Processes and infrastructure to support service branding

It´s said that in a service organization involving employees and putting effort on internal communications in regards to service branding is essential. In comparison, in product branding, it is possible to promote products if the production process works seamlessly and provides the goods which receive a brand identity in the sales and marketing funnel. In a service organization, creating the brand identity, promise and providing information and education on the brand internally is not enough. Involving people should be much more extensive. In order to deliver the expected brand promise and experience, the essential elements in internal involvement is putting people to work. Creating relevant service processes and infrastructure to support the brand promise is needed in order to tie the actual promise to what is being delivered. Service processes are not implemented by sales and marketing but throughout the organization developing and providing the actual service experience. Physical infrastructure, ie environments and locations supporting the service processes are needed to build a coherent entity. Therefore the target of internal information sharing and communications should be partly to create understanding of the value propositions and promises but also to make sure that every employee implements the brand promise in their individual daily work. Managing the work of all employees towards the same goals and same direction is challenging. Building excitement is not easy but necessary to build internal understanding and just getting what the company brand really is all about, to finally showcase the unified experience towards customers.

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.