After rebounding from an accounting scandal in 2004, CA is setting its sights on better communication of its services to its corporate cus- tomer base -- based on an acceptance that many people do not comprehend the full scale of the company's enterprise IT management (EITM) offering.
"CA is the third or fourth biggest software company in the world, but a lot people don't know what we do," said CA APJ vice-president of marketing Jim Fisher. "We're not like Microsoft or SAP. What we do is IT management, so the new branding is saying we are the leader in the EITM space."
Print and online advertising has rolled out around a tagline of 'Believe again', exhorting people to trust in the power of IT once more. In addition, CA has launched a new logo and Asia-Pacific website, with all communications work handled by D3, a special department set up by Interpublic to service the CA business.
"The big issue for CIOs is increasing complexity in their operating environments," said Fisher. "We're in a very strong position in that we are the only company that has solutions to manage just about everything the IT department needs to do."
Underneath the core EITM message, sub-messages aim to convey that CA can meet CIO needs, marking a significant departure from the product-based branding platform that CA previously employed.
"The message we had before was whatever problem you had we could solve, rather than looking at customer needs," explained Fisher.
CA competes against companies such as Symantec, HP and Oracle in differing product areas. With M&A deals in the IT space increasing over the last year, furthermore, Fisher pointed out the rebranding is an attempt to leverage CA's first-mover advantage over its peers, who have yet to match the company's longstanding appetite for such growth. Recently, for example, CA acquired enterprise application management leader Wily Technology for US$375 million.
The rebrand, which is taking place globally, actually originated in Asia-Pacific -- where CA had already recognised the value of a customer-centric approach.
CA upgrades image to pitch corporate users
Computer Associates (CA) has signalled a major shift in its positioning, rebranding its offering around its ability to unify and simplify IT environments.
