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International Research Symposium in Service Management ISSN 1694-0938
Le Meridien Hotel, Mauritius, 24-27 August 2010 1
Service Branding: From Developing Service Brands To Value Creation In The Hospitality & Tourism Industry In Kenya
Joan J. W. Gathungu
Kenya Utalii College
P.O. Box 31052
Nairobi.
254-0722-342300
[email protected] / [email protected]
&
Auralia Wamuyu Karoki
Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture & Technology.
P.O. Box 62000
Nairobi.
254-0722-775364
[email protected]
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International Research Symposium in Service Management ISSN 1694-0938
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SERVICE BRANDING: FROM DEVELOPING SERVICE BRANDS TO VALUE
CREATION IN THE HOSPITALITY & TOURISM INDUSTRY IN KENYA
Paper type: Exploratory
The new economy is characterized by focus on service delivery, trade in knowledge based
industry and innovation. This heralds a critical time for the service industry, due to the
increased proliferation of service brands, increasingly shorter service life cycles. And the
global nature of this phenomenon. Despite this rapid move into prominence of knowledge,
ideas and services, the branding of services has grown at a very slow pace. This is despite the
fact that the new economy is embedded on the realization of value for the consumer.
Branding of goods continues to grow very rapidly despite the fact that trade on services is
growing more at the marketplace.
Many organizations today face challenges in service branding due to: services in most cases
attract population segments and not the mass market; services need to convince their
consumers of their relevance in the market as far as customers’ needs, desires, competitor
activity is concerned since services offered tend to be largely alike; service firms need to
focus on growing revenues earned from the market and not on growing market share; most
service firms are unable to engage in effective internal marketing thus overlooking their
biggest brand ambassadors and being unable to effectively convince the market.
In addition, developing a service brand is only an initial step. The resources committed into
the process are enormous and need to be monitored to ensure a return on investment. The
development of a service brand must thus guarantee the firm of the creation of value to the
firm, previously non-existent. Value may be created in the areas of: relationship building,
visibility, goodwill in the brand, positioning and relevance.
Despite these challenges, there is need to engage in vigorous and effective service branding
for the firm. This is because each time the consumer encounters the service is a moment of
truth for the firm. As such, the firm needs to constantly deliver a consistent and reliable
message to its consumers throughout.
The purpose of this study therefore is to determine the number of service firms that have
engaged in successful service branding and if service branding adds value to an organization.
The specific objectives include: to identify successful service brands in the hospitality and
tourism industry in Kenya; to assess how service branding impacts on the overall value of an
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organization; to establish the existence and development of brand extensions from the
organizational brand; to identify challenges in the new economy that affect service branding
in the hospitality and tourism industry; and to identify a model that successful firms employ
in service branding.
Both primary and secondary data shall be used in the study. Primary data will be collected
using questionnaires and in-depth interviews from industry marketing managers. Data will be
analyzed using SPSS where descriptive statistics will be derived to explain the trends and
relationships in the hospitality and tourism industry. Upon data analysis, three models shall be
developed: one on qualities of a successful service brand, secondly on initiatives firms may
employ to overcome challenges inherent in the service branding process and thirdly initiatives
firms may adopt to realize more successful service branding that’s beneficial to them. The
study shall benefit players in the hospitality and tourism industry.
Key words: New Economy; Service branding; Value creation
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LITERATURE REVIEW
Introduction
Most of the empirical and theoretical literature in existence regarding branding borders on
products.
Aaker (1996) describes a brand as a ‘‘mental box’’ where customers file information relating
to the brand and accumulate evaluations of the brand. Although branding has played a role in
commercial trade for centuries, brand management rose to prominence in building
competitive advantage during the twentieth century (Aaker, 1991).
The practice of branding has endured for centuries as a method for distinguishing the goods
of one producer from another, exemplified by the rancher’s symbol burned in to the hides of
livestock, the medieval silversmith’s trademark on the base of a candlestick, or the sixteenth-
century distiller’s name burned on a whiskey barrel(Farquhar,1989). These are examples of
brands as defined by the American Marketing Association (2008) as: ‘‘A name, term, design,
symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller’s good or service as distinct from those
of other sellers.’ Brands distinguish the firm’s offer from competitors’ products in the market
place by linking the product with an abstract representation (e.g., name, term, design, or
symbol) in the minds of customers.
