As the Bangalore centre takes on more analytics work, it is leaning on a network of partners to build greater value addition. For instance, a statistical modelling exercise termed market basket analysis, which analysed the kind of accessories customers opt for while purchasing Lenovo products online, was driven by the analytics team at business process outsourcing firm WNS Holdings Ltd in Bangalore. “With the statistical modelling method, we can show the affinity of each product with specific accessories, thereby driving revenue associated with particular products,” says Sanjit Bhowmik, vice-president, sales, WNS, North America.
The WNS analytics team that works on the Lenovo account is located in Bangalore; so is the O&M team, which works on the same floor of the office that houses the Lenovo Hub. “Co-locating a client and the team makes the process a lot simpler,” says Bhowmik, adding that there has been a growing acceptance for this concept of centralizing functions at a single location since the start of the outsourcing boom.
“As the concept of the Hub gains wider acceptance within the Lenovo organization and more funding moves to projects there, we expect an increased flow of business,” says Bhowmik. He expects more companies in the consumer goods, retail and technology sectors to adopt such a model as the need for cost-efficiency becomes greater.
And as technology companies look to sell directly to consumers on an online platform, the need for digital marketing and analytics to support it will become the focus of operations at the Hub. So far, print and television advertisements have formed the bulk of the output. “Going forward, the Hub will lead in improving the role of interactive and digital marketing, driving Lenovo’s e-commerce globally,” says Agarwal.
Globally, Lenovo divides its marketing effort into two—one for mature markets, where online sales account for roughly half of the revenue, and emerging markets such as India, where the share of online sales is lower. “But even in India, this share is growing. Three years ago, the share of online marketing was 5%, which has now grown to 15–20%,” says Agarwal, who expects to build a robust network of digital marketing partners to enhance the Hub’s offering in this segment.
Among the digital marketing initiatives that have emerged since the Hub took on online campaigns in August is the campaign to change promotional banners online instantly, a feature that was developed in partnership with the US-based Tumri Inc., an online digital marketing services provider. “We have also used technology such as Boomerang that helps capture user details and allows a banner to follow a user across different online sites,” says Agarwal.
Bridging cultures
It is in integrating cultural nuances that the Hub has faced its biggest challenge.
“When we first began, we faced opposition from pretty much all markets,” says Agarwal, who says there have been different tipping points for different countries. He says the final tipping point for the Hub was China—as the largest and oldest market for Lenovo, it was initially not part of the Hub’s scope of operations because of its unique consumer and market profile. But marketing communication for China is now handled out of the Bangalore centre.