SERVICES MARKETING MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS FOR SERVICES [ Part 1 ] Introduction: Modern marketing process involves something more than Just developing a good product (the First P), Pricing it attractively (the Second P), and Making it accessible (the Third P). It also calls for communication with the present and potential stakeholders and the general public (the Fourth P). Marketing communications, in one form or another, are essential to a company's success. For most companies today, the question is not whether to communicate, but rather what to say, to whom, and how often. So managers need to debate the question: “How should the Marketers communicate what our service has to offer?” Communications: In addition to being a global force, communication is the unique tool that marketers use to persuade the consumers to act in a desired way, say to vote, to buy, to donate, to patronise, etc. The location and atmosphere of a service delivery facility, corporate design features like the consistent use of colours and graphic elements, the appearance and behaviour of employees, website design—all of these factors contribute to an impression in the customer's mind. Communications are in many forms, like verbal, visual or symbolic, and convey special meaning that the marketers want to impart to the consumers. Communications can evoke emotions that put consumers in more receptive frames of mind, and it can encourage purchases that help consumers solve problems or avoid negative outcomes. In short, Communications is the bridge between marketers and consumers, and between consumers and their socio-cultural environments.

1. SERVICES
MARKETING
MARKETING
COMMUNICATIONS FOR
SERVICES [ Part 1 ]
Himansu S M

2. INTRODUCTION :
Modern marketing process involves
something more than:
• Just developing a good product (the First
P),
• Pricing it attractively (the Second P), and
• Making it accessible (the Third P).
• It also calls for communication with the
present and potential stakeholders and
the general public (the Fourth P).
Marketing communications, in one form or
216/08/2013 Himansu S M

3. INTRODUCTION :
• For most companies today, the
question is:
• not whether to communicate,
• but rather what to say, to whom, and
how often.
• So managers need to debate the
question:
• ―How should the Marketers
communicate what our service has to 316/08/2013 Himansu S M

4. Flow of Entities
• In our earlier discussion of
introduction to modern marketing
concept we had elicited the idea of a
simple marketing system where two-
way flow of entities between -
• The ―Industry‖ (a collection of
Marketers)
• And the ―Market‖ (a collection of
Buyers) take place.
• They are given in the following matrix, 416/08/2013 Himansu S M

5. Flow of Entities
Entities
that flow from
Industry to
Market
Entities
that flow from
Market to
Industry
Goods / Services,
Communications.
Money,
Information /
Feedback.
516/08/2013 Himansu S M

6. Communications
• In addition to being a global force,
communication is the unique tool that
marketers use to persuade the consumers
to act in a desired way, say to vote, to buy,
to donate, to patronise, etc.
• The location and atmosphere of a service
delivery facility, corporate design features
like the consistent use of colours and
graphic elements, the appearance and
behaviour of employees, website design—
all of these factors contribute to an
impression in the customer's mind.
616/08/2013 Himansu S M

7. Communications
• Communications are in many forms, like
verbal, visual or symbolic, and convey
special meaning that the marketers want
to impart to the consumers.
Communications can evoke emotions that
put consumers in more receptive frames
of mind, and it can encourage purchases
that help consumers solve problems or
avoid negative outcomes.
• In short, Communications is the bridge
between marketers and consumers, and
between consumers and their socio-
cultural environments. 716/08/2013 Himansu S M

8. Internal Communication
• Marketing communications can be
used to communicate with service
employees as well as with external
customers.
• "Internal Communications" from
senior managers to their employees
play a vital role in maintaining and
nurturing a corporate culture founded
on specific service values.
816/08/2013 Himansu S M

9. Internal Communication
• Communications may also be needed to
nurture team spirit and support common
corporate goals.
• Ex. : Consider the challenge of
maintaining a unified sense of purpose at
the overseas offices of companies such
as Citibank, Air Canada, Marriott, or
McDonalds, where people from different
cultures who speak different languages
must work together to create consistent
levels of service. 916/08/2013 Himansu S M

10. COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES FOR
SERVICES
• Several of the differences
distinguishing services from goods
have important marketing
communications implications.
• Thus communication strategies need
to reflect the special characteristics of
services.
1016/08/2013 Himansu S M

11. Intangible Nature of Service
Performances
• Since services are performances rather
than objects, their benefits can be difficult
to communicate to customers.
• Service providers should use tangible
cues whenever possible in their
advertising campaigns, especially for low-
contact services that involve few tangible
elements.
• is also helpful to include "vivid
information" that will produce a strong,
clear impression on the senses, especially
for services that are complex and highly
intangible. 1116/08/2013 Himansu S M

