WIPRO: BUILDING A GLOBAL B2B BRAND

An ITSMA Brand survey among 400 US-based IT CXOs and decision makers, conducted in
2006, showed that IBM Global Services had the strongest mindshare among all IT companies
globally. It had the highest unaided awareness at 27.5% whereas the second-in-line Accenture
only had 8.3% unaided awareness.

Wipro’s main competitors in India are Infosys and TCS. Instead of being seen as another
offshore services provider, the company's goal was to build a reputation as a trusted
transformation partner that can help businesses compete in a global market.

BUILDING THE WIPRO BRAND

Mid-1970s: 6 Wipro Beliefs

1. Respect the individual

Late 90s: “ Applying Thought”

1. Human Values: We respect the unique needs of customers and employees. We are sensitive to
their differing needs in our interactions with them.
2. Integrity: We deliver what we commit. With honesty, fairness, reliability and uprightness in
whatever we do.
3. Innovative Solutions: We constantly offer novel and superior solutions to satisfy the needs of the
customer.
4. Value for money: Delivering higher value to the customer through continuous improvement in
quality, cost and speed.

Late 2005-06: “Spirit of Wipro”

1. Intensity to win
• Make customers successful
• Excel through innovation and teamwork
2. Act with Sensitivity
• Respect the individual
• Be thoughtful and responsible
3. Unyielding Integrity
• Deliver on commitments
• Be honest and fair in action
• Conduct and unwavering search for truth
Applying Thought Campaign (1996-98)

Shining Strategic Design (SSD), a France based consulting firm was brought on board for a
complete brand makeover. Research commissioned by SSD revealed, “Wipro has diligent,
hardworking, and sincere employees. But end-users felt Wipro had unfocussed multifaceted
businesses. Wipro was seen as very cold and process-oriented, yet Wipro delivered on its
commitment.”

SSD identified four values that provided the most important benefits to end-users: human
values, integrity, innovative solutions, and value for money. Next came the creation of the
core concept of “Applying Thought” which referred to “Wipro is process oriented + thinks
for you that signifies being ahead of time.” A validation research into the dual brand logo of
the rainbow flower and slogan of “Applying Thought” was undertaken in 1997. In 1998,
Wipro formally adopted its “Applying Thought” slogan and rainbow flower as part of its
corporate identity, which was summarized as the following: “The WIPRO brand stands for a
trustworthy partner, a partner who delivers on commitments. The WIPRO rainbow flower
symbolizes the energy of our diversity, the dynamism of Team Wipro, and the Yin-Yang
balance that we strive for. The slogan “Applying Thought” that accompanies the rainbow
flower holds the promise of innovation, quality and superior value for all our stakeholders.”

Branding and Marketing Activities

The efforts of the marketing department ensured that Wipro participated in major trade shows abroad
and spoke at public forums. To create a local face abroad, Wipro started having a sales force abroad.
Other marketing efforts included setting up a website and building a public relations network with
business magazines such as Business Week and Forbes, building a network with analysts that
featured the IT industry and working with educational institutions on case-studies and whitepapers.
Around 2003-04, Wipro started the Strategym event, which was aimed at getting prospective
and current clients to meet Wipro on a regular basis. At these sessions, Wipro started showcasing its
technology and services to inform clients that it was capable of developing new solutions on its own
accord. Another key strategy that Wipro adopted in building a local presence abroad was to enter into
strategic partnerships that would compliment Wipro’s technologies. Between 2000 and 2006, Wipro
had also made significant acquisitions: Spectramind and Northwest Switches in India, mPower,
cMango and Quantech Global Services in the US and New Logic, Enabler, Saraware and Hydroauto
in Europe. It also entered the Middle-East market by setting up an office in Saudi Arabia and
acquiring the Middle-East operations (along with its India and SAARC segment) of 3D Networks
and Planet PSG.

Spirit of Wipro Campaign (2005-06)

The new focus was on “Intensity to win”. This reflected Wipro’s aspiration to play a larger role on
the global stage. The key was to develop a distinct positioning to help increase awareness levels.
Wipro wanted to compete with the likes of IBM and Accenture but did not have the financial clout to
advertise and build awareness on a similar scale. The need of the hour was to reach as many of these
people as possible in a captive environment, obviously with limited dollars. Internal research showed
that over 8.5% of Wipro’s global revenues were a direct result of the company’s innovation agenda,
and the company aimed to raise that to 10%.
To be effective, Wipro’s brand campaign was primarily required to be focused at CXOs. Since a
CXOs job required considerable travel, airport lounges, cabs and hotels became the primary channels
for the campaign.
A campaign was built around these locations. Some of these included:

Airport Business Lounges: Wipro found this medium highly effective to reach the target
audience in a captive environment. Wipro tied up with British Airways, Delta and Lufthansa
to run interactive promotions like the Magic Box Challenge by distributing a difficult wooden
puzzle box to passengers and challenging them to open it. People who opened the box would
find an insert instructing them to log on to the Wipro website to choose a prize.

