PwC – Brand Audit Report

Prepared by: Kaladhar Dheram & Abhinav Malik

Introduction & History:

Below is a timeline showing how the organization came to be known as today’s Price Waterhouse
Coopers(PwC).

1898 - Robert H. 1957 - Cooper

1854 - William Cooper Montgomery, William Brothers & Co (UK),
establishes his own M. Lybrand, Adam A. McDonald, Currie and
1849 - Samuel Lowell 1865 - Price, Holyland 1874 - Partners 1982 - Price
practice in London, Ross Jr. and his Co (Canada) and
Price sets up in and Waterhouse join change name to Price, Waterhouse World
which seven years brother T. Edward Lybrand, Ross Bros &
business in London. forces in partnership. Waterhouse & Co. Firm forms.
later becomes Cooper Ross form Lybrand, Montgomery (US)
Brothers. Ross Brothers and merge to form
Montgomery. Coopers & Lybrand.

Currently, PwC operates in 156 countries across the world with 2,95,371 employees. It has a gross
revenue of USD $ 45 billion in the FY 21. 84% of the fortune global 500 companies are clients for
PwC.

Financials:

For the 12 months ending 30 June 2021, PwC firms around the world had gross revenues of US$45
billion (FY20 $43 billion) – up 2.0% in local currency and 4.9% in US dollars. As a result of the
pandemic and the largely remote nature of the work undertaken during FY21, disbursements and
expenses recharged to clients were down 34.0% on the prior year. For the first nine months of FY21
revenues were flat. But as we neared the end of the year demand picked up, with revenues in the
April to June period up by 18.1% compared to the same period in FY20. As economies around the
world began to open up, PwC worked to bring together teams of diverse experts enabled by the
right technologies to provide clients with innovative and imaginative solutions and designed new
products and services to meet and anticipate their changing needs. PwC is focused on delivering high
quality services and products to their clients to help them build trust and deliver sustained
outcomes, as they deal with the challenges and opportunities of a rapidly changing world. The
regional growth numbers for the full year FY21 reflect the continuing effects of the COVID-19
pandemic and the consequent economic slowdowns. However, as the year progressed, growth
returned across all major regions and countries. Below is a snapshot of the revenues segregated
based on geography and service line.
The above graph portrays the following picture:

• High Fragmentation

• No Clear market leader

• Low degree of differentiation in services offered

 • Switching costs high but not infeasible

Leadership:

The organization structure of PwC is similar at both the international level and the domestic (Indian)
level. The below snapshot shows the global and Indian leaders at PwC.

Values of PwC:

Below are the values of PwC and their description in brief.

Act with integrity

 Speak up for what is right, especially when it feels difficult

 Expect and deliver the highest quality outcomes

 Make decisions and act as if our personal reputations were at stake

Make a difference

 Stay informed and ask questions about the future of the world we live in 

 Create impact with our colleagues, our clients and society through our actions

 Respond with agility to the ever-changing environment in which we operate

Care

 Make the effort to understand every individual and what matters to them

 Recognise the value that each person contributes

  Support others to grow and work in the ways that bring out their best

Work together

 Collaborate and share relationships, ideas and knowledge beyond boundaries

 Seek and integrate a diverse range of perspectives, people and ideas

 Give and ask for feedback to improve ourselves and others

Reimagine the possible

 Dare to challenge the status quo and try new things

 Innovate, test and learn from failure

 Have an open mind to the possibilities in every idea

Services:

Some of the services that PwC offers are listed below.

• Accounting, Audit & Assurance

• Service offered by PwC under accounting are accounting, financial reporting and
valuation, management consulting, risk management. Some of the service offered
under audit & assurance are financial statement audit, internal audit, regulatory
compliance, capital market, risk assurance, IFRS reporting and many more.

• Consulting & Deals

• Service offered in consulting are cyber security, digital services, financial risk and
regulators, forensic services, strategy consulting etc. Some of the PwC services
offered under deals are merger and acquisition, joint venture, spin offs, strategic
alliance.

• People & Organization

• Services in this segment are global pension, global employee mobility, HR related
management etc. Entrepreneurial and Private Business

• IFRS reporting

• PricewaterhouseCoopers offers proper application guidance for its tools and review
on IFRS.

