctive advantage with a strategic communications and public diplomacy approach.

ii) Segment : Public Affairs

Context & Challenge: The corporation was promoting WiMAX technology in competition against WiFi. The function was mandated with creating a high watermark demonstration of WiMAX as distinctly superior in terms of scalability and best suited to the Subcontinent, versus WiFi.

Response: Created a unique value proposition of the brand at work, through a CSR model. And real time demonstration of WIMAX over WiFi. Collaborated with a premier school in the national capital and through a prominent NGO, with its cluster of slum schools. Designed a real-time teaching module with whiteboards to link the premier school and the slum schools. The area this covered was 25 square kilometers and ten schools fed into the programme which focused on subjects in which the underprivileged children were most challenged. The pilot was inaugurated by the President of India in which he actually interacted with all the students on real-time basis. The state media live streamed this, international and private media followed this up with extensive coverage of how and why WiMAX was the answer to India’s broadband/internet needs on every parameter – cost effectiveness, quality, robustness, scalability.

Outcome: Created appreciation and demonstrated the proprietary technology at work.

Acceptance, Adoption and
Self-Regulation of
Unconventional Business Model

Industry : Direct Selling | Multi-level Marketing
Segment : Brand Salience | Public & Regulatory Affairs

Employer : India’s first and the world’s largest direct selling company.

Segment: Brand Prestige | Public Affairs

Context & Challenge: Direct Selling -- misunderstood and always misrepresented sector. Internal challenges included disproportionately strong lobbies of independent business owners (called Distributors) with vast revenues, huge members in their organizations a propensity to promote people networks over product. The emergence of ‘me too’ players with unscrupulous business models, unreasonable expectations of independent business owners (those new to the business) and Government opacity on the business overall.

Response: Establish credibility through the business model , manufacture of international quality product within the country, exceptional opportunity to own, train for and run an independent business on negligible investment. Build and sustain credentials of the brand, efficacy of the business model, and weed out under-the-radar operators .

Demystified the business through/ in concert with cross functional partners across Distributor training, business relations, legal and the CEO office. Expressed and evangalized the business model communicating its clear cut transparent channels, the essential need to promote product which was as vital as the sales channel and the network.
Proactively introduced the direct selling concept and corporate credentials with underlying key messages of ethics and best practices, quality, sustainability, and the overarching socio-economic relevance to regulators, opinion leaders, opinion influencers.
Collaborated with select peers / competitors to found the Indian Direct Selling Association (IDSA), framing its charter, terms of membership, code of conduct. This, over time evolved into an aspirational gold standard of industry best practices and by virtue of this, a brand and business endorsement.
Showcased the third party contract manufacturing partners to key publics. The positioning was creation of world-class exceptional quality home care and personal care products in India through enabling local industry, establishing new benchmarks, sharing IPR, promoting employment.
The vast potential of promoting enterprise through independent business owners who could own a business on extremely low entry thresholds, get complimentary training, mentoring, and support to build a successful enterprise.
Donned an Indian persona for the brand : Hindi + English colloquial style of a conversational brand which was most prudent and economical because it was 100% concentrated product, purchased through an individual one was already likely to know, was experiential because often based on word-of-mouth, was returnable and refundable. Was available in various configurations from conventional packs to sachets.

Templated the roll-out in a distinctive highly nuanced style for local sensibilities. Aspects like ATL, BTL and TTL were used. In each city local influential, local government were introduced to the brand and its value proposition, offered the product samples and met with the corporate leadership. This created understanding, appreciation and a degree of familiarity.

Outcome: The brand established itself (aided in large measure by successful leverage of its international credentials and end-to-end product range) as the most successful in its category. Issues remained which were endemic to the segment and/or in the nature of usual weather for any business , but were very sharply reduced. The brand also achieved unique salience through differentiation, reinforced values, commercial success.

Widen the Debate |
Confuse the Issue |
Highlight Bigger Picture

Industry : Tobacco | Cigarettes
Segment : Public & Regulatory Affairs

Employer: India’s largest tobacco company, a tobacco industry consortium including international equity partners.

Segment: Public Affairs

Context & Challenge: An industry which is legitimate, is a robust contributor to the exchequer, has incremental export potential, vast socio-economic linkages to among others, livelihood. Cigarettes accounted for 10% of consumption and since 1975 had followed the Government’s stipulation of health warnings. Contrasted with a vast unregulated, exploitative, highly carcinogenic industry of smoking and chewing tobaccos. The Government of Delhi’s ban on smoking in public places enacted (1996). A question of business impact with longer term wider dynamics. A complementary aspect of more severe measures contemplated, ranging from plain packaging for cigarettes to Death’s Head symbols on packs to warnings in multiple languages. “Passive smoking” (Environmental Tobacco Smoke) = the health and the personal choice argument.

Response: Factual Correction, Allyship, Credible Solution.

Through a series of narrowcast articles in the media, representations to the Government directly and indirectly. The impracticality of enforcing it, the social frictions it would cause. Presented facts on Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS), excessive pollution in the city which trivializes the aspect of ETS. Elementary courtesy and mutual accommodation aspect and the fact that bans are counter-productive, often failures.
Allying with the hospitality industry through the Federation of Hotels & Restaurants Associations of India (FHRAI) which would see severe impact since patrons relaxed with a smoke in hotels and restaurants. A ban would affect traffic and purchase.
Co-opting both smokers and non-smokers, a campaign which studied airflow patterns in enclosed spaces and designated buildings basis the same. Common spaces and rooms were then (based on the airflows) categorised as smoking and non-smoking areas instead of the earlier practice of arbitrary classifications

The entertainment industry was not organised as a group nor had it attained maturity. .

Outcome: The ban lost sting. It stayed on paper and in theory. The cigarette tobacco industry gained allies, gained positive public image as an accommodative, responsible corporate citizen.

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Invigorating and Celebrating a Legacy Brand

Expressing a Global Marquee Technology Brand

Acceptance, Adoption and Self-Regulation of Unconventional Business Model