REPORT SUBMITTED TOWARDS PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF POST GRADUATE

DEGREE IN MARKETING & SALES

PROJECT -C

ON

SUBMITTED BY: SUBMITTED TO:

NITIN MISHRA (32)
SANKET GUPTA (50) MS. VARSHA KHATTRI
SIDDARTHA SHARMA (55) FACULTY MBA (M&S)
SEC-B, MBA (M&S) 2007-09

Evolution of the brand

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 Phases of brand building

The HCL Global branding initiatives was conceptualized in Jan 05 with an objective to “unify the global
enterprise and connect with all stakeholders.” Done in three phases, the brand communication took a single
thread (that of HCL being in the leading edge of technology), while expressed it in different ways.

PHASE 1

HCL FEARLESS CAMPAIGN

“HCL’s Fearless campaign in 2005 was aimed at sharing the rich history and lineage of HCL. With this
Campaign HCL reinforces its strong position not only as hardware IT giant but also as a leading global
Technology and IT services player

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The 'Fearless' was a print-led TV campaign, which brought out the core HCL values of Guts, Courage and
Passion. The campaign also spoke about the size and width of the enterprise, while introducing the HCL Heritage
and stature

Objective- Show core HCL values – “GUTS, COURAGE & PASSION

Target Market-

People Involved in-

i. Hardware Business

ii. Networking

iii. IT Professionals in other Industries (Bank , Logistics etc.)

MEDIA-
Class – Newspaper, Magazines
Vehicles – Economic Times, Business week , Dataquest ,Electronics for you , Business Today

USP - Linking Company’s Growth to its courage factor

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PHASE 2

THE TALKING NUMBERS CAMPAIGN

'The Numbers do the talking' Campaign

0 and 1, the binary digits were taken as HCL's brand ambassadors. The story they weave around the different areas
of expertise that HCL has is the crux of the campaign.

The campaign, initiated in Jan 05 went on till March 06 and explained the multifaceted technology width of HCL.
The campaign helped in sustaining and continuing the brand stature of the company.

The “Talking Numbers” campaign is a creatively unique tongue- in-cheek communication between 0
and 1, the advertisement’s primary characters. Both 0 and 1 walk viewers through the rich digital world of
IT which HCL has pioneered since 1976. The campaign is designed to position HCL as an innovative, Multi-
dimensional technology solution provider in that context.

THE CONCEPT
The campaign was conceived and developed by FCB Ulka , a leading global advertising agency working
with HCL. The campaign has been created digitally on a PC (which incidentally HCL pioneered in India)
with cutting edge digital and animation tools in Bombay and London. The animation follows same standards as used
by big budget animation films.
The creatives for the commercial are set in the binary world that is made up of 0s and 1s, which are the
building blocks of the digital world. All hardware components and every single code of software execute
and work on the premise of digital circuits.
The films revolve around the two characters ‘0’ and ‘1’, who do all the talking. In each of these
Commercials one aspect of HCL that the world thus far knows very little of, is highlighted. The film takes
Shape in different real life settings, where 1 has real life problems. 1 has no clue about how HCL can help
him with the trouble at hand, and just knows that HCL is a big computer company. 0 with his knowledge
about HCL enlightens 1 about HCL’s achievements in his effervescent style. Light humour and
Conversational tonality helps establish the message in an endearing manner ensuring clarity

'The Numbers do the talking' Campaign

0 and 1, the binary digits were taken as HCL's brand ambassadors. The story they weave around the different areas
of expertise that HCL has is the crux of the campaign.

The campaign, initiated in Jan 05 went on till March 06 and explained the multifaceted technology width of HCL.
The campaign helped in sustaining and continuing the brand stature of the company.

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Objective- To highlight the multifaceted Technology Width of HCL

Target Market-
People Involved in-

i. Hardware Business

ii. Networking

iii. IT Professionals in other Industries ( Bank, Logistics etc.)

MEDIA-
Class – Television & Print
Vehicles – NDTV, CNBC, Economic times , Business week , Dataquest ,Electronics for you , Business
Today

USP - Unified Image of HCL subsidiaries

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PHASE 3

Touch Technology Campaign

Small wonder that unlike MNC’s in the domain, the brand has steered clear of roping in a celebrity ambassador till
date. And the strategy has indeed paid off. A brand tracking research conducted by IMBR, revealed that HCL leads
in the 'Top of The Mind Recall' amongst IT companies and has an equally high 'Spontaneous recall'.

