How I Constructed The Satyam Model

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A model guru mentioned that it takes years of onerous work to construct a model however only one second of insanity to kill it. The Satyam case is a dwell instance of this adage.

Late July 1996 I bought a name on a Saturday morning from one of many largest head looking corporations within the nation asking me whether or not I wished a change of job. Their Hyderabad supervisor wouldn’t inform me the title of the consumer firm as he was afraid I’d refuse the possibility on the cellphone itself as the corporate was small and comparatively unknown in comparison with the one I used to be working in.

Nevertheless, I did go to fulfill him and I used to be relatively disillusioned when he instructed me the corporate’s title although the corporate was Hyderabad primarily based and I used to be in the identical metropolis, too. He persuaded me to at the very least meet the corporate administration. The identical afternoon I met Ramalinga Raju, Chairman, Satyam Pc Providers. I had no clue what the corporate did as IT was not even in my radar being extra from the engineering and automotive business. In truth, I even had a stray thought that they assembled gray market PCs.

The assembly with Raju lasted greater than an hour and was very nice. He got here throughout as a mild particular person and really well mannered. Very quickly I bought a suggestion of appointment from Satyam. My spouse referred to a couple individuals in Bangalore within the IT area earlier than I accepted it. In fact, the monetary supply was very enticing,too

I joined Satyam as head of company communications on August 16.The subsequent day I bought a name from Financial Occasions asking me for a touch upon a narrative that they have been working a few test bouncing case towards Satyam. This troubled me as I had by no means skilled something like that previously. I simply mumbled that there was no reality in that story.

About ten days later we needed to print some invitation playing cards for inaugurating our spanking new know-how centre. It shocked me when the printer requested me for 100% advance. He was the identical printer who used to present my earlier firm thirty days credit score with out questions. I started to fret whether or not I had made a significant error of judgment in becoming a member of Satyam. I now remembered that a few of my associates in Hyderabad expressed shock once I instructed them that I used to be leaving a number one multi-national firm to affix Satyam.

Anyway, it was too late to do something about it. And in 1996 driving a model new Maruti Suzuki Esteem round Hyderabad was a balm on a harm ego. I put all destructive ideas apart and determined I’d carve a constructive position for myself and do what was proper for the corporate.

The Firm Negatives:

1) No one knew who ran the corporate, together with buyers. This was stunning as Raju was within the workplace commonly from 9am to 9pm.

2) The general public and buyers nonetheless related the title Satyam with building and textile spinning and never IT.

3) The promoters, primarily based on the flavour of the season had entered every kind of companies previously and failed, together with such numerous fields as aquaculture and shoe uppers.

4) Satyam was nonetheless perceived as a small Hyderabad primarily based firm.

5) Within the Dataquest rating of Indian IT corporations, Satyam stood a lowly 13.

6) Publications have been reluctant to interview Raju as he was not likely forthcoming with feedback or together with his plans for the corporate. Additional, his talking type at the moment was not very fluent. The face of the corporate at the moment was the top of gross sales & advertising and marketing.

7) Folks perceived Satyam extra as a physique procuring firm than a severe IT participant (this was truly an unfair cost as at the moment most Indian IT corporations have been truly simply that).

The Firm Positives:

1. The corporate made earnings

2. The consumer record was fairly spectacular

3. Working atmosphere was pleasant

4. The urge to develop was there

5. Raju gave a number of freedom to the senior employees (although this itself created fiefdoms)

My Negatives:

1. In my profession until then I had by no means dealt with the editorial or information media. I used to be at all times in to promoting, advertising and marketing and gross sales promotion.

2. PR was one thing completely new to me. In a manner I had joined Satyam below false pretences, as a result of when Raju requested me at my interview whether or not I knew anybody within the media the one title I may inform him was that of an excellent good friend who dealt with the promoting operate for the most important media group in AP.

3. After I joined Satyam I had by no means despatched an e-mail in my life nor knew something about one thing known as the web. IT was an alien topic to me. I used to be principally a Mechanical Engineer.

