Service brand refers to a special brand form in which enterprises meet consumers' psychological needs through the service process of goods or services in economic activities.Building a service brand is no longer the patent of enterprises in the service fields of finance, telecommunications, postal services, retail and so on. The production and manufacturing field also ushered in the era of service brand.
Service brand generally includes serviceBrand conceptService brand behavior, service brand image, serviceBrand communicationAnd service brand management.To create a service brand, we must first establish the name of the service brand. Generally speaking, there are two choices: using a product brand and using a new brand.
Background
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The original "brand" of the word "brand" means "brand", which can be said to be the most original definition of brand.Nowadays, the connotation of brand has gone far beyond the scope of early "identification", showing an increasingly diversified trend.For example, Philip Kotler believes that a brand is a name, title, symbol or design, or the sum of the above, whose purpose is to distinguish its products or services from other competitors;Burleigh B. Gardner and Sidney J. levy (1955) believed that a brand has a set of values that can meet the rational and emotional needs of customers, and its creation should focus on the development of a personality value and so on.
When people talk about brands, they mostly refer to product brands. After entering the 21st century, with consumers' increasing attention to service experience, service brands are increasingly favored by various enterprises. Not only many service industries have created their own service brands, such as banking, communications, retail and other service industries;Many manufacturing enterprises have also started to build service brands, such as household appliances, automobiles, electronics, tobacco and other manufacturing enterprises.
Basic composition
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Service quality
In terms of service content, including service itemsService standards, service mode, service commitment and many other aspects together constitute the evaluation criteria of service quality.However, there is one point that these evaluation criteria must be customer centric, not enterprise centric.Service quality constitutes the core of service brand, just as product quality has the same meaning for product brand, so we must specify, standardize and standardize service to obtain stable service quality.
Service mode
(such as outsourcing, franchise, independent and other service expansion modes), management mode and other aspects, service mode, service response speed and service scale together constitute the three core competitive points of services.The service mode can stabilize the stability of service operation quality (including service quality, anti risk ability, sustainable operation ability, etc.), so that the enterprise will not affect service operation due to organizational reform, service personnel post adjustment, loss and other factors, especially service quality, and the brand is a sign of a high-quality and stable service quality.At the same time, it is also conducive to ensuring the realization of the service strategy.
Service technology
The technical content of service is one of the key factors that determine the service quality. At the same time, enterprises can obtain sustainable competitive advantages through continuous innovation of service technology."IBM is service", why is IBM service praised all over the world?Because it has unique service technology,IBM Global Service Department can not only provide customers with after-sales services based on software and hardware maintenance and parts replacement, but also, more importantly, provide information technology and management consulting services such as independent consultants, business process and technical process integration services, professional system services, network generic cabling system integration, human training, operation and maintenance services, etc,To meet the increasingly complex and personalized needs of customers, however, this is a technical capability that many enterprises do not have.
Service price
Service also has costs. If the service cost is not included for the purpose of unlimited improvement of service quality, it is not conducive to the operation of enterprises.At the same time, it will also lead to a rise in the price of services provided to customers, which is difficult to satisfy customers, and the results run counter to expectations.Therefore, based on the service positioning, enterprises must ensure that the service price is fair and reasonable, and accepted by customers, which is conducive to service brand building.For example, the "7 × 24 × 4" service launched by some enterprises promises to arrive 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and within 4 hours to provide door-to-door services for users. It is completely digital, very specific and vivid, but it can be implemented at a high cost and is also very difficult.
Service culture
Service culture is one of the "components" of the connotation of service brand. Service culture is based on the inheritance of enterprise traditional culture (enterprise brand culture, product brand culture) and the integration of market consumption culture. Service culture must be based on customer oriented brand culture, and this culture must change with enterprise development, social environment, market environment and other factors,Continuously sublate and innovate.
Service reputation
Honesty is one of the key factors that cannot be missed for brands. However, many enterprises in China lack honesty in their services.Some enterprises have made promises on services, but they do not implement them. "What they say is not what they say, and what they say is not what they say", in fact, this is a short-term behavior.Enterprises should realize that customer dissatisfaction starts with products and may end with services. If there is no integrity in services, the enterprise may be hopeless, let alone building a service brand.