Before 2005, HCL Technologies had largely focused on product based advertising, given the dominating nature of
its enterprise business. In January 2005, they began working on a global branding initiative with an objective to
unify the global enterprise and connect with all stakeholders.

That was when they launched the 'Fearless' campaign – a print-led TV campaign, which brought out the core HCL
values of Guts, Courage and Passion. A year later, HCL entered the second phase that was the 'Talking Numbers'
campaign, 0 and 1 (the binary digits) were taken as HCL's brand ambassadors.

This is currently the third phase of the advertising strategy for HCL, 'Touch Technology' where the brand
communication has a single thread – HCL expressing technology in many different ways.

Objective- Give face to the Brand

MEDIA-
Class– Television , Print , Surround , Viral
Vehicles – NDTV , CNBC, Economic times , Business week , Dataquest ,Electronics for you , Business
Today , Billboards , T-Shirts , Coffee mugs etc.

USP - Protagonist is an HCL Employee not any famous personality

PRINT-

While television brings the brand to life in a powerful way, it is the role of print to expand and give depth
to the message. Thus we did a print campaign where various examples of the way HCL touches lives are
presented. Each ad addressed a specific target group and highlights the facts relevant to that target group.
The entire campaign had a consistent HCL signature look.

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 SURROUND
In our current campaign, "surround" plays an integral role in reaching out to our consumers and employees in their
daily life. Outdoor advertising is primarily used as a reminder medium for the entire campaign, with a consistent
message of "Technology That Touches lives" and " HCL : A $ 4 Billion Enterprise".

Other elements of "surround", such as Posters, Mugs and T-Shirts, are used to highlight the message internally to all
our employees.

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Viral

The viral helped bring in the humour element to the whole campaign. Very successful as an email forward, the viral
represents a new medium and added a quick burst of laughs across the audience

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“TECHNOLOGY TOUCHES THE LIVES –THE SEQUEL”

“Technology that touches lives” is a successful campaign for HCL and was appreciated by the various stakeholders
of the company. The first commercial of “Technology that touches lives” has run for over a year and it was time to
add some fresh life into the campaign.

Thus the challenge was to create a sequel that would stay with one thought that HCL technology touches the lives of
people everywhere but would bring a fresh perspective to the message in a way unique to HCL.

The creative response to the challenge was this – If the first ad had an HCL employee talking about HCL, may be its
time for the world to talk about HCL.

Objective- To give fresh perspective to the message

MEDIA-
Class – Television , Print , Surround
Vehicles – NDTV , CNBC, Economic times , Business week , Dataquest ,Electronics for you , Business
Today , Billboards , T-Shirts , Coffee mugs etc.

USP - Innovative approach towards Brand building

PRINT- While television brings the brand to life in a powerful way , it is the role of print to expand and give depth
to the message. Thus we did a print campaign where various examples of the way HCL touches lives are presented.
Each ad addressed a specific target group and highlights the facts relevant to that target group. The entire campaign
had a consistent HCL signature

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4)SURROUND

In current campaign, "surround" plays an integral role in reaching out to consumers and employees in their daily life.
Outdoor advertising is primarily used as a reminder medium for the entire campaign, with a consistent message of
"Technology That Touches lives" and " HCL : A $ 4.9 Billion Enterprise".

Other elements of "surround", such as Posters, Mugs and T-Shirts, are used to highlight the message intenally to all
employees.

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FUTURE CAREER

OUTDOOR

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We interviewed MR. HARISH MADAN (MANAGER - SALES) & MR. CHANDRAKANT S. HARNE ( ASST.
MANAGER – TECH)

We asked them following questions -

1. What is the Ad strategy?

2. What is the reason behind their current campaign?
3. Why did they zeroed on their current media class?
4. How do they promote their brands through different media class?
5. How did they target their image to different set of consumers?

Sources-

1. http://www.hcl.in/
2. http://www.hcl.in/fearless-campaign.asp
3. http://www.hcl.in/0-1campaign.asp
4. http://www.hcl.in/touching-life-campaign.asp
5. http://www.hcl.in/technologytoucheslives.asp
6. http://www.hcl.in/evolution-brand.asp
7. http://www.hcl.in/brand-story.asp
8. http://www.hcl.in/business-streams.asp
9. http://www.hcl.in/hcl-infosystems.asp
10. http://www.hclinfinet.com/
11. http://www.hcl.in/hcl-technologies.asp
12. http://www.hcl.in/files/Corporate-Presentation-Forwebsite-30June08.pdf
13. http://www.hcl.in/overview.asp
14. Outlook business September 20, 2008

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