. Whats the difference between a Product brand and a Service brand? Product brands are about products.

Mars, a classic Product brand, doesnt answer back, doesnt get tired, isnt anxious, is always ready to perform and always tastes the same. Every experience with a Product brand is/should be identical. Service brands arent like that. Service brands are about people. People who represent the organization lose their tempers, get tired and anxious, and sometimes have just had enough that day. Every experience with a Service brand is therefore different.

Whatever you feel the Starbucks brand stands for, one thing all Starbucks customers can agree upon is that the chain has elevated the ubiquitous coffee house to much more than a commodity by making it a special, customer oriented experience, its become a Service Brand.

Similarly, Virgin has done the same with everything from air and space travel to music festivals.

The Virgin Service brand revolves around delivering value pricing, high quality, fun, innovation, while being authentic, people-oriented, hip, and associated with Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson and his personal reputation. Not to mention great customer service.

Many of the people who are in charge of managing Service brands (CMOs, MDs, Call Centre Directors, Customer Service Directors) have been trained in the traditional school of creating great consumer product brands. Their attempt to manage Service brands as though they are Product brands has created vast problems. For the customer, the person who represents the brand is the brand. If the person representing the brand doesnt perform properly, the relationship between the brand and the customer may collapse. The implication of this is that service-based organizations have to focus on their internal employees to a far greater extent than product-based organizations. And this is what the new breed of Brand managers are starting to learn. Brand managers (like most managers) are pretty conservative, they hate change and they cling to outdated mantras (like the belief that the most important audience for the brand is the customer). And it shows on hold with call centers for hours, putting up with rude airline staff, clients cancelling meetings without notice, all that petty harassment which comes from badly managed service brands is now part of our daily life. Creating happy customers by educating and involving staff in the brand is not rocket science. Unfortunately, too many big service brands still arent getting it right. Think Airlines (sans Virgin and Southwest), I have to pay extra for what?. Think Banks and Telcomms, Please press #1 to talk to a human, please press #2 for any type of service, please press #3 for us to hang up on you. It doesnt have to be that way. If internal employees are taken seriously and time is invested in educating them on what their brand stands for, employees will realize that everything they do reflects on the brand. They will begin to feel brand ownership and do their best to contribute to its success each in their own capacity. So what are some of the simple tactics to ensure our internal teams are making every interaction with our Brand partners a positive one?

Consistency of communications (learn & listen) Surprise & delight (anticipating needs) Be a true partner and trusted adviser (add value)

What are your thoughts and insights? What experiences have you had with Service brands good or bad?

Service branding vs product branding and the role of marketing In various articles related to services branding, there is debate on whether services branding process differs from the more traditional product branding process. According to Teemu Moilanen, service branding does not differ much from customer perspective but rather on the company side. Why service branding is different from product branding is because of the multiple features of services. According to Moilanen, services are intangible, they are produced and consumed simultaneously. Services cannot be stored. Services are difficult to standardize. Customers participate in the production process. In general, a service product is an experience related to service consumption. This is why brand management models do not fit well to the development of service brands. Service experience models require in-depth dedication in order to set a clear expectation and in best case be standardized to provide efficiencies. Considering the role of marketing in service branding vs marketing physical products, there are differences. In regards to products, marketing is normally able to communicate product benefits and the organization handles production and logistics. In service business, things are different. All of the levels of the organization are involved in creating the customer experience. Unless the organization and all of its employees are aware of the company values and messages, the service experience will not fly. Therefore, in order to deliver a consistent service experience and be able to do successful marketing efforts, internal communications need to be taken care of, being a vital element in service branding success.

Four Key Differences Between Service and Product Brands By Robert Croston It's quiz time. Match each of the following consumer brands on the left with the word that best describes it on the right: Apple Volvo FedEx Reliable Different Safety

If you matched Apple with different; Volvo with safety; and FedEx with reliable, then you are correct! Pretty easy? It should be. After all, they have spent hundreds of millions of dollars associating their companies with these words. These words represent the end of a comprehensive process that establishes what every good consumer product company relies on: its brand. Brand is paramount in the product arena. It creates awareness, drives perception and improves desirability. Brands with top-of-mind awareness have higher perceived value which allows for higher price points. Many service companies however, have not embraced brand because they believe it to be largely the domain of product companies. But many of the same basic marketing principles apply: brand drives perceptiondrives preferencedrives top-of-mind awarenessdrives higher fees, and so on. So why can't service firms reap the same benefits? They can, when branding for a service firm is done right. Before engaging in any brand development activities it is important to be mindful of these 4 key differences between consumer and service brands. 1. Mass Market and 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 Wrigley's Spearmint Gum or Coca Cola might. 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. The dynamics of brand implementation are just different for service companies. Service firms need consistent articulation of their value proposition across all touch points of the marketing and sales process.

