Smart Manager

S t r a t e g y + M a r k e t i n g + A n a l y s i s + R e s o u r c e s + T e c h n o l o g y

APR-JUN 2004

VOL 3

ISSUE 2

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musharaf hai: the changing face of unilever pakistan

howard stevenson on entrepreneurship

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shombit Gupta

SMART ENTERPRISE

an emotional surplus identity by Shombit Sengupta  Renee Jhala

Your company's corporate identity should reflect your company's values and should strike an emotional chord in your customers’ mind. If not, it becomes just an image and is not oriented towards corporate goals. Shombit Sengupta, the founder of Shining Emotional Surplus, tells us how they created Wipro's new ‘Rainbow Flower’ logo using the ‘Emotional Surplus’ strategy.

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shombit Gupta

wipro's route to an emotional surplus identity page 1 A N E M O T I O N A L S U R P L U S I D E N T I T Y by Shombit Sengupta

a

n identity is a seal of recognition. It has the

the competition cannot enter - creating emotional surplus.

power to make people understand, identify and recognize

This, for example, was the thinking behind Wipro's corporate

the value or message of any physical substance or personality.

repositioning in 1998 with the ‘Rainbow Flower’ identity.

It has even helped capture an entire human civilization in a holistic manner - pyramids today are synonymous with

flower power

ancient Egypt.

Semantically the name Wipro does not mean anything.

A corporation's ability to connect with its stakeholders

When we started work for Wipro in 1996 we found that

will always come from its visible identity - its corporate

every division was a different company in spirit and there

identity or the identity of its products or services. And a

was no linking concept that bonded the divisions, no

consumer's desire to experience a branded product starts

branding coherency across businesses. Each division had its

from the identity of that product.

own separate mission, and neither Wipro as a corporation

Organizations very often do not understand the

nor its identity was aspirational.

difference between a business identity and a graphic logo. If

Our interactions with different Wipro stakeholders such

a designer does not have business orientation he or she will

as employees, the distribution channel, shareholders and

deliver a charming graphic logo. But corporations must not

customers allowed us to flesh out Wipro's hidden values, as

accept that, because identities are much more powerful than

well as any mismatch between corporate and customer need.

mere graphic designs. When your identity communicates

It revealed a clear picture of the different competitors, and

your organization's core beliefs and values with energy, it

formed the foundation for our interaction with customers.

inspires people.

Wipro had communicated a lot of things over the years, but

For customers to develop attachment to your brand, your identity must have a strong character that symbolically

in the competitive scenario, what had the end user picked up? We tried to extract this.

expresses the core values of your proposition to your

Our research revealed that Wipro has diligent,

customer. The identity of any business has to have a strong

hardworking and sincere employees. But end users felt Wipro

rational and functional support that serves the deeper needs

had unfocused multifaceted businesses. Wipro

of the customer. Having that as a skeleton, you can elevate

was seen as very cold and process oriented, yet Wipro

your proposition to the subconscious mind of your customer.

delivered on its commitment. We found the corporation

The rational and functional base, with an emotional

could take a platform of the value of essential to intelligent,

content, connects with people beyond their expectation where

from consumer products up to technology. It was

shombit sengupta

asthete Starting life in a refugee colony outside Kolkata, Sengupta left India 29 years ago to discover art in Paris. In 1984 he founded his company in Paris and has since provided management and brand consulting services to several hundred corporations worldwide. Sengupta originated the concept of 'Emotional Surplus'.

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renee jhala

voyager Jhala has studied psychology, sociology and journalism. She began her career as a journalist in Press Institute of India and has worked with Doordarshan, OIL, Bharat Electronics and Wipro. Jhala was involved with the core team that worked closely with Shining at Wipro. Currently she is Managing Director of Shining Emotional Surplus.

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wipro's route to an emotional surplus identity page 2 A N E M O T I O N A L S U R P L U S I D E N T I T Y by Shombit Sengupta

the FIRST TIME people see an IDENTITY they must be PROVOKED by it so that an INTEREST develops important to provide an identity that linked all of Wipro's diversified businesses.

The brightness of the ‘Rainbow Flower’ would manifest the corporation's value of integrity, while the rainbow's fresh

We identified four values that would provide critical

appearance after the storm would reflect human values.

benefits to end users - human values, integrity, innovative

Everyone can relate to the rainbow because it's in nature.

solutions and value for money. Having done that we created

It's rare, but when it appears everyone can see it. This

the core concept of ‘Applying Thought’ (Wipro is process

simplicity and rareness would comprise value for money.

oriented + thinks for you) that signifies being ahead of time.