• Tax and Legal

• Service offered in this segment are Entity governance and compliance, immigration,
international business reorganization, M&A, global taxes, tax dispute resolution,
transfer pricing, value chain transformation etc.

Brand Logo:
 The brand logo was designed by Wolff Olins, composed of a wordmark and an emblem, placed in
the top right corner. The present logo balances the strict and classic wordmark by using bright
colors. Its visual identity is modern and bright yet evokes a sense of seriousness and reliability. It
is composed of many rectangles of different shapes, sizes, and colors, it reflects the variety of
services the company has to offer to its clients. The traditional strong shape of the emblem parts
shows the authority and confidence in everything PwC does. PwC emblem includes different
shades of red, yellow, orange and pink, and it represents the company as an energetic and
powerful one, with a progressive and creative approach. Below images present the logo of PwC
and the timeline during which they were active.

1998-2010 2010 - Present

Marketing Mix:

The four Ps are considered to explain the marketing mix of PwC

Product:

As PwC is a service-oriented organization, there is no specific product. The description of services is

the same as provided earlier.

Place:

PwC has a global presence in more than 156 countries. Below is a snapshot representing its offices
across the globe. The numbers in red present the number of offices in the region.
Price:

PwC offers different types of pricings for its premium, high end clients and mediocre clients. The
high-end clients are quoted the premium pricing and the mediocre clients are quoted with a more
competitive price. This helps them to ensure that they cater to all the types of clients. This also
ensures that they don’t lose a client to their competition on the basis of price. Based on the price,
appropriate services are provided as well.

Promotion:

Considering the clientele that PwC caters to, the most effective way to promote themselves is by
participating the global economic forums, conferences, and meetings. They showcase their best
talent in the reports that they present during conferences and forums. The data that they collect and
the ability to liaison with different clients and organizations to understand the market condition and
present the findings in an analytical way measures the capacity of any consulting firm. This expertise
can be best showcased at a global level or in reputed literature. PwC also uses social media to
promote itself. It uses social media to advertise its success and invite fresh talent to apply for their
organization. Social media platform is a very economic way to reach to its clients and PwC
aggressively participates in all social media promotional activity.

Promotional Mix:

PwC is engaged in a B2B business model and holds a very high record of service and is known
throughout the business world. PwC also enjoys excellent brand reputation.

PwC promotes its business in the following ways:

 1. PwC periodically shares its press releases, business articles, market research report, market
alerts on social media. These articles and news blogs can also be accessed through
company’s own website. 
2. PwC also maintains tools and other guidance notes on its website that may be useful for the
clients, encouraging site hits 
3. PwC also organizes and takes part in giving lectures across universities and attending
business conferences around the world like Economic forums, Tax and Accounting
conferences etc.
4. PwC uses its logo for brand distinction.
5. In addition to the above, PwC also promotes its business through advertisements in business
publications, Sales Promotion, Events, Ambassadors to International Forums, Digital Media
and Direct Marketing.

SWOT Analysis:

Strengths:

1. PwC is one of the largest professional services companies and have a large client base
many of which are loyal and long-term clients. The procedural and financial costs of
replacing PwC as a service provider are usually very high for the client as PwC
undertakes long term projects which allows it to gain an understanding and institutional
memory for the project that cannot be substituted.
2. It has many business units apart from financial services like, consumer & industrial
product service, private company service etc. This allows the company to hedge its
business against external factors such as recession as a downturn in one industry can be
offset against other business prospects.
3. PricewaterhouseCoopers is a coveted employer and has a workforce consisting of the
best talent pool - It is the world's largest professional services firm and one of the largest
of the "Big Four" accountancy firms. The company has more than 200,000 employees
globally and has been regarded as one of the best places to work and has won several
awards
4. PwC has created brand awareness by various sponsorship deals as well. It is a well-
known brand and associated with technical competence and reliability owing to its long
and successful history.
5. The annual revenue of the company is approximately $40 billion. It has deep pockets
and sufficient reserves to
6. Several acquisitions and strategic partnerships have enabled the company to strengthen
its portfolio and services. PwC has acquired niche businesses holding exclusive licenses
over certain processes and technologies, allowing it to reduce competition and acquire
the niche talent pool of the acquiree.

