Brand Building Strategies

Services Sector

Presented by:
Surbhi Bagri (03)
Vikram Harsora (17)
Akanksha Kanherkar (29)
Sagar Shah (53)
Jyotsna Wase (61)
• Volvo Happiness
• Fed-ex Fresh
• American Express Extravagance
• Subway Low prices
• Kingfisher Overnight
• Disneyland Privilege
• Walmart Safety
• Volvo Safety
• Fed-ex Overnight
• American Express Privilege
• Subway Fresh
• Kingfisher Extravagance
• Disneyland Happiness
• Walmart Low prices
 What is a Service brand?

Brand Equity- 10 Most Trusted Service Brands- 2009

 Nature of Services

Industrial Management
Wiping Cloth Software Design
Consulting

Pure Pure
Good Service
Search Experience Credence
Qualities Qualities qualities
 Product Tangibility Spectrum

Salt

Soft drinks

Detergents
Automobiles
Cosmetics
Fast Food Intangible
outlets Dominant

Tangible Fast Food

Dominant outlets Advt
Agency
Airlines
Tourism
Consulting

Education

Adopted from Shostack (1977)

 Limitations of a Service brand

• Intangible
• Directly delivered by people
• Inseparability of production & consumption
• Difficult to standardize (heterogeneity)
• Criticality of time
• Perishable
• Consumer-to-Consumer Contact Level
• No rights to pure ownership
• Demand Pattern
 Life Cycle Marketing

Marketer Success metric

Product marketer Single sales Transaction
Service markerter Open ended Relationship

Assignments Long term Contract

Subscriptions

Marketing Tactics appropriate for Life Cycle relationships with Service Brands :

• Progressively disclose the sales portfolio

• Build Retention Campaigns
• Appoint Relationship Managers
• Treat renewal rates as a key metric
 People & Service brand

Factors for Success

– Empathy
– Reliability
– Appearance
– Responsiveness
– Assurance
Banks-15, Apparels, Schools, Airlines, Petroleum-7
Insurance & financial services-13 FMCG & Food Services-6
Telecom-9,
Brand Building Process starts by asking three elegantly simple questions:

Branding Building Process

Who are we and where we are ?
Strategic Brand Analysis
Category/ Market Discoveries
Brand Discoveries
Consumer Discoveries (Understanding Target)
Step 1
Communication Discoveries
SWOT Analysis

Where do we want to be?

Setting the Direction
Opportunity segment: positioning grid
Brand positioning and statement
Brand Vision (Essence)
Brand Personality
Step 2
Branding Idea

How can we get there?

Executing the Vision

Step 3
Branding Building Process

Who are we and

where we are ?
Strategic Brand Analysis

Step 1
Who are we and where we are ?: Analyzing the Fact : Strategic Brand Analysis

Strategic Brand Analysis Step 1

Demographic and
psychographic, Target
Consumer insight, lifestyle, and
Discoveries consuming behavior
Distinctive Insight
that might be
served by a brand
Communication uniqueness Category & Market
Discoveries Discoveries

Competitor Current Market

Communication Situation
Platform
Brand Discoveries

Root Strengths
and brand
issues
Who are we and where we are ?: Analyzing the Fact : Key Discoveries

SWOT Analysis Step 1

In-depth analysis and presentation of Strengths, Weaknesses,
Opportunities, of the key players and our brand.
Branding Building Process

Where do we want to be?

Setting the Direction

Step 2
Where do we want to be? : Setting the Direction

Opportunity segment: Positioning grid Step 2

Analysis and presentation of the

segmentation of the market, where
key players in the market position
themselves in the market to search for
the opportunity segment or positioning

Identify Target Market the market

segment or group of customers that a
company should decide to serve, and
at which it consequently be the aim for
marketing activities.
Where do we want to be? : Setting the Direction

Brand positioning and statement Step 2

Identify the distinctive position that a
brand adopts in its competitive
environment to ensure that
individuals in its target market can
tell the brand apart from others.

Positioning
Starbucks aims to provide quality coffee in a relaxed atmosphere for
those seeking a respite between home and work. Also, since
orders are placed much like in an Italian expresso bar, grab-and-
go consumers can bring coffee and a snack home or to the office.
The ambience and service is the same everywhere. This is the
vaulted Starbucks Experience, an elusive halo that competitors
desire, but have trouble duplicating.
Vision
Third place from home and office …Intimacy on a mass scale.
Where do we want to be? : Setting the Direction

Brand Vision (Essence) Step 2

Creating the brand's promise
expressed in the simplest, most
single-minded terms. The most
powerful brand essences are rooted
in a fundamental customer need.