12. Intangible Nature of Service
Performances
• Ex. : MasterCard television and print
advertisements emphasise the
tangible things that can be purchased
with its credit card - complete with a
listing of the price of each item. In
each ad, all of the items purchased
with the card lead to a priceless
experience (a clever and memorable
reference to the concept of
intangibility). 1216/08/2013 Himansu S M

13. Intangible Nature of Service
Performances
• Easily recognizable corporate symbols are
especially important for international
companies when services are offered in
markets where the local language is not
written in Roman script or where a
significant proportion of the population is
functionally illiterate.
• Some companies have created metaphors
that are tangible in nature to help
communicate the benefits of their service
offerings. Insurance companies often use
this approach to market their highly
intangible products. 1316/08/2013 Himansu S M

14. Communications Issues In Services
Marketing
• A company’s communications strategies
help it project a desired image and
position itself in the market. Firms use
communications strategies to bring about
awareness of their goods and services
among their target audience. Further they
try to attract customers to consume their
services with various techniques as we
will see. However, there are several
challenges the service provider faces
while communicating. They are broadly : 1416/08/2013 Himansu S M

15. 1. Technology :
• Technology helps a company to
communicate fast and efficiently. At the
same time, since this is highly complex,
there are several problems that need to be
solved on a real time basis. Else, the
business is lost or a wrong and
detrimental message may be delivered.
Ex., the internet banking transaction is
very convenient but highly complex and
needs high degree of security, else it is
risky and disastrous. 1516/08/2013 Himansu S M

16. 2. Budgetary Constraints :
• Some companies may not have
sufficient funds to install a good
communication system in their offices.
In today’s world the technology needs
are costly and need sufficient
technically competent manpower.
1616/08/2013 Himansu S M

17. 3. Content :
• Content of communications is
important. Any mistake while choosing
messages with correct and accurate
terminology may prove disastrous.
Imagine what happens if tour operator
mistakes ―family‖ for ―a couple‖ for a
tour package of 3 days and 2 nights.
1716/08/2013 Himansu S M

18. 4. Delivery :
• Communication issues in delivery arise
in wrong timing, wrong message,
wrong place or wrong target audience.
Marketing communications personnel
must take extra precaution to see
these don’t happen. Examples are :
1. Sometimes, service providers
communicate incomplete or wrong
information to their customers. Ex.,
mostly happens with Insurance and MF
advisors. 1816/08/2013 Himansu S M

19. 4. Delivery :
2. Often, telemarketing executives of
service providers call up customers
during business hours to inform them
about their company’s service offerings.
Customers get disturbed and develop a
negative image about the company.
3. In some instances, the company might
end up targeting the wrong audience.
Ex. A mobile phone service provider
might communicate the benefits of
reduced charges of SMS to the elderly
persons in a family, who normally don’t
use the service. 1916/08/2013 Himansu S M

20. THE MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS MIX :
• Most service marketers have access to
numerous forms of communication,
referred to collectively as the "Marketing
Communications Mix".
• Different communication elements have
distinctive capabilities relative to the
types of messages that they can convey
and the market segments most likely to be
exposed to them.
• The mix includes personal contact,
advertising, publicity and public relations,
sales promotion, instructional materials,
and corporate design.
2016/08/2013 Himansu S M

21. THE MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS MIX :
• "This is a way of looking at the whole
marketing process from the viewpoint
of the customer" (-Kotler). The modern
marketing communications mix
consists of five major tools or models
of communications (which may be
further sub-divided), they are :
• ADVERTISING : Any paid form of non-
personal presentation and promotion
of ideas, goods, or services by an
identified sponsor.
2116/08/2013 Himansu S M

22. THE MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS MIX :
• SALES PROMOTION : A variety of
short term incentives to
encourage trial or purchase of a
product or service.
• Public Relations and Publicity : A
variety of programmes designed
to promote or protect a
company’s image or its individual
products.
2216/08/2013 Himansu S M

23. THE MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS MIX :
• Personal Selling : Face-to-Face
interactions with one or more
prospective purchasers for the
purpose of making presentations,
answering questions, and procuring
orders.
• Direct and Interactive Marketing :
Use of mail, telephone, fax, e-mail,
or internet to communicate directly
with or solicit response or dialogue
from specific customers and 2316/08/2013 Himansu S M

