ch 5

DESIGNING THE COMMUNICATON MIX FOR SERVICING

COMMUNITCATION PLAYS A KEY ROLE IN MARKETING

Communication helps in creating powerful image and a sense of credibility, confidence and reassurance.

ADDING VALUE THROUGH COMMUNICATION CONTENT

INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS

Communications from senior managers to their employees plays a vital role in maintaining and nurturing a corporate culture founded on specific values.

Internal communication helps : Ensure efficiency Satisfactory service delivery Achieve productive and harmonious working

relationship Build employee trust Respect and loyalty

COMMUNICATION SERVICES PRESENTS BOTH CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES

OVERCOME THE PROBLEM OF INTANGIBILITY

ABSTRACTNESS

Services which do not have one to one correspondence with physical objects. Ex. : financial securities, expert advice

Challenge for marketers is to connect services to concepts.

GENERALITY

Refers to items that comprise a class of objects, persons or events. Ex: Flight attendants, cabin service

Customers of service know what they are.

Marketers have to communicate what makes a specific offering distinctly different from competing offerings.

NONSEARCHABILITY

Refers to the fact that intangibles cannot be searched or inspected before they are purchased.

Ex: appearance of health club

MENTAL IMPALPABILITY

Refers to fact that many services are sufficiently complex, multidimensional

FACILITATE CUSTOMER INVOLVEMENT IN PRODUCTION

When customers are involved in service production, they need training to perform well.

Ex : adventurous activities(rock climbing, skiing)

One approach is to show service delivery in action.

HELP CUSTOMERS TO EVALUATE SERVICE OFFERINGS

It is difficult for customers to distinct services of different firms

Providing tangible cues related to : Service performance Highlighting the quality of equipment and

facilities Emphasizing employee characteristics

SIMULATION OR DAMPEN DEMAND TO MATCH CAPACITY

Some services are time specific and cant be stored for resale at later date. Ex: - movie ticket

Strategy: Reduce use during peak demand periods and

stimulate it during off-peak periods

PROMOTE THE CONTRIBUTION OF SERVICE PERSONNEL

In high contact services, front-line personnel are central to service delivery.

An ad that shows employees at work helps prospective customers understand the nature of the service encounter.

TARGET AUDIENCE

Divided as: Prospects Users Employees

SPECIFYING COMMUNICATION OBJECTIVES

Marketers need to be clear about their goals to formulate specific communication objectives and select most appropriate messages and communication tool to achieve them.

KEY PLANNING CONSIDERATIONS

Marketing communication campaign should reflect a good understanding of the service product and how well prospective buyers can evaluate its characteristics in advance of purchase.

THE MARKETING COMMUNICATION MIX

MESSAGES TRANSMITTED THROUGH PRODUCTION CHANNELS

MESSAGES TRANSMITTED THROUGH MARKETING CHANNELS

MESSAGES ORIGINATING FROM OUTSIDE THE ORGANIZATION

ETHICAL ISSUES IN COMMUNICATION

Unrealistic service promises result from poor internal communications between operations and marketing personnel.

BRANDS AND COMMUNICATIONS

CORPORATE BRANDS

SUBBRANDS

Apply branding principles to specific products or processes as a way of both distinguishing a firm’s service offerings and also differentiating each of them from competing alternatives.

THE ROLE OF CORPORATE DESIGN

Corporate design strategies are created by external consulting firms.

Objective – provide a unifying and recognizable theme linking all the firm’s operations in a branded service experience through strategic use of physical evidence.

MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS AND THE INTERNET

INTERNET APPLICATIONS

Communications task: Promoting consumer awareness and interest Providing information and consultation Facilitating two way communication with

customers through e-mail and chat rooms Stimulating product trail Enabling customers to place orders Measuring the effectiveness of specific

advertising and promotional camaigns

WEB SITE DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS

Web site should contain information that a company’s target customers will find interesting and useful.

INTERNET ADVERTISING

Goal : Draw online traffic to advertiser’s own site.