The Starting

I discovered that the Bangalore primarily based promoting and PR company dealing with the Satyam account was not likely contributing a lot although they charged a excessive payment. We sacked them and thru knowledgeable choice course of appointed one of many prime promoting businesses within the nation to deal with our paid communication enterprise. The primary collaboration effort was to deliver out the company id guide, known as the Satyam Covenant.This was to guarantee that all company branding effort the world over could be cohesive.

Figuring out that an promoting company is usually not clued in to public relations, I made a decision to deal with the media myself as a substitute of incurring additional expenditure in hiring a PR company. My first effort was a catastrophe. I ready a press launch for our annual end result with out a headline. The subsequent day every publication interpreted the ends in its personal manner. It was relatively embarrassing seeing a few of the headlines early the subsequent morning.

It was time to begin incomes my wage. I wrote out a fairly respectable model technique plan. On prime of the record was one thing I titled “Model constructing the CEO”. I made a slide presentation to Raju defining numerous model positioning attributes for his picture constructing.

1. Entrepreneur

2. Innovator

3. Technocrat

4. Chief

We debated all of the positioning factors and I defined to him why each was not proper for him. His earlier enterprises have been not likely profitable so the primary one was out. As he was not technically certified, the second and third factors could be tough to push by means of. The fourth one too would have been a far cry from actuality. Fortunately, Raju was not an egoist so he accepted my position as a Satan’s advocate with some quantity of amusement.

Lastly, I confirmed him the essential slide. By means of the months of interplay with Raju one thought that hit me was that he not often bought in to the main points of the working of an enterprise. All his statements have been a bit philosophical and holistic. He additionally tended to go off on a tangent typically. To present him a branding that he could be snug donning I really useful that he be positioned as a Visionary.

“Raju is a visionary who has a world view of the business and the place Satyam would head sooner or later. To make his imaginative and prescient a actuality he hires the suitable individuals and empowers them to search out methods to take the enterprise ahead.”

Raju instantly accepted this speculation. Subsequently, in all inside and exterior communication, I’d create statements on his behalf that will match the brand new model positioning. For any media interviews he would communicate holistically and one of many different senior managers would get in to the detailing.

I travelled to all of the places of work after that to fulfill the Enterprise Heads and get ‘masala’ from them for any newsworthy story that may very well be highlighted within the media. I visited numerous media places of work throughout the metros and bought to know the enterprise correspondents. I discovered all of them fairly skilled and educated concerning the dawn business. Lots of them nonetheless stay my private associates after so a few years.

Each Monday I’d launch a narrative to the media highlighting some side of our enterprise. The third paragraph of all of them would have a quote from Raju. I took a giant threat with my job as I wrote and launched these statements with out getting his prior approval. Nevertheless, I knew his thought course of properly and likewise the sort of phrases he used commonly so there was nothing controversial about any assertion.

In truth as soon as Raju and I have been touring collectively in his automobile to a operate when a senior correspondent of a weekly information journal rang me and requested me which enterprise chief was Raju’s position mannequin. I coated the mouth piece of my cellphone and requested Raju. He mentioned Jack Welch. He was a bit stunned when in entrance of him I gave an in depth assertion on why he admired Jack Welch of GE. The journal quoted Raju verbatim within the subsequent subject.

The turning level got here when in late 1997 or early 1998 BusinessWorld journal known as me and wished to interview Raju for a narrative on IT in India. The unique idea was to have Narayanmurthy of Infosys, Premji of Wipro, Nadar of HCL and Raju on the duvet. I picked up the correspondent and photographer of BusinessWorld from Hyderabad airport and was driving them to the Satyam Know-how Middle, a few 45 minutes drive. The photographer requested me whether or not there was one thing fascinating about Raju which he may shoot. I instructed him that Raju was comparatively an understated particular person however lately he had obtained a Mercedes- Benz automobile as a birthday reward from the household. However I used to be undecided whether or not he would conform to pose with it.

After the interview the photographer requested Raju whether or not he may {photograph} him together with the automobile. Surprisingly, Raju agreed. The subsequent subject of BusinessWorld had solely Raju on the duvet with a laptop computer on the bonnet of his Benz.

