Marketing Excellence:

Parkway Group Hotels

Case Study Analysis

- Edward Demings Group

 Service - Characteristics
• Philip Kotler and Paul N. Bloom define services as any activity or
benefit that one party can offer to another, which is basically
intangible and does not result in the ownership of anything. They
added that its production may or may not be tied to a tangible product.
• Characteristics:
• Intangibility
• Inseparability
• Variability
• Perishability
 Consumer Evaluation of Services is Tricky

Search Quality – Can Evaluate Before Purchase

Experience Quality – Can evaluate after purchase
Services Fall in these 2 categories
Credence Quality – Hard to Evaluate Even After Purchase
 Hospital – Medical Services
• This case deals with a Healthcare Company that runs a chain of high-end (Luxury) hospitals, so let us
examine some traits of this Service:
• Category of Service Mix: A Major Service with accompanying minor goods and Services
• Both People and Equipment Based – A mix of equipment , infrastructure and Skilled manpower required.
• Requires the presence of the client (Direct Contact) - Client needs to feel pleasant and comfortable
throughout the service delivery process.
• Is a Personal Service – Individual need as opposed to a business need, marketing shall be different.
• Service Provider Looks for Profit (As opposed to NGO/Non Profit)
• High in Credence Qualities –
• Hard to evaluate even after experiencing,
• Rely heavily on reviews, word of mouth
AND
• Price, Provider and Physical Cues to Judge Quality.
• High Loyalty if Expectations are fulfilled
 Who are Parkway Group?

• Parkway Pantai Limited is one of Asia's largest integrated private

healthcare groups with a network of 29 hospitals throughout the
region, including Malaysia, Singapore, India, China and Brunei.
• Its “Mount Elizabeth”, “Gleneagles”, “Parkway” and “Pantai” brands
are among the most prestigious in Asia.
 Target Market and Positioning
• Their target Segment is mainly High Income Groups - Medical
Tourists and wealthy prospects with a penchant for preferential and
personalized treatment.
• Parkway Position themselves as providers of highest level of patient
care - providing seamless, comprehensive healthcare of the highest
quality, focused on creating and maintaining value for our people,
patients, and shareholders.
• The company applies different service standards in different hospitals
but one thing is common – Patients are treated like 5 Star Hotel Guests
The Game of Differentiation
Differentiate or Die
• There are many players in the Medical Tourism Market in Asia
• Healthcare is better and cheaper here (calling an ambulance to your place
costs $2500 in the USA)
• IF a Company isn't actively differentiating itself, it faces two
possibilities, neither of which will help sales.
1)You blend in with everyone else in the market, and buyers don’t see you as
different.
2) While you're not positioning yourself, competitors are positioning you. If
Competitor A convinces customers that it's the fast, efficient supplier, that makes
you the slow, lazy one. If Competitor B looks like the technical innovator in the
industry, you're the second-rate also-ran.
• - Chad Kaydo – A Position of Power
 Providing Value Pre-Entry to Post-Exit

0 2 4
Cost Estimates through a 5 Star Accomodation for Post Surgical Insurance
portal called PPA Patient and Family Follow Up Treatment
Estimates and Quotes for Schedule
Common Procedures Second Opinion, Full
Disclosure MIS update and based
Travel Arrangements, On recommendations (Consent
Boarding Admission Personalized Attention Additional Basis)

Pre Entry Appointment-less Walkin

Duration of Translation Services
Beyond Exit
On Demand Consultation Treatment Video Games for Kids
and Admission Gourmet Food
Sight Seeing Arrangements

