Why marketing, branding,
and communications
by offshore providers are
so ineffective
“Marketing and communications from offshore providers
are often very poorly developed in customer facing content.
Thisarticletacklessomeofthecomplexculturalandbusiness
challenges with marketing and branding in outsourcing. See
the link below, and do let us know if you have any comments
or observations about this recent article published In
Outsourcing Magazine. Also, see the link to the publication
here: outsourcemagazine.co.uk”
Marketing and branding challenges among outsourcing providers have been a
topic of great interest recently, with HfS Research and other research groups, and
especially on LinkedIn catering to the industry. See here for a very recent article
from HfS on this topic about why outsourcing marketing is so horrible. This is a
complicated topic, and has puzzled many savvy business professionals in the
industry for some time. The focus of this article is that marketing and branding
with offshore outsourcing providers are often very culturally based and is usually
reflected in the very poorly written customer-facing content from such offshore
providers. Bear in mind, also, that the perspective on this topic is from the United
States as a sales and marketing professional working with offshore providers,
mainly in India.
After being in the publishing outsourcing industry for almost ten years, and
traditional publishing for more than 20 years, with an MA in English, I have
experienced many profound challenges with this issue as a sales person. My
understanding of this challenge is that many of the core issues are cultural in
nature, and usually not individual personality traits. Although I am not a licensed
social psychologist, my experiences have lead me to conclude that marketing,
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Outsource Magazine
December 2, 2014

D E A N T A G L O B A L OFFSHORE Marketing and branding challenges
For more information,
please call:
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provides publishing services to some
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professional and legal publishers.
Customers includeThomson Reuters,
Bloomsbury and Informa Professional.
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branding, and quality content in writing are often deeply rooted in one’s
educational and cultural background that is often very geographical in nature.
I also am very aware that although many talk about this issue in private, many
are reluctant to express opinions in public forums like LinkedIn since the topic
is often highly charged with racial and cultural bias and often comes across as
politically incorrect. I hope to tread a fine line on this topic here by not concluding
that one culture is right or wrong. However, there are often profoundly different
cultural issues that are often clearly reflected in written communication that
offshore providers try to use as a marketing tool.
Many of these marketing, branding, and written communication
challenges are often deeply rooted in Eastern cultures for many
complex reasons such as the differences in educational systems.
Arun Jethmalani, CEO atValueNotes, the outsourcing research group
in Pune, India, has noted this issue with the following: “The Indian
educational system is very quantitative in its learning skills, but often
does not give adequate attention to qualitative skills such as writing
and communicating well in marketing functions. Consequently,
Indians are often outstanding at software and programing skills,
finance, and accounting, and operations, but when it comes to
content development for marketing and branding, a skill set that is
generally poorly developed in India.”
Another very important issue to consider is that India has only been an
independent economy and country from the United Kingdom for about 60
years, so the business maturity and sophistication with certain skills such as
marketing are still very young in comparison to the United States and other
western countries.
Clearly,learningEnglishbeyondaneverydayconversationallevelisquitedifficult.
The language becomes more complicated the deeper you delve into the formal
business or scientific levels. There are many variants, even within the UK and the
US, and many struggle with this in India, Eastern Europe and other countries.
In the very recent white paper from Outsourcing Center, ‘Five Reasons Why
Outsourcing Fails‘, this particular topic is highlighted in the following (italics
mine): “There is a lack of communication: It isn’t what you say but what is
understood that is important. This can arise from a variety of factors such as
“When it comes to
effective marketing,
it is not what you
say that matters, it is
how you say it. Ask
any dog.”
Thom Mead