Airport Displays: Wipro advertised in key airports in US, UK and Europe to reach the target
audience more effectively. Placing these near the business lounges offered a tightly
controlled reach which allowed a reduced budget.

Promotion in star hotels (Leela Palace, Bangalore): Wipro tied up with the Leela Hotel
where guests based on a pre-identified list provided by Wipro received a note introducing
Wipro along with a small gift.

Cab Promotion: Wipro found that cabs were key customer touch points when the target
audience visited Bangalore which is the IT hub of India. So Wipro decided to run a
promotion by leaving the Magic Box puzzle along with an “innovation kit” inside the cab.
The innovation kit kept the audience engaged, conveying the Wipro message to the customers
in a subtle way.

Wipro branded buses at the World Economic Forum, Davos: WEF, Davos is a focused
platform where Wipro gets access to its target audience of senior level decision makers,
media and analysts across the globe .Wipro branded 30% of the buses in this small town with
the Applied Innovation message. These buses gave high visibility for Wipro.

Cover wraps: Wipro with a limited marketing budget could not afford to take large size ads
in newspapers and magazines, but found an innovative and cost effective way of reaching the
audience through cover wraps which was done for limited copies that were distributed to the
c-level executives at key events & forums.

Applied Innovation Awards: Wipro launched the Global Applied Innovation Awards for
Business Excellence, recognizing organizations that innovated collaboratively with a
sourcing partner. The award was executed in association with the IT Association of America,
International Association of Outsourcing Professionals and Forbes.com. The awards received
an overwhelming response from leading innovative organizations across the globe. The
award was followed by the Wipro-Forbes.com Applied Innovation Conference, focusing on
trends and best practices in co-innovation and global sourcing. Wipro released a glossy hardcover
book on the applied innovation awards capturing the entire exercise and showcasing
case studies of winners. Running such an awards program focused on innovation further
strengthened Wipro’s image as a thought leader in innovation.

Applied Innovation Council: Wipro also launched the Applied Innovation Council
comprising of Wipro customers, industry experts, analysts and thought leaders to analyze
industry trends and work on collaborative innovative solutions to address new consumers,
markets and business challenges.

Academia: Wipro set up the Wipro Council for Industry Research comprising of domain
experts from within the organization who partnered with leading universities globally like
Harvard, Wharton, LBS and INSEAD to run joint thought leadership series comprising of
research studies, the findings of which were presented to the CXO communities at Wipro’s
customer forums.

Internal innovation awards: Wipro held the Applied Innovation Awards internally. This
event honored Wipro innovators and innovations. The jury panel had eminent members from
both industry and academia. This awards program was carried out to foster innovation to
bloom within Wipro.

Mandala: The Strategym event was later rechristened as Mandala signifying the confluence
of thought leaders, customers & Wipro to share views & best practices on innovation.
Mandala was also used as a forum to showcase how Wipro “applied innovation” to its
customers.

The focused, low-cost, high-impact branding exercise undertaken by Wipro through innovative
marketing channels moved Wipro to a new level as reflected in the Brand Audit for Oct 06-Jan 07 by
Penn, Schoen and Berland Associates which showed that Wipro ranked second only to IBM in
favorability amongst prospective clients. A limited marketing budget, which was a fraction of
what global competition had deployed, proved to be a driver of innovation

REBRANDING SPREE CONTINUES

• Wipro is planning to rebuild its brand with a focus on its diversified nature
• Sachin Mulay, head of brand at Wipro: “The DNA of Wipro is changing beyond IT and
includes consumer care, lighting, energy, environment and we need to re-build the brand
keeping these in mind.”

KEY FOCUS ELEMENTS:

STRATEGY: SOCIAL NETWORKING, NEW MEDIA

Brand Benefits and Core Competencies

Wipro draws its competitive advantage vis-à-vis the other Indian IT service providers from
five specific differentiators:
• Technological Excellence
• Innovative Solutions
• Operational Excellence:
• Global Footprint with Emerging Market Knowledge
• Company Culture of Linking Values to Business Performance