1 3
Differentiation – The Parkway Style
Category Conventional Hospital
Admissions Prior Appointments Needed, Might not get
accommodated without one
Accommodation Cleanliness, Spaciousness and similar
attributes (Absence of Discomfort)
If I don’t go from 0 to -1, I am happy
Patient Passive, the patient is always welcome to
Awareness/Involveme have the reports verified, not an explicit
nt in Decision Making suggestion though
Post Surgical Provided in Select Hospitals but not a
Insurance common feature
Patient, Family On Ambulance Pickups, Attender
Boarding Accomodations are common but there are
restrictions
Parkway Group
Can walk in anytime without an
appointment, 24x7 Admissions Desk, 2
Stage Evaluation – On Duty Doctors
followed by Specialists (over 4200
Doctors Working Across Singapore)
Pleasing Ambiance, High Speed Internet,
VOD, Aesthetics, Personalized Care
(Lounge area, Concierge, dedicated
room-staff similar to a hotel) – Actually
Happy to stay
Active, Direct Facility/Channel for patient
to request a second opinion from an
Accredited Doctor (Patient Can Choose
or be provided with one)
Coverage for any Complications post
surgery up to 24 hours after discharge.
Visa, Tickets, Cabs, On Boarding, Rooms,
Food and Sight Seeing Packages
Arranged for the entire Family
 Epitome of Customer Centricity and Research – Finding
and Meeting Articulated and Unarticulated Needs
• What are the things patients say vs What they actually feel/want:
Typical Articulated Needs Hidden Need Uncovered
Rooms should be Neat Gloominess Associated with Hospitals is off
putting, the setting needs to be made more
happy
Right Treatments to be Suggested, Patients will generally be averse to going
Minimal Invasiveness preferred under the knife, if they have multiple
opinions from known doctors // But may
hesitate to speak out
Keep Treatment to Discharge Period Cant ask family member to stay for longer
Short in a dull gloomy setting
Prefer closest to home/ within I Need to be aware of what is being
Country/ Known Hospital and Doctors discussed and planned for me, I cant follow
a person speaking a language I don’t Know
Innovation - POD Game Changer
Aesthetic, Trendy, Super comfy
rooms like hotels
Second Opinion from Accredited
Doctor - Formalized
Sight-Seeing to Video Games,
Whole family happy
Translator For Multiple Languages,
Full Disclosure and Personalized
Explanation of Treatment

State of the art equipment is also an important factor but not exactly a POD in the present age
Attention to Detail – Location Specific
Features/Variants
• Parkway are smart to vary the luxury levels based on location.
• In UAE, the royal suits are nothing short of a palatial living experience (Cash
Rich Market)
• In Singapore they have 3 levels of Luxury Hospitals each with their own
level of premium patient care.
• On the other hand, in Malaysia, They have rooms at an entry price of 40$
(like an entry level Audi/Benz), the same hospital has Deluxe rooms costing
110$ per night which are of a different level.
• The group have entered into Joint Ventures with Apollo, Global Hospitals in
India where the strategy is slightly different (Other country PoP’s are still
PoD’s here)
Breezing Through The Checklist For Marketing Excelle
Parkway recruit and train
passionate employees for
customer service,
Parkway Markets
Doctors, Technicians,
Support Staff, everyone is the promise of
made to Understand the premium patient
importance of Customer care of the
Satisfaction through
practice and enforcement
highest level

Well Trained and Empowered Employees Deliver The Best Service to The Patients
2 QUESTIONS
TO ANSWER
• With many hospitals in Asia competing in the
medical tourism industry, How can parkway
position itself in order to attract more patients?

• Parkway Hospitals do not employ many doctors

but depend on the use of the hospital services by
private specialists. What are the risks in this
approach?
OVERCOMING COMPETITION IN MEDICAL
TOURISM (ASIA)
• Parkway must continue to position themselves as Providers of High Quality Treatment with the Highest Quality
of Patient Care.
• Transparency, State of the Art Infrastructure, Equipment, Availability of specialists etc. shall be mentioned as
Points of Parity
• The Fuss Free- No Prior Appointments Approach of Parkway can be an attractive proposition for travellers who
don’t always have a clear itinerary
• They should Amp-up the marketing for their rehabilitation programs as they go hand in hand with the serene
atmosphere
• Their highlights are the already impressive infrastructure, their reputation of being a Star hotel quality
Hospitality provider which needs to be marketed. Package it as “The Parkway Experience” – putting the “Tour”
back in Medical Tourism.
• One Stop, Integrated Solution - The end to end Integrated value chain starting from help with Visa Processing
to Managing Cabs, Family Accommodation, Sight-Seeing Packages, The in room entertainment to more serious
aspects of Insurance, Post Op Support is an impressive POD.
• Parkway provides a Premium Service – which, though can be considered as expensive in absolute terms (locally),
still offer more value per dollar as a well-rounded service for an overseas medical tourism prospect so this
Value For Money aspect should be in their positioning.
• We recommend Positioning Parkway As:
South East Asia’s Largest Private Healthcare Organization providing seamless, comprehensive medical services of the
highest quality with premium patient care and a wholesome set of personalized services for a complete healing
experience.
RISK IN Relying on Specialists Not On
Payroll
If not bound by contractual agreements, the availability of specialists becomes a
variable of concern.  Though any type of employment/understanding is not
permanent, having a structured agreement with doctors with defined availability
criteria is always preferred

Absence/unavailability of a required professional during an emergency may lead

to complications and very bad press (Reputation Driven Market)

Not having the ability to rebuke/charge a specialist (since he/she isn’t employed
directly) in the event of a failure or non-compliance makes the SLA adherence lot
more complicated, there are no hard and fast rules

International Standards, Certifications will not consider “Not on Payroll”

Specialists.

Employee loyalty/ Morale of on-payroll doctors may take a hit if there are
instances of preferential treatment for specialists