Page 173 - DMGT510_SERVICES_MARKETING

Services Marketing

Notes  Culture: The service brand can represent certain specific culture (McDonald’s is as much
about America as Lufthansa is about German culture; dabbawalas about India)
Personality: The service can project a personality (NIIT suggesting an intelligent personality

like Vishwanathan Anand, while Airtel talks about a can-do person).
User: The brand also suggests the type of customers who uses its service (American Express
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cards boast that its card holders are achievers).
9.3.1 Importance of Branding Service Products

Both the marketer and the customer benefit enormously when service products are branded. As
mentioned before, the intangibility of the service makes it difficult for customers to comprehend
the totality of the offer, believe in their proposition or be too deeply involved in the purchase.
For the marketer, the same aspects make their persuasion and marketing long drawn out and
more strenuous.
By branding service products, customers are benefited in the following way:

Reducing time and effort in the decision-making process (DMP) during every purchase of

a service offer. Customers are able to shift from high to low involvement in their purchases.
The name gives recognition of product and reassurance as to quality of their attributes.
Consistency of delivery, quality and benefits of the offer are assured, considerably reducing
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customers’ risk perception.
Enhancing the image and status of the offer, satisfying psychological or emotional needs
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of the customers.
Brands aid the service marketer in the following ways:
Charge a premium on their service. Customers tend to place more value on the promise,
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status, security, guarantee and consistency of the offer. Thus some lawyers, consultants,
market researchers and airlines, etc., can charge a higher fee than others.
Services are intangible and therefore do not have a legal case for patenting their concept,
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innovations, designs, formats or processes. Therefore, brand name can give services legal
protection against imitation. Amazon.com, ‘planet earth’s largest bookstore’ was
controversially given a patent in 2002 for its ‘one-click’ purchase process technology.
The service marketer can segment markets through branding.
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Example: Future Group has Pantaloons, for the upper segment, Big Bazaar discount
store for the large mid segment. The Wheels-Rent-A-Car group of the Bhorukas have Transport
Corporation of India (TCI) for their trucking logistics, Gati/DTDC for courier and cargo business
and Assam Bengal Corporation (ABC), for large containers and cargo and Ritco Travels handling
customers with travel needs.
Retain larger number of customers for repeat consumption. This will generate more

profits and enable usages in promotions.
Ensuring a less risky springboard for new product launches through brand extensions.
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The brand link communicates in advance to the market about the similar attributes and
promise of the new offer. Example, HDFC, ICICI, UTI, SBI and IDBI chose to flaunt their
names in respect of new financial ventures like retail banking, general and life insurance,
mutual funds and securities, etc.

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