Vertebrand To Handle Smithkline Diversification

Bangalore-based start-up, Vertebrand Management Consult-ing Pvt Limited, which works on the unique platform of `Brand Partnership,' is turning the definition of brand building around. It has and has notched up major clients like SmithKline Beecham and Featherlite Products to handle their entire strategic diversification plan.

The company is also in the process of firming up plans for setting up shop in the US either through the subsidiary or joint venture route where the US partner will have an equity participation with Vertebrand.

The US companies in talks with Vertebrand will essentially focus on bringing mid and small cap US companies into India from which point Vertebrand will take over the entire brand building and development activities. The US operations are expected to kick off towards the year end.

 

"Conventionally, brand building is understood as advertising, communication and public relations. We feel that brand valuation depends on how fundamentally strong you are as an organisation, what kind of systems and processes you have in place to match your promises,'' says Raghu B Viswan-ath, managing director, Vertebrand Management Consulting.

Viswanath says unlike top line consulting firms who do a mix of everything and get a bulk of revenue from ERP implementation, business process reingineering, and costing reduction methods, Vertebrand does not take up any ad-hoc activities.

"Our core focus is being able to audit the organisation as a whole from a brand perspective, creating a brand blueprint and telling the organisation what front and back end activities they have to do,'' Viswanath said.

Initially, Vertebrand is targeting start-up companies, not necessarily in the IT space, but which are clear that they want to enhance brand value of the brand in the short term.

"We work on a unique model where we simply charge the client a salary per month of work done, so for all practical purposes, we work like the company's own brand management team,'' Viswanath said. "We are not a substitute to an ad agency or a market research agency, we're really like a temporary management team to understand the problem and come up with a solution,'' he added.