BRANDING OF SERVICES

BRANDING

What Is Brand?
A brand is the identity of a specific product, service, or business . A brand
can take many forms, including a name, sign, symbol, color
combination orslogan. The word brand began simply as a way to tell one
person's cattle from another by means of a hot iron stamp. A legally
protected brand name is called atrademark. The word brand has continued
to evolve to encompass identity - it affects the personality of a product,
company or service.

Concept
A brand is the personality that identifies a product, service or company
(name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or combination of them)

Some people distinguish the psychological aspect, brand associations like

thoughts, feelings, perceptions, images, experiences, beliefs, attitudes, and
so on that become linked to the brand, of a brand from the experiential
aspect.
The psychological aspect, sometimes referred to as the brand image, is a
symbolic construct created within the minds of people and consists of all
the information and expectations associated with a product or service.
People engaged in branding seek to develop or align the expectations
behind the brand experience, creating the impression that a brand
associated with a product or service has certain qualities or characteristics
that make it special or unique.
A brand is therefore one of the most valuable elements in an advertising 
theme, as it demonstrates what the brand owner is able to offer in the 
marketplace. The art of creating and maintaining a brand is called brand
management.
Careful brand management seeks to make the product or services relevant
to the target audience. Brands should be seen as more than the difference
between the actual cost of a product and its selling price - they represent
the sum of all valuable qualities of a product to the consumer.
Consumers may look on branding as an important value added aspect of
products or services, as it often serves to denote a certain attractive quality
or characteristic (see also brand promise). From the perspective of brand
owners, branded products or services also command higher prices. Where
two products resemble each other, but one of the products has no
associated branding (such as a generic, store-branded product), people
may often select the more expensive branded product on the basis of the
quality of the brand or the reputation of the brand owner.
The a strong brand can not be established over night The development of a
brand takes time, strong financial marketing muscle and good marketing
skills such as
       insight into customer needs,

       ability to offer products or services that meet those needs,

       creativity to produce exiting and compelling advertising,

       ability to communicate differentiation in a way that customers

understand and that motivates them. (Court 1997).

Without this process you do not have a brand but only a name and a sign
for a product or service.
 Benefits of a brand for
Sellers Customers
          Identifies           Helps identify
the companies products, makes products
repeat purchases easier
          Helps evaluate the
          Facilitates promotion effort quality of a product
s
          Helps to reduce
          Fosters brand loyalty – perceived risk in buying,
stabilises market share provides assurance of
quality, reliability etc.
          Allows to charge premium
prices and thus to get better           Is dependable
margins (consistent in quality)

          Allows to extend the brand           May offer

to new products, new markets psychological reward
and to new geographic areas (status symbol)

          Can communicate directly           “rout map” through a

with the customer, reach over range of alternatives
the shoulder of the retailer
          Saves customer time
          More leverage with
middlemen           Is easier to process
mentally
          Is more resistant to price
competition

          Can have a long life

          Is more forgiving of

mistakes
What Is Branding?

Entire process involved in creating a unique name and image for

a product (good or service) in the consumers' mind, through advertising
campaigns with a consistent theme. Branding aims to establish a significant
and differentiated presence in the market that attracts and retains
loyal customers.

Branding is an integral part of the way you communicate who you are and
how you differentiate yourself from your competitors. Whether you are a
not-for-profit organization, an SME or a start-up, your brand and your
attitude towards it can have a huge impact on how you grow and manage
your business.

The objectives that a good branding will include:

 Delivers the message clearly

 Confirms your credibility

 Connects your target prospects emotionally

 Motivates the buyer

 Concretes User Loyalty

To succeed in branding you must understand the needs and wants of your
customers and prospects.
2.2             Branding strategies

Besides the more general decision for the use of brands the decision for
the branding strategies is important. There are several aspects to be
considered:
 
       Ownership of brands

       Structure of brand systems

Regarding the ownership it is differentiate between five categories:

The structure of brand systems describes how an organisations products
and brands are related.
Characteristics of Successful Brand Champions

Chief brand champions will be more effective if they exhibit the following
personal characteristics:

 Curious
 Well rounded
 Intuitive
 Visionary
 "Big picture" thinker
 Strong customer knowledge
 Strong business knowledge
 Assertive
 Disciplined
 Tenacious
 Resilient
 Passionate
 Able to simplify the complex
 Able to translate brand concepts into something relevant for non-
marketers
 Story telling ability
 Teaching ability
 Likable personality
Importance Of Branding

1. Importance of Branding your Business

From the point of view of a business, the process of branding involves

making of a trademark and a good name. A registered trademark and a
name ensures individuality and uniqueness of a particular product or family
of products. The lawful registration of the trademark means that any
competitor cannot copy any of the elements and names of the products.