D E A N T A G L O B A L OFFSHORE Marketing and branding challenges
For more information,
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provides publishing services to some
of the world’s leading academic,
professional and legal publishers.
Customers includeThomson Reuters,
Bloomsbury and Informa Professional.
Copyright © 2014 Deanta Global Publishing Services Limited
Email: info@deantaglobal.com
Web: www.deantaglobal.com
cultural differences, language capabilities, differences in industry terms and
jargon, even technological limitations.”
I recently finished reading an enormously insightful book about this topic as it
relates to the fundamental social and psychological differences with those in the
East and those in the West by Richard Nisbett: The Geography of Thought: How
AsiansandWesternersThinkDifferentlyandWhy. Anyone interested in a deep dive
on this topic should read this book since it provides a very insightful overview
to many of the cultural challenges that everyone seems to face with outsourcing
initiatives – especially when they fail.
One of the key issues that Nisbett highlights is a cornerstone theme
in social psychology, “the fundamental attribution error” (or FAE, for
short). This concept highlights the pernicious human tendency to
incorrectly attribute behaviour based on individual personality traits
rather than on situational or cultural factors. In other words, culture
and geography are often much more influential with behaviour than
many of us would like to believe. Of particular interest, this tendency
is especially prominent when explaining other’s behaviour, although
not necessarily our own. The fundamental question that we often
ask about another’s behaviour is the following:“Is this behaviour the
person, or the situation?”
A few brief observations about outsourcing and marketing and
branding relative to written communication – which is often one
of the most critical marketing tools for providers trying to gain new clients in
other cultures. A short caveat: effective marketing is directly related to effective
communication and, unfortunately, with many buyers, you often do not get
a second chance to make a good first impression – a very critical issue in an
increasingly mature outsourcing market.
Our perspective is that marketing is a fundamental tool for an effective sales
process.
Outsourcing providers in Asia often have very poorly developed websites and
customer-facing documents in terms of effective and correct English, regardless
of their annual sales. Many who see this in the West are often baffled by the
“The inability to set
aside something
that you know but
that someone else
does not know is
such a pervasive
affliction of the
human mind...“
Steven Pinker

D E A N T A G L O B A L OFFSHORE Marketing and branding challenges
For more information,
please call:
+353 1 6708040 (Europe)
+1 917 300 0662 (USA)
or +918 7545 02334 (Asia)
Established in 2011, Deanta Global
provides publishing services to some
of the world’s leading academic,
professional and legal publishers.
Customers includeThomson Reuters,
Bloomsbury and Informa Professional.
Copyright © 2014 Deanta Global Publishing Services Limited
Email: info@deantaglobal.com
Web: www.deantaglobal.com
often unintelligible use of English. Potential customers often think: “Do they
proofread the English before going public?” My particular vertical is publishing
outsourcing, and in this vertical, the level of bafflement with publishers can
be acute. One can only imagine how the legal process outsourcing industry
perceives this since legal issues have many language details that must be clearly
communicated. However, with accounting and financial services, the customer
may not have such a sophisticated need for effective written content, so every
vertical may have a different need for customer-facing content.
Again, effective communication skills are often a pivotal marketing and
branding issue that tells customers “I understand your needs, and can address
them effectively. I can communicate with you.” Again, at the most basic level
marketing and communication are closely intertwined and inseparable. Think
of the topic this way, in terms of marketing and perception: this is like showing
up for a business meeting with a hangover, not taking a bath for two weeks, not
shaving, and not wearing clean clothes. No one would seriously consider this in
any business situation, East or West, regardless of culture. However, you often
see this challenge in customer-facing documents that often give customers the
very wrong, first impression, especially with websites. The prospective client
reads it and thinks,“Wow… they think this is good… good enough to persuade
me to do business with them? Likely, this represents the best they can do with
the language.”There is nothing more negative when a potential customer thinks
this when initially reviewing a new providers’ services. An obvious and painful
example from real life in publishing outsourcing: a very large offshore provider
that I worked with recently misspelled the word “English” in their overview of
marketing offshore editorial services for publishers.
Also, offshore providers often have a terribly difficult time articulating
differentiation statements about their services in a clear and concise manner
when compared to their Western competitors. Effective branding statements
show customers that you understand the broader market, what competitors are
or are not doing, and why their service is compelling. Differentiation indicates
that a provider has a keen understanding of your value proposition and what
brings innovation to potential customers. Often, you see websites and customer-
facing documents that are very “feature” driven, rather than “benefit” driven
which for many in the West is marketing, branding, and sales 101. Simplified: a

