Integrated

Services
Marketing
Communications

Provider GAP 4

CUSTOMER

COMPANY

Part 5 Opener

Service
Delivery

GAP 4

External
Communications
to Customers

Objectives : Integrated Services Marketing

Communications

Introduce the concept of integrated services marketing communication.

Discuss the key reasons for service communication problems.
Present four key ways to integrate marketing communication in service
organizations.

Present specific strategies for managing promises, managing customer

expectations, educating customers, and managing internal
communications.

Provide perspective on the popular service objective of exceeding

customer expectations.

Communications and the Services Marketing

Triangle
Company
Internal Marketing
Vertical Communications
Horizontal Communications

Employees

External Marketing
Communication

Interactive Marketing
Personal Selling
Customer Service Center
Service Encounters
Servicescapes

Source: Parts of model adapted from work by Christian Gronroos and Phillip Kotler

Advertising
Sales Promotion
Public Relations
Direct Marketing

Customers

Approaches for Integrating Services Marketing

Communication

Manage
Customer
Expectations

Manage
Service
Promises

Goal:
Delivery
greater than
or equal to
promises

Improve
Customer
Education

Manage
Internal
Marketing
Communication

Approaches for
Managing Service Promises

MANAGING SERVICE PROMISES

Create
Effective
Services
Communications

Coordinate
External
Communicatio
n

Make
Realistic
Promises

Offer
Service
Guarantees

Goal:
Delivery
greater than
or equal to
promises

Services Advertising Strategies Matched with

Properties of Intangibility

Approaches for
Managing Customer Expectations
Offer Choices

Create Tiered-Value
Offerings
Communicate Criteria for
Service Effectiveness
Negotiate
Unrealistic
Expectations
Goal:
Delivery
greater than
or equal to
promises

Approaches for
Improving Customer Education

Goal:
Delivery
greater than
or equal to
promises

Prepare
Customers
for the
Service
Process

Confirm
Performance
to Standards

Clarify
Expectations
after the Sale

Approaches for Managing

Internal Marketing Communications
Goal:
Delivery
greater than
or equal to
promises
Create Effective
Vertical
Communications

Create Effective
Horizontal
Communications
Align Back
Office Personnel
w/ External Customers
Create
Cross-Functional
Teams

Teach
Customers
to Avoid
Peak
Demand
Periods
and
Seek Slow
Periods

Communication plays a key role

Helps in creating powerful image and a sense of credibility,

confidence and reassurance.

Informs new/prospective and existing customers about

service benefits, features, price and other costs.

Adding value through communication content like loyalty

programs, reminders, greetings, cross selling and greater
customization

Internal communication for updation, nurturing culture,

efficient delivery, employee retention, motivation

Advertising Implications for

Overcoming Intangibility
Problem

Generality
- objective claims
- subjective claims

Advertising Strategy
Document physical system capacity
Cite past performance statistics
Present actual service delivery incident

Nonsearchability

Present customer testimonials

Cite independently audited performance

Abstractness

Display typical customers benefiting

Impalpability

Documentary of step-by-step process,

Case history of what firm did for customer
Narration of customers subjective experience
Source: Mittal and Baker

Other Communications Challenges

in Services Marketing

Facilitate customer involvement in production

prepare customers for service experience and demonstrate roles
teach customers about new technologies, new features

Help customers to evaluate service offerings

provide tangible or statistical clues to service performance

highlight quality of equipment and facilities
emphasize employee qualifications, experience, professionalism

Simulate or dampen demand to match capacity

provide information about timing of peak, off-peak periods

offer promotions to stimulate off-peak demand

Promote contribution of service personnel

help customers understand service encounter
highlight expertise and commitment of backstage personnel

Setting Clear Objectives: Checklist for

Marketing Communications Planning (5 Ws)

Who is our target audience?

What do we need to communicate and achieve?
How should we communicate this?
Where should we communicate this?
When do communications need to take place?

Common Educational and Promotional

Objectives in Service Settings

Create memorable images of specific companies and

their brands

Build awareness/interest for unfamiliar service/brand

Build preference by communicating brand strengths and
benefits

Compare service with competitors offerings and counter

their claims

Reposition service relative to competition

Stimulate demand in off-peak and discourage during peak

Educational and Promotional Objectives (cont.)

Encourage trial by offering promotional incentives

Reduce uncertainty/perceived risk by providing useful info

and advice

Provide reassurance (e.g., promote service guarantees)

Familiarize customers with service processes before use
Teach customers how to use a service to best advantage
Recognize and reward valued customers and employees

Marketing Communications Mix for Services

Personal
Communications

Advertising

Selling

Broadcast

Customer
service

Print

Training

Internet

Telemarketing
Word-of-mouth
Word
mouth
(otherof
customers)

Sales Promotion

Publicity &
Public Relations

Instructional
Materials

Corporate
Design

Sampling

Press
releases/kits

Web sites

Coupons

Press
conferences

Manuals

Sign-up
rebates

Special
events

Brochures

Vehicles

Equipment

Signage

Interior decor

Outdoor

Gifts

Sponsorship

Videoaudiocassettes

Direct mail

Prize
promotions

Trade Shows,
Exhibitions

Software
CD-ROM

Stationery

Media-initiated
coverage

Voice mail

Uniforms

Key: * Denotes communications originating from outside the organization

Originating Sources of Messages Received by a

Target Audience
Messages originating
within the organization
Front-line staff
Service outlets
Advertising
Sales promotions
Direct marketing
Personal selling
Public relations

Word of mouth

Messages originating
outside the organization

Media editorial

A
U
D
I
E
N
C
E

What is Brand Equity and Why Does It Matter?

