Genpact is a business process services provider which architects the Lean Digital℠ enterprise based on its patented Smart Enterprise Processes (SEP℠) framework, which reimagines clients’ middle and back offices to generate growth, cost efficiency and business agility.
Gianni Giacomelli is Chief Marketing Officer of Genpact. Here he speaks to B2B International’s Conor Wilcock about Genpact and the importance of using market research to maintain a differentiated position and offering.
WILCOCK: What do you consider to be your point of differentiation in this fiercely competitive market?
GIACOMELLI: I think our differentiation is twofold. First of all, for core business process management, we have the most experience in the market; to some extent we created the market when the business was started (as a spin-off from GE). With our experience comes the ability to develop frameworks and ideas, which place us at the front of the market. And secondly, we push the boundaries of what we do. We don’t see ourselves as a traditional BPM company anymore; rather, we are a company that helps enterprises become ‘lean-digital’. This means they are able to utilize multiple digital technologies to create ‘intelligent operations’. This is an extension of what we normally do and means we are serving our customers holistically.
WILCOCK: How has the BPM market changed over the past 5 years?
GIACOMELLI: The market has matured a lot. The basics are holding true – there are many clients who still want to have ‘Generation One’ outsourcing. This is traditional outsourcing, such as the ability to take parts of the work outside of the business, without fully realizing the advantages of global work delivery, process optimization (through Lean or Six Sigma) or technology. Increasingly however, clients are expecting more sophisticated transformations. The ‘early adopters’ are now in phase two or three of their outsourcing journey, and the ‘late majority’ who are now entering the market, are entering a very mature market.
WILCOCK: How do the needs of these ‘early adopters’ now differ from clients with a more traditional expectation from BPM?
GIACOMELLI: ‘Generation Two’ clients think about their outsourcing more holistically. They evaluate how they define their operations at an overall level and about what should be outsourced and what should be kept in-house. These companies also use automation and analytics in a much stronger way.
WILCOCK: What impact has this had on your marketing initiatives?
GIACOMELLI: We are a lot less sales-focused than any of our competitors. We interpret marketing as helping our clients understand what the ‘art of the possible’ is. This has created the need for a significant thought leadership machine that we didn’t have before. We were much more product-oriented and we have now found the way to differentiate is to show people that we can think ahead while still being credible on the basics.
WILCOCK: How do you see the market changing over the next 5 years?
GIACOMELLI: Companies will think more holistically and will go even deeper into BPM. They will reimagine what it means to run middle and back office operations with a clear objective of creating customer and client impact – rather than just being cheaper and more scalable. We will get to a point where we can connect the dots between the customer journey and the middle and back office, to create targeted offerings and be more agile.
WILCOCK: How important is market research to Genpact?
GIACOMELLI: Market research is very much at the core of the company. An important breakthrough was creating the Genpact Research Institute, which fulfilled the mission of understanding the dynamics of markets while ensuring that the sales function was not the only repository of market knowledge. It is no surprise that as the CMO, I am involved in the marketing side of the story, as well as chairing the Research Institute. We try to give the market a voice, and try to help the market understand what is possible.
WILCOCK: B2B International has worked alongside Genpact to execute an annual brand awareness and perceptions tracker. What about the research design or process do you think has made the study a success?
GIACOMELLI: What B2B International has done has been very helpful. You have helped to consolidate and scale-up multiple research initiatives, while also ensuring high levels of quality control. We have come to know what to expect from B2B International; things are consistently done right the first time for all of the analysis and research. We consider you a trusted pair of hands. You have also brought some interesting innovations on how we look at data; from the advanced analytics you use, to the different ways to slice and dice the data. Examples include the correspondence analysis you perform and the creative ways in which you explore brand attributes.
WILCOCK: What advice would you give to other companies considering market research for benchmarking and tracking their brand position?
GIACOMELLI: In this age, your ability to be a trusted advisor and thought leader in the market hinges on how credible you are. Research to track your brand image allows you to understand how credible you can be. It gives you an understanding of how effective your thought leadership is going to be, or if you need to establish your credibility and reputation before you say anything. That has profound implications on how you communicate with the market. And I think it’s a very good way to enhance the ROI of your thought leadership by choosing the right approach and the right communication, which wouldn’t be possible without the research.