Building on Aaker’s work, Keller (1993) develops the behavioral concept of customer-based
brand equity (CBBE), which he defines as ‘‘the differential effect of brand knowledge on
consumer response to the marketing of the brand’’ (p. 8). Although conceptualizations of
brands and brand equity vary, differences in definitions do not distinguish product branding
from services branding or B2B brands from consumer brands (De Chernatony & Segal-Horn,
2003; Webster & Keller, 2004).
The purpose of brand management is to generate brand equity through meaningful
differentiation by linking the brand to an abstract concept (e.g., name, term, design, or
symbol) in ways that increase the brand knowledge held by customers. Hence, two
foundational assumptions of brand management are that (1) customers have the ability to
perceive differences and (2) they will have differential responses to differentiated offerings.
These assumptions immediately raise questions for brands in the B2B services context. First,
how are brands perceived when the customer is an organization rather than an individual?
Second, how do brands differentiate intangible offers that customers often consider as
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commodities? In the business environment, effective business-to-business (B2B) relationships
are essential to the survival and success of the enterprise; however, acquiring and maintaining
profitable relationships is becoming increasingly difficult. (Davis, Golicic and Marquardt,
2009)
Upon examining existing academic definitions of ‘brand’, a ‘two factor’ approach forms the
broad basis for many definitions with writers such as De Chernatony and Mc William (1990)
and Caldwell and Freire (2004) suggesting brand definitions based on ‘emotional’ and
‘rational’ factors. This approach is summarized by Pringle and Thompson (1999), arguing
that there are two main constituents to a brand’s authority: its rational or performance benefits
and its emotional or image ones. Louro and Cunha (2001) embrace these and add ‘strategic’
and ‘relational’ dimensions in arguing that brands are multidimensional. De Chernatony and
Riley (1998), in investigating definitions, ultimately suggest that a brand is ‘a
multidimensional construct whereby managers augment products or services with values and
this facilitates the process by which consumers confidently recognize and appreciate these
values’.
Some practitioners believe that branding is not so widely used in services marketing as in the
marketing of more tangible items.
Although there is extensive literature on services marketing not much of it addresses the
issues of branding services. A significant amount of literature on services deals with
measuring or delivering customer satisfaction (Carman,2000); Gongroos,1983; Parasuraman
et al 1988,1991 1994; Spreng and Mackoy,1996;Jones and Suh, 2000); More literature
relates to what type of organization and personnel support the delivery of high quality
services(Carlzon 1987;Gongroos 1990;Lovelock, 1992; Davis, 1989; Wyckoff, 1991)
There is also literature on, success in services (Sin and Tse, 2000; Berry, 1999; Keaveney,
1995; Martilla and James, 1977, Schlesinger and Heskett, 1991).There also exists literature on
general branding of services directly or indirectly, Dobree and Page (1990) onkvisit and Shaw
(1989).
Service brands attach more often to the parent firm than to an individual service (Berry,
2000). The quality of the service, the people standing behind the service and the value of the
supplier/customer relationship determine the strength of a service brand (Berry, 2000;
McDonald, De Chernatony, &Harris, 2001).
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The importance placed on branding in marketing is linked to the need to build up a stable core
of sales through brand loyalty, which has been described as “A motivated, difficult –to-
change habit of purchasing the same item or service”. Other authors express surprise that
brand loyalty should be less important for marketers of services. Cowell (1984) highlights the
intangibility of services and that problem in distinguishing one from another as giving
powerful reasons for attempting to build strong brands with which customers can identify.
This is especially true in the hospitality and tourism industry that is dependent on the service
providers and brand perceptions.
However, George and Berry (1981) also point to the heterogeneity which is a characteristic of
the service industry and should warn against making sweeping assumptions about the whole
area. Just because branding is not well developed in one part of the service sector such as
television rental or education, health, entertainment, and other areas does not necessarily
mean that this is uniformly the case. It is also necessary to take into consideration the
changing role of branding in certain sectors. In the hotel industry, for example although
branding was once regarded as insignificant, it now forms an important part of the offering to
customers. ‘Holiday Inns’ is now just one of the many strongly branded offerings. In
addition, Mariott, Stakis and even travel lodge are all clearly branded. In Kenya, emergent
brands such as Serena and Sarova amongst others are distinguishable. However, the strength
of these brands remains unexamined in attainment of benefits of effective service branding.
If branding is important in services marketing, then it is important to consider ways to create
successful brands.
Background to the study
Kapferer(1992) reports that branding culture in not strongly embedded in service firms. He
touches on the issues of intangibility and invisibility of service.
