Wipro and Efma Launch First Ever Global Retail Banking Digital Marketing Report 2013

PARIS and BANGALORE, India, May 29, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

Report Finds Digital Marketing Will Drive Next Wave of Growth in Retail Banking

Wipro Ltd. (NYSE:WIT), a leading global Information Technology, Consulting and Outsourcing company in association with Efma, a global not-for-profit organisation that brings together more than 3,300 retail financial services companies from over 130 countries, today launched the first ever retail banking digital marketing report at the Efma Distribution Week conference in Brussels.

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This report, the first of a series is based on a global survey of banks covering marketing and digital channels.

The proliferation of digital channels is changing the way customers consume banking services, with digital soon to emerge as the primary channel of interaction. Given this trend, banks are focusing on digital marketing initiatives to target this growing segment of customers.  Location, context and behavior-specific real time event led marketing, driven by analytics will likely be the norm in the future.

Rajan Kohli, Vice President and Head - Banking and Financial Services, Wipro Ltd. said, "Digital technologies, social media and the explosion of data are redefining customer engagement models. If we look at the marketing spend reported by the banks in our survey, traditional advertising represented just 55 per cent of the total marketing spend. The CMOs that we spoke with made it clear that the role of the CMO is changing as banks adapt to the development of new channels and capabilities."

Wipro and Efma have created the first ever digital marketing capability index which helps benchmark the digital marketing capabilities of banks vis-à-vis the best in class. Only 13 per cent of the banks surveyed demonstrate the highest level of maturity in digital marketing. The index measures the maturity of the banks on eight different capabilities; assessments including a bank's capability on data management, offer delivery, marketing processes and usage of analytics. The index also alludes to the fact that a majority of banks do not practise real-time event driven marketing and the ability to focus on personalization.

The study also revealed that social media was not yet a part of mainstream marketing and is still not considered a key customer interaction channel. In our survey, we discovered that social media efforts were mainly managed by the marketing department followed by the branding and communications team. Also for over 80 per cent of the banks surveyed, their social media spend was less than 500,000 Euros per annum.

Given the inevitable trend toward greater use of digital channels by consumers, the Wipro/Efma report recommends that banks should:

• Consider how they expect customers to interact with the bank five years from now, and particularly how they envisage customers will buy financial products in the future;
• Carefully assess the bank's current digital marketing capabilities along the dimensions we have identified in this study to identify areas of weakness;
• Develop a plan for investment in digital marketing capabilities which will ensure that the bank is in a position to get ahead of, or at least keep pace with, competitors and changing consumer behavior;
• Monitor closely the developments in "big data" and where possible take the initial steps of testing some applications of the new technologies that are available.

The complete report, inclusive of views from leading digital banking professionals on the changing contours of digital marketing can be accessed from http://www.wipro.com/landing-pages/Global-Retail-Banking-Digital-Marketing-Report-2013.aspx

About Efma

As a global not-for-profit organisation, Efma brings together more than 3,300 retail financial services companies from over 130 countries. With a membership base consisting of almost a third of all large retail banks worldwide, Efma has proven to be a valuable resource for the global industry, offering members exclusive access to a multitude of resources, databases, studies, articles, news feeds and publications. Efma also provides numerous networking opportunities through working groups, online communities and international meetings.

For more information: http://www.efma.com or [email protected]

About Wipro Ltd.

Wipro Ltd. (NYSE:WIT) is a leading Information Technology, Consulting and Outsourcing company that delivers solutions to enable its clients do business better. Wipro delivers winning business outcomes through its deep industry experience and a 360 degree view of "Business through Technology"; helping clients create successful and adaptive businesses. A company recognized globally for its comprehensive portfolio of services, a practitioner's approach to delivering innovation and an organization wide commitment to sustainability; Wipro has over 140,000 employees and clients across 54 countries. For more information, please visit http://www.wipro.com.

Forward-looking and Cautionary Statements

Certain statements in this release concerning our future growth prospects are forward-looking statements, which involve a number of risks, and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. The risks and uncertainties relating to these statements include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding fluctuations in our earnings, revenue and profits, our ability to generate and manage growth, intense competition in IT services, our ability to maintain our cost advantage, wage increases in India, our ability to attract and retain highly skilled professionals, time and cost overruns on fixed-price, fixed-time frame contracts, client concentration, restrictions on immigration, our ability to manage our international operations, reduced demand for technology in our key focus areas, disruptions in telecommunication networks, our ability to successfully complete and integrate potential acquisitions, liability for damages on our service contracts, the success of the companies in which we make strategic investments, withdrawal of fiscal governmental incentives, political instability, war, legal restrictions on raising capital or acquiring companies outside India, unauthorized use of our intellectual property, and general economic conditions affecting our business and industry. Additional risks that could affect our future operating results are more fully described in our filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. These filings are available at http://www.sec.gov. We may, from time to time, make additional written and oral forward-looking statements, including statements contained in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and our reports to shareholders. We do not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time by us or on our behalf.

Contact:

Karine Coutinho    
Efma        
+33-1-47-42-69-82    
[email protected]    

Dirk Lewis
Wipro Ltd.
+91-7760983976
[email protected]

SOURCE Wipro Ltd