The conversation dwells on Infosys approach to B2B Marketing and the role of digital marketing. Navin Rammohan recounts how the role of marketing has evolved and has become a key success factor for Infosys as an organization.
He points out the in its early days, Infosys marketing was essentially driven by PR , with stalwarts like Mr Narayana Murthy and Nandan Nilekani being perceived as thought leaders.In those days most of the technology spends were determined by CIO, most of whom were aware of Infosys. In the last decade or so the technology spends were increasingly made by other CXOs. In this other CXO segment Infosys realized that it did not have high brand recall when compared to Top Global IT service providers. Besides instead of merely talking to CIOs, it became imperative that Infosys talked to all the CXOs, since a large part of IT related spends were made by CMO, CSO etc. In some cases the CMO was spending more money on technology than CIO.
Navin also explains how it became critical therefore for Infosys to adopt Account Based Marketing . He outlines how Infosys is looking at its ABM approach. . He believes that this is a much more effective approach, wherein the marketeers look at an important account as one market. And since a lot of business was repeat business, it was important to market to other CXOs, within the existing roster of clients. He stresses on the need of sales and marketing to get aligned in order for ABM to be truly effective. He recommends that sales and marketing teams co-locate and develop a cohesive strategy for every account. Navin emphasizes that the marketing person has to become a CMO on the account. He explains that ABM requires a great deal of customization and how it translates into stuff like having an adaptive Infosys website is adaptive, which displays content relevant to the visitor. Navin stresses on the fact that ABM requires building trust and strong relationships with the client. It may also involve working together on causes that are dear to both the client and Infosys.
Navin then dwells on using events and sponsorships to drive brand awareness and recall. He outlines the unique and innovative ways in which Infosys has developed a 'true partnership' with Grand Slam Tennis. He explains how Infosys chose tennis over other games, since it was popular in relevant markets and had tournaments running all year round. Infosys also believed could that technology could actually impact the experience of consuming tennis.
Unlike regular sponsorships Infosys doesn't just slap our logo on the tennis tournaments.Infosys has used is as an experiential marketing exercise, wherein they use the work they have done with tennis analytics and game experience as a way to showcase what is possible with data analytics and AI. Clients can see that the Infosys partnerships have truly changed the way Tennis is consumed.
Infosys Tennis Platform, or ITP, is a suite of digital technology tools focusing on multiple aspects of analyzing and experiencing tennis.Infosys has used various innovations like virtual reality headgear, wherein a person can visit different parts of the stadium.
The tennis partnership & ITP has certainly helped in opening C-level doors and nurturing existing relationships at marquee companies for Infosys.
Navin also shares his views on how events will get shaped in 2021. He shares his thoughts on what will change and what will not change, and the role technology will play in running events.
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