Know Infosys' success secret

BANGALORE: The three aspects of ensuring success for any entrepreneur was innovation, ability to use innovation to create service and products that add value to customers and the ability to communicate the value to customers, Infosys Chairman N R Narayana Murthy said.

"Think of innovation and marketing as two most important instruments for creating a wonderful organisation and tremendous brand equity," Murthy advised entrepreneurs at the launch of a new marketing book, "No Marketing Money" authored by Jessie Paul, a former global brand manager at Infosys.

Using Innovative platform that does not cost too much money could help entrepreneurs to create brand equity, he said sharing his own experience of building Infosys from a little known brand to a globally recognised brand.

He said during a survey conducted in 1992 with prospective employees on the company they would like to join, zero per cent opted for Infosys. This dismal picture drove him to take a vow to change it. "We will be number one in India in five years," he had told his colleagues then.

His confidence was met with some scepticism by colleagues who wondered how a small company with less resources could hope to compete with richer and bigger companies, he recalled.



"We will do new unusual things," he had told his colleagues. "We will do what other companies did not do," he said reminiscing over the transformation of a company to a leading global software firm.

"Think of new ideas and think of platforms that do not cost too much and that will get people to talk about you, magazines to write about you," he said, adding communicating unusual ideas would attract people.

Paul said the book was a guide for companies especially startups to establish themselves and grow rapidly on a relatively limited budget. It provides actionable insights and advice on how to steer as well as manage brands.

Girish Paranjpe, Joint CEO, IT Business and Member of the Board, Wipro, said "Clear Positioning and Innovative marketing are required if more Indian firms are to play a role on the global stage."