The central part of the flower denoting digital complexity

This was the strategic leapfrog for Wipro. The four values

would reflect the value of innovative solutions.

would converge on Wipro's corporate promise of ‘Applying

Customer interactions through research confirmed that

Thought’. And information technology would lead the

Wipro's identity made the corporation into a young, vibrant

corporation as an engine, while all the other businesses

diversified group with a single personality. Customers said

would be the wagons of the locomotive.

‘Applying Thought’ means that Wipro thinks for the customer's well being, is strong in R&D and thinks out-of-

steps to create product differentiation

the-box. The flower symbolizes that Wipro cares for the environment, its center shows the digital age, science and technology, its petals reflect the softness of human values. The ‘Rainbow Flower’ looks feminine, ‘Applying Thought’ feels masculine, and Wipro in the center complements both with the colors of life. Wipro has now become an aspirational brand. The first time people see an identity they must be provoked by it so that an interest develops. For example, towards the end of the seventies when IBM was internationally established and reputed as a gigantic IT company, Apple Computers suddenly came in with a provoking product with a relevant identity - an apple. People

subliminal dimensions of customers’ reactions

could have said at that time that it's irrelevant to connect a computer and an apple. But, the apple was already associated with the genius of Newton's theory of gravitation. In biblical expression, the apple comprised the symbol of Eve being provoked by it to indulge in pleasure. Somehow this kind of semiotic brand appeal intrigues and creates curiosity and relevance in the customer's subconscious mind. IBM at that time used to talk literally, as a sum of all the technical greatness of its computer system. But Apple took the route of invention through the emotional path of history. When the understanding of an identity is very prosaic, its charm is lost. It then becomes mundane, like a monotonous chore of a conjugal relationship on the rocks.

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wipro's route to an emotional surplus identity page 3 A N E M O T I O N A L S U R P L U S I D E N T I T Y by Shombit Sengupta

functional surplus is the VALUE ADDED VISIBLE PART of your deliverable that the customer can EVALUATE PRIOR TO PURCHASE art works? a rational and functional foundation

tasted to discover functional surplus. It cannot be an over promise, be suboptimal, or be fake.

But a word of caution for organizations seeking to make

Emotional Surplus: This is the perfect synchronization

their brands more aspirational through a change of identity

of rational and functional surplus, with subliminal aesthetics

- in the current competitive scenario, if you want to create

of the product, which builds organizational coherency and

emotional surplus, you must strengthen the rational surplus

delivers value beyond the customer's expectation. For

and functional surplus of the product or service. Only then

example, in the car the styling and ergonomics can increase

will customers see in it a value beyond their expectation

emotional attachment. In a food product, the product

that will reach the subliminal territory of ‘Emotional Surplus’.

aesthetics itself and its concept and packaging can have

Rational surplus is the value added non visible part of

emotional content.

your deliverable, such as being defect free, which leads to its

In the platform of ‘Emotional Surplus’, the rational and

good reputation. The customer realizes the brand's rational

functional surplus must necessarily provide the strong

surplus only after experiencing it. As rational surplus is not

foundation. The stronger you build the rational and

visible, it is up to the manufacturer to prioritize and deliver

functional surplus, the more your brand will deliver in

the customers' understanding of the value of rational surplus

emotional content, encouraging purchase and repurchase,

in the product.

year after year. This makes the concept of ‘Emotional

For example in a car, the customer cannot see the internal performance of the engine. It is non visible. In a food product,

Surplus’ into a business proposition that grows a brand profitably and sustainably.

the exact quality of the ingredient is not visible. The

Only aesthetics and no functional purpose will not

customer will always depend on the manufacturer's promise

deliver emotional surplus - just like the Thinker of Rodin, a

of delivering rational surplus. Over time brands get trusted

famous sculpture in Paris whose appeal is limited to art

and create pride of ownership.

lovers. The Eiffel Tower, on the other hand, created in the

Functional surplus is the value added visible part of your

same time period, has the rational, functional and emotional

deliverable that the customer can evaluate prior to purchase.

content woven into it that people can experience - superb

For example, in a car the external function like easy driving,

views of Paris atop a beautiful metal structure that moves

quick pickup and comfortable seating can be tested during

in the wind.

purchase and is "visible." Similarly a food product can be

The rational, functional and emotional steps together create a desire of unending satisfaction - making tourists

route to value beyond expectation

return to the Eiffel Tower again and again. And this is the content of ‘Emotional Surplus’. Art can bring the philosophy of the past and project futuristic vision; but a utility item has to have rational, functional and ‘Emotional Surplus’ in the present instance because of its cyclic usage.

n

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