Main features
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1. Personalization: service brand must be able to provide high-quality personalized service content and convey personalized brand concept.
2. Standardization: The service brand should have standardized service specifications.For example, Wal Mart's "three meter smile" standard, Gome's "three meter three sound" service, etc.
3. Customer experience: service brand is established through long-term service experience of consumers and repeated communication between enterprises and consumers. The core of service brand construction is customer experience.For example, sensory experience, participation experience, emotional experience, etc.
Construction management
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IRational naming of service brand。From the perspective of service brand name, service brand name has experienced a process from homogeneity to difference, from ordinary to personality, and from straightforwardness to concept.It can be seen that Kelon once proposed "whole journey worry free service"Founder TechnologyThe "whole process service" also proposed has a sense of homogeneity from the brand name, and many enterprises in the field of real estate and consulting services have created similar service brands, which will inevitably affect brand personality and communication power.Excellent service brands also begin with naming, which should be easy to identify, personalized, and easy to spread. This is the standard to measure whether a service brand name is scientific and reasonable.Some experts in the industry once proposed the naming model of "joint brand", that is, "joint brand=main brand+service brand", which is instructive, but not suitable for the service brand operation under the service outsourcing model of enterprises.
IIProfessional service operation organization。If an enterprise wants to create a service brand, it must establish a professional brand management organization system, including organizational structure and professional staffing, responsible for brand planning, management, promotion, communication and other work.When Skyworth Group promoted the service concept of "customer, you are the president", it established the "Skyworth Group Service Culture Promotion Center", which is responsible for the overall promotion and management of the brand. Unfortunately, Skyworth did little in brand name;The vice chairman and general manager of Shantou PLUS Co., Ltd. also said that the establishment of the "intimate 24" service brand system is not a supplement to the sales system, but a professional service center with independent institutions and personnel.
IIIProfessional service image system。Brand identity system (BIS) is the basis for forming brand differences and shaping distinctive personality, which can be basically divided into three components: concept identity (MI, including service purpose, service policy, service philosophy, communication positioning, etc.), visual identity (VI, including standard colors, standard characters, LOGOCartoon image, service vehicle, personnel dress and other basic elements, application element system), behavior recognition (BI, including service language, service action specification, etc.).Enterprises can understand service branding as a change in service brand marketing. The first thing to "change" is the concept (MI) part, as well as other basic parts (such as VI, BI), and then the organization and process change.Many enterprises are aware of this "basic project" when building service brands, and have made a more perfect interpretation of service brands.
IVProfessional service channel system。If an enterprise wants to create a service brand, it is not impossible to compound the service channels and product channels. For example, Lenovo's "sunshine service" will bring difficulties to brand management: enterprises and dealers manage product brands at the same time, which is no different from multi brand management;Enterprises and dealers should "pay attention to both sides", and the degree of specialization in operation may not be enough.Specialized service channel is a system, which can include multiple sub channels, such as personnel service channel (active service by sales service personnel), telephone service channel (telephone center or call center), network service channel (professional service website), channel media service (professional print service publication, audio-visual media service materials, etc.)Store service channels (such as franchise service stores), conference service channels (organizing customer clubs), etc.
VestablishRapid response mechanism。The quick response of enterprises not only represents the image of integrity, but also can defuse the crisis events that damage the brand image in the bud.The enterprise will inevitably encounter crisis in the process of continuous operation, even ifCoca ColaInternational companies such as ("dioxin incident"), Mercedes Benz ("hit the big Benz incident") are no exception.Some people believe that the reason why many enterprises have survived the crisis safely is that they have implemented crisis public relations skillfully and successfully, which is only half right.High quality and efficient services of enterprises are also useful in resolving crises, because many crisis events, even those that have brought down enterprises, are because enterprises do not correct their service attitude or take effective measures to solve customer complaints or claims, resulting in "broken" brand of products.The product brand is afraid of negative communication, and so is the service brand. If the product brand falls, the service brand will be installed in?