Branding can be done for anything that can be promoted in the consumer's
market, may it be a simple label, a family of products or an umbrella brand.
People can also have a personal brand. The primary advantage of
branding is that it is safeguarded from unlawful activities and at the same
time, it is also a way of developing a good reputation in the market. 

Often you might see some new product carry the tag that says 'from the
makers of …brand', well this is another advantage of branding. When a
business who owns an already famous brand wants to launch a new brand
in the market, they can use the pre-earned goodwill and reputation for the
new launch. The advantage is that, people are bound to purchase the new
products out of curiosity.

2. Importance of Branding in Marketing

Marketing primarily involves the study of demand in a market and creating

a response in the form of supply. In the field of marketing, the brand name
plays an important role as it helps the people to promote the brand name
and its merits quite easily. Apart from that, it also becomes possible for the
the marketing people to generate intelligence information about the brands
popularity and also what people exactly want from the brand owning
company. As a result of a brand loyal group of consumers, it also becomes
easier for marketing department to asses regular and promised demand.
Apart from that, schemes such as free gifts and discounts often boost the
sales as the brand is an important icon of the market.

3. Importance of Branding in Advertising

Advertising is often considered to be a part of marketing however, branding

a particular product helps the advertisers to provide catchy logos and
advertisements. As a brand name can never be copied, advertisers face
lesser heat from unauthenticated advertisements, effectively, their
advertisement creation gets protected. Apart from that advertisers can
initiate fearless and independent advertising as due to the process of
branding, the consumers are already well aware of the product, its identity
and nature.

In short, the importance of branding can be summed up in simple words

'successful branding is a process that generates revenue that cannot be
counted, it creates a reputation that is felt not seen, it is an asset that one
cannot show on a balance sheet'.
 SERVICES
Definition
Intangible products that are not goods (tangible products), such as
accounting,  banking, cleaning, consultancy, education, insurance, know
how, medical treatment, transportation. Sometimes services are difficult to
identify because they are closely associated with a good; such as
the combination of a diagnosis with the administration of a medicine.
No transfer of possession or ownership takes place when services are sold,
and they

(1) cannot be stored or transported,

(2) are instantly perishable, and

(3) come into existence at the time they are bought and consumed.

types of services
Service industry or service sector includes portions of a country's economy
like tourism, banking, social services, social services and education.
Persons working in the service sector collaborate to do work effectively.
Knowledge is utilized to increase workplace performance and also for
corporate sustenance. End product of service industry is advice
(consultancy services), experiences (movies), attention (hospitality industry
like hotels and restaurants), and discussion (interactive TV or radio
programs). Examples of service sector are:

 News media
 Business services
 Consulting
 Health care like hospitals
 Real estate valuation
 Personal services
 Franchising services
 Legal practice like lawyers
 Disposal of waste
A service is the intangible equivalent of an economic good. Service
provision is often an economic activity where the buyer does not generally,
except by exclusive contract, obtain exclusive ownership of the thing
purchased. The benefits of such a service, if priced, are held to be self-
evident in the buyers willingness to pay for it. Public services are those
society pays for as a whole through taxes and other means.
By composing and orchestrating the appropriate level
of resources, skill, ingenuity,and experience for effecting specific benefits
for service consumers, service providers participate in an economy without
the restrictions of carrying stock (inventory) or the need to concern
themselves with bulky raw materials. On the other hand, theirinvestment in
expertise does require consistent service marketing and upgrading in the
face of competition which has equally few physical restrictions. Many so-
called services, however, require large physical structures and equipment,
and consume large amounts of resources, such as transportation services
and the military.
Providers of services make up the tertiary sector of the economy.
Characteristics Of Services

Services can be paraphrased in terms of their generic key characteristics.

1. Intangibility
Services are intangible and insubstantial: they cannot be touched, gripped,
handled, looked at, smelled, tasted or heard. Thus, there is neither
potential nor need for transport, storage or stocking of services.
Furthermore, a service cannot be (re)sold or owned by somebody, neither
can it be turned over from the service provider to the service consumer nor
returned from the service consumer to the service provider. Solely, the
service delivery can be commissioned to a service provider who must
generate and render the service at the distinct request of an authorized
service consumer.

2. Perishability
Services are perishable in two regards

 The service relevant resources, processes and systems are assigned

for service delivery during a definite period in time. If the designated or
scheduled service consumer does not request and consume the service
during this period, the service cannot be performed for him. From the
perspective of the service provider, this is a lost business opportunity as
he cannot charge any service delivery; potentially, he can assign the
resources, processes and systems to another service consumer who
requests a service. Examples: The hair dresser serves another client
when the scheduled starting time or time slot is over. An empty seat on
a plane never can be utilized and charged after departure.
 When the service has been completely rendered to the requesting
service consumer, this particular service irreversibly vanishes as it has
been consumed by the service consumer. Example: the passenger has
been transported to the destination and cannot be transported again to
this location at this point in time.

