WIPRO: Building a Global B2B Brand
WIPRO is India’s third largest IT service provider. It has grown dramatically in the last decade and in 2006 is a company that operated in 29 countries, employing 75,000 people, with revenues of US$3.5 billion. It had aspirations to continue its growth trajectory that had seen its IT business grow from a mere US$75 million in 1996-97 to 2.5 billion in 2006-07.
To achieve the targeted growth and reach the next level, which would enable WIPRO to gain large business contracts from Fortune 1000 companies, WIPRO needed to build its brand awareness and image among the C-suite members of these firms. However, WIPRO’s awareness levels were low and way behind the near perfect awareness scores of its key global competitors, IBM and Accenture. The challenge of building awareness of the WIPRO brand, and articulating and communicating WIPRO’s positioning was particularly vexing as WIPRO’s budget was a mere $1.3 million.
Teaching Objectives
The teaching objectives of this case are fourfold: 1. To show the evolution of one of India’s largest IT firms from a opportunistic and undifferentiated player in consumer products to a successful, strategic, and differentiated B2B IT services player, 2. To help discussion participants understand the steps in articulating a brand positioning, and 3. Get participants to understand the logic of selecting touch points which is particularly relevant when the target audience is very specific, 4. The logic of thinking about how to create the maximum bang for one’s buck when developing marketing collateral material and more broadly all elements of marketing.
The case is versatile. It can be taught in MBA, EMBA or Executive Education programs. It has been used successfully as a part of a B2B MBA course as well as in Executive Education programs in services marketing as well as a straightforward branding case.
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