November 21, 2008

When the going gets tough, the tough gets going is an oft-repeated adage. But in the case of Hari T, a 10-year-veteranat Satyam Computer Services, who a year back moved fromthe position of vice-president, HR, to take up the task of being its global marketing head,will need to apply all his HR skills in marketing during these tough times.In an exclusive interaction with FE’s Surabhi Agarwal, Hari discusses the company's strategies along with his role in an industry where differentiators are few and the times challenging, to say the least.Excerpts:When companies are looking at cutting operating expenses, what role does marketing acquire for IT companies?No doubt these are challenging times. Organisations as much as they are controlling everything are also recognising that this is the only time when you have to invest into your brand building and marketing initiatives. At the services level, there is very little to differentiate on offerings. So, you institutionalise systems and processes that make it easy for the customers to experience the organisation.