De Charnatony and McDonald (1998) like Levy feel that FMCG mode of branding can be
used with modifications to build service brands. They contend with other authors who think
branding efforts in the services industry do not match the rapid growth of the services
industry.
Literature is also available on branding labour-intensive services by Berry and Lampo (2004)
who recognize that branding plays a special role for labour-intensive services because strong
brands increase customers’ trust of an intangible, variable offering that is difficult to evaluate
prior to purchase. A strong brand is the surrogate when there is no dress to try on, no
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automobile to test-drive, no bananas to scrutinize. The more consequential, complex and
variable the service, the more customers need brand reassurance.
The authors note that emotional connections require values alignment between brand and
customers. The strongest brands are those that reflect the core values the target market holds
dear. Touching customers emotionally through authentic, innovative, caring, generous service
experiences elevates a brand beyond price, features and benefits to a higher level of meaning
– and customer commitment. Advertising can set the stage but customers are well attuned to
commercial overstatement and generally require experiential proof that a company genuinely
cares about them as human beings.
Bergstrom and Blumenthal (2003) argue that the brand should be inextricably linked to
corporate and social responsibility of an organization and therefore offers something ‘of
substance’ to help stakeholders differentiate between organisations. Doyle (1989) believes
simply that branding ‘makes the consumer’s choice process more effective’ and this alone
could be argued to offer a rationale for branding’s applicability to HE. De Chernatony and
Riley (2000) suggest that ideally consumers choose to have a relationship with a brand if they
trust it to deliver specific promises.
Research also shows that strong service brands earn higher prices with customers’ willingness
to pay more for an excellent service. This finding applies across all services but shows the
strongest pattern for interactive, customized services such as hairstyling. The extent to which
employees’ behavior drives brand preference for these services; the price premiums strong
brands support and the price discounts weak brands necessitate are noteworthy. (Berry &
Lampo (2004)
Empirical evidence supports the influence of a seller’s reputation on the development of
buyer–seller relationships and on buyer trust (Doney & Cannon, 1997). Buyer trust is the glue
for the effective buyer–seller collaboration that is critical for B2B service firms (Selnes &
Sallis, 2003). Strong relationships and mutual trust are key antecedents to performance,
commitment, and satisfaction, which, in turn, influence customer perceptions of overall
service quality and brand image (Berry, 2000; Singh, 2000; Zeithaml, Berry, & Parasuraman,
1996). Adopting a strong customer orientation (Aaker, 1996; Wiedman, 2005) and an
emphasis on creating customer-valued innovation enhance a B2B service firm’s brand image
(Cohen & Levinthal, 1990).
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Research by (Williams, 2006) focuses on experiential marketing, a relatively new marketing
orientation and provides a contrast to traditional marketing. Whereas traditional marketing
frameworks view consumers as rational decision-makers focused on the functional features
and benefits of products, experiential marketing views consumers as emotional beings,
focused on achieving pleasurable experiences. It is argued that as the science of marketing
evolves, experiential marketing will become the dominant tool of the future (Williams, 2006).
From the reviewed literature, it is evident that most studies in existence in services marketing
address different aspects of the service. There is a sizeable literature on branding of service in
general, business to business services, branding intensive services branding as well as
different aspects of the 7 ps.
This paper attempts to follow up on the research in existence on service brands but lays
emphasis on branding of services in the tourism and hospitality industry in Kenya. The
primary investigation of branding of services in the tourism and hospitability industry in
Kenya will serve the purpose of helping clarify not only underpinning conceptual
assumptions but practical implementation in the services sector.
Research design and methodology
The research design utilised entailed a survey design that employed questionnaires and
interviews involving the listed firms.
Identification of Firms
Profile of the Respondents
A total of 35 respondents; all managers in various dockets handling marketing and
communication matters in the hospitality and tourism industry firms’ were targeted. A total of
23 managers from the hospitality and tourism industry responded.
They held the following positions in their respective Organizations.
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Table 1: Ranks Held by Managers Interviewed
Position Frequency
Front Office Manager 3
Health Club Manager 3
Operations Manager 2
Hotel Manager 6
Foods and Beverages Manager 2
Sales and Marketing Manager 1
Chief Naturalist 2
Banqueting Manager 1
Unspecified 3
Total 23
FINDINGS
The listed firms were then subjected to a process of analysis that led to the development of
conclusions useful in service branding as detailed below:
Market Served
Out of the organizations interviewed, 48% serve the mass market whereas 52% serve a niche
market.
