Ooh la la la ole o

Many years ago, in ancient 1994, Intel faced a problem it had not anticipated as a company which made microprocessors. A minor floating point flaw in Pentium could give you a whopping error rate of one in nine billion random FP calculations. The bug was caught by a professor , and systematically exposed by others. As expected Intel chose to downplay it initially. Public outcry followed and internet jokes abounded. IBM recalled Pentium shipments. Intel eventually gave up and offered free replacement to anybody who wanted one. It was an event which made Intel realize the power of its brand ; and the responsibility which comes with it.

It was all down to the "Intel inside" marketing campaign , launched in 1991, which depicted this logo on all PC's with an Intel microprocessor dubbing it "the brain" of computers. Consumers knew they were buying an Intel computer. Intel has since grown manifold , and despite hiccups, remains the most dominant hardware company in the PC world. Contrast this with the cell phones you buy. Do you know who makes the "brains" of cellphones? The power of branding , or lack of it, at work again.

Arguably, there is no Indian IT company which can claim to have a strong global brand. Few people in India ( outside the Bombay Stock Exchange , that is) would have more respect for the Infosys brand than the IBM brand although both may now be competing in the same software services domain. ( Check out the IBM ad on TV. Isn't it snazzy? )I think this is one area where Indian IT companies have failed miserably.

So it gives me great pleasure that the Kingfisher "king" will finally give us an "Indian" Scotch. Raise a toast! Lets hope we get a few Vijay Mallyas and "Ooh la la .. " marketing from Indian IT companies.