Developing Service Products & Brands Distributing Services + TB Chapters 4 & 5 Flashcards
The components of a service product
Core product
Supplementary services
Delivery processes
Example core + supplementary services of a lux hotel
Core: Bed for the night in a suite
Supplementary: reception, valet, bar, internet, reservation, room service
Core product
Is “what” the customer is fundamentally buying
Supplementary services
Accompanies the core product, a variety of other service-related activities
Delivery processes
concerns the processes used to deliver the core product and supplementary services
What are the 4 issues the design of the service offering must address?
How the different service components are delivered to the customer
The nature of the customers’ role in those processes
How long delivery lasts
The prescribed level and style of service to be offered
Two types of supplementary services
Facilitating services
Enhancing services
Facilitating services
Information
Order taking/reservations/applications
Billing/invoices/statements
Payment
Enhancing services
Consultation/personalized advice
Hospitality/amenities
Safekeeping/baggage handling/security/parking
Exceptions/special requests/feedback handling
The flower of service
Depicts the core service and a range of supp services, each of these supps identifiable as either facilitating or enhancing
Example flower of service in a restaurant
Core: food & beverages
Information (menu prices)
Consultation (menu suggestions)
Order taking (table reservation, ordering menu)
Hospitality (waiting areas, toilets)
Safekeeping (coat room, valet)
Exceptions (complains/compliments)
Billing (self-billing/mail billing)
Payment (credit card/cash)
Implications of service products
Not every core product is surrounded by supp elements from all 8 clusters
People-processing and high contact services tend to have more supp services
What brand names do
Allows the firm to communicate the distinctive experiences and benefits associated with a specific service concept
eg: speedo
Branded house
Company that applies its brand name to multiple offerings in unrelated fields
Sub-brands
Corporate or masterbrand is the main reference point, but each product has a distinctive name as well
eg: FedEx Ground
Endorsed brands
Product brand dominates, but the corporate name is still featured
eg: AMG as Mercedes-AMG
House of brands
Each brand owned by the corporation is promoted under its own name
eg: unilever brands (axe, dove)
Service tiering (how they’re ranked)
Branding is used to differentiate core services as well as service levels. Tiering varies between industries
eg: 1-5 star rating for hotels, business/first/economy class for airlines, sports/suv/sedan for car rentals
Brand equity
The value premium that comes with a brand
The 6 key components of building brand equity
(I) Company’s presented brand
(I) External brand communications (word-of-mouth, etc)
(I) Customer experience with the company
(II) Brand awareness (customer’s recog and recall)
(II) Brand meaning (customer’s perception)
(III) Brand equity (over competitors)
Defining your brand as the choice instead of an alternative
Distance your brand from competitors
Have a different opinions
A brand should make enemies to compete on their own terms
Alignment of brand
1 - Understand your service brand (beliefs & comms)
2 - Understand your best potential audience(s)
3 - Understand and differentiate from competition
Hierarchy of new service categories (7 categories)
Style changes
Service improvements
Supplementary service innovations
Process line extensions
Product line extensions
Major process innovations
Major service innovations
Style changes
Visible changes in service design or scripts
