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 leads to the familiar phrase service after the sale. This leads to a second, and related, point of importance that must be considered in the manner of an imperative for discerning marketers: that postpurchase service is a presumption that buyers bring to the purchasing exercise. Kotler explains:
To provide the best support, a manufacturer must identify the services the customers value most and their relative importance. The service mix includes both presale servi...