Figure 1: Nature of the Market Served
market served
48%52%
0%0%
Mass
Niche
Market Segment Served
Out of the organizations interviewed, majority engaged in provision of conference services,
closely followed by corporate clients. A few engaged in hosting weddings, outside catering,
top class celebrities and other specific segments of business.
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Figure 2: Specific Market Segments Served
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
Local
touris
ts
Intern
ation
al tou
rists
Corpora
te
confe
rences
Host w
eddin
gs
Offer o
utside
cater
ing
Sportin
g grou
ps
Tour a
nd Trav
el co
mpanie
s
gove
rnmen
tsNGOs
Top cl
ass ce
lebriti
es
churc
hes
Honey
moo
ners
Busine
ss tra
veler
s
Type of Market segment served
Engagement in Service Branding
Studies reveal that service brands assure customers of a consistent, uniform level of service
quality, thus reducing decision-making uncertainty and providing a point of competitive
differentiation for service providers (Berry, 2000). Out of the firms interviewed, 83% of the
firms engage in regular branding. The other 17% do not engage in service branding.
Figure 3: Frequency of Firms Engaged in Service Branding
Firms engaged in Service Branding
83%
17%
Yes
No
Presence of value addition
Where it is employed, service branding increase brand value, customer relations and quality.
Firms implement branding activities such as employee training and technical support to
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assure consistent service delivery outcomes. Service process branding activities focus on
recruiting employees whose values align with the organizational culture and who possess a
commitment to behaving in ways that support the brand.
Out of the firms interviewed 19 testified to experiencing the benefit of value addition from
service branding. A further 4 firms did not enjoy any value addition from service branding.
Figure 4: Realization of Value Addition from Service Branding
02468
101214161820
Yes No
Presence of Value addition in Service Branding
Forms of value addition
Branding services can contribute to corporate reputation which has several benefits according
to various studies. More reputable firms can charge a premium, which will in turn attract
investors (Fombrun and Shanley, 1990). A positive reputation will attract employees and
promote lower employee turnover (Markham, 1972), improve customer attitudes (Brown,
1995; Yoon, Guffey, and Kijewski, 1993), lower a client’s perceived risk (Ewing, Caruana,
and Loy, 1999), increase the propensity to joint venture (Dollinger, Golden and Saxton, 1997)
and create higher credibility (Herbig, Milewicz and Golden, 1994).
Most of the firms interviewed realize value addition in easier identification by the market. A
significant number attest to improved company image. Other benefits realized from service
branding are identified by the different firms as: competitive advantage, increased customer
loyalty, sustained revenues, quality assurance, unique service provision, menu engineering,
high standards, easier marketing and friendly environment.
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Table 2: Forms of Value Addition Realized by Firms from Service Branding
Value Addition Form Realized Frequency
Better positioning 1
Get competitive advantage 3
Increased consumer loyalty 4
Sustained revenues 4
Quality Assurance 2
Improves company image 6
Unique service provision 3
Menu Engineering 1
Easy identification 7
High Standards 2
Easier marketing of hotel 4
Friendly environment 1
None 2
Firms Rated as successful brands
Levy (1996) notes that successful service brands can be developed based on the principle of
fast moving goods (FMCG) branding. These principles are product definition clear product
benefit, identifications, brand differentiation, consumer motivations and measurement of
product strength.
In addition, Doyle(1989) has identified four possible dimensions of creating successful
brands, namely: (1)Prioritize quality-evidence suggests that prioritizing quality improves
margins, by helping to create a competitive edge, thus increasing market share which in turn
leads to large economies of scale. (2) Offer superior service- Doyle highlights research which
demonstrates high rates of branding levels being useful in changing consumers’ perceptions
regarding the level of service in an organization among customers dissatisfied with service.
(3) Get there first-Being the first in the consumers mind is all important-prior to entrance of
large numbers of competitors. (4) Be different- the important of differentiation particularly in
mature markets is well recognized. In the services sector effective control of differentiation is
important.
All these means point to ways of creating a strong differential advantage which can then
become closely associated with the brand itself.
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A variety of firms were identified as enjoying successful brands in the market. These were
mostly service oriented firms. They were identified from the local Kenyan market as well as
from international markets. Safaricom, a Kenyan mobile phone services provider was voted to
be the most successful brand by the various hospitality managers. Hotels such as
Intercontinental, Serena and Sarova were also rated quite highly but were not the leading
brands in Kenya. No tourism related firm was listed in the top firms, yet the study was carried
out amongst hospitality and tourism managers.