Raju and Satyam had arrived!

The Progress Years

By the second half of 1997, Satyam’s media protection had elevated manifold. We made loads of press releases and media would additionally name us for a quote for together with in any IT associated article.

Communications professionals are likely to work out elaborate methods on easy methods to deal with press releases. They often work out a twelve-month calendar of releases and attempt to area of tales on the price of 1 launch a month. For instance, October will see the discharge of an article on High quality. December, on HR practices. And so forth. At first, to work on a schedule like that. The reason given to me was that the media will get tired of receiving too many tales from the identical firm. All garbage.

Newspapers launch day by day. Magazines – weekly, fortnightly or month-to-month. Their very existence relies on information protection. I made a decision that no matter I assumed was worthy of a press launch I’d go forward and ship it off. In spite of everything, if publications don’t see it match then they would not publish it any manner. Even when sixty-five p.c of my releases noticed the sunshine of day it might greater than suffice.

On the threat of wounding a few of my media associates, I ranked the publications the place I wished to see Satyam featured commonly: Financial Occasions, Enterprise Normal, Enterprise Line, Occasions of India, Hindustan Occasions and The Hindu. Owing to native sentiments, the Hyderabad publications have been an important cog in our media exercise. Information coated by all different publications was a bonus.

We made releases on virtually any exercise of the corporate. New consumer wins, workplace inaugurations, know-how innovation, senior administration recruits, visits by VIPs. Tales and photos of the animals in our menagerie in our know-how heart.In truth; we made a track and dance concerning the enhance within the deer inhabitants at our heart. Implying that they have been properly fed and comfortable. All good human curiosity tales that added to our model picture.

Then, in fact have been the information releases concerning the awards. The 1999 E&Y award which was in fact a prestigious one. The opposite one was the World Financial Discussion board award (the most important humbug of all of them, for my part!). However all worthy information tales that needed to be exploited. What did all this value my firm. Zilch. You deal with journalists with respect and honesty; they are going to belief you, too. Unhealthy eggs may very well be ignored.

However all this didn’t imply that every one press protection was constructive. There have been two events when explanations needed to be given.

1. When a subsidiary, Satyam Enterprise Options merged with the dad or mum firm the share swap ratio of 1:1 got here in to a number of criticism and there have been rumors of some underhand deal. The media was after me for a clarification, which clearly was past my scope to answer and I needed to focus on the topic with Raju and the CFO. Sadly,the administration determined to trip out the storm.

Surprisingly sufficient, at a later stage after the Y2K enterprise thinned out, it was the competencies constructed up by Satyam Enterprise Options that really took the corporate ahead, together with the cash spinning SAP enterprise.

2. Once we began to make use of the net extensively one benchmark we had set was on how shortly the outcomes may very well be posted on our web site. The finance division would give us dummy figures which my division’s desktop publishing operator would put in a template and add it on a take a look at website. As soon as the official end result was cleared by the Board, the official figures could be given to the operator for importing on the corporate web site. By a comedy of errors that individual 12 months somebody within the finance division gave the official figures which the operator by mistake uploaded on the dwell website. He instantly realized his mistake and blocked that web page. However the injury was achieved. A number of the wire companies have been monitoring the positioning and instantly known as me. I used to be clueless at first however bought the total story later.

This grew to become a giant media story with every kind of motives attributed to the administration. It took months to beat the destructive affect. In truth when Raju and I had gone to Singapore and Sydney a few of the TV information channels there would ask him a query about that controversy throughout dwell interviews. He used to get upset and later ask me why I couldn’t cease the interviewer from asking such questions. Sadly, he didn’t notice that skilled journalists don’t at all times ask what you need them to ask.

Other than editorial releases when it got here to paid promoting, I felt that the time was not proper for any common media company marketing campaign. Nevertheless, we put extra creativity in our recruitment advertisements and used them for company brand-building, too.

Inside Communication

Aspect by facet with exterior communications it was crucial that the corporate paid consideration to inside communication throughout the development years.