3. Inseparability
The service provider is indispensable for service delivery as he must
promptly generate and render the service to the requesting service
consumer. In many cases the service delivery is executed automatically but
the service provider must preparatorily assign resources and systems and
actively keep up appropriate service delivery readiness and capabilities.
Additionally, the service consumer is inseparable from service delivery
because he is involved in it from requesting it up to consuming the
rendered benefits. Examples: The service consumer must sit in the hair
dresser's shop & chair or in the plane & seat; correspondingly, the hair
dresser or the pilot must be in the same shop or plane, respectively, for
delivering the service.

4. Simultaneity
Services are rendered and consumed during the same period of time. As
soon as the service consumer has requested the service (delivery), the
particular service must be generated from scratch without any delay and
friction and the service consumer instantaneously consumes the rendered
benefits for executing his upcoming activity or task.
5. Variability
Each service is unique. It is one-time generated, rendered and consumed
and can never be exactly repeated as the point in time, location,
circumstances, conditions, current configurations and/or assigned
resources are different for the next delivery, even if the same service
consumer requests the same service. Many services are regarded as
heterogeneous or lacking homogeneity and are typically modified for
eachservice consumer or each new situation (consumerised).

Example:
The taxi service which transports the service consumer from his home to
the opera is different from the taxi service which transports the same
service consumer from the opera to his home - another point in time, the
other direction, maybe another route, probably another taxi driver and cab.

Each of these characteristics is retractable per se and their inevitable

coincidence complicates the consistent service conception and make
service delivery a challenge in each and every case. Proper service
marketing requires creative visualization to effectively evoke a concrete
image in the service consumer's mind. From the service consumer's point
of view, these characteristics make it difficult, or even impossible, to
evaluate or compare services prior to experiencing the service delivery.

Mass generation and delivery of services is very difficult. This can be seen

as a problem of inconsistent service quality. Both inputs and outputs to the
processes involved providing services are highly variable, as are the
relationships between these processes, making it difficult to maintain
consistent service quality. For many services there is labor intensity as
services usually involve considerable human activity, rather than a
precisely determined process; exceptions include utilities. Human resource
management is important. The human factor is often the key success factor
in service economies. It is difficult to achieve economies of scale or gain
dominant market share. There are demand fluctuations and it can be
difficult to forecast demand. Demand can vary by season, time of
day, business cycle, etc. There is consumer involvement as most service
provision requires a high degree of interaction between service consumer
and service provider. There is a customer-based relationship based on
creating long-term business relationships. Accountants, attorneys, and
financial advisers maintain long-term relationships with their clientes for
decades. These repeat consumers refer friends and family, helping to
create a client-based relationship.

Any service can be clearly, completely, consistently and concisely specified

by means of the following 12 standard attributes which conform to
the MECE principle (Mutually Exclusive, Collectively Exhaustive)

1. Service Consumer Benefits

describe the (set of) benefits which are triggerable, consumable and
effectively utilizable for any authorized service consumer and which are
rendered to him as soon as he trigger one service.

2. Service-specific Functional Parameters

specify the functional parameters which are essential and unique to the
respective service and which describe the most important dimension(s) of
the servicescape, the service output or the service outcome, e.g. maximum
e-mailbox capacity per registered and authorized e-mail service consumer.

3. Service Delivery Point 

describes the physical location and/or logical interface where the benefits
of the service are triggered by and rendered to the authorized service
consumer. At this point and/or interface, the preparedness for service
delivery readiness can be assessed as well as the effective delivery of the
service itself can be monitored and controlled.
4. Service Consumer Count
specifies the number of intended, clearly identified, explicitly named,
definitely registered and authorized service consumers which shall be
and/or are allowed and enabled to trigger and consume the commissioned
service for executing and/or supporting their business tasks or private
activities.

5. Service Delivering Readiness Times 

specify the distinct agreed times of every day of the week when

 the described service consumer benefits are

 triggerable for the authorized service consumers at the defined
service delivery point
 consumable and utilizable for the authorized service consumers
at the respective agreed service level
 all the required service contributions are aggregated to the triggered
service
 the specified service benefits are comprehensively rendered to any
authorized triggering service consumer without any delay or friction.

6. Service Support Times 

specify the determined and agreed times of every day of the week when
the triggering and consumption of commissioned services is supported by
the service desk team for all identified, registered and authorized service
consumers within the service customer's organizational unit or area.

7. Service Support Languages

 specifies the national languages which are spoken by the service desk
team(s) to the service consumers calling them.
8. Service Fulfillment Target 
specifies the service provider's promise of effectively and seamlessly
delivering the specified benefits to any authorized service consumer
triggering a service within the specified service times

9. Service Impairment Duration per Incident

specifies the allowable maximum elapsing time [hh:mm] between

 the first occurrence of a service impairment, i.e. service quality

degradation, service delivery disruption or service denial, whilst the
service consumer consumes and utilizes the requested service,
 the full resumption and complete execution of the service delivery to
the content of the affected service consumer.