Figure 5: Successful Service Brands Rating
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1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Firms considered to have successful brands
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Why the Brands are considered successful
The brands considered highly successful were rated on a number of factors. The most
important was their ability to meet needs of a wide range of customers. Other highly
important factors included: their popularity in the market and their being well known in the
market. Other important factors included: the consistency in the service offered, degree of
innovation, quality products, high profitability, good customer service, availability of
products, easy identification in the market, global recognition amongst other factors.
Table 3: Factors Making these Firms Enjoy Successful Service Brands
Factor Frequency
Consistency in service offered 4
Innovative 3
Strategic Management 1
Well known and utilized daily 6
Quality products 3
High profitability 4
Good customer service 4
Availability of products 4
Meet needs of a wide range of customers 8
Popular in market 6
Easy to identify the brands 4
Get international awards 1
Worldwide recognition 4
Engage in corporate social responsibility 2
Informal approval from peers 1
Does a lot of advertising 3
Presence of good structures for business growth 2
Customer’s Recognition of Firms’ Brand
For service firms, brand management aims to associate the brand with attributes valued by
customers. When executives successfully identify areas of customer-desired value, integrate
these values into the brand’s value proposition, and effectively communicate the brand’s
value proposition, customers are more likely to consider and purchase the brand (Keller,
1998; Romaniuk, 2001).
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Unlike branding for tangible goods, the value delivery system for service brands actively
involves customers. Thus, quality perceptions consist of what customers receive (the
technical outcomes) and how they receive the service (the service process) (de Chernatony
&Segal-Horn, 2003).
Out of those interviewed, 91% positively responded that customers were able to recognize a
service brand. Only a paltry 9% of customers were unable to identify different service brands.
Figure 6: Recognition of Service Brands
Recognition of Service Brand
91%
9%
Yes
No
Elements Most Recognized in Service Brands
Out of those interviewed, quality of service was the most significant element of a successful
service brand. This was followed by the presence of excellent facilities and friendly services.
Of importance too were other factors: personalized customers service, conistent standards,
highly trained staff, homely environment and many other elements.
Figure 7: Elements Most Recognizable in Service Brands
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0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
Quality
of se
rvice
Person
alised
custo
mer ser
vice
Excelle
nt fac
ilities
Memora
ble se
rvice
Consis
tent st
andar
ds
Friend
ly ser
vices
Highly
traine
d staf
f
Custom
er Loy
alty p
rogram
mes
Conve
nient
locati
on
High se
curity
Good r
eliab
le int
ernet
conn
ectivi
ty
Eficien
cy in
opera
tion
Privacy
Attenti
on to
detai
l
Homely
envir
onmen
t
Unique
prod
ucts
Elements of Firm most Recognised
Challenges Encountered in Developing the Service Brand
A number of challenges affect firms that engage in service branding. These include: there are
great variations in the levels of perceived risk and associated consumer involvement both
within different kinds of goods and within services. For example, there might be greater
differences in branding implementation between brief one-off service encounters (e.g. buying
a McDonald’s hamburger) and extended service encounters (e.g. receiving hospital
treatment), than between the former and routine product purchases.
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As Parasuraman (1987) remarked, there are two facets to service transactions: the end result
and the manner in which the service is performed. In some services such as life assurance and
pension funds, the outcome is removed in time. This may make it difficult for consumers to
evaluate the quality of the service and to differentiate amongst competing offerings (George,
1990) – hence the rather high degree of risk. The consumer evaluation of such services is
strongly influenced by the initial stages of the process of delivery, in particular the nature of
consumer– employee interactions and the extent to which the consumer feels the promises
will be fulfilled (e.g. Bitner, 1995; Grönroos, 1990b; Parasuraman, 1987.Branding this kind
of service entails a relationship not only between the marketer and the consumer, but also the
employees delivering the service (or the service’s promises) and the consumer. Even for some
more intangible’ services such as flying, each encounter tests the organization’s ability to
keep its promises (‘the moment of truth’). As such, the staffs delivering a service are
perceived by consumers as part of the product (Knisely, 1979), personifying the brand itself
(Bateson, 1995).
Employees must share the company’s ideologies and beliefs, if they are to communicate and
deliver the brand’s values and its promises (Parasuraman, 1987) For this to happen, a further
relationship must be established, through internal marketing (e.g. Berry, 1980; Greene, Walls
and Schrest, 1994), between the firm and the employees, thus completing the triangle of
service relationships (Hoyt and Beverlyn, 1987). The core of this relationship triangle is the
brand, establishing a favourable consumer perception, building corporate culture and
providing motivation and service delivery standards for staff, thus enabling promises to be
kept (Bitner, 1995). To this end, some stress the importance of the company as the brand (e.g.
