Important Product Or Service Marketing Strategies Of A Company

Characteristics of Andersen Consulting Company’s brand equity

Discuss about the Important Product Or Service Marketing Strategies of a Company.

Rebranding is one of the most important product or service marketing strategies that a company can rely on. It is one thing that strategists consider to ensure their businesses shine both locally and globally. Products and services need to be marketed through extensive ways because several other products and services may also be available from other competitors. If proper marketing is not done, businesses may end up in a deteriorating mode and even collapse. Of course, many businesses have collapsed due to imminent competition and lack of proper marketing strategies (Pederson, Dudenhoeffer, Hartley, and Permann, 2006). Andersen Consulting Company is not left behind when marketing is concerned. From the case, it can be seen that the company has transited through several steps both in which some of the steps it faces challenges, but bravely enough, they have managed through plains and mountains. Through the years, the company has ensured a consistent improvement both internal and external image changes.

During the late 1990’s, the company has rebranded its image through a series of steps to ensure that it meets the needs of its clients. This period is characterized by the separation of Andersen Company from its founder Arthur Andersen. The company wanted to be free from the obligation of Arthur Andersen. It has been shown in the case that the process included rebranding in the form of changing the name of the company, advertising the new name to old and new customers, improving the internal and external structures, and enhancing the overall image of the company. The brand equity of the company was therefore, characterized by many activities that the management understood were going to improve the status of their company. Taking a closer look at the way the company did a rigorous campaign for its rebranding to take effect, we can understand that many factors played an important role in ensuring that the building the company’s equity is achieved. Throughout the process, the company has enabled an easy navigation through many ways of handling issues within and outside the company. One of the important factors that have influenced the rebranding is to exercise independence and self-control. By separating from Arthur Andersen, the company will have a monopolistic influence on its activities both internally and globally (Yuan, Chen, LePoire, and Rothman, 2008). When the company pools its resources to be independent, there would be a number of things that will not have a direct link to the founder of the company, precisely; the decision-making process will be the work of the top management of the company rather than being left for an individual. Apart from independent decision-making, the company will have given the stakeholders opportunity to take part in the management by giving their opinions to help in decision making as well (Setola, De Porcellinis, and Sforna, 2010).  

Competition from IBM

The rebranding of the company was boosted by heavy investment for marketing and specifically for rebranding and repositioning. The case study reveals that the Andersen Consulting company increased the allocation from 75 million dollars to 100 million dollars. However, the company was prepared for such huge financial project because two years before the exit from Andersen, it had overhauled its visual identity as part of the adequate rebranding of the company (Scottish Executive, 2005). During the process of rebranding and repositioning, the company became one of the best in terms of advertising that time due to the huge amount allocated for rebranding which included conducting a new research and advertising their services. The Andersen Consulting Company has been having a strong reputation for the new launch that includes its stronger command of the large audience. Since it began several years ago, this company has built a very strong relationship with its clients (Business and Administration, 2007). Therefore, even if the management is changed, there would be the very little effect on its market base except, a little rebranding may be needed to inform the clients about its continued service provision and position.

During the rebranding process, the management of Andersen Company was also tasked with the work of finding a new name. When a company is doing a rebranding, it is important to have a different name, which is different from the initial name (Ted, 2013). This will help the company completely delink from the obligations and responsibilities of the individuals or original stakeholders. The company must therefore, search for a different name that will enable it to be completely independent. The Andersen Consulting Company, therefore, had to look for many names that would fit them. The management went ahead to assign teams to come up with names and lastly choose one name for the company after doing a thorough search to ensure that they do not use another name which is currently registered or being used by another company. Interestingly, the employees of the company came up with 550 names to choose from (Nieuwenhuijs, Luiijf and Klaver, 2008). After serious scrutiny, they were able to come up with a name that would fit the company for its customers, employees, and the corporate world.

Now, it is important to mention that the period for the company to change all these things was too short. The management team had to work long hours and within the shortest time possible to make everything a reality. As usual, for a big business enterprise like Andersen Consulting Company to rebrand, there should be enough time to allow all the processes to complete exhaustively (Rinaldi, 2011). Any rush will make some of the necessary undertakings not to be done properly.