24. ADVERTISING & SALES PROMOTION SUB-DIVISIONS
Advertising Sales Promotion
Audio-Visual Materials Contests, Games
Billboards Continuity Programmes
Brochures and Booklets Coupons
Directories Demonstrations
Display Signs Entertainment
Motion Pictures Exhibits
Packaging – Inserts Fairs and Trade Shows
Packaging – Outer Low Interest Financing
Point-of-Purchase Displays Premiums and Gifts
Posters and Leaflets Rebates
Print and Broadcast Ads Sampling
Reprints of Ads Sweepstakes, Lotteries
Symbols and Logos Tie-ins
Video Tape Trade-in Allowances 2416/08/2013 Himansu S M

25. Applications
• In well-planned campaigns, several
different communication elements may be
used in ways that mutually reinforce each
other. Effective sequencing of
communications is important, since one
element often paves the way for others.
• Ex. : Advertising may encourage
prospects to visit a Web site, request
further information by mail, or shop in a
specific store where they will be exposed
to "retail displays" and can interact
directly with a salesperson. 2516/08/2013 Himansu S M

26. Applications
• There’s a broad division between
• (1) "Personal Communications", involving
personalised messages that move in both
directions between two parties, and
• 2) "Impersonal Communications", in which
messages move in only one direction and
are generally targeted at a large group of
customers and prospects rather than at a
single individual.
2616/08/2013 Himansu S M

27. Applications
• However, technology has created a gray
area between the two. It's now very easy for
a firm to combine word-processing
technology with information from a
database to create an impression of
personalization.
• Ex. : Think about the direct mail and e-mail
messages that you have received,
containing a personal salutation and
perhaps some reference to your specific
situation or past use of a particular
product. 2716/08/2013 Himansu S M

28. ADVERTISING :
• Advertising plays a major role in
promoting a company’s products and
service on a large scale. However,
developing advertising campaigns for
services it is a difficult aspect because
of the intangible properties services.
The features :
2816/08/2013 Himansu S M

29. Advertising Features - 1
• Advertising is non-personal mass
communication by an identified sponsor.
This is a cost effective and powerful
means to reach the masses.
• The cost per unit of (audience) of
exposure is the lowest in Advertising,
when compared to other promotional
approaches. It has the capacity to attract
the market.
• Informative, educative and persuasive
objectives can be achieved thro’
advertising. Service firms use advertising
for the achievement of the above
mentioned objectives. 2916/08/2013 Himansu S M

30. Advertising Features - 2
• As the most dominant form of
communications in consumer
marketing, advertising is often the first
point of contact between service
marketers and their customers,
serving to build awareness, inform,
persuade, and remind.
• It plays a vital role in providing factual
information about services and
educating customers about product
features and capabilities. 3016/08/2013 Himansu S M

31. Advertising Features - 3
• One of the challenges facing advertisers
is how to get their messages noticed. TV
and radio broadcasts are cluttered with
commercials, where as news papers and
magazines sometimes seem to contain
more ads than news and features.
• How can a firm hope to stand out from the
crowd ? Longer, louder commercials and
larger format ads are not necessarily the
answers. Some advertisers stand out by
using striking designs or a distinctively
different format.
3116/08/2013 Himansu S M

32. Advertising Features - 4
• A broad array of paid advertising media is
available, including broadcast (TV and
Radio), print (magazines and news
papers), movie theatres, and many types
of outdoor media
(Posters, Billboards, Electronic message
boards and exterior of buses and autos).
• Some media are more focused than
others, targeting specific geographic
areas or audiences, with a popular
interest. Advertising messages delivered
thro’ mass media are often reinforced by
direct marketing tools, such as
mailing, telemarketing, faxes or e-mail. 3216/08/2013 Himansu S M

33. Advertising Features - 5
• Service providers should involve front line
employees in designing the advertising
campaign as service personnel directly interact
with customers during the process of selling
and they would understand what appeals to
them.
• A company’s image is damaged if its service
personnel are inefficient, behave rudely, or are
careless in dealing with customers.
• The word of mouth publicity is a powerful
advertising tool or a company and its services.
Service providers should therefore educate
their employees on the importance of customer
service and motivate them to perform better. 3316/08/2013 Himansu S M