While catchy jingles during primetime TV might work for a product company, they are simply inappropriate for service firms. But the right marketing program, that touches your prospects regularly, with highly targeted messages, will increase awareness and recognition so the next time you call to schedule a meeting, they're more likely to take it. 2. Differentiation and Relevance 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. Share and Revenue 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. Service brands require a more directed effort that focuses on improvements to the bottom line. The pretty designs of a brochure, web site, or advertisement play a large role in driving consumer brands and growing market share, but design is just one part of a successful service brand. 3. Internal and External Focus 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 and 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 service firms who rely on direct, one-to-one interaction with clients.

The Benefits of Branding Your Product or Service Brands are so numerous and common- place today thatwe are inclined to take their significance for granted. Branding refers to the use of a name, a term, a symbol or a design to identify goods or services of a seller and to distinguish them from those of other sellers. A good brand name can make a big difference in your success. Your brand name may be the single most important decision you can make about your company, product or service name. Branding is advantageous because it ... 1. Creates an Image or Personality. 2. May Help Segment Markets. 3. Makes Purchasing Easier. 4. May Develop a Customer Franchise. Brand Recognition:It is when target customers remember having seen or heard of the brand. This is critically important, basic prospect education for new companies, products or services. Brand Preference :is when target customers will choose the brand out of habit or past experience. If your customers aresatisfied with the products or services, they willbuy your brand again if available. Brand Insistence:is when target customers insist upon a product and would be willing to search extensively for it.

Your customer is so satisfied that your competitorsdon't have a chance to take the business away fromyou (competitive insulation). Brand Advocacy :is when the satisfied customer tells everyone whom they know how great your product or service is. They become your best salesperson. Implications for marketers and marketing Jingoistic assertion no longer works. Persil Washes Whiter is a guaranteed turnoff when it is believed to be no longer objectively demonstrable. The Western world is becoming over-communicated and the outcome is that customers select a lot of it out. It is unlikely in the future that financially- and logistically-inefficient supply chains can be outweighed by sales promotion. Does brand still matter? Yes, but in a different way compared with the past. It provides a comfortable antidote to the tyranny of choice under conditions of market fragmentation and product proliferation. It provides reassurance. Purported differentiation is based on and supported by truly differentiated experiences for the consumer in engaging with the company offering the brand. Compare and contrast the late-1980s perspective of Peter Doyle (cited in Baker 2000) with that of Naomi Klein (Klein 2000). Doyle: A successful brand is a name, symbol, design or some combination, which identifies the product of a particular organisation as having a sustainabl e differential advantage Klein: The ostensible product has become a mere filler for the brand..the sneaker pimps have designed ever more intricate and pseudo-scientific air pockets and driven up prices by signing star athletes to colossal sponsorship deals..Absolut Vodka has developed a marketing strategy in which its product disappeared and its brand was nothing but a bottle-shaped space that could be filled with whatever experience content a particular audience wanted from its brands. The activity that we term marketing is undergoing change. Much of the intellectual capital of marketing dates from the 1950s-1960s. At this time we were faced with conditions of year-on-year demand growth in markets that were still subject to considerable governmental and inter-governmental regulation and to the effect of tariffs and quotas. Priorities were sales growth, market share, brand

preference, exporting. The Kotler 4Ps of marketing (product, price, promotion, place) constituted a complete framework. These remain valid. However, seven major factors for change are bringing about a need for an overhaul in our thinking about the nature of marketing. These factors have proven to be increasingly significant from the beginning of the 1990s to the present and have been influenced to some degree by disciplines and management approaches originating outside the classically defined sphere of marketing. We see this most in business-to-business marketing, where there is an increased focus on real rather than brand value, but it also evident in business-to-consumer marketing with the emergence of experience value rather than image value as the basis of branding. 1. Globalisation and the increased authority of GATT/WTO 2. Structural shift in the world economy and greater mobility of resources 3. Lower overall growth rates and major regional differences in growth performance 4. Internet 5. Computer-based systems design 6. More fluid organisational structures 7. Better-informed and hence more critical customers