(From Berry, Cultivating Brand Equity)
Definition: A set of assets and liabilities linked to a brands
name and symbol that adds to (or subtracts from) the
perceived value of the product
Insights

Brand equity can be positive or negative

Positive brand equity creates marketing advantage for
firm plus value for customer

Perceived value generates preference and loyalty

Management of brand equity involves investment to
create and enhance assets, remove liabilities

A Service Branding Model:

How Communications + Experience Create Brand Equity

Marketer-controlled communications

Firms Presented Brand

(Sales, Advertising, PR)

Awareness of
Firms Brand

Uncontrolled brand communications

Firms
Brand Equity

What Media, Intermediaries,

Word-of-Mouth Say re: Firm

Customers Experience
with Firm

Meaning Attached
To Firms Brand
Source: Adapted from L. L. Berry ( Fig. 1)

Marketing Communication and the Internet (1)

International in Scope
Accessible from almost anywhere in the world
Simplest form of international market entry

Internet Applications
Promote consumer awareness and interest
Provide information and consultation
Facilitate 2-way communications through e-mail and chat rooms
Stimulate product trial
Enable customers to place orders
Measure effectiveness of specific advertising/promotional

campaigns

Marketing Communications and the Internet (2)

Web Site design considerations

Memorable address that is actively promoted
Relevant, up-to-date content (text, graphics, photos)
Contain information that target users will perceive as

useful/interesting
Easy navigation
Fast download

Internet advertising
Banners and buttons on portals and other websites seek to draw

online traffic to own site

Limits to effectivenessexposure (eyeballs) may not lead to

increases in awareness/preference/sales
Hence, advertising contracts may tie fees to marketing relevant
behavior (e.g., giving personal info or making purchase)

Promotion - the Third P

Many service businesses do not spend much on promotional

activities. For example, advertising agencies do not advertisefor

themselves.

Marketing

Research

companies

rarely

advertise (in India).

Why is this?

Reasons may be...

For many service products, the target market may

be a narrow segment

Secondly, many service providers rely on word of

mouth

However, that may not be enough

You need trials too

You still need a critical mass of early birds to try your

service product in the initial stages.

For this, an objective-based promotion plan is a must. In

todays jargon, it could be termed an Integrated Marketing
Communication plan.

Promotion Objectives

Examples
To create wide (100% or close) awareness about a service
To convert a certain percentage of the aware consumers into
buyers of our service brand?
To keep reminding consumers of our existence at a level on a
par with our major competitors

Plan connects with objectives

Depending on the objectives, the promotion plan can take

shape, with regard to the choice of media and the timing of
promotion etc.

Eg: Boxed Item about Yahoo

The media options

Television
Print-Newspapers
Print-Magazines or Journals
Hoardings or Billboards
Cinema theatre commercial
Posters or lamp shades or bus stops
Direct Mailers/ Direct Marketing
Event sponsorship
Flyers in newspapers or at shopping centres
Personal Visits for Promotion/ Sales

Direct Marketing

Marketing directly to the customer is very cost-effective

compared

to

mass

marketing

through

distribution

channels. But it requires a good database of potential

customers, which the service company can generate or
buy from other providers (usually other service companies
or email service providers etc.)

Direct Promos-Advantages

The major advantage of a direct promotion and

marketing effort is that the company is in control of
the effort at all times, instead of leaving it to the
channel members.
Another advantage of direct promotions is that their
effectiveness can be measured in a more direct way
in the form of ratio of conversions to the number of
mailers.

Other Promo-tools

If direct promotions are not feasible, traditional media like TV,

Print, hoardings (particularly for concentrated targeting in one
city), or events etc. can be considered.

A promotional budget is necessary to have, in order to draw up

an effective media plan.

Timing the Promotions

Whatever the media selected for promotions, the timing can

be critical.

For example, a movie-goer may look at immediately

available newspapers for listings and timings of a movie,
and decide in a short time. If a movie is not listed in the
media he looks at, the opportunity is lost.

Film Promotions

There are three or four major media used by film producers

to publicise their films.
Pre-release publicity in the form of press releases
to magazines and newspapers
Interviews of the major stars published in film
magazines
Song videos of the movie played on music
channels
Audio cassettes of the songs sold before release

Film Promos

Websites are used to publicise movies along with the

traditional methods.

In the seventies, sponsored radio shows of 15 minutes

duration used to present snippets of the story, dialogue and
music from a film

Sholay was promoted with the slogan The Greatest Story

Ever Told. The Greatest Star-cast Ever Assembled.

Budgets for Promotion

There are primarily three ways of setting budgets

for promotion of a service product

Objectives or need based

Percentage of Expected Sales
Competition based

Some Trends

Increasing Use of Below-the-line Media or Sales Promotion

compared to Ads
But Banks in India are increasing their ad expenditures
Co-branded credit cards /service products
Indias promotional marketing industry (not including film
marketing) is estimated at Rs 500 crore and growing

Crafting the Message for Promotions

First Time Customer

He is likely to be attracted by a benefit or feature
Eg: ATMs for a bank

Business Customers

May be more rational than individual customers, and

therefore may be influenced by things like references,
previous track record, and other rational and tangible
features.

Eg: SAP, the ERP solution provider, has an advertisement in the

Indian print media that promises payback in these words- You
can pay for a business solution, if youd like. I prefer one that
basically pays for itself.

General Purpose Brand building

There can be messages like the She is the Taj series

of advertisements which build a brand, and are in the
arena of corporate or brand-building promotions, not
designed to immediately result in sales, but expected to
contribute in the long run.

Positioning and Promotion: They are

Interdependent

Promotion has to be in line with the positioning strategy that a

service company has decided on.

Disney theme parks are a good example

Another example is that of Goa, with a tagline 365 days on a

holiday