Service and Promotion

This research examines two issues that are distinct yet related in the scheme of marketing operations: service and promotion. The research will describe the importance and relevance of a service orientation as a marketing tool, then discuss the benefits and challenges of utilizing media as a vehicle for both sales promotion and paid advertising that ties such media use to a company image in positive ways. To illustrate the interpenetration of these concepts, reference will be made especially to Saturn Corporation, an automobile manufacturer subsidiary of General Motors, and compare its innovative marketing and service strategies to those of other American automobile manufacturers.

In his treatment of the subject of designing and managing services, Kotler makes two points about strong marketing practices that he does not specifically link but that seem connected nevertheless. One is that marketers must "develop a service strategy when preparing their marketing plans" (2004, p. 467). In other words, before embarking on a project of making sales and luring clients or customers into the buying their product, marketers (and of course manufacturers, which are perforce marketers) would be well advised to consider the implications of the buying experience, including the buyers' possible perceptions of product quality and value if in some manner or for some reason the maker of the product appears not to be willing to "stand behind" the product or service on offer. That inevitably lea

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tely involved in acting out the story. (Mills, Boylstein, & Lorean, 2001, p. 117) An investigation of Saturn's first decade in business characterizes the corporation as a "stakeholder" rather than "shareholder" firm. That is, Saturn is perceived as seeking sanction not just from the universe of its financial backers but from society at large, with the company positioning itself as a socially responsible member of the community from which its stakeholders are drawn. Stakeholder and shareholder attributes are provided both discursively and schematically: Figure 1. Key Distinctions Between Shareholder and Stakeholder Firms Attribute Shareholder Firm Stakeholder Firm Goal(s) Maximize shareholder wealth Pursue multiple objectives of parties with different interests Governance Structures and Key Processes Principal Agent Model Managers are shareholders. Control is the key task. Team Production Model Coordination, cooperation, & conflict resolution are the key tasks Performance Metrics Shareholder value sufficient to maintain investor commitment Fair distribution of value created to maintain commitment of multiple stakeholders Residual Risk Holders Shareholders All Stakeholders Stakeh

Category: Business - S