Microsoft’s leading man Bill Gates once said during the IT boom, “The Internet is becoming the town square for the global village of tomorrow”. As we spoke to Mr. Sameep Taneja, we found that his views on the internet were quite the same. As with a core IT professional, Mr. Taneja has an eye for excellence in performance as well.
Mr. Taneja began his career in the world of machines after completing his Mechanical Engineering. “After working in the industry for three years, I realised that it was not my cup of tea”. His growing interest in marketing took a turn on the right path when he got a break at eDynamic.net. “I got a very good break into IT from there”, he affirms. For Mr. Taneja, there has been no looking back ever since then.
The experience which he got there was priceless as he got involved in a lot of hands on marketing and managing of global accounts. His current organisation – Accenture, was also one of eDynamic’s clients. “It was not just print media; there was a lot of performance marketing and online marketing”. He feels that as far as performance marketing is concerned, it is a very effective tool for companies who want to be the best in terms of ‘brand value’. “For example, companies like Accenture, McKinsey, and American Express etc. concentrate a lot on brand
building and hence they undertake performance marketing to leverage their brand consciousness”, he explains.
Coming to his role at Accenture, he is totally upbeat about it. I am part of a 100 plus member team which supports all global marketing initiatives by Accenture. The entire set up has four verticals – Database; Web Analytics; Design; Content. Mr. Taneja is heading database and web analytics. And his role is not limited to Indian shores only. “I have recently set up a 25 member internet marketing team in Johannesburg, South Africa”. He is managing that team remotely and visits Johannesburg every quarter or so. The plan is to increase the size of that team to over a hundred in the days to come. Mr. Taneja also tells us about the varied task force at Accenture, “The Indian team over here has people with a range of work experience from 4 to 25 years”. He is also very satisfied with his journey at Accenture so far. He adds, “We are also involved in value addition projects in tandem with other teams as well like recruitment and Accenture alumni base through internet marketing and online news letters etc.” Considering the fact that Accenture hires almost 45000 people annually, recruitment process does require a lot of online accounting.
Mr. Taneja feels that Accenture’s India operations are very different from a lot of other companies. “India is a very important market but people dedicated to Indian business of Accenture are relatively less. In other words, India is one of the major global delivery centres of Accenture”. His views on streamlining an organisation’s market communication are as crisp and clear as Accenture’s tag line – “High Performance Delivered”. He feels that the most important criterion is to be seen as a leading innovator but at the same time adding value to the client’s business is crucial. “It is all about beingon top of innovation and creativity that adds value”. The second aspect he feels is the communication – internal and external. “Internal is about communicating the core values and other business nuances to the employees so they remain empowered with information. And, external is about selling your value addition agenda to your clients”. Mr. Taneja also tells us that delivery is like hygiene and it has to have excellence. He adds, “Market Communications is all about how one adds value to the clients in terms of tangible benefits”.
COMPANIES CONCENTRATE A LOT ON BRAND BUILDING AND HENCE UNDERTAKE PERFORMANCE MARKETING
He clarifies how Accenture has now stepped into a different kind of brand building from the earlier ones featuring Tiger Woods. That reminds us of one of the TVCs where the small fish seem afraid to swim because of the threat from bigger fishes. Then these small fish come together and group up to form a shape of a huge fish, and as a result, swim through the dangers. The tagline suggests, ‘Is your business in shape to compete?
When asked about the future of marketing communications, Mr. Taneja opines that in times to come everything will move towards digital media and would be measurable. He thinks that the next level will be about creating a leading platform in which detailed customer data will reside. “I guess it is much better to have a precise ad targeted at a particular audience rather than bombarding the customers with a plethora of ads, and that I think is the future”. In essence, he is of the opinion that demographic data will get a lot more refined and accurate. Data will get integrated and predictability will get a lot better which will in turn help advertisers in a better way.
Mr. Taneja then talks about why Accenture is regarded as the most favoured employer globally. “Accenture walks the talks, as in, it lives up to its core values and is very sincere towards employees. There is freedom in the work and leaders are always aligned towards developing careers of every employee”.
He also adds how at Accenture, success is linked directly to performance and the whole system works towards making every employee a success. The atmosphere at Accenture albeit is very competitive, but it encourages one to work towards his/her strength.
in terms of appraisals : when you give chalenges , first , you need to kno w ho w to face them
Mr. Taneja also sheds some light about CSR at Accenture and adds that they are actively involved in CSR activities across all verticals. Also, one must remember that Accenture is one of the most eco friendly organisations where in, all communications take place through internet, and there is minimum or no paper work which saves millions and millions of trees month on month.
Mr. Taneja goes on to tell us about his style of leadership stating that he focuses a lot on value addition. “As a leader, I always look for what new has someone brought to the table other than the required objective”. Also he ensures that he aligns people to their strength so that they can fit the role. He also does hand-holding for newly inducted people to provide them with the necessary momentum going forward. “I also give them clear objectives in terms of Performance Appraisal. And I always keep in mind that when you give challenges to others, first, you need to know how to face them”, he affirms very firmly.
Mr. Taneja remembers his IIPM days and he believes that the kind of communication skills that IIPM teaches to its students is fabulous. “I really miss the Gurgaon campus, the sessions, the fun and, it was a delight to listen to Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri’s classes”.
For the young guns of today, Mr. Taneja has some wise words to share, “Innovation is important and hence try to use all the materials like books, websites etc. that are available to enhance the depth of knowledge. Do not wait for inspiration and prepare to deliver creativity on demand under any circumstances”.
Mr. Taneja is married to Mrs. Sonia Taneja who is a homemaker. “She used to be an interior designer but doesn’t practise anymore”, he adds. He has a son- Aditya who is in his Vth grade, and a daughter – Tanvi who is in her Ist grade. Mr. Taneja shares that since they live in a joint family, it provides him with an extra bit of time for work as his wife and children always have company at home.
In closing, Mr. Taneja strongly feels that internet marketing should sooner or later be a part of MBA curriculum as a mainframe subject. And if you watch a promotional video of Microsoft Surface on You Tube, rest assure that you will be awestruck in agreement to the earlier quote of Bill Gates and also the current vision of Mr. Taneja.
Cult wishes Mr. Taneja a hi-tech spiralling rise in the field of internet marketing which in future will be the most solid basis of promotions as well as corporate communications.