After looking at these many company names, the team agreed to use Accenture as the recommended name. The consulting team recommended this name after narrowing the search to ten names. The executive committee picked the name Accenture because it clearly fits the vision and the position of its clients (Government Accountability Office, 2009). Additionally, the name Accenture seems to them to be catchy and distinct from other names of other companies. From the fact that the employees created the name, the executive management believed that the name has all that it takes to build consensus between the employees and the corporate world.

After everyone else had agreed about the new name, it was time to announce it by launching the new name. The Andersen Consulting Company took the initiative to announce the name so that all their customers could be aware of the changes. This took place on December 31, 2000. The company adopted the new name, which followed the creation of the company’s new corporate website that was different from the original website. All these were done to enable the company to wear a new face through rebranding and repositioning. It is important to note that the company conducted two types of launching, for example, the internal launch and the external launch (Government Accountability Office, 2009). The external launch involved the corporate environment and the customers, while the internal launch involved creating awareness to the employees and the stakeholders about the changes that have occurred.

The IBM is one of the main competitors of Accenture Company. Despite the fact that the company opened its doors many years ago, it still faces threat from its competitors. The competitors took advantage when the company was shifting its operations, for example, when the company was rebranding and repositioning (Department of Commerce, 2007). As the case indicates, the process took some good time. During that time, its competitors strategized to overtake them. The IBM also has a wide base of customers derived both internally and globally. Competition is one of the most challenging things especially when the competitors are doing all they can to deliver the best services than any other company around (Brunner and Suter, 2008). The most important ways of achieving the best market demand are through an aggressive market scan that involves serious marketing techniques. The IBM Company has shown that its operations can go beyond the local level to the global level. Therefore, well-structured management units and motivated employees are up to the task (Department for Business Marketing, 2006). The many challenges faced by Andersen Company before it rebranded and the many hours it took to complete the process of rebranding made the other companies grab some of its potential customers. During the late 1990’s, the company has rebranded its image through a series of steps to ensure that it meets the needs of its clients (Barrett, Beckman Channakeshava, Huang, Kumar, Marathe, & Pei, 2010). This period is characterized by the separation of Andersen Company from its founder Arthur Andersen. The company wanted to be free from the obligation of Arthur Andersen. It has been shown in the case that the process included rebranding in the form of changing the name of the company, advertising the new name to old and new customers, improving the internal and external structures, and enhancing the overall image of the company. The brand equity of the company was therefore, characterized by many activities that the management understood were going to improve the status of their company (De Porcellinis, Oliva, Panzieri, and Setola, 2009). Taking a closer look at the way the company did a rigorous campaign for its rebranding to take effect, we can understand that many factors played an important role in ensuring that the building the company’s equity is achieved. Throughout the process, the company has enabled an easy navigation through many ways of handling issues within and outside the company (Theoharidou, Kotzanikolaou, and Gritzalis, 2009). One of the important factors that have influenced the rebranding is to exercise independence and self-control. By separating from Arthur Andersen, the company will have a monopolistic influence on its activities both internally and globally.

Tigerwood became the advisor to the CEO and he could go beyond just giving the advice to be the most important spokesperson for Andersen Consulting Company. Throughout this period, the company needed a very active spokesperson who could articulate the issues affecting the company clearly to the employees, stakeholders, and the public in general (Borysiewicz, 2006). The period consisted of a series of changes, which had to be realized within a short period. We can confidently say that the spokesperson was quite effective in ensuring that the strategies, for instance, the repositioning and rebranding were effectively planned and executed. Tigerwood ensured that the activities that were planned to take place within that short notice were completely comprehended by the targeted people. However, there were many challenges that could make him fail to discharge his responsibilities effectively. Since Andersen Consulting Company is a global company, its operations are more complex. This makes the management and even consultations may need more time to carry out; therefore, anyone charged with the responsibility of spearheading communication may face challenges of having smooth, quicker, and effective communication.

Business rebranding and reimaging is a very important undertaking especially when the business is transiting through certain changes. For any change to be successful, all the stakeholders need to be part of the on-going changes so that an inclusion is maintained. The Andersen Consulting Company aspires to be the leading global company whose existence has been one of the fastest growing. Since it is a global company, it has a pool of employees from all over the world. It is therefore important to have an effective communication method that every stakeholder in the company will appreciate. The message being communicated should reach the audience as fast as possible. It is a common phenomenon that when changes are made in a company, there must be some resistive forces emanating from the stakeholders or employees. The management should therefore devise effective means of ensuring such changes do not bar important changes from taking place.

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