Starbuck : a third place from home and office

Jet Airways : The Joy of Flying

Bank of Baroda: India’s International Bank

Hindustan Petroleum : Future Full of Energy

Walt Disney: to make people happy

FedEx : Reliability
 Trustworthy, Exciting,
Joyful
Country of Personality
Origin /
Heritage
Symbol
Mumbai, India

Flight of Fantasy

Consistent Functional
Overtime benefit

Jet Airways high quality of service and

The Joy of Flying reliable, comfortable and
efficient operations

Service and
Customer Professionalism
Relationship
Cant compare with any Emotional
other airline
benefit
Jet Privilege
Where do we want to be? : Setting the Direction

Brand Personality Step 2

Identify the brand
attribution of human
personality traits
(seriousness,
warmth,
imagination, etc.) to
a brand as a way to
achieve
differentiation.
Where do we want to be? : Setting the Direction

Branding Idea Step 2

While executions change, the
Branding Idea remains the same.

The Branding Idea encapsulates the

Creative Idea, the unique expression
They are presented as an
introduction to proposed creative
work.

It provides the foundation for future

work.
Branding Building Process

How can we get there?

Executing the Vision

Step 3
 Brand building strategies (for Services)

Don't Mass Market - Your Target Market

Product companies sell to the masses through large scale advertising efforts.
Following in the footsteps of these companies, many service firms, when
attempting to build their brand, start advertising to the masses as if they were
selling a Chewing gum or a Cola. But for a service brand, this is a waste. It's not
targeted enough, and it costs too much, given the return that it provides.

The dynamics of brand implementation are just different for service companies.
Service firms need consistent articulation of their value proposition across all
touch points of the marketing and sales process.

While catchy jingles during primetime TV might work for a product company, they
are simply inappropriate for service firms. But the right marketing program that
"touches" your prospects regularly with highly targeted messages will increase
awareness and recognition.
 Brand building strategies (for Services)

Focus on relevance over differentiation

Although service providers claim that they are different from their
competitors, service firms of a same industry provide almost same services.
(Example, Telecom companies- Airtel, Vodafone, Tata Indicom)

Instead of attempting to be amazingly different from the rest, focus on being

relevant. Specifically, relevance as it pertains to the client. The ideal service
brand merges the needs, wants, and desires of the client with the character
and values of the company.

For a service company, by staking a claim for what you stand for,
communicating how you help your clients succeed, and communicating how
reliable you are in doing this, can help in developing a unique identity. Most
service firms don't have the stick-to-it ability to get this far, but if they do,
they can stand out in the market.
 Brand building strategies (contd…)
Worry About Growing Revenue, Not Market Share

Service brands should concentrate on growing revenue, not gaining

market share, as product companies do.

In a service industry, whether it be accounting, law, architecture, or

consulting, even local markets are usually fragmented and crowded with
many successful firms generating considerable revenue from like-
services.

Instead of being concerned about the position in the market, the focus
should be on making efforts on improving the bottom line.

Example, Law or auditing firms, Chartered accountants.

 Brand building strategies (contd…)

Help Your People Be Your Brand

Service firms do not have a tangible display of products that you can see,
touch, and test out before deciding to purchase.

For a service firm, its face to the world, what carries its brand most are its
own people.

The focus has to be on creating a collaborative culture, communicating your

brand message to the target audience so that each individual becomes a
brand ambassador. This helps to ensure that every sales call, every client
interaction, & every conversation delivers the brand as intended.

"speaking in one voice" is far more important for service firms who rely on
direct, one-to-one interaction with clients.

(Bad example, Government companies/offices)

 Brand building strategies (contd…)
Provide brand-aligned human-assisted service

Human-assisted service is here to stay- complex customer service requests

and certain transactions require human involvement. Moreover, some
customer segments prefer the human touch.

As such, it is important for companies to hire and retain brand-aligned

people for customer service. HR departments of the organizations could
match the personality of the brand to the desired personality of frontline reps
to ensure brand-aligned agent recruitment and retention.

The knowledge and conversational styles of "role model" (i.e., the most
brand-aligned personnels)

For example, call center agents or cutomer service executives at galleries.

 Gap analysis
 In business and economics, Gap analysis is a tool that helps a
company to compare its actual performance with its potential
performance.

