MKT 346: Marketing of Services Dr. Houston Chapter 7: Promoting Services and Educating Customers

Specific Roles of Marketing Communications  Position and differentiate service  Help customer evaluate offerings  Highlight differences that matter  Promote contribution of personnel  Promote contribution of backstage operations  Add value through communication content  Facilitate customer involvement in production  Stimulate or curb demand to match capacity

Overcoming the Four Problems of Intangibility Consumers already know that certain items comprise a class of objects, persons, or events Generality Services cannot be searched or inspected before purchase Non- Searchability Services do not have a one-to-one correspondence with physical objects Abstractness Hard to understand benefits of complex, multi-dimensional services Mental Impalpability

Overcoming Problems of Intangibility  Use tangible cues in advertising  Use metaphors to communicate benefits

Checklist for Marketing Communications Planning: The Five W’s Model  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?

Target Audiences: Three Broad Categories  Prospects  Users  Employees

Common Educational and Promotional Objectives in Service Settings (Table 6.2)  Create memorable images of specific companies and brands  Build awareness/interest for unfamiliar service and brand  Compare service favorably with competitors’ offerings  Build preference by communicating brand strengths and benefits  Reposition service relative to competition  Reduce uncertainty/perceived risk by providing info and advice

Common Educational and Promotional Objectives in Service Settings ( Table 6.2)  Provide reassurance (e.g., promote service guarantees)  Encourage trial by offering promotional incentives  Familiarize customers with service processes before use  Teach customers how to use a service to best advantage  Stimulate demand in off-peak, discourage during peak  Recognize and reward valued customers and employees

Marketing Communications Mix for Services (Fig. 7.10a)

Sources of Messages Received by Target Audience (Fig. 7.10b)

Moving from Impersonal to Personal Communications Technology Personal Communications Impersonal Communications

Messages through Service Delivery Channels  Customer service employees  Service outlets  Self-service delivery points

Messages Originating from Outside the Organization  Word of Mouth (WOM)  Blogs  Media Coverage

Ethical Issues in Communication  Advertising, selling, and sales promotion all lend themselves easily to misuse  Communication messages often include promises about benefits and quality of service delivery that don’t happen  Why were their expectations not met?  Poor internal communications between operations and marketing personnel concerning level of service performance  Over promise to get sales  Deceptive promotions  Unwanted intrusion by aggressive marketers into people’s personal lives

Strategies for Corporate Design  Unified and distinctive visual appearance for all tangible elements  Provide recognition and strengthen brand image  Especially useful in competitive markets to stand out from the crowd and be instantly recognizable

Strategies for Corporate Design  How to stand out and be different?  Use colors in corporate design  Use names as central element  Use trademarked symbol as logo rather than name  Create tangible recognizable symbols

MKT 346 Key Concepts: Chapter 7  Specific roles of marketing communications  Challenges and opportunities in communicating services  The five Ws of service communication planning  Marketing communications originate from within the organization through marketing and production channels  Marketing channels: advertising, public relations, direct marketing, sales promotion, personal selling, tradeshows, internet  Production channels: front-line employees and call center staff, service outlets, self-service delivery points  Marketing communications originating from outside organization: word of mouth, blogs and online ratings, media editorial  Corporate design strategies are part of communication mix