UOWD - Mark 270: Integrated Service Marketing Communication Exam Notes

This document presents detailed exam notes on Integrated Service Marketing Communication (ISMC). It covers the importance of ISMC in service industries, emphasizing the use of various communication channels like advertising, social media, and word of mouth. The notes explain the Integrated Marketing Mix, including branding, sampling, and social media, and how to communicate the availability, efficacy, and information about the service. It also delves into the service marketing triangle (companies, service providers, and customers) and the importance of training providers to deliver excellent service. Furthermore, the notes explore the roles of ISMC in positioning and differentiating services, enabling customer evaluation, promoting service personnel, facilitating customer involvement, and managing demand. The challenges of ISMC, such as service intangibility, and strategies to overcome them, like using physical evidence and symbolism, are also discussed. Finally, the document outlines the planning process for ISMC, including identifying the target audience and the different types of marketing communication channels.

Mark 270 exam notes
Integrated service marketing communications
Technology has made it easy for companies to communicate with customers. Many service
companies use word of mouth, referrals, to communicate with customers.
Younger ppl prefers to be communicated by social media, mobile etc. whereas older ppl prefer
traditional media like tv, radio etc.
INTEGRARED MARKETING MIX
Advertising, public relation, packaging design, personal selling etc.
Newer tools of (IMC) INTEGRARED MARKETING MIX
Branding
Sampling
Social media
The objective of marketing communication
Is to communicate the 1. availability of the service
2.efficasy of the service, if you like benefit of the service
3. information as to time, when we can come, what times available, when we are open and
close.
There is no one best way to reach customers, it depends on what we are selling, where they are
located, what king of service.
Service marketing triangle
Companies, service providers and customers
Providers- company employees, frontline service people in a company dealing face to face
with the customers, like sales ladies and men behind the counter, sales people on floor to
whom customers asks questions to.
So, companies must communicate to them, train them, explain process to them and train them
on the service flow for them to be le to provide the service to the customers, not just on how to
do the work but also train them on how to do it in a happy way like friendly, welcoming,
respectful, smiling, when dealing or interacting with customers and through this customer will
perceive it as a pleasant company. Providers are like the ambassadors or the face of the
company.
Providers are communicating with the customers, companies are communicating to the
providers, providers are communicating to the customers, companies are also communicating
directly to the customers through external marketing communications like advertising,
promotions etc.
All sides of the triangle must be efficient, must be trained well. In some service even customers
have to be given informal training on how to use the service or to behave in services cape. It is

done indirectly, customers will not know that they are trained. Training on how to behave on
service cape.
Example of customer being trained on services cape is new UOWD students go and take a
number from token machine and wait to be called to the counter.
INTEGRATED SERVICE MARKETING COMMUNICATION- A
strategy that carefully integrates all external and internal
communication channels to present a consistent single- themed
message to customers.
It is not integrated If u do just one aspect of promotion. If u do only advertise its not integrated,
If u do only sales promotion it’s not integrated. Integrated means bringing together.
INTEGRATED SERVICE MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS is when there is More than one
promotional element and the number of promotional elements whether it is two or three, a
consistent singular themed message flowing through them
ROLES INTEGRATED SERVICE MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS
Helps to communicate
Helps to position a service at a higher level and differentiate a service form other competitor.
Helps customers to know about our service. Helps them to know that a service exists.
Helps customers to understand the attributes of the service.
Helps customers to know the values. And adds value to good service or product.
Helps customers to know If customers are required in some aspects of production of the
service. Example- barber, u have to be present for them to cut customers hair.
1. Helping to Position and Differentiate Service Offerings
Advertising a bad product kills it. People tries it and find that it is bad.
Marketing communication helps to add value to the good one.
If a firm have unique that they are selling then marketing communication will help to highlight
those positive attributes.
always solve the problem before advertising. Find out where the problem is, weather it is in
the people, physical evidence or process etc. do something to it and then advertise.
2. Enabling Customers’ Evaluation of Service Offerings

3. Helping to Promote the Contributions of Service Personnel
Helps to promote that our frontline staffs are good.
Gives intangible service a personality. it tantalizes it.
Customers form expectations by what the company communicates. so, companies should use it
to promise what they can do. They can create expectation and deliver it better.
4. Helping to Facilitate Customers’ Involvement in Service Production
Marketing communication helps to inform customers on the role that they have to play
and train them on how to perform the role well.
Ex. We go to mcd we know that we have to go and pay for food and stand side for
number to be called. Through many years of marketing communication, they have
trained us to do it that way.
5. Helping to Stimulate or Dampen Demand to Match Output Capacity
Marketing communication is no tjust advertising or what they put on media. it is also what they
tell use in counter or whts written in packaging or instructions etc.- general
The challenge of ISMC
Marketing communication sees what to emphasize because of intangibility of the
service
Generality –
Abstractness –
Solutions to the Problems of Service Intangibility- imp
Make use of physical evidence, show images, show action, symbolism ow
things that ppl can associate with. Use metaphors - imp
Planning INTEGRATED SERVICE MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS

who do I want to communicate with we need to know who to know how to communicate with
them. in order to know what to communicate with them
who. What . where- service cape, media, when to make it available and how. Local language
can get the best out of them.
we need to know who they are to know how, when etc. to communicate with them. example
old people will use radio, tv and all.
Three Broad Categories IMC
Target Audience
The most imp objective of marketing communication is how do we as a company
get the response we want from audience. By know knowing them, when to say, how to
say it etc.
1.Prospects -
IMC OBJECTIVE
Sources of IMC Messages
Received by the Audience
Traditional marketing mix communication
1. Advertising-
2. Sales promotion-
Buy one get one free will tempted u to buy it.
Used to reward loyal customers, make those who haven’t tried it to try. The make
ppl buy more. It is used to push more sales.
3.public relation
4. sponsorships and event marketing.
5. service cape marketing communication
Service outlets – even communication between the customer and service ppl in
the outlets is marketing communication. everything affects customer perception.
Even the attitude of the customer is mark communication
May be used to create positive perception in the minds of the customers.
6. customer word of mouth

7. corporate design – apart from using central theme, metaphors, use corporate
designs. Logos, uniform, physical facilities to show that they know what they
are doing and they are serious on what they are doing, to show that they are
top and efficient in what they are doing. All this makes it easy for customers to
understand.
Digital marketing communication
Search engine