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

gary hamel

thinking IPO?
lynda gratton

Pradip Shah,
R Ravimohan in
MasterClass
saroj datta

musharaf hai:
the changing face of
unilever pakistan
shombit sengupta

howard stevenson
on entrepreneurship

sumantra ghoshal
a celebration of his life
apurv bagri

Q2
04
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page 1 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.

page 1 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
power to make people understand, identify and recognize
the value or message of any physical substance or personality.
It has even helped capture an entire human civilization in a
holistic manner - pyramids today are synonymous with
ancient Egypt.
A corporation's ability to connect with its stakeholders
will always come from its visible identity - its corporate
identity or the identity of its products or services. And a
consumer's desire to experience a branded product starts
from the identity of that product.
Organizations very often do not understand the
difference between a business identity and a graphic logo. If
a designer does not have business orientation he or she will
deliver a charming graphic logo. But corporations must not
accept that, because identities are much more powerful than
mere graphic designs. When your identity communicates
your organization's core beliefs and values with energy, it
inspires people.
For customers to develop attachment to your brand, your
identity must have a strong character that symbolically
expresses the core values of your proposition to your
customer. The identity of any business has to have a strong
rational and functional support that serves the deeper needs
of the customer. Having that as a skeleton, you can elevate
your proposition to the subconscious mind of your customer.
The rational and functional base, with an emotional
content, connects with people beyond their expectation where
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'.
T H E S M A R T M A N A G E R Q2 04
the competition cannot enter - creating emotional surplus.
This, for example, was the thinking behind Wipro's corporate
repositioning in 1998 with the ‘Rainbow Flower’ identity.
flower power
Semantically the name Wipro does not mean anything.
When we started work for Wipro in 1996 we found that
every division was a different company in spirit and there
was no linking concept that bonded the divisions, no
branding coherency across businesses. Each division had its
own separate mission, and neither Wipro as a corporation
nor its identity was aspirational.
Our interactions with different Wipro stakeholders such
as employees, the distribution channel, shareholders and
customers allowed us to flesh out Wipro's hidden values, as
well as any mismatch between corporate and customer need.
It revealed a clear picture of the different competitors, and
formed the foundation for our interaction with customers.
Wipro had communicated a lot of things over the years, but
in the competitive scenario, what had the end user picked
up? We tried to extract this.
Our research revealed that Wipro has diligent,
hardworking and sincere employees. But end users felt Wipro
had unfocused multifaceted businesses. Wipro
was seen as very cold and process oriented, yet Wipro
delivered on its commitment. We found the corporation
could take a platform of the value of essential to intelligent,
from consumer products up to technology. It was
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 1
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.
We identified four values that would provide critical
benefits to end users - human values, integrity, innovative
solutions and value for money. Having done that we created
the core concept of ‘Applying Thought’ (Wipro is process
oriented + thinks for you) that signifies being ahead of time.
This was the strategic leapfrog for Wipro. The four values
would converge on Wipro's corporate promise of ‘Applying
Thought’. And information technology would lead the
corporation as an engine, while all the other businesses
would be the wagons of the locomotive.
steps to create product differentiation
subliminal dimensions of customers’ reactions
T H E S M A R T M A N A G E R Q2 04
The brightness of the ‘Rainbow Flower’ would manifest
the corporation's value of integrity, while the rainbow's fresh
appearance after the storm would reflect human values.
Everyone can relate to the rainbow because it's in nature.
It's rare, but when it appears everyone can see it. This
simplicity and rareness would comprise value for money.
The central part of the flower denoting digital complexity
would reflect the value of innovative solutions.
Customer interactions through research confirmed that
Wipro's identity made the corporation into a young, vibrant
diversified group with a single personality. Customers said
‘Applying Thought’ means that Wipro thinks for the
customer's well being, is strong in R&D and thinks out-of-
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
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
But a word of caution for organizations seeking to make
their brands more aspirational through a change of identity
- in the current competitive scenario, if you want to create
emotional surplus, you must strengthen the rational surplus
and functional surplus of the product or service. Only then
will customers see in it a value beyond their expectation
that will reach the subliminal territory of ‘Emotional Surplus’.
Rational surplus is the value added non visible part of
your deliverable, such as being defect free, which leads to its
good reputation. The customer realizes the brand's rational
surplus only after experiencing it. As rational surplus is not
visible, it is up to the manufacturer to prioritize and deliver
the customers' understanding of the value of rational surplus
in the product.
For example in a car, the customer cannot see the internal
performance of the engine. It is non visible. In a food product,
the exact quality of the ingredient is not visible. The
customer will always depend on the manufacturer's promise
of delivering rational surplus. Over time brands get trusted
and create pride of ownership.
Functional surplus is the value added visible part of your
deliverable that the customer can evaluate prior to purchase.
For example, in a car the external function like easy driving,
quick pickup and comfortable seating can be tested during
purchase and is "visible." Similarly a food product can be
route to value beyond expectation
T H E S M A R T M A N A G E R Q2 04
tasted to discover functional surplus. It cannot be an over
promise, be suboptimal, or be fake.
Emotional Surplus: This is the perfect synchronization
of rational and functional surplus, with subliminal aesthetics
of the product, which builds organizational coherency and
delivers value beyond the customer's expectation. For
example, in the car the styling and ergonomics can increase
emotional attachment. In a food product, the product
aesthetics itself and its concept and packaging can have
emotional content.
In the platform of ‘Emotional Surplus’, the rational and
functional surplus must necessarily provide the strong
foundation. The stronger you build the rational and
functional surplus, the more your brand will deliver in
emotional content, encouraging purchase and repurchase,
year after year. This makes the concept of ‘Emotional
Surplus’ into a business proposition that grows a brand
profitably and sustainably.
Only aesthetics and no functional purpose will not
deliver emotional surplus - just like the Thinker of Rodin, a
famous sculpture in Paris whose appeal is limited to art
lovers. The Eiffel Tower, on the other hand, created in the
same time period, has the rational, functional and emotional
content woven into it that people can experience - superb
views of Paris atop a beautiful metal structure that moves
in the wind.
The rational, functional and emotional steps together
create a desire of unending satisfaction - making tourists
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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wipro's route to an emotional surplus identity page 3