Case Study: The India Way
Influencing the Influencers
BACKGROUND
The campaign focused on launching a management book written by four professors
from the Wharton School and published by the Harvard Business Press (HBP) to the
business community in the U.S. and India. Through aggressive media outreach, wellplanned events, and thought leadership initiatives, we raised significant visibility for The India Way.
The market for management books is typically limited to a specific audience, but in three months,
book sales reached 4,400 – nearly half the annual benchmark for “a strong book sales campaign,”
according to HBP.
NEED/OPPORTUNITY
The Facts: With an expected economic growth of eight to ten percent, India continues to rise as a
global power. India’s industrial output grew by 17.6 percent in April 2010 alone and received
foreign direct investment (FDI) worth $25.89 billion from April 2009 to March 2010. Indian based
companies such as Infosys Technologies have seen tremendous growth over the last decade. For
example, annual revenue for Infosys increased from $545 million in 2002 to $4.6 billion in 2009,
making the IT services powerhouse a major competitor to IBM and Accenture. Why? Why has
Indian business succeeded, especially when advanced economies are currently failing?
The Idea: Looking at these numbers, Wharton professors Peter Cappelli, Harbir Singh, Jitendra
Singh, and Michael Useem expected to see India’s business success as a result of adopting American
business practices and management – along the lines of Steve Jobs and Jack Welch. However, after
interviewing more than 100 executives from 150 of India’s largest companies, the professors
discovered the contrary. Instead of following the U.S. management approach, Indian firms had
developed an innovative and distinctly Indian form of doing business – The India Way.
The India Way is a set of business management principles gathered from interviews and case
studies conducted by the professors. The book outlines and explains each of the four core principles
discovered: holistic engagement with the employee, improvisation and adaptability (jugaad),
creative value propositions, and broad mission and purpose.
The Opportunity: Indian politics, business and culture are well-covered by the media, academics,
and other influencers. The India Way, however, was unique in its conceptualization and findings.
We had to create a voice for the book, raising awareness among a highly-focused audience group
and positioning the authors as thought leaders on U.S.-Indian business.
INTENDED AUDIENCE
We aimed to position the book and the authors as a source for issues related to Indian management.
The India Way was a “descriptive” book not a prescriptive one, seeking to examine the leadership
and management style of India-based companies. Members and influencers of the business
community, particularly in the West, could then assess their own way of doing business and extract
relevant lessons. With this in mind, we targeted the following groups:
Case Study: The India Way





Business executives in the U.S., UK, and India corridor: They currently lead and
shape the flow of business from multinational companies, and as a result, became the
most direct target audience for the campaign.
Business school students: MBA students are the leaders of tomorrow and can learn
from lessons of today.
Business associations: Executives across markets join business associations to
network, collaborate and discuss the way trends impact their companies. This audience
group influences and reaches the key executive constituency.
Industry Associations – Human Resources, Financial Services, Manufacturing, and
Government associations significantly influence particular segments or practices of the
business community. Furthermore, targeting industry associations worked toward our
goal of achieving thought leadership for the authors.
Media – By targeting the business and top-tier media in the U.S. and India, as well as the
UK, we could influence the influencers.
Because we focused our outreach on the business community and decision-makers of global
companies, we crafted the media and event strategy around business centers of the target regions:
New York and the Tri-State area of the U.S; London in the UK; and the major metro cities of India –
New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore.
GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
1. Successfully launch and create awareness for The India Way: Position authors with the
top-tier and financial media in the U.S. and India and secure positive coverage – either
through a book review, byline or commentary on a relevant issue. The UK was also included
in the campaign.
2. Position the authors as the authority on Indian business management and strategy:
Leverage local events, authors’ personal events and significant industry/business/academic
forums to influence the influencers.
3. Position The India Way as synonymous with the Indian style of management and
leadership: Search engine optimization and Google analytics were the measuring tools.
Prior to the campaign, running a search on “India Way” resulted in a restaurant name and a
Netherlands based company. Improved search results for terms relevant to the book would
demonstrate our progress in achieving this particular goal.
4. Drive book sales growth: We aided efforts to market the book and aimed to become a
Harvard Business Press best-seller (10,000 books sold annually).
SOLUTION OVERVIEW
We built the campaign from the ground-up, putting the foundational components in place for the
launch. These first initiatives included creating the website, refining messaging, drafting a press
release, compiling a press kit, and outlining the media and event strategy. The strategy included:




Building visibility for the book in influential media outlets throughout the U.S., UK and India.
Creating customized events to draw audiences with a keen interest in the U.S.-UK-India
business corridor
Using existing events to showcase the book and continue to build awareness
Placing books in the hands of influential business leaders and market mavens
Case Study: The India Way


Building a comprehensive social media platform to engage audiences across the globe
Using search engine optimization and marketing to introduce The India Way as prominent
search result for searches conducted on a varied list of topics
IMPLEMENTATION AND CHALLENGES
Challenges: Management books typically have a narrow audience and sales are not expected to be
significant. Because we agreed to work on a project basis, we also had a short time frame and a
limited budget. The initiative was both event and media driven, and coordinating between several
teams was a significant challenge. We liaisoned with the four professors, the book’s project
manager, members of the broader Wharton School communications team, Harvard Business Press
teams in the U.S. and India, event coordinators, booksellers, and our own internal teams in the UK
and India (3 cities – New Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai).
Implementation:
To position the book, we tailored messaging to speak to the current economic environment – to the
business world as it struggled to emerge from the financial crisis. India had weathered the storm
fairly well, and Western leaders began to re-examine their traditional approach to management and
leadership. Given this background, we emphasized:



The India way of managing differs from the traditional western approach – both provide
lessons for the current environment.
The Indian style of management rests on four principles: holistic engagement with the
employee, improvisation and adaptability (jugaad), creative value propositions, and
broad mission and purpose.
Re-examining the way executives manage and the value of a long-term approach to
management is timely given the difficult economic environment.
We pushed out these messages through the following tactics and platforms:

Building visibility for the book in influential media outlets throughout the U.S., UK
and India. We aimed for the top-tier and business media in the U.S., UK and India because:
o
o
o

Leadership & management issues; business and emerging market trends; political
and business developments within this corridor dominate the headlines daily. This
allowed us to reach all our target audience groups. By positioning the authors to
comment on trends beyond the book itself, we could better develop their thought
leadership profile.
Book reviews in the top-tier media provide more credibility among target audiences
In India, the communications industry is still in a nascent phase and the most
trusted publications are those such as Businessworld, Forbes India and The Business
Standard which reach the executive base.
Creating customized events to draw audiences with a keen interest in the U.S.-UKIndia business corridor: We mapped current relationships with business groups, media,
industry associations and the professor’s existing connections that would most directly
place the authors in front of their key audiences.
Case Study: The India Way

Using existing events to showcase the book and continue to build awareness: Large
industry or business events bring a “built-in” audience that we could tap. For example, the
U.S.-India Business Council Summit has attracted executives interested in the U.S.-EuropeIndia corridor every year for over 35 years. By promoting the book at such forums, we could
leverage established brand cache and position authors as thought leaders on issues directly
related to the book.

Placing books in the hands of influential business leaders and market mavens: Word
of mouth referrals from key influencers often results in immeasurable impact. We sold the
book at key forums and events reaching the leaders of multinational companies who could
pass the book to their employees, government connections and industry groups.

Building a comprehensive social media platform to engage audiences across the
globe: We created a targeted social media strategy which only promoted platforms that
would most resonate with our audience groups. We established Facebook and LinkedIn
profiles, as well as created a Wikipedia page for the book. This also drove online search
rankings.

Using search engine optimization and marketing to introduce The India Way as
prominent search result for searches conducted on a varied list of topics: We worked
with a web designer to build a microsite specifically for the book. This allowed us to link all
media coverage, press releases, events and media advisories to a central platform and
improve search rankings. Furthermore, we linked the website to the professors’ bios and
presence on The Wharton School site which expanded our online reach.
MEASUREMENT/EVALUATION OF OUTCOMES
Goal #1: Successfully launch and create awareness for The India Way by securing media coverage in
the top-tier and business media through book reviews, bylines or quotes/industry commentary):





In three months, The India Way has been positively featured in nearly 50 articles
across 20 publications in three geographies.
The estimated number of print subscribers reached totals of over 23,484,034. (There
are few publications that do not publish this numbers and therefore not included).
Some highlights include book reviews in The Harvard Business Review, The Financial
Times and The Washington Post.
A series of four bylines were secured in The Wall Street Journal, three bylines in the
European Business Review, and twelve bylines in The Economic Times, one of India’s
largest national newspapers.
Other features or quotes were published in CNN, Investor’s Business Daily, Forbes and
nearly every major business publication in India. Broadcast included Forbes Video
Network and a podcast with BBC.
Goal #2: Position the authors as the authority on Indian business management and strategy through
events and thought leadership forums:
Case Study: The India Way








We coordinated 13 events in four months and reached our audience groups as outlined
in the work sample. Events targeting business executives and associations drew an
audience of approximately 50-300 individuals on average. The extended influence was
far greater.
Hosted webinar with author and the International Leadership Association, a global
network of 20,000 members across 70 countries practicing, studying, and teaching
leadership.
Completed a successful event in conjunction with the Wall Street Journal Europe to
promote the book in the UK. Over 100 attendees joined a panel discussion with authors
Harbir Singh and Michael Useem, as well as Vindi Banga, former president of Unilever,
Global Foods, Home, and Personal Care.
Publicized The India Way at numerous events such as the U.S.-India Business Council’s
35th annual summit in Washington D.C.and Innovision 2010 in Chennai, India. The
USIBC is the premier association promoting commercial ties with India.
Securing speaking opportunities at top Indian business schools such as the Indian
Institute of Management Bangalore ranked among the top ten Asia-Pacific business
schools and the Great Lakes Institute of Management, founded by U.S.-based
management guru Dr. Bala V. Balachandran.
Held a media roundtable with CEOs in New Delhi, India.
Created special event with the Houston and New York City chapters of the Asia Society
where the authors held a panel event with a Q&A time. The New York City event
streamed in real time online since the event sold out.
Gained speaking opportunity for the authors at events hosted by Wharton Alumni such
as the 14th annual Wharton India Economic Forum, dinner with Wharton alumni in
Texas, and the Wharton Alumni club in Boston. The Wharton Alumni network has more
than 81,000 members in 142 countries.
Goal #3: Position The India Way as synonymous with the Indian style of management and leadership
(search engine rankings to be one measurement tool)



By July 2010, the website had 2,500 visitors from across 60 countries primarily from
the U.S. and India; had over 11,800 page views.
A search on Google brings up the website as the first search result, followed by the
Wikipedia entry, the HBR article and Amazon.com.
On Facebook, The India Way has currently has over 300 friends.
Goal #4: Drive book sales growth

Harvard Business Press sold over 4,400 copies of the U.S. edition from March 22nd –
end of June. 10,000 copies sold in a year is considered a “strong book sales” campaign.
The Indian edition of the book sold out (3,000 copies) by early June; it is currently in
its second round of printing.