The B2B tech services CMO tells Tim Healey how he refreshed a 40-year-old brand for the AI era, why purpose and values were treated as untouchable and why marketers must resist change for change’s sake.
What’s your background in marketing?
I’m a business-to-business tech services marketer. When I started my career, it was during the dot-com era, and I felt that working in the tech sector would be the best thing for me. I have been part of the tech services and tech products segment throughout my career. I’ve worked across the globe: in India, the US, Egypt, Sri Lanka, Kenya and Tanzania. It has been a very interesting 25-plus years.
What is the offer at Tech Mahindra?
Tech Mahindra is a 39-year-old tech consulting and services company. Our offer is very simple. We want global enterprises, the global 2000, the largest companies in the world, to modernize, to innovate and to scale with confidence and in a world led by AI.
We do this in a way that these enterprise businesses understand they are working a promise to scale at speed. Most large organizations have a very, very difficult choice to make when they look for the right partner. They either have to select their technology partner for scale, or for speed.
When these enterprises select someone for scaling, they go for a very large company, because they know that the technology partner will cope with the requirements of operating at a large scale – whether it is the domain expertise, or the number of people that they will need.
The alternative – and this is especially common when adapting to a new technological advancement: enterprise businesses select a boutique technology partner who can work with them very speedily. But having to choose between scale and speed is not ideal.
At Tech Mahindra, our promise is to scale at speed. We bring the right scale – with 150,000 employees, operations in more than 90 countries, and the experience of working with some of the largest companies all across the world.
We also bring our entrepreneurial nature. Because our teams are empowered, the leaders are very approachable. Entrepreneurial DNA is ingrained in Tech Mahindra, as we have made over 50 acquisitions in the last few years. Essentially, we help our clients scale at speed in a world where technology is changing rapidly.
What’s coming up for you with Tech Mahindra over the next 12 months?
We are on a three-year transformation journey, and we are just starting the third year. Good news: the first two years have gone exactly as we wanted and hoped. The strategy is simple. We will focus on growth, operations and building an organization for the long run. That’s what the new CEO, who joined around two and a half years ago, defined in the transformation strategy.
This year is all about disciplined execution of our growth strategy across operations and organization building to keep up with all the rapid changes in the AI world. We are scaling AI across all client engagements. It is all about execution, rigor and expanding our margin.
The recent brand update was seen as an additive refresh, rather than a reinvention, keeping purpose and values intact while sharpening the message. In practical terms, what are the non-negotiables you refused to change? Where have you delivered? Where have you been deliberately most ruthless, especially when you’ve got 150,000 employees and loads of clients who need to interpret your new story consistently?
I’ve been part of a few brand refresh and rebranding exercises in my career, as most CMOs have been. This was possibly the most complex, especially as the scope kept increasing. We have four decades of heritage to draw on at Tech Mahindra and are part of a larger conglomerate that has eight decades of heritage.
As we were working on our brand refresh, we needed to stay connected to our heritage, and yet build on this platform something new that everybody can be proud of. That was the needle that we have been trying to find. Thankfully, over the last four months, the feedback that we have been getting from our clients, shareholders and our employees has been very positive.
As a CMO, one needs to remember that one’s tenure is only a small part of the history of the brand. In the larger scheme of things, the brand Mahindra has been around for 80 years, and Tech Mahindra itself has been on a 40-year journey.
With that in mind, we needed to understand what our employees think about the brand. We also discussed it with the board. Once we had a clear understanding of the purpose and the values of the organization, we made sure they were untouchable.
We also considered the foundation of the platform to be our shared north star, and our CEO’s strategy for the business. We are now working on phase two of the brand launch, including sonic branding, various other illustrations, iconography and more. On the whole, this has been such an exciting journey, keeping in mind the responsibility that we have as a team to build the next phase of a brand that is very loved and respected, and yet making sure that it is ready for the era of AI.
You have said that said the ambition for Tech Mahindra is to be seen as a global company that happens to be headquartered in India rather than an Indian company operating in 90 countries. What are the two or three signals out of brand, customer mix, talent, footprint, partner ecosystem or something else that you think shifts that perception in boardrooms in London, New York and Frankfurt?
As we set out to refresh the brand, we wanted to think about what exactly signals a global brand headquartered in India in terms of visual elements: what does the color palette look like? Are our illustrations and iconography representative of such a brand? Are they ‘looking global’?
We recognized that many of our prospects are not aware of the full range of services we offer, including consulting on AI, technology architecture and engineering services. How can we ensure that this value is perceived the way that we want it to be? We felt that a very simple way is to think of the color palette. We drew on the look and feel of a luxury brand.
We also had to consider the verbal branding. How do we communicate? Are we talking in the way that global brands are talking? Should we reflect the way that the world is changing? We realized that for every single offer that we have, we typically have few seconds to communicate what it is.
We live in a time-poor, short-attention world. We have a tiny window of opportunity to gain our clients’ attention. How do we make sure that in a very crowded marketplace we stand out with just the right level of provocation for our offer?
The second part: how do we make sure we are seen as a global brand headquartered in India? Here, we had to be inclusive and ensure that all of our employees across 90 countries are well represented in our communications.
We are creating more social media profiles for our operations across various countries. As they roll out, people will become aware of the brand being more visible. Many of the companies we have acquired are outside India, and we have to ensure they are integrated into the Tech Mahindra brand.
To achieve this, we created a very detailed orbit model. We worked out what the level of resemblance one of our subsidiaries must have to Tech Mahindra. Tech Mahindra is the nucleus in this model, and as we go out from the nucleus, we give more freedom to companies.