VIScientific operation, service and brand communication。serviceBrand buildingCommunication is indispensable, but in the process of service brand communication, it is not enough to "say" well, but to "do" well in practice.To be exact, service brands are actually "made", so service personnel are the most effective and authoritative communication ambassadors.World Brand LabIt is also believed that in terms of service brand communication, the role of public relations communication may be better than advertising communication, because service brand needs public praise more.For the formation of word of mouth, two-way communication (public relations communication) is more effective than one-way communication (advertising communication).Therefore, enterprises should do a good job in activity communication, event communication, news communication, interpersonal communication, etc.Of course, this is not to deny the role of advertising in building service brands. In the process of building service brands, image advertising and information informing advertising (such as service product information and service activity information) are also essential.
theoretical development
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Development of service brands in China
In the 1980s, when the supply of products exceeded the demand, the production of products was the first priority. No one paid attention to brand building, nor did peopleBrand conceptWithout the service industry, there is no service brand. Brand refers more to product quality.
In the 1990s, with the improvement of production capacity, many industries entered the market state of supply exceeding demand, and consumers had a choice. In order to win in the competition, in addition to focusing on product quality, enterprises began to attach importance to marketing, turning from business to business, and gradually gained brand awareness, but more of it was product brand building, changing packaging to advertising, and market competition turned from product to marketing competition,Some service industries have a simple service brand embryonic form.
From the late 1990s to the 21st century, the market presented intense competition. Consumers paid more and more attention to the experience of the consumption process, and the market competition turned to the all-round competition of products, services, marketing, culture, etc.
"Innovation" and "service" have become key words for enterprise development, and service brand has gradually become a market tool for many enterprises to retain old customers and attract new customers.
Brand building
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Four major work contents of service brand building:
1、Refine service brand concept:The concept of service brand is the soul of service brand and the main basis for formulating service brand behavior standards and designing service brand image.It mainly includes service brand name, positioning, concept, proposition, etc.
2、Design service brand behavior standard: Manage "service key points", attach importance to "consumer concerns", provide excellent services, and lead the industry's service standards.It mainly includes the control of key points in the service process, employee behavior norms, consumer demand feedback, etc.
3、Design service brand image: Design personality VI, integrate ideas and creativity, and convey the personality and connotation of the service brand.Including logo, auxiliary graphics, VI system, promotional posters, promotional videos, etc.
4、Planning service brand communication:"Good wine also fears deep alleys". Only through effective communication can service brands occupy a unique position in the minds of passengers.It includes internal communication and external communication. Internal communication: training, internal journals, websites, celebrations, conferences, cultural activities, merit evaluation, etc;External communication: newspapers, magazines, television, outdoor advertising, mobile phones, networks, press conferences, essay contests, radio, etc.
implementation
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On the one hand, more and more enterprises begin to invest a lot of money and costs to make brands;On the other hand, due to the information surplus, the society is in the era of attention shortage, and after a large amount of investment, the brand has not seen obvious improvement,Brand communicationIs becoming more and more difficult.This means that the rough way of brand communication is no longer suitable for the needs of enterprises to shape brands. In other words, to successfully shape brands, brand communication must be refined.The refined operation of brand communication should be implemented from three aspects.
The fundamental element of brand is people. The shaping of a successful brand can not be independently completed by one person, department or consulting company. It requires the participation of all employees of the enterprise. All employees must have brand management awareness and consciously maintain the brand image, that is, "all employees brand management".
In fact, everyone has their own brand,Corporate brandIt should be based on the personal brand of the employees of the enterprise, that is, the "big brand" of the enterprise is to a large extent an organic combination of the "small brand" of all employees.If an enterprise wants to achieve an excellent brand, its employees must pay attention to the construction of personal brand, because the employees of the enterprise are "live advertisements" that are known by the outside world. Only a good personal brand image can spread a good corporate brand image, otherwise, the brand image of the enterprise will lose the foundation on which it depends and become a "tree without roots".In particular, the personal brand of enterprise sales personnel directly affects the evaluation and positioning of enterprise brand by customers.It is difficult for a salesperson with untidy clothes and hesitant words to win customers' favor even if he talks about his own enterprise in a dazzled way.For example, before, a salesperson from an online company broke into the company without making an appointment and said that he would provide a series of services to build a website, and repeatedly stressed his company's taste and strength. However, from the dandruff on his head and shoulders and the lack of self-confidence in language expression, the author can hardly believe the strength and taste he emphasized, and the results are naturally known.
