Service Marketing
This paper discusses the importance of service marketing. In this paper, British Airlines firm is taken as a service industry and it is also largest international airlines in the world.
At the same time, this paper discusses that how the delivery of the service by British Airlines is satisfactory (Cornelissen & Cornelissen, 2017). The difference between the marketing and the marketing of the products is also discussed. There are also different examples that are also explained in this essay.
British Airways is one of the largest airline UK based service firm in the world. It was found in 1974. In this, British Airways Board was been established by the government to handle two Nationalized airline corporations, British Overseas Airways Corporation and British European Airways.
More than 36 million passengers used the service of BA annually and approx 200 destinations across the globe are covered by the firm. It’s always been viewed as an industry leader because it has the longest established airlines. (Samuel, 2016). The services provided by this airline are customer service transformation, catering, aircraft product development & delivery, etc.
British Airways has its own terminal called Terminal 5 or T5 at the Heathrow Airport in London. It has a fleet of 253 planes. It has a fleet of Aircraft, which includes planes built by Boeing, Airbus and Embraer.
Satisfactory delivery of the firm
British airways always have its positive concern for its customers by providing them the excellent service delivery in a way that the customers are overwhelmed. The main reason for its satisfactory delivery is that it is the largest international airline in the world, which carries more of international passengers compared to its competitors.
It means 80 passengers checking every minute, and a single British Airline taking off and landing in every 60 seconds. It makes BA a good service firm and increases the loyalty of the customers.
British Airline introduced the lower starting fares which resulted in attracting majority of the passengers and also removed the Saturday night stay rule restrictions. Providing the customers with full value for money and an option of more flexibility has led to the satisfaction of customers.
The airlines new commercial proposition promotes competitive low cost fares with a full service offering. The brand offered many flights with unbeatable punctuality with fewer fares to more destinations (Hoffman, & Bateson, 2010).
The Online check-ins gives the passengers the chance to save their time. Its extranet site for the travel trade provides the passengers with full information on all the British Airways services which includes the promotional offers as well. It provides the promise of reliability and reassurance.
The Servqual model also helps to gain a better insight of the British Airways. It helps capture the expectations of the customers the perceptions of the service along with the five dimensions that represent the service quality.
Reliability- the company is able to perform the service which it has promised to its customers accurately (Aaker, & Joachimsthaler, 2012). Assurance- The employees of this airline are always able to convey and generate a feeling of trust for their customers.
Tangibles- Inspite of being one of largest airline, it has some issues in the physical facilities and the appearance of the aircraft also gives an ancient look. Empathy- It has always cared for its customers and gave due attention to their queries and issues. Responsiveness- the staff is always willing to help their customers and always give prompt service.
Marketing of services vs marketing of FMCG
Service marketing is the marketing of economic activities which are offered by the business to its clients. But at the same time, product marketing is a process of marketing the activities which are aligned to sell and promote a particular product.
In service marketing, relationship is sold like when someone decides to fly with British Airways; a relation is build between the passenger and the staff and crew members. But, in case of product marketing, value is sold (Hoffman & Bateson, 2010).
Services once taken cannot be returned once rendered but products can be returned. As services are intangible, it is difficult to promote which are not in the case of products. Services can be customized, as they vary from person to person which is not possible for products.
Quality of the services been provided cannot be measured but the quality of a product can be measured easily. Services cannot be stocked as compared to products. Impulse buying rarely exists in service marketing as compared to product marketing.
The production, purchase and consumption of the services takes place at the same time like the airline services are done in the same way which varies in product (Wilson et al., 2012). Marketing a service relies more on building a relationship than marketing product does.
British Airways provides the best and prominent services to its customers, including different promotional offers which help to attract passengers. It offers low fares to its customers and its online services are also a major helping factor that makes it the largest international airline in the world (Samuel, 2016).
Fortis hospitals provide the effective and timely services to its customers. The customers are happy because of the personal touch they get by the staff which is very cooperative and supportive. They handle the queries and issues of the customers on time.
Mc Donald’s is able to achieve consistency in its service delivery because the products are always of the same quality and the orders are always delivered on time, this leads to high satisfaction for the customers. Uber the most common cab service provides timely and beneficial services to its customers (Cornelissen, & Cornelissen, 2017).
Due to the effective and accurate services provided by Uber it has a huge customer base. Apple is among the top market players who deliver the best products all over the world. Its products provide competitive advantage and it has a huge customer base globally. The most wanted product of Apple is the iPhone. Inspite of the heavy price of the products but due to providing the best quality and the unique features, people like to buy the apple products.
From the above discussion, it can be concluded that British Airways is the best airlines in the world as it provides efficient services to its customers and also provides attractive promotional offers. It can also be concluded that it provides the full value of money to its customers and greater flexibility which results in customer satisfaction.
Servqual model was further used to gain a better insight of British Airways. From the above discussion, it can also be summarized that service marketing is difficult from product marketing because services are intangible. Some examples are also discussed which helps to know about the different services been offered and why they are effective.
Aaker, D. A., & Joachimsthaler, E. (2012) Brand leadership.USA: Simon and Schuster.
British Airways (2017) [Online] Available at: https://www.britishairways.com/travel/home/public/en_us (Accessed: 2nd August, 2017).
Cornelissen, J., & Cornelissen, J. P. (2017) Corporate communication: A guide to theory and practice. USA: Sage.
Hoffman, K. D., & Bateson, J. E. (2010) Services marketing: concepts, strategies, & cases. USA: Cengage learning.
Samuel, R. (Ed.). (2016) Routledge Revivals: Patriotism: The Making and Unmaking of British National Identity (1989): Volume I: History and Politics.USA: Routledge.
Wilson, A., Zeithaml, V. A., Bitner, M. J., & Gremler, D. D. (2012) Services marketing: Integrating customer focus across the firm.USA: McGraw Hill.
