Brand and Brand Image Perceptions in Software Services and Products

Why Brand Matters

During my Executive Management Program at IIM Ahmedabad, one of the most memorable sessions was on brand and brand image. The core idea was simple yet powerful:

👉 Customers don’t buy a product; they buy the perception, the emotions, and the promises attached to it.

The faculty illustrated this with the story of the Mahindra Scorpio. When first launched, it was perceived as rugged, dependable, and perfect for rural or government use. But over time, Mahindra realized that these associations were limiting. They needed Scorpio to resonate with a younger, urban audience.

Through conscious repositioning, Scorpio evolved into what it represents today: a stylish, aspirational urban SUV, balancing toughness with comfort, family appeal, and status. This transformation wasn’t just about redesigning the vehicle — it was about repositioning the brand in the minds of customers.

That lesson has stayed with me. And I see the same dynamics at play in the modern software services industry.

What Makes a Brand?

A brand is not defined by a logo or tagline alone. It lives in the mind of the customer and is built across four levels:

1. Identifiers → Logo, name, and design.
2. Functional Benefits → Quality, customer experience, performance, value for money.
3. Emotional Benefits → Trust, comfort, pride, confidence.
4. Relationship → The long-term bond customers form with your product or company.

For Mahindra Scorpio, this meant moving from “rugged rural SUV” to “urban family SUV with muscle.”

For NextGenSoft, it means moving from being perceived as “just another offshore vendor” to being recognized as a trusted global digital transformation partner.

Brand Image vs. Brand Identity

• Brand Image = how customers currently see you.
• Brand Identity = how you want to be seen.
• The gap between the two is your brand delta.

Scorpio’s journey:

• Old perception: rural, noisy, army/police vehicle.
• Desired identity: urban, macho, stylish, aspirational.
• The delta: closed through product redesign, marketing, and experience.

Software services parallel:

• Perception: cost-driven, offshore, reactive.
• Desired identity: innovative, agile, strategic global partner.
• The delta: closed through consistent delivery, thought leadership, certifications, and customer trust.

Brand Positioning – Cars vs. Software

In automobiles, positioning is crystal clear:

• BMW → Status
• Audi → Speed
• Mercedes → Safety
• Toyota Corolla → Reliability & efficiency
• Honda Civic → Sportiness & design

For Scorpio:

• Then: Dependable, rugged, rural.
• Now: Urban, macho, aspirational, family SUV.

In software services:

• Some firms position on low cost.
• Others on scale and size.

• At NextGenSoft, we deliberately position on trust, agility, and innovation — blending the strength of an enterprise partner with the speed of a startup.

The NextGenSoft Journey – From Perception to Promise

When we started, some prospects saw us as a “small Indian service firm.” But through our work, we’ve steadily reshaped that perception:

The NextGenSoft Journey – From Perception to Promise
When we started, some prospects saw us as a “small Indian service firm.” But through our work, we’ve steadily reshaped that perception:

On Verodat — a leading data supply chain platform designed to make enterprise data AI-ready — we proved that we are not just engineers, but engineers of trust, delivering scalable, future-proof data supply chains tailored for AI-driven transformation.

With a UK-based sports analytics startup, we showcased our expertise in building high-performance architectures, enabling real-time sports analytics and transforming raw data into actionable insights.

For a leading US retail group, we successfully executed a complex AWS migration, ensuring their critical platforms achieved scalability, resilience, and cost efficiency.

For a major US shipping enterprise, we led another large-scale AWS migration, modernizing their infrastructure to deliver higher reliability, optimized performance, and significant cost savings.

Every project is an opportunity to narrow the brand delta — aligning how customers perceive us with how we define ourselves.

Every project is an opportunity to narrow the brand delta — aligning how customers perceive us with how we define ourselves.

Closing Thoughts

The journey of Mahindra Scorpio — from a rural workhorse to an urban aspirational SUV — is a masterclass in brand repositioning.

At NextGenSoft, this principle guides us every day.

• We understand customer perceptions.
• We define our desired identity.
• And we bridge the gap consistently by delivering value, trust, and innovation.

Because in the end, whether it’s an SUV or a software services partner, a brand is always the same thing at its core:

👉 A promise delivered — consistently.