Dobree and Page, 1990), since part of what is sold with a service is the overall stature and
imaginary of the organization (Knisely, 1979), and consumers tend to perceive all services
offered by a company as components of a single brand (Berry, Lefkowith and Clark, 1988).
For this reason, Knisely (1979) and Berry, Lefkowith and Clark (1988) argue that some
services do not lend themselves to individual product branding. Particularly in the case of
financial and professional services, for which it may be more difficult to make a priori quality
judgments, the corporate brand name, its reputation and the firm’s size are used by customers
as proxies for quality when selecting between brands (e.g. Boyd, Leonard and White, 1994;
Kotler and Bloom, 1984; Weigelt and Camerer,1988). Al these challenges face firms in the
Kenyan hospitality and tourism sector.
Out of the challenges facing service branding, high compettion was singled out as the most
important. This was followed in importance by: inconstistency in adherence to standards, high
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staff turnover, and lack of popularity since hotel is a stand-alone unit, demotivated staff and
varying levels of education of staff.
Table 5: Challenges Faced by Service Brands Face
Challenge Frequency
Inconsistency in advertising campaigns 4
Inconsistency in adherence to standards 3
Varying levels of education of staff 2
High staff turnover 3
Lack of market research 1
Centralisation of operations 1
Demotivated staff 2
High competition 7
Lack of popularity because it is not a chain hotel 3
Customers ability to differentiate brand from competing brands 1
Adapting to management changes 1
Far distance from conservation area 1
Problem in segmenting domestic and international market 1
High cost of advertising 1
Lack of clear marketing plan 1
Lack of cooperation from community 1
Insecurity 1
Means to enhance Service Brand
Out of the managers interviewed, it was identified that the most effective way to enhance a
service brand is through continuous and regular advertising. Training of staff regularly was
also identified as a very important method. Other important methods include: effective
analysis and feedback from guests, market research, diversification of products as per
customers needs, word of mouth marketing, better remuneration of staff amongst others.
Figure 8: Means to Enhance Success in Service Branding
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0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Contin
uous
and i
ncrea
sed ad
vertis
ing
Contin
uous
Trainin
g of s
taff
Effecti
ve fe
edba
ck fro
m custo
mers
Increa
sed vi
sibilit
y
Better
polic
ies
Better
remun
eratio
n of s
taff
More m
arket
resear
ch
Diversi
fy Prod
ucts a
s per
custo
mer ne
eds
Have s
taff re
tentio
n prog
rammes
More co
rporat
e soc
ial re
sponsi
bility
Develo
p a w
inning
bran
d ide
ntity
Word
of m
outh
marketi
ng
Increa
se fin
ancin
g
Simple
and e
ffecti
ve w
ording
of ad
verts
Impro
ve im
age t
hroug
h draw
ing an
d pict
ures
Methods to improve service Brand
Conclusion and Final remarks
The concept of the experience economy era was formulated by Pine and Gilmore (1998) who
advocated providing special experiences and unforgettable memories as the key to
competitiveness. Schmitt (1999) was another early advocate, suggesting that experiences
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could engage the consumers’ senses, sight, sound, touch and feeling in an unforgettable way.
But experiential marketing does not just mean having an experiential offering. The experience
must also be deliberately marketed in an experiential way (Petkus, 2004). In order to promote
tourism experiences, marketers have to think beyond traditional advertising techniques. As
well as communicating the obvious, marketing campaigns need to bring brands to life by
dazzling consumer senses, touching their hearts and stimulating their minds (Widdis, 2001).
Powerful brands build a company’s reputation positively and research has shown that this has
added benefits to an organization. Managers and academics intuitively believe that whether or
not a company is seen as reputable will affect its market performance, and studies
demonstrate the wide-ranging benefits from having a good reputation. More reputable firms
can charge a premium, which will in turn attract investors (Fombrun and Shanley, 1990). A
positive reputation will attract employees and promote lower employee turnover (Markham,
1972), improve customer attitudes (Brown, 1995; Yoon, Guffey, and Kijewski, 1993), lower a
client’s perceived risk (Ewing, Caruana, and Loy, 1999), increase the propensity to joint
venture (Dollinger, Golden and Saxton, 1997) and create higher credibility (Herbig, Milewicz
and Golden, 1994).
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