SERVICES BRANDING

Group Members:
Kevin Ruane
Nollette Callinan
Sharon Kilgannon

SERVICES MARKETING

What is a Service?
A service is any activity or benefit that one party can
offer to another that is essentially intangible and does
not result in the ownership of anything. Its production
may or may not be tied to a physical product.
Kotler and Amstrong (1997, p. 265)

What is a Brand?
.. a name, term, sign, symbol or design, or a
combination of them, which is intended to identify
the goods and services of one seller or group of
sellers and to differentiate them from those of their
competitors

American Marketing Association

SERVICES BRANDING

Challenges in Services Branding

Intangibility
Heterogeneity
Inseparability
Perishability

Goods

Services

Services Branding Implications

Tangible

Intangible

Service brands cannot be patented

Service brands cannot be inventoried
Service brands cannot be readily displayed or
communicated
Pricing service brands is difficult

Standardised

Heterogeneous

Service brands face difficulties delivering on promises

Service
brand
quality
uncontrollable factors

Inseparability

Simultaneous
production

Non-perishable

Perishable

depends

on

many

Customers participate in the service brand

transaction
Employees may affect the service brand outcome
Customers may affect one another in the service
brand transaction
Satisfaction of service brand is influenced by expected
and perceived behaviour of service provider and
customer
Mass production of service brands is difficult
Service brands face challenges to build and sustain
image and reputation to retain customers
Fluctuating demand can cause problems for branding
services

THE SERVICES
MARKETING TRIANGLE
COMPANY

EXTERNAL
MARKETING

INTERNAL
MARKETING

EMPLOYEES

CUSTOMERS
INTERACTIVE
MARKETING

SERVICE BRANDING
MODELS
Aakers brand identity model:

Brand

Proposed services branding model:

Brand as Product

Brand as
Product(5Ps)

Brand as
Organisation

Brand as
Process

Brand as
Person
Brand as
Symbol

Brand

Brand as
Person
Brand as
Symbol
Brand as
Organisation

LIVING THE CORPORATE

BRAND

Enacted
VISION

Throug

Staff Behaviour

Interact
s

CULTURE

with

Stakeholder
Satisfaction

OBJECTIVES

BRANDSPHERE

CORPORATE
BRAND
CONCEPT
(Character)

Interact
s
Systems

Monitor then Revisit

To identify the gaps between actual and
intended brand promise

with

MEASURING SERVICES
BRAND EQUITY

Effectiveness
Internal and external message alignment
Consumer satisfaction
Brand reputation
Types of consumers

Rational
Political
Emotional
Spiritual

CONCLUSION
Branding

plays a special role in service companies

because strong brands increase customers trust of the
invisible purchase. Strong brands enable customers to
better visualise and understand intangible products.
They reduce customers perceived monetary, social, or
safety in buying services, which are difficult to evaluate
prior to purchase. Strong brands are the surrogates
when the company offers no fabric to touch, no trousers
to try on, no water melons or apples to scrutinise, no
automobiles to test drive.
Berry (2000, p. 128)