D E A N T A G L O B A L OFFSHORE Marketing and branding challenges
For more information,
please call:
+353 1 6708040 (Europe)
+1 917 300 0662 (USA)
or +918 7545 02334 (Asia)
Established in 2011, Deanta Global
provides publishing services to some
of the world’s leading academic,
professional and legal publishers.
Customers includeThomson Reuters,
Bloomsbury and Informa Professional.
Copyright © 2014 Deanta Global Publishing Services Limited
Email: info@deantaglobal.com
Web: www.deantaglobal.com
value proposition focuses not on the provider, but on understanding and solving
the customer’s problems with measurable advantages.
Customers buy “benefits” not “features.” “Features” are all about “providers,” and
“benefits” are all about customers. This often leaves the customer wondering
“why would I want to buy this service since I do not understand what the benefits
are for my company?” Buyers want solutions with clear, specific, quantifiable
benefits articulated, that reflect the provider is providing more than a low-cost
fee for service…but a solution with a clear ROI. For a small minority of buyers
low cost is the only value they are seeking, unfortunately, but for a majority of
buyers there is more – such as innovation, quality, and turnaround time.
Such branding and differentiation shows that the provider has keen critical
thinking and problem-solving skills, and ultimately understands their customers.
Offshore providers, since they often struggle with differentiation statements,
frequently fall back and sell on price since it is so easy to articulate (“we have the
best price”), and buyers are often lured by a low price like a sailor to the siren’s
song,whichdoesnotculminateinashipwreck.Suchsourcingrelationshipsoften
become superficial and tactical, with little value or innovation, not strategic. This
issue has been a viral topic in outsourcing over the last year or more: “What is
the value and innovation of outsourcing beyond pricing?” Stated another way,
“what value or innovation does the provider bring to the table to improve my
services when handled offshore other than the lowest price?” Unfortunately,
because these providers often do not understand the value of their services from
the buyer’s perspective, and are ill-equipped to articulate it, the only basis of
comparison often becomes pricing because the buyer perceives the services as
interchangeable commodities.
Sharing my observations in sales and marketing from the American buyer’s
perspective - the offshore provider’s profuse use of polysyllabic words and
their associated attempts to over-intellectualise topics only results in endless
wandering pages that confuse and confound the reader. Instead, what is
needed is a simple, straightforward, and well-constructed paragraph. Keeping
the message plain and simple with supporting details that answer the question
“What value does your service offer?”is critical.
One of the recent developments in business process outsourcing with customer
service (call centres) to Asia has been the dramatic shift in geography for the

D E A N T A G L O B A L OFFSHORE Marketing and branding challenges
For more information,
please call:
+353 1 6708040 (Europe)
+1 917 300 0662 (USA)
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Established in 2011, Deanta Global
provides publishing services to some
of the world’s leading academic,
professional and legal publishers.
Customers includeThomson Reuters,
Bloomsbury and Informa Professional.
Copyright © 2014 Deanta Global Publishing Services Limited
Email: info@deantaglobal.com
Web: www.deantaglobal.com
service from India – that once dominated this vertical – to the Philippines in the
last couple of years. See the article from The New York Times in 2011, ‘The New
Capital For Call Centers‘.
This is a classic example of the cultural differences in spoken English between
two Asian cultures, not just Asian and Western cultures, and what many western
customers perceive as obvious benefits with customer service and effective,
spoken English. The Philippines clearly has a much closer affinity to western
culturesandspokenEnglishthaninIndia,thecriticalreasonwhycustomerservice
has thrived so well in this country recently. People, regardless of the culture or
language used, want and need to feel understood when calling customer service.
The Philippines, having been liberated from Spanish colonial rule by the United
States, remained a US protectorate long after the Spanish American War. The
Philippines is much more closely aligned both linguistically and culturally with
the US than are India and its neighbours which existed under Britain’s colonial
influence.To this end, one cannot look upon all English-speaking markets as one
market. Winston Churchill correctly opined when he said,“The United States and
The United Kingdom… two great countries separated by a common language.”
What are the key takeaway solutions from this overview about
outsourcing and culture, and improving marketing in customer-
facing content?
• Providers need to understand that effective marketing is a fundamental
tool to a successful sales process.
• Providers need to recognise the importance of effective English, written
and verbal, when interfacing with new clients. Best to have marketing
content written, or at a minimum edited, by someone from the targeted
sales geography to resolve any cultural or language issues.
• Proofreading written customer-facing documents is one of the most cost-
effective, and often under-utilised, marketing and branding essentials, and
should be implemented with any and all content before going public.
• Marketing collateral should not attempt to be“one size fits all”, but tailored
to achieve the desired impact. If it is not written with an emphasis on the
targeted geography and culture, the buyer will rapidly tune out.

