Today, while watching TV, I saw a commercial from Accenture - The advertisement showed Tiger Woods, a golf legend playing golf. The key message in the advertisement was "Go on Be a Tiger". Accenture was advertising in the local TV to recruit people in India. This advertisement set my thought process in motion - and I decided to write about the rationale behind this golf based advertisement in India - which is a non-golfing country.
History
In 2000, Anderson Consulting was forced to change its name to Accenture after an arbitrator’s decision. This implied rebranding the company. Marketing department then took on this challenge by developing an integrated communication program which was launched in January 2001. The brand ‘Accenture’ - which is an amalgamation of "Accent to the Future" was advertised in 48 countries on Television, Print, Radio, Airports, Taxis, billboards, Posters etc. By March 2001, the company had placed 6000 advertisements in Television.
The advertising campaign to build a brand awareness was unprecedented in the IT services industry. Company had executed a global advertising campaign. In London, Taxis were coated with Accenture signage. In Milan the company placed large prominent ads in Oberdan Square, In San Francisco the company placed advertisement all over the airport. In Australia, the company placed a "cover wrap" on the magazine Business Review Weekly". In Sydney Accenture placed advertisements on park benches and bus stands. All these were done simultaneously over a period of three months.
Global Advertising Campaign
Company had several objectives: To build a new brand name, To get brand recognition world wide from the people who mattered and to portray a very positive image of the company.
Accenture wants to associate itself with strong performance - for that reason it chose Tiger Woods playing golf. Golf as a game has been associated with the top management in the corporate world - and being a rich man’s game, Golf personifies power, execution and planning:
All the characteristics associated with the senior management. People who play golf know the ability of Tiger Woods and Tiger Woods is always associated with high performance. Therefore Accenture is capitalizing on that association. In addition the message in the advertisment are worded such that it reflects a business philosophy. For example "To Accomplish more, sometimes you need to see less", "High performers create their own opportunities", "There comes a time when execution is more important than theory" etc,. Thus sending the message of expect high performance from Accenture.
Secondly, the advertisement itself is targeted at powerful people in the corporate world - the top managers. Since most of the top managers play golf, the advertisement will capture their attention and thus Accenture will get their mind share. This is a classic example of targeted advertisement - Senior management will see & remember the advertisement while teenagers, housewives, etc., will ignore and forget it.
Having a single advertising plan for all the countries has several advantages - It is cheaper, a single unified message is communicated and the efforts can be centrally coordinated. The company also runs a risk of alienating some customers who do not play or understand golf, but that's a calculated risk - since most (>80%) business executives play golf.
The logic behind using Tiger Woods and Golf is well explained in their web site:
"It takes a strong message to be relevant in all media. But that’s what Accenture has achieved in a campaign that builds dramatically on our previous insights into the nature of high performance. Whereas the original campaign touched on what it takes to be a high performer, these ads demonstrate specific characteristics of high performance. And once again, the campaign utilizes the modern day personification of high performance: Tiger Woods.
Tiger Woods' talent, insight and work ethic lend themselves perfectly to Accenture’s capabilities that lead to success through high performance. And they illustrate how Accenture can offer clients advantages that lead to this caliber of high performance. Which means we can, once again, proudly invite our viewers to "Go on. Be a Tiger."
Closing Thoughts
Global marketing communications is here to stay. It is a great way to send a consistent marketing message all across the globe. It takes careful planning and a thorough execution to pull it off successfully. Global brand building through advertising is a different matter - firstly the company and its marketing head should be able to think and act globally, secondly the brand message must be well matched with the company's offering - in this case high performance IT consulting. Thirdly, it takes serious commitment and budgets to build a strong brand. Accenture has been using Tiger Woods advertisements for last 5 years - this shows the consistency and serious commitment.
Accenture's example is for everyone to learn from, especially for those in IT/Consulting services marketing. Accenture has pulled off a perfect execution of Globally Integrated Marketing.
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