Weaknesses:
1. Stiff competition from other leading industry players means restricted market share for
PwC. As seen above, the market share for the consulting industry is split by and large,
evenly amongst very few competitors. Considering the high costs of switching in the
business, it is very difficult to significantly increase its market share.

2. Certain work-related controversies and allegations have marred the brand image at
times:
a. PwC India’s auditors’ involvement in colluding with the CEO of Satyam and
signing off on Financial Statements without having done their due diligence. The
Indian Regulatory authorities banned PwC from conducting audit for a period of
2 years in India.
b. Another such case was when a third-party resource, deployed by PwC was
arrested for embezzling funds and jewellery from the client.
c. Incidents like this dent the image of the organization and affect prospective
business in an industry where reputation matters very significantly

Opportunities:

1. PwC can benefit from the growing prospects in emerging economies. PwC can focus on
developing economies such as Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Africa to bolster their
business and gain market share to establish a strong foothold in these emerging
markets.
2. There are many opportunities in providing compliance solutions to almost all types of
companies. The scope and scale of the industry is quite permanent as compliance with
the rule of law is a perpetual activity.
3. Increase in companies looking for expert business solutions can be an opportunity for the
company. Growing companies require expert consultancy. As the economies grow, so do
the businesses and so does the need for expert consultancy.
4. Acquisition of smaller consulting and financial firms can benefit PwC in increasing its
client base. PwC can acquire smaller consultancies and niche technology providers to
establish a monopoly over the market leading to increased revenues and greater profit
margins due to better bargaining power.

Threats:

1. Recession resulting from the ongoing coal, oil and grain shortages can affect the
business
2. Expansion of competitors can affect PwC's business globally across sectors
3. Fluctuating global economy & financial recessions can affects operations
Porter’s 5 Forces Analysis:

Threat of New Entrants - Low

• Entry in the industry requires substantial capital and resource investment.

• Regulatory framework places restrictions on new entrants in terms of compliance, both legal
and financial

• High Cost of switching for customers, both psychological and economic. PwC generally
participates in massive, companywide, and long-term projects with the client that allows it
to develop its own institutional memory for the client’s business. The cost of switching in
such cases becomes very high as the new entrant will have to gain that high a level of
understanding to be able to deliver at an equivalent level.

• PwC can retaliate towards new brands by way of poaching their workforce holding niche
knowhows or straight-out acquisition

Threat of Substitute Product - Low

• The switching cost of using the substitute product is high (due to high psychological costs or
higher economic costs)

• Customers cannot derive the same utility (in terms of quality and performance) from
substitute product as they derive from the PwC’s product.

Rivalries among existing firms - High

• Limited number of firms with no clear market leader ensures that the rivalry for each new
project is fairly high as all players want to increase their respective market shares.
• Non-differentiated product means that the services provided by all the market leaders are
fairly homogenous which ensures that the companies will have to differentiate through
service delivery
• Rivals share the same talent pool: The employees of the market leaders share similar
educational backgrounds and training so there is a significant scope for employees jumping
from one rival to another

Bargaining Power of Suppliers - Low

• Varied and distributed suppliers are used when it comes to service providers for software
and service delivery requirements
• Policy of long-term contractual relationships with Suppliers ensures that the bargaining
power remains with PwC
 • Price Sensitivity and excellent market awareness

Bargaining Power of Buyers - High

• Non-differentiated product
• Multiple sellers, offering homogenous products
• High price sensitivity of consumer and high market awareness
• Backward integration by consumers: The consumer can always choose to invest in
developing this capability in house and remove the need of consultants from the picture.

Brand Equity/Resonance Pyramid

Recommendations

PwC, once a very powerful brand is now seeing a decline in its strength due to the availability of
expert information resources online as well as due to the increased competition in the market. Loss
of talent due to high turnover and poaching as well as the recent spate of PwC’s involvement in
scandals have hit the brand hard.

PwC should consider diversifying and continue to explore newer industries to expand. This includes
investing in developing capability In niche areas such as Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
as well as seek out opportunities in the emerging markets like Latin America, Souteast Asia and
Africa to establish a foothold there.
PwC needs to take measures to retain its talent for longer periods of time as the investment made in
procuring the resources needs to be recovered in the form of expertise that they bring to the table
which translate into revenues.

PwC should take measures to repair their image from having been embroiled in scandals by building
upon its heritage and history of strong performance and leverage that to rebuild the brand.