Abstract
During 1980s the strategic relevance of brand positioning was recognized and service organisations are now identifying their key market segments and determining how they wish consumers to perceive their company and its products/services. Positioning is of particular significance for services as it places an intangible service within a more tangible frame of reference. This chapter examines and compares the brand positioning practices in services sector with reference to banks. It proposes a model for positioning of brands in services sector. The findings are based on an exploratory study; empirical data is collected from customer respondents (1800) and marketing executives of the banks. Six banks are studied, two each from public, private sectors and foreign banks. The study would help banks to acquire, retain and satisfy their customers by positioning their brand as it suggests a model that concentrates on internal and external facilitators, sources of growth, designing the service offer and differentiating it from competitors and delivering the service successfully.
TopReview Of Literature
“Positioning” is the term coined and conceptualised by marketing gurus Al Ries and Jack Trout in 1970s. Their landmark thinking gave marketers a new handle on creating an association in the buyer's mind, tying a company's products and services with reasons why the buyer should consider doing business with that enterprise. Aaker, David and Gary J Shansby (1982) opine that the positioning decision is often the crucial strategic decision for a company or brand because the position is central to the customer’s perception and choice. Ennis, Beaven F. (1986) explain that the fundamental responsibility of the marketing manager is to ‘select a positioning concept that drives the consumer’s perception of a brand as far up the spectrum of differentiation as is legally and ethically possible. Joe Marconi (2003) has observed that when marketers speak of positioning a product, they mean an attempt to conjure an image or an association in a mental frame of reference, to physically place it in a particular section of the mind, to make it available through related service where are many expect to find it.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Service Offer: It is the extent and limit of customer services that a company offers to its customers.
Service quality: The process of assessing how well a delivered service conforms to the expectations of the customers.
Positioning: It is a process of implementing the chosen image and appeal of the product/service offered by the company to its chosen segment of customers.
Service Delivery: It is the act of offering consistent service experience to customers.
Service Differentiation: It is the development and incorporation of attributes such as quality, reliability etc., that a service’s intended customers perceives to be different and desirable.
Targeting: Selecting which segment of customers to serve and channelizing a marketer’s resources and efforts at them.