Five Priorities for Building Services Brands

5 June 2002—Interest among technology marketers in building a services brand has advanced recently amid signs that the investment community is taking brand strength more seriously. Investor interest in brand evaluation is relatively new, but it represents a new challenge for services marketers. According to Brand Finance, a London-based consultancy, more than three quarters of financial analysts in London want more information on a company's brand values and believe that intangible assets like brand should be capitalised on the balance sheet. For technology firms placing greater emphasis on their services business, this creates a direct link between services branding and shareholder value.

The very nature of a services business, however, with its almost complete reliance on people rather than products, means that achieving a consistent, "branded" style and approach across the entire organisation is a challenge that analysts and many marketers themselves are only just beginning to understand.

European branding specialists suggest that services marketers should focus on five priorities:

• Defining the company story. Communication and change specialists at the brand consultancy beasyousay are convinced that the only way to begin successful services branding projects is by creating a joint 'story' about the company and its values that all employees can understand and articulate. The process begins with top executives. If they can't agree on a core story for the company, investing in broader branding initiatives makes little sense. Once the story is in place at the top, company leaders must lead by example, acting upon brand values to set a precedent and tone for all employees.

• Mapping client touch points. Marketers need to design client relationships such that clients develop an emotional attachment and preference for the brand itself and not just particular individuals or groups within the company. A crucial technique here is mapping out all the ways the company interacts with clients and looking for opportunities to reinforce brand values with every client touch point. Given the extent of personnel changes most technology companies have gone through in the last 12 months, this technique is particularly important now.

• Reinforcing brand strategy throughout the company. Marketers need to be constantly vigilant about reinforcing brand strategy throughout the company. One focus is to make sure that the Board and all executives understand the importance of branding and the impact it can have on shareholder value. As important is working with colleagues across the organisation to support the brand throughout all phases of client relationships.

• Training employees to live the brand. Employees may also need to be given new skills to deliver on the brand promise. Simply telling them that innovation is a key brand value won't work. Gavin