Finally, we had to consider our customers and partners. We needed more customer testimonials from around the world so they could be seen by prospective talent and clients.
How is your marketing team structured?
We look at the marketing objectives as a very simple four-pillar marketing model. One: how do we create the brand awareness and perception around Tech Mahindra? Two: how do we create demand from the companies that are not working with us currently? Three: how do we grow our current clients? More than 90% of our business typically comes from our current clients. Four: how do we win larger deals? How do we make sure that we work with the influencers like the third-party advisors, like the private equity companies, to make sure that we win big and continue to grow?
I call the four pillars: brand, demand, expand and grand. My team is structured around those four. The branding team covers corporate communications, digital marketing, analyst relations, social media and corporate brand. The demand team works on conferences and expos, ensuring we meet hundreds of clients at events. They also work on integrated digital campaigns.
Our expand team is focused on specific account-based marketing programs for our top 100 clients. That includes initiatives like the Tech Mahindra Innovation Day and a very specific hospitality-based intervention we do for a particular account.
Finally, our grand team works on influencer relations, working with third-party advisors, private equity companies and other consultants who work and help the large organizations decide who should they be working with.
Could you describe a moment when your instincts and the data pointed in different directions? How did you decide and what was your takeaway from the experience?
This happens almost all the time. Talking about the brand refresh, the data clearly showed that there was scope for the brand to change the way it is perceived. We considered our options: should we have continuation, evolution or transformation?
The data suggested that transformation was possible. We considered ‘Tech M’ as an option. If you type ‘Tech M’ into a search engine, we come up immediately. But our research showed that there was the possibility to rebrand as Tech Mahindra. As we spoke with our employees and our clients, we felt that there was a clear affinity towards the brand as ‘Tech Mahindra’.
The brand serves two different markets: our customers and prospects, and also the market for our talent, which is very important. More than 150,000 employees work for Tech Mahindra and we are constantly in market for new hires.
Affinity for the brand Tech Mahindra is very strong, so we needed to reflect how we have grown, but also our heritage. I’m very proud that we kept both in mind. As a marketer, I keep in mind what the data is showing – it is very important. It is equally important to also think: what is the right thing to do? And then move on that.
There is definitely a trend among marketers: “What are you changing this year?” A new CMO joins a business, and the way that they have to prove themselves is to say: what am I changing? What are the big things that I’m doing? It is very important that they keep in mind that they are just part of a very long journey for the brand they are working on.
Sometimes all that is needed is a nudge in the direction of the new trajectory, because the world keeps changing, but the brand needs to stay connected to where it came from.
How do you surf the tsunami of rapidly evolving marketing technology?
There are two parts to this. First, in our budget, we set aside a small proportion for innovation. Some of the most exciting things that I have done over the years, including at Tech Mahindra, have come out of this innovation. Sometimes it works, sometimes we fail fast. What is important is that we have to keep experimenting with new technologies. We promote a culture where we say: ‘it’s okay to make a mistake’ and allow people to explore.
The other side of this is that we do not chase every single wave that appears. Our way of avoiding the tsunami is to make sure that we anchor our strategy first and then we experiment in focused sprints. We decide on a specific initiative linked to our strategy, and then undertake experiments restricted to that area. It has to be done within the budget that we have set aside for this. Sticking to that discipline is how we surf the ‘tech’ tsunami.
What myth about marketing would you most like to bust?
The myth I would like to bust is that ‘marketing is a cost center.’ There’s a real risk associated with investing in marketing without clarity and accountability, but above all the leadership and marketing teams must consider marketing as a growth engine. It’s a strategic integrator. It aligns narrative and culture. It gives wings to the company’s commercial ambition.
What question would you like me to ask the next senior marketer I interview?
I would request and suggest that you ask them to talk about a time when they were not intellectually flexible, and they realized something that they should have been more open to accepting. Because in many cases, we find that there are certain biases and beliefs that we hold deep inside, and it takes us time to change them. It would be great to know from them: what are the beliefs that they are holding on to which they think they should give up?
Your question from the last senior marketer that I interviewed: in terms of work, what keeps you awake at night?
Thanks to the wonderful team that I have, I sleep quite peacefully. I have learned to always surround yourself with people who are better than you – but I still understand the essence of the question. The question I keep returning to is: how do we ensure that Tech Mahindra stays relevant in the marketplace?
Imagine the changes that have happened in the world over the last three decades: when I started at my first job, smoking was allowed in the office! There were no computers. I remember the first time I saw a Nokia communicator. I was so excited to see it open to reveal a keyboard. The most exciting thing that I ever did on a small Nokia phone was to play Snake – so imagine traveling from there to smartphones and audio-prompted AI.
I hope that I remain curious and that will ensure that the brand and the teams that I’m representing both stay relevant.
If there’s one thing you know about marketing, it is?
If there is one thing that I have learned about marketing, it’s that it’s all about earning trust at scale. In spite of all the rapidly changing technology and the evolution of marketing channels, as a marketer, if we consistently align our narrative with the values and offer that we deliver to our clients then the trust compounds.
This interview is brought to you in partnership with Worth Your While – an independent creative agency based in Copenhagen, working globally. Named one of The Drum’s Indie Agency Top 100, WYW exists on the belief that time is humanity’s most valuable resource, and that the only ideas worth making are ones that earn it. You might die tomorrow. Make today worth your while. https://wyw.agency/
This interview has already appeared in The Drum. Discover the best campaigns, industry insights and interviews from world-leading marketers, creatives and more.
