Analyzing The Success Of Brands In The Service Industry

June 22, 2016
Qix

Professions that provide a service or intangible experiences instead of produced goods to its consumers are considered a part of the service industry. Examples of such services include advertising, hospitality and healthcare industries to name a few. An interesting way to analyse the success of a service brand is using the 4Cs of Service Design (Inspired by the 4Ps of marketing: Product, Price Place, Promotion also known as the Marketing Mix by Neil Borden)

The aspect that binds the 4Cs together is the ideology that the brand is comprised of. It’s core values and beliefs that are responsible for the company’s existence in the first place and also responsible for carrying out the brand’s vision and mission for the future.

A good example of a brand’s clear ideology and approach is that of IDEO, illustrated below:

ideo

The 4Cs of Service Design

1. CONSUMER (VS. PRODUCT)
The wants and needs of the Consumer are what drive the service industry to derive at its service. This element will evaluate the variety of target audience the brand has developed and how the company manages and interacts with them. This can also be used to evaluate the brand’s perceived image by its set of consumers.

Takeda - Service Design

2. COST (VS. PRICE)
This framework can help analyse a brand’s value that is portrayed by the company and perceived by its consumers. This segment can also help evaluate the ways in which the brand differentiates itself from its competitors.

Qix - Service Design

3. CONVENIENCE (VS. PLACE)
Convenience can help understand a brand’s strategy behind its locations around the world and how well it caters to its business and the convenience of its customers.

Nikon - Service Design

4. COMMUNICATION (VS. PROMOTION)
Instead of promotion strategy, the framework can focus on how the brand has developed ways of communicating with its various consumers.

Using the 4Cs of service design, brands can evaluate where they stand in the market compared to their competitors in order to improve and better understand their consumers’ expectations. An example of using this method can be found here: Brand Analysis Using 4Cs Framework

I’d love to know your analyses using this or improved methods. What method works best for you and your brand?

 

Sancharee Saha
Associate Art Director, Brand Designer
Singer, Dreamer, Coffee Addict
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