Page 247 - DMGT510_SERVICES_MARKETING

Services Marketing

Notes
Example: McDonald’s offering another burger free with the purchase of one or inter-
brand Pizza Hut offering Mattel toys free with their offer.
Pure service freebies also exist: Kotak Bank offering free insurance with their home loans.

Coupons: These can be exchanged for services or goods either free or at a discount. Coupons
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are also used to measure the effectiveness of advertising campaigns for sales goals.
Samples: These are used to boost trials, especially in the introductory stages. These again

might seem to be impossible in services.

Example: One can’t imagine Alitalia offering a free chukker for potential customers. But
it is possible for Internet service providers to offer a month of free trial, for housing companies
to have sample flats/apartments ready, etc.
Cash refunds: This is used for loyalty programmes.

Prizes: This is in the form of lucky draws from purchases made. Retailers routinely use

this promotion.
Demonstrations: This is used to introduce the customer to a new service (like ATM), make

him knowledgeable about certain features and functions, etc.
Contests: These are directed at the participative nature of customers and are used to

increase the involvement of the customers.


Exciting Promotion at Pizza Hut
Caselet
Pizza Hut has a sense of occasion, of being there at the right time. Be it a heart-shaped
pizza on Valentine’s Day or a special promotion during the Cricket World Cup, Pizza Hut
is on the ball - with eye catching promotions. In the summer of 2000 in New Delhi, Pizza
Hut launched its innovative Pizza Pooch menu as well as a Birthday Party package
exclusively for kids in the 6 - 10 years age group. Senior marketing manager, Tricon
Restaurants International said, “There is a specific reason to cater to this segment. Though,
at this age children are under their parents’ guidance, they perceive themselves to be
teenagers and have the ability to choose or demand a particular brand of their own
choice.”
The $ 20 billion Tricon Restaurants that owns Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and Kentucky Fried
Chicken (KFC) has nearly 29,000 outlets globally. The largest number of Pizza Hut outlets
is in Paris, followed by Moscow and Hong Kong. Pizza Hut started operations in India
nearly seven years ago with just a single outlet. It has realised the cultural differences in
India and importance of religion in the consumption pattern of certain sub-cultures. Today
it has spread in several cities and it also has a 100 per cent vegetarian restaurant in
Ahmedabad.

Innovative promotional activities and a popular logo have helped Pizza Hut expanding.
The senior marketing manager said, “Our focus is not just on offering a great pizza but
also on providing excitement and good customer service.” The manager further emphasised
on the customer focused operations and intensive research done to find customer needs
and satisfaction. Besides, Pizza Hut conducted in-house research on psychographics of
Contd...

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