10. Service Delivering Duration

 specifies the promised and agreed maximum period of time for effectively
rendering all specified service consumer benefits to the requesting service
consumer at his currently chosen service delivery point.

11. Service Delivery Unit 

specifies the basic portion for rendering the defined service consumer
benefits. The service delivery unit is the reference and mapping object for
the Service Delivering Price, for all service costs as well as for charging
and billing the consumed service volume to the service customer who has
commissioned the service delivery.
 12. Service Delivering Price
 specifies the amount of money the service customer has to pay for the
distinct service volumes his authorized service consumers have consumed.
Normally, the service delivering price comprises two portions

 a fixed basic price portion for basic efforts and resources which
provide accessibility and usability of the service delivery functions, i.e.
service access price
 a price portion covering the service consumption based on
 fixed flat rate price per authorized service consumer and
delivery period without regard on the consumed service volumes,
 staged prices depending on consumed service volumes,
 fixed price per particularly consumed service delivering unit.
 Branding Of Services

Reasons for branding services

Although the principles for branding of goods and services are generally
the same there occur some differences. These arise from the different
natures of both categories. The main differences that influence branding
policies are that services
 

       have a changing level of quality,

       the consumer has to become involved in the consumption of a service

. actively,

       they are intangible and not storable.

 

When a brand in general gives the consumer more confidence in his choice
this is even more important for services. Their quality and other features
are more difficult to asses. Because of their intangibility and complexity it is
harder for the customer to distinguish between the offers from the wide
range of service companies operating in the market place.

 
Marketing a service brand

In general marketing strategies for services add three more P’s to the
marketing mix, which stand for Process, Physical evidence and People.
The same principles apply to the branding of services.  

de Chernatony emphasises the importance of the people as the provider of

the service. The careful selection and training of staff firstly assures a
higher level of quality of the service, that is depicted by the brand.

It is up to the people to give the processes more reliability and thus to

assure a higher homogeneity between the quality of the service and the
personality and message of the brand. Furthermore people have contact
with the customer.

They have to be aware of the brands objectives so that they can “live them”
and communicate them to the customer. It is not enough to communicate
the message of the brand externally to the customer; the first step has to
be internal communication. 

Here the principles of internal marketing play an important role. Staff is

seen as the first customer of the brand.

The theme here is that the customer not only receives the message from
the companies external marketing activities, but also the message from the
behaviour of the staff he has contact with.
Four Keys To Launching Your Service Brand.. The Right Way

 In order to brand your service firm the right way and take advantage of the
same benefits that product companies receive from great branding, there
are four key distinctions between product and services branding strategy
that you need to be aware of.

1. Don't Mass Market To Your Target Market 

Product companies sell to the masses through large scale advertising

efforts. Following in the footsteps of these companies, many service firms,
when attempting to build their brand, start advertising to the masses as if
they were selling Wrigley's Spearmint Gum or Coca Cola. But for a service
brand, this is a waste. It's not targeted enough, and it costs too much, given
the return that it provides.

2. Focus On Relevance Over Differentiation 

Differentiation is important to product companies. Most brand models (and

business schools) argue the need to differentiate. But it is a rare service
brand that can stake the claim to categorical differentiation. Let's face it,
many service firms offer similar services. As such, it is difficult to own a
unique market position. So forget about those product oriented, one-word
descriptions.

Instead of attempting to be amazingly different from the rest, focus on

being relevant. Specifically, relevance as it pertains to the client. The ideal
service brand merges the needs, wants, and desires of the client with the
character and values of the company.
 3. Worry About Growing Revenue, Not Market Share 

Product companies are taught that they must be number one or two, in
terms of market position, to be successful. Service brands should
concentrate on growing revenue, not gaining market share, as product
companies do.

In a service industry, whether it be accounting, law, architecture, or

consulting, even local markets are usually fragmented and crowded with
many successful firms generating considerable revenue from like-services.

Instead of concerning yourself with your position in the market, focus your
efforts on improving the bottom line.

4. Help Your People Be Your Brand 

Service firms do not have a tangible display of products that you can see,
touch, and test out before deciding to purchase. As a service firm, your
face to the world, what carries your brand most is your people. As such, do
not underestimate the internal components of brand development.

To create a collaborative culture, communicate your brand message to the

troops so that each individual becomes a brand ambassador. This helps to
ensure that every sales call, every client interaction, and every elevator
conversation delivers the brand as intended.

Don't attempt to be Big Brother, but do provide a rallying point for the entire
organization, because "speaking in one voice" is far more important for