The aim:

1. Make sure that all staff are stored knowledgeable concerning the actions of the corporate.

2. Reassure the present staff that they haven’t taken a nasty choice by becoming a member of the unsuitable group

3. Use the present staff to encourage their associates and family members to affix Satyam.

Someday in early 1997, I used to be strolling alongside the aisle close to the CFO’s cabin. On his secretary’s desk I noticed a replica of the Memorandum of Affiliation that confirmed that Satyam started operations on June 24, 1987. One thing about that date stored whirring in my head over the subsequent a number of days. Whereas driving to work one morning it hit me that we have been within the tenth 12 months of our existence. I mentioned it with a number of colleagues. Thus was born an intensive inside communications program below the banner of “A Decade of Excellence”.

We printed posters and stickers. The foremost actions have been the inter-office competitions like Quiz and Dumb Charade, culminating in a gala leisure program in Hyderabad. At the moment the corporate power was nonetheless solely round 5000.

One exercise left me embarrassed. We made T-shirts for the winners of competitions. In my eagerness to get issues made on the lowest value I positioned an order with an unknown entity. Telephone calls and emails have been a lot after that – one wash and the T-shirts had shrunk to an embarrassingly brief size.

By 1998, I had an excellent crew working with me. I made it a degree to recruit younger enterprise graduates with a western orientation as I used to be clear that the longer term could be in constructing a model for abroad markets. Fortunately, IT is a people-centric business and so nobody questioned me on why I wanted extra employees for a assist division like company communications. I added copy writers and graphic artists, too.

By now, it was clear that web-related communication was the best way ahead. An web company website was a given. Raju instructed me that it was crucial that as a world group info dissemination throughout places of work was very crucial. Each worker of Satyam, wherever on the planet she or he was situated ought to have entry to the identical info in realtime as in comparison with somebody in Hyderabad.

A few departments have been engaged on a company Intranet at the moment. I managed to hijack it from them and assigned a crew in my division to deal with it. We branded it SatyamWorld and made it the worldwide inside communication platform for the corporate. SatyamWorld later gained the distinguished CIO journal award for being one of many prime intranet websites on the planet.

I instructed my crew members to suppose out of the field and that they need to give you a brand new concept day by day, nonetheless loopy it could sound. Most occasions, all my concepts would come out early within the morning or whereas driving to work. In some way, I at all times felt that techies have been a humorless lot and in Satyam individuals could be a bit too severe. Someday whereas having breakfast I instantly considered having a Smile Day. I briefed my crew about my concept. Inside a day they got here out with a marketing campaign. Per week later, each worker coming into any of the campuses was given a small packet that contained gadgets with a smile brand to be used on their desktops, together with a small thingee that may very well be positioned in your thumb and be wagged at colleagues. We made a press launch and The Hindu carried a giant field merchandise on the exercise and the way it helped employees morale.

After that was the “Energy of One” marketing campaign and the way we found a younger music director duo that composed our anthem and at this time are names reckoned with in Bollywood.

However that is one other story…

Going World

Due to the early exploitation of the Y2K enterprise alternative, Satyam grew quicker than a lot of its friends. This straight led to the expansion in individuals numbers, that too throughout geographies. The mandate to my division was to guarantee that Satyamites the world over felt one with the group.

My crew had a technique session with our advert company, R Ok Swamy /BBDO. They quickly got here out with a marketing campaign proposal that I offered to our senior administration crew at a technique convention. The theme of the marketing campaign was “The Energy of One” with a tagline: One World. One Workforce. One Purpose. I carried out the idea throughout numerous goodies that may very well be utilized by the staff at residence and within the workplace.I designed a big pouch to carry the gadgets. The masterpiece was a music cassette that contained fashionable Hindi and English songs. Interspersed after each 4 songs was the Satyam Anthem. My division distributed the goody bag the world over to each worker.