34. Advertising Features - 6
• The second aspect to consider is the
variability in services i.e., the way
services are delivered differs from one
company to another.
• Even if the service offering is the same,
due to the attitude, expertise and skills of
service personnel involved in delivering
the services, the actual delivery can be
different.
• Customers can easily find out these
difference and they indulge in word of
mouth publicity, thus making or marring
the business of the service provider. 3416/08/2013 Himansu S M

35. Advertising Features - 7
• Service customers face high perceived risks due
to the intangibility of the services. Therefore,
service providers should design ad campaigns
that attach tangible clues to the intangible
services.
• In addition, companies should advertise services
that they can [possibly] deliver. Firms should not
cheat the target audience by making unrealistic
promises. A company’s failure to keep its promise
can prove to be more damaging to its business,
than making no promise at all.
• Finally, a company that advertises its services
thro’ various media on a continuous basis is
better recognised by customers than a company
that rarely advertises its service.
3516/08/2013 Himansu S M

36. Advertising Features - 8
• A company can improve its brand image and
brand equity with the help of advertising.
• It also helps the company in differentiating and
positioning its services from those of its
competitors.
• Advertising is expensive, its results are spread
over time and therefore the returns can’t be
measured immediately.
• During a resource crunch, the first cost cutting
measures is taken at the advertising front. Most
companies try to cut down their promotional and
advertising costs due to budgetary constraints.
• However, they should use their direction in these
situations as most companies might need the
support of advertising for improving their
business.
3616/08/2013 Himansu S M

37. Sales Promotion
• Introduction : Sales Promotion is a
variety of short-term incentives to
encourage trial or purchase of a
product or service.
• It’s a key ingredient in marketing
campaigns, and consists of a diverse
collection of incentive tools, mostly
short term, designed to stimulate
quicker and / or greater purchases of
particular products or services. 3716/08/2013 Himansu S M

38. Sales Promotion Characteristics
• Sales promotions are used to intensify a
brand contact for customers or prospects,
especially when these people are in buying
or using situations.
• Although the primary object of the
consumer sales promotion is to affect
behaviour, it can (and should) also heighten
awareness and reinforce a brand’s image.
3816/08/2013 Himansu S M

39. Sales Promotion Characteristics
• Where the decision process takes weeks or
months sales promotion can be used to
help move prospects and customer thro’
the decision process.
• Consumer promotional offers provide
tangible added value and are generally
available for a ―limited time only‖ to create
a sense of urgency, which marketers think
speeds up the decision making process.
3916/08/2013 Himansu S M

40. Sales Promotion Characteristics
• Some marketers consider SP as a
supplement to Adv and PS because it can
make both more effective.
• But in reality, as we will see, it is much more
than that. Some years back the Adv / SP
spending ratio was 60:40, but now it is
almost 30:70 and SP spending is still
growing.
4016/08/2013 Himansu S M

41. Sales Promotion Tools
There are basically three types of sales
promotions :
1. Consumer Promotion : It may consist of
Samples, Coupons, Cash Refund Offers,
Prices off, Gifts and Premiums, Prizes,
Patronage, Rewards, Free Trials,
Warranties, Tie-in Promotions, Cross
Promotions, Point of Purchase Displays,
Sweepstakes, Lotteries, Games, Rebates,
Exhibits, Low Interest Financing,
Entertainment, and Continuity
Programmes, etc. 4116/08/2013 Himansu S M

42. Sales Promotion Tools
2. Trade promotions : It may consist of Prices
off, Advertising Display Allowances, and
Free Goods. Trade-in Allowances,
Contests for Sales Representatives,
3. Business and Sale Force Promotions : It
may consist of Fairs and Trade Shows and
Conventions, Specialty Advertising.
4216/08/2013 Himansu S M

43. Advertising vs. Sales Promotion :
Often the term Sales Promotion is
confused with Advertising, because
the former frequently use the latter to
create awareness of the promotion.
The basic difference between
Advertising and Sales promotion is
that while
Advertising offers a REASON to buy,
Sales Promotion offers an INCENTIVE to
buy. 4316/08/2013 Himansu S M

44. Advertising vs. Sales Promotion :
Advertising creates awareness and interest
and brings about attitude change,
SP influences the next steps in buying
behaviour, such as desire and action.
Marketers know that the prospects may be
aware of and even have some interest in a
brand but may not have enough desire to
seek out the brand or risk buying it.
An extra incentive, however, sometimes
moves a prospect into the desire and
action stages. 4416/08/2013 Himansu S M

45. I N T E R M I S S I O N
END OF PART -1
© Himansu S M / 16-08-2013
45
16/08/2013 Himansu S M