 This helps provide the company with insight into areas which could
be improved.

Service Gap analysis identifies the gaps between –

customer’s expectation & perception about the service
&
communication & delivery of the service by the service provider.
 THE SERVICE GAP MODEL ANALYSIS

 Gap 1 is the distance between what customers expect and what managers
think they expect - clearly survey research is a key way to narrow this gap.
 THE SERVICE GAP MODEL ANALYSIS

 Gap 2 is between management perception and the actual specification of the

customer experience - Managers need to make sure the organization is defining
the level of service they believe is needed.
 THE SERVICE GAP MODEL ANALYSIS

 Gap 3 is from the experience specification to the delivery of the experience -

Managers need to audit the customer experience that their organization currently
delivers in order to make sure it lives up to the specifications.
 THE SERVICE GAP MODEL ANALYSIS

 Gap 4 is the gap between the delivery of the customer experience and what is
communicated to customers - All too often organizations exaggerate what will be
provided to customers, or discuss the best case rather than the likely case,
raising customer expectations and harming customer perceptions.
 THE SERVICE GAP MODEL ANALYSIS

 Gap 5 is the gap between customer's perception of the whole experience and the
customer's expectation of the service - Customers' expectations have been shaped
by word of mouth, their personal needs and their own past experiences. Routine
transactional surveys after delivering the customer experience are important for an
organization to measure customer perceptions of service.
HOW TO ADDRESS THE CUSTOMER SERVICE GAP
 Refrain from too much reliance on CRM softwares

 Interaction (Personal attention)

 Enculturation

 Value & Brand image creation in customer's mind

 Ask the customer

 Complete feedback mechanism (customer meetings, focused group

interviews, 360 degree feedback)

“Customer service gaps are filled only when the culture of the
organization from top to bottom, represent admiration and energy with a
special emphasis to a key corporate asset- the customer.”
Case Study- Malaysia
• Malaysia got freedom on 31st August 1957

• Focus was now on implementing its

economic development plans.

• On 10th August 1972 the Government established

Tourism Development Corporation (TDC)

• 1980 - Attracted 2.3 million foreign tourists.

• In 1990, as a part of their aggressive promotional
strategies, TDC designated this year as ‘Visit Malaysia
Year 1990’
• 1992 – The Government replaced the TDC Act with
Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board Act 1992 (MTPB)

• It was popularly known as ‘Tourism Malaysia’

• Principle objective – Promote Malaysia internationally as

a tourist destination.
• 1994 - Second ‘Visit Malaysia Year’

• 1998 – Commonwealth Games

• MTPB’s 3-point strategy -

1. To target those markets which were not (or less)

affected by Asian Financial crisis in the late 1990s, such
as China, India and the middle east.

2. To attract neighbouring markets such as Singapore,

Thailand, Hongkong, Indonesia etc.

3. To develop domestic tourism

 Building the Brand
• Objectives -
1. Create product differentiation
2. Develop preferred brand image for tourists and the
trade.
3. Increase tourist arrivals.
4. Define market segmentation
5.Revitalize the brand.

• Tagline – “Still a great place to be”

• USP – Country’s rich cultural heritage and racial diversity

• October 1999 – New tagline “Malaysia Truly Asia”
Malaysia- Truly Asia
 Promotion and Marketing

• Theme song
• Brand logo
• 5 girls icon
• Special greetings
 Promotion and Marketing contd..

• Aggressive Marketing and Promotion

• Collaboration with private sector

» Sales campaigns
» Trade & Tourism fairs
» Seminars, workshops & familiarization programs
» Consumer fairs

• Achievements
 Challenges Faced
1. Hard to sell
» Expansion of focus-
Highlight places,
adventures,
activities, culture,
cuisine, ecology
» Segmentation of
market-
adventure

island & beaches

culture & heritage

health tourism
Print ads
» Host events
World Cup Golf, formula one power boat race,
Le tour de Langkawi

» Special emphasis on MICE

Venues like MIECC, Putra WTC,SPCC
Improved overall infrastructure
2. Negligible increase in 2002
9/11, cradle of terrorism, ban of bikinis
» Joint campaign with Malaysian Airlines
» Worldwide advertising campaign

3. Decline in 2003
Iraqi war, outbreak of SARS, bombing in Jakarta
» Modified campaign
 The Road Ahead
• Continue & intensify campaign
• Focus on MICE; penetrate new markets
• Kuala Lumpur Sentral
• 3rd most popular destination
• Diversify
Conclusion