Page 188 - DMGT522_SERVICES MANAGEMENT

Unit 8: New Service Development and Process Design

(c) Inventories (how much inventory do we need and where do we need it?), Notes
(d) Equipment (what types of equipment are needed and how does the customer interact with
it?),
(e) Facilities (how big should they be and what décor package should they have?), and
(f) Marketing (who is our target market and how do we create value for them?)

Task Service organisations aim to deliver services through direct distribution. Elaborate.

Self Assessment

Fill in the blanks:

11. The objective of ......................... is to show how information, assets and customers are
processed.
12. If the first ......................... itself is not pleasant, the customer is not going to come back.

13. Service firms are now starting to realise the ......................... of the first call and its potential
for generating revenues.
14. Service flowcharts allow managers to better understand ......................... processes.

15. ......................... the process becomes the key to product design.

Case Study Case: Building Power Brands in Services

epsi vs. Coke, Rin vs. Tide, Nokia vs. Samsung, LG vs. Whirlpool, Ford Ikon vs.
PHyundai Accent… building perceptual differences is the name of the game in brand
building. The stories of brands battling it out for consumer share of mind are legendary
and generations of marketers have grown up on these. Product features combined with
advertising-led image are the fundamental tools that build power brands in products,
even in this internet age.
Jet vs. Kingfisher, Spice Jet vs. Go Air, Barista vs. Café Coffee Day, Pizza Hut vs. McDonalds,
Lifestyle vs. Shopper’s Stop, LIC vs. ICICI, Airtel vs. Hutch (Vodafone)… there is another
set of brands that are also battling it out for consumer share of wallet and share of heart.
Some of these service brands are battling it out on experience while others are focusing on
advertising image.
A more interesting question, however, is the relative power of the product brands vis-à-
vis the service brands. In Interbrand’s 2007 ranking of global brands by brand value, in the
top 20 list there are 12 product brands and seven services brands; and in the top 50 list there
are 36 product brands and 21 services brands. While services businesses contribute way
more to the global GDP, when it comes to brand value, product brands significantly
outperform services brands. Interbrand has not yet brought out a list of India’s top brands
by value. But, if they did, one wonders whether the service brands would have a place
close to the product brands or would they be far behind?

Contd...

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