D E A N T A G L O B A L OFFSHORE Marketing and branding challenges
For more information,
please call:
+353 1 6708040 (Europe)
+1 917 300 0662 (USA)
or +918 7545 02334 (Asia)
Established in 2011, Deanta Global
provides publishing services to some
of the world’s leading academic,
professional and legal publishers.
Customers includeThomson Reuters,
Bloomsbury and Informa Professional.
Copyright © 2014 Deanta Global Publishing Services Limited
Email: info@deantaglobal.com
Web: www.deantaglobal.com
• Offshore sales and marketing professionals should be able to work at a
native speaking level regardless of the geography.
• Providers need to learn to focus on service “benefits” and not service
“features” to make their marketing material more effective. If they cannot
articulate benefits in quantifiable terms, then the prospective buyer will
likely not see them. In turn, seeing no value, low cost will be seen as the
only value.
Effective marketing and communication from offshore providers are strategic
keys to growing in an increasingly competitive industry. Consequently, buyers
and providers understanding the many cultural issues with outsourcing is critical
for both parties to be successful. As Malcolm Gladwell has noted in many of his
books about culture,“geography is everything”.

D E A N T A G L O B A L OFFSHORE Marketing and branding challenges
For more information,
please call:
+353 1 6708040 (Europe)
+1 917 300 0662 (USA)
or +918 7545 02334 (Asia)
Established in 2011, Deanta Global
provides publishing services to some
of the world’s leading academic,
professional and legal publishers.
Customers includeThomson Reuters,
Bloomsbury and Informa Professional.
Copyright © 2014 Deanta Global Publishing Services Limited
Email: info@deantaglobal.com
Web: www.deantaglobal.com
About the Authors
Jim Hill
James S. Hill (Lead Author) is the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for
Publishing Services with Deanta Global, a leading publishing outsourcing vendor
in Chennai, India. Hill has over 20 years of publishing experience with senior
positions in editorial, production, sales, marketing, and business development
in trade, academic, professional, and STM publishing. He has an MA in English
from Oklahoma State University. Hill has also published popular articles about
publishing outsourcing and using LinkedIn as a sales and marketing tool with
leading international journals.
Thom Mead
Thom Mead is a globally known leader in the outsourcing industry. Thom has
been head of Sales and/or Marketing for many well-known companies, such
as ACS, Unisys, EXLservice, and Firstsource. Thom was awarded “Best in the
Industry”twice in his business career. He was also awarded,“Best Marketer”from
among more than 1,000 marketing professionals at while at EDS. Thom has been
a judge for the Outsourcing Malaysia Awards, spoken worldwide at conferences
and seminars, has appeared on CNBC and has been frequently quoted in the
media, market research and professional publications regarding Marketing,
Sales, outsourcing and offshoring.
Carola Copland
Carola Copland gained her reputation as thought leader and Subject Matter
Expert on outsourcing business over a 13-year career in an American Fortune
50 Global IT company. She has experience in consulting, sales support, contract
management,SharedServicesandDeliveryCentrestart-upandoperations.Carola
left Germany in 2005; since then she has been living and working in Switzerland,
Hungary and the UK. As a fully qualified lawyer with additional qualifications in
IT and Project Management she enjoys interdisciplinary thinking and problem-
solving, working in multi-cultural and cross-functional teams. Carola is active in
key professional and leadership organisations, building up industry efficiency
frameworks for the German Outsourcing Association (GOA) and the Nordic IT
Outsourcing Association (ITOSDA).