An increasingly cluttered marketplace and a more exacting clientele is establishing a mandate for firms to redefine their marketing tactics. In this regard, however, an additional challenge lies ahead of firms which also have accounting business, because the Institute of Chartered Accountants does not allow audit and accounting firms to do any direct advertising. Therefore, consultancy firms like KPMG or PwC are coming up with innovative ways to communicate. Meanwhile, pure strategy consulting firms like Andersen, Booz Allen & Hamilton and McKinsey, which are not governed by this charter, are working on their own set of marketing options.

The urgency to woo business is also being dictated by certain global changes in the consultingindustry. An over-the-shoulder glance at the industry shows one major merger, one equally major separation, one abortive mega-merger and the consequent birth of new brand identities and organisational structures. It has been a hectic year for the industry as the famous Big Seven have become the Big Six with the merger of Price WaterHouse with Coopers & Lybrand (PwC), while Andersen Consulting has divorced itself from Arthur Andersen to become a separate entity. In India, too, both KPMG and PwC have appointed new CEOs merely a month ago.

The Financial Express caught up with the three Indian CEOs of Andersen Consulting, KPMG and PwC to get a first-hand understanding of what will be the face of change in the consulting industry.

The marketing tools: Clearly, the consulting industry thrives on being unconventional. The most common marketing tool, therefore, are the people who work at these firms. "Consultancy being a people business, every one of our employees is an ambassador of our brand," saysAndersen Consulting managing director Sid Khanna. At KPMG, too, firm employees are being encouraged to establish an intense relationship with clients to get a feedback on service, responsiveness and timeliness.

Another important, if somewhat unorthodox, tool is the inhouse publications published by consultancies. All the three firms have reworked their inhouse magazines and journals to use them as direct marketing devices. So, while Andersen Consulting has relaunched its quarterly magazine, Outlook, in keeping with changing needs of the marketplace, KPMG is revamping its monthly newsletter into a quarterly journal called Consulting Matters with an India focus to get CEOs to take a "buy decision" on the firm. According to PwC managing director Ashwin Parekh, "The purpose of these publications is to share knowledge but also to showcase the firm's strengths." A case in point is that of Outlook, where Andersen has introduced a new section on e-Commerce as a response to market feedback.

Another firstfor Indian consultancy firms is their entry into event sponsorships. For the past few months, KPMG has been looking at various options to be part of events where there is an active role to play. In fact, the firm may even be looking at establishing its own event-related to corporate excellence awards in the future. For Andersen Consulting, too, sponsorships and event participation will play a key role in brand-building. Worldwide, the company has already lent its name to world class golf tournaments and exclusive art exhibitions.

Brand-management activities, in fact, are the prime concern of firms as competition becomes more fierce every day. While KPMG has launched a global $60-million television and print advertising campaign called "It's time for Clarity" world wide, Andersen Consulting is riding high on a $100-million campaign to promote its new identity. An India-specific campaign is also in the offing.

The consultancy firms, therefore, are combining traditional means of communication with innovativemarketing concepts to fight for their market share. The crucial aspect to winning business, however, still remains the right product-mix. At Andersen, for example, Khanna says, that all brand activity is positioned to communicate that the firm can deliver the full range of services ranging from strategy to technology to process to people. Similarly, the other two firms are also fine-tuning their product mixes to suit their market needs.

A value game

Mandates in the consultancy business are no longer won on basis of general expertise. The most crucial competing differentiator today is the firm's competencies. Says Parekh, "Functional expertise is gaining importance and this calls for a fair amount of business orientation of firms." KPMG's managing director, J Rajagopal, is also responding to this development by managing the firm's competencies as separate SBUs (strategic business units). Says Rajagopal, "As the markets get more competitive, firms are taking steps to position themselves on the linesof business concepts like SBUs." KPMG is also one of the few firms to have a separate business-development unit which focuses exclusively on new opportunities for the firm. This unit works in tandem with senior managers and consultants of the company to guide SBUs in the right direction.

At PwC, too, Parekh is realigning the firm's communication systems to present its profile in a certain manner. The chosen approach involves a certain level of corporate profiling and then seeing if PwC wants to be in that slot. For example, the firm is focusing on opportunities in the asset-liability and risk-management business for the past few months. Says Parekh," You have to choose your areas of operation and then have to announce it to the world." He also says that no amount of publicity can make you escape the selection process. Precisely why all these firms are constantly evolving the "best approach" to pitch their capabilities to the decision-makers. Says Rajagopal, "Most CEOs take a decision on a firm based on itsexperience, so you have to work on demonstrating the knowledge, teamwork and service potential of the firm."

Irrespective of their differing means to market their services, all the consultancy companies have a common goal; to send out to the market some communication about the work done, expertise possessed and values that each firm is taking to its clients. According to Parekh, communicating with the market has undergone a dramatic change in the past one year with corporates becoming more exacting in terms of analysing the capabilities of the firms. Clearly, this makes it even more critical for firms to work within the code and yet communicate one's areas of competence to differentiate themselves from the competition.