I had requested the company to work out an anthem for the corporate. The transient was that the track ought to sound younger, vibrant and modern. A couple of weeks later the company requested me to return to Mumbai to approve the tune. I met two brothers who have been of their early twenties and had composed the track. I had by no means heard of them. However every of the three tunes they offered was excellent. The company and I lastly chosen one of many tunes, a duet with a female and male singer offering the vocals. An instrumental model was additionally produced that will be used as the decision maintain music on all Satyam’s phone switchboard.

As we speak, the duo are extraordinarily well-known in Bollywood having supplied background scores to numerous hits and likewise being the music administrators to such movies as Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, Chak de India, Krrish and Trend. Their title: Salim and Sulaiman.

Based mostly on this marketing campaign I obtained invites to a number of promoting and advertising and marketing conferences to talk on the effectiveness of inside communication packages. In truth, when the marketing campaign broke Raju instructed me that he by no means anticipated that there have been so many issues potential in communications.

World Problem

It was all properly to really feel comfortable concerning the information protection in India, however the true problem was in model constructing abroad, particularly the US,which was our greatest market. Paid media over there was very costly.

Round this time I found the advantages of reports dissemination by means of international wire companies. I commonly stored in contact with senior individuals in Reuters, Bloomberg and Dow Jones Newswires. The problem was that these organizations rent hard-nosed professionals who weren’t curious about irrelevant speak. Plus, they wished to be the primary with the information, counted in seconds! I tailored press releases particularly catering to a world viewers. Our visibility elevated significantly after that in worldwide media. We additionally distributed our information releases by means of PRNewswire within the USA.

However international visibility additionally occurs by means of sudden quarters. Mid 1999, the top of our subsidiary, Satyam Infoway requested me to deal with the PR for his or her ADS itemizing on NASDAQ. This gave me a significant alternative to work at a world stage and likewise to cope with the large weapons within the monetary sector-Merrill Lynch, Citibank, Deutsche Financial institution, and KPMG and, in fact, the highest administration at NASDAQ.

We did all the pieces in type. All of us stayed on the Trump lodge close to Central Park and on October 18, 1999 we have been in a fleet of black Lincoln limos heading in direction of NASDAQ. The evening earlier than, I tweaked the model positioning a bit. As a substitute of the information showing that we have been the second Indian firm after Infosys being listed on NASDAQ, I modified it to the FIRST Indian web firm itemizing on that bourse. The ceremony itself was comparatively business-like. The image SIFY went energetic at a premium on itemizing. After that we had a dwell press convention from there with journalists ready in India. I then accompanied the CEO of Satyam Infoway for dwell interviews at CNBC and CNN studios.

A fall out of this was a bit of name cannibalization. Even on the dad or mum firm press interviews a number of query would ask about Sify, notably because it was now a world entity. This was notably galling as all complaints about Sify’s web service had a destructive affect on the dad or mum firm’s model picture.

The subsequent main media occasion was additionally linked with Sify. On November 28, 1999 the CEO of Satyam Infoway requested me to return to Mumbai to deal with an vital announcement. He wouldn’t give me the main points over the cellphone. The subsequent morning I went straight from the Mumbai airport to the workplace of DSP Merrill Lynch. There the funding financial institution gave a quick concerning the Indiaworld deal. Merrill had alerted the media a few press meet that night with out revealing the topic. I quickly began getting calls from reporters eager to know the main points. I couldn’t reveal something to them although I felt a bit responsible not being straight ahead with a few of the reporters who had turn out to be good private associates by then.

It was an amazing feeling going by means of the method of an acquisition throughout that day. E&Y had achieved the valuation and have been explaining the main points.DSP Merrill Lynch was figuring out all of the finer factors of the M&A.I’m not too certain what number of communications professionals have gone by means of this type of expertise. The press convention was scheduled for six.00 pm on the Oberoi Resort. I went to the venue early. The convention corridor was bursting on the seams with the media.

The continuing was getting delayed for a quite simple procedural bottleneck. The copies of the contract needed to be signed by all events involved and since the paperwork have been voluminous the deal was taking time. The house owners of Indiaworld have been getting emotional as they felt they have been making a gift of their child for adoption. Lastly, the press meet began about an hour late. Boy, did it create a sensation. $115 million for a number of net portals! The subsequent morning on the Mumbai airport I purchased copies of all of the dailies and reveled in seeing the massive banner headlines concerning the deal.

By now my division was on auto pilot. I had an amazing crew that knew precisely what wanted to be achieved. In truth, I discovered they labored extra effectively once I was away on tour.

Our entrance finish gross sales crew normally took our assist for any consumer pitches. After the Y2K growth was over, we had to take a look at extra worth added enterprise and the challenges in pitching for enterprise. My crew developed a novel type of consumer presentation. We determined that each consumer pitch could be tailored to the consumer. We pitched for a medical insurance consumer from Kansas Metropolis, Missouri. My crew studied all the pieces required concerning the metropolis and the state. When the consumer walked in to the convention room we welcomed him with Rely Basie’s jazz music; the partitions had posters that includes vacationer spots in Kansas Metropolis; the flower vase had a Blue Iris protruding; and, most apparently there have been posters of well-known gamers from Kansas Metropolis Chiefs soccer crew.

We did an identical association for a consumer in Dallas, the place we performed “Yellow Rose of Texas” as he walked in. Our hit price with consumer acquisition went up after that.I’m not saying it was due to company communications alone, however as a result of the consumer felt that we have been an organization that will stroll that additional mile for them.

My crew began pondering extra inventive concepts for shows. I had some superb graphic artists who have been consultants in Macromedia Flash. We truly began creating motion pictures for consumer shows. We might shoot some inventory photographs in sections highlighting company info, high quality requirements, HR initiatives, Infrastructure. Relying on the consumer’s business we had a section on how Satyam and so they “have been made for one another”. If the consumer was in Manufacturing we might get considered one of our enterprise unit guys to speak about Satyam’s competency in Manufacturing and match it in to the film at an acceptable place. And so forth for Banking and Monetary Providers, Insurance coverage, Telecom and so forth.

These varieties of flicks value so much within the US so when the shoppers noticed our stuff they thought we had put in a number of effort only for their pitch. At a Bear Stearns presentation in New York, one of many consumer’s senior officers jocularly commented that they knew whom to return to in the event that they wanted a film produced!

One of many risks of going international and incomes in {dollars} however pondering in rupees is within the expenditure incurred on publicity materials. Within the early days our advertising and marketing workplace within the US would suggest shopping for some ball pens for distribution at a commerce present. They instructed us that it might ‘simply’ value a greenback a chunk. Sitting in Hyderabad we might convert it in to rupees and exclaim, “What, Rs 40 for an bizarre ball pen! Overlook it, we are going to ship it from India the place it prices solely Rs 3”. Sadly, our ball pens have been no match to the Chinese language ones obtainable there in a pleasant packing and qualitatively superior to ours. It was the identical factor with T-shirts, stickers, leaflets and exhibition panels. Quickly, higher sense prevailed and we purchased materials within the native markets abroad.

The subsequent main occasion that catapulted us to the large league was Satyam’s ADR itemizing on the New York Inventory Trade. Process sensible this was extra elaborate than what we had achieved for Sify’s NASDAQ itemizing. Our finance division requested me to think about an acceptable image for the ticker. Of the cuff I prompt SAY and likewise coined the slogan “Say Satyam” as a part of the model promotion. This was authorised by everybody involved.

The morning of Might 15, 2001 began with a ceremonial breakfast within the NYSE eating corridor. Following this was a gaggle {photograph} of the senior administration and the bell ringing and cap throwing ceremony. As a result of one other firm was itemizing on the similar time we have been in a special room. The inventory listed properly at $11.16. We had organized for enterprise correspondents in Mumbai to assemble at a lodge convention room. Quickly after the itemizing we had a dwell video convention with Raju addressing the media. After that we did the rounds of TV studios in New York for dwell interviews. After this itemizing one journalist instructed me that I held a novel world report of being the one communications particular person to have dealt with public points for 2 group corporations in each NYSE and NASDAQ

By early 2002 I had turn out to be uninterested in my position in company communications and moved on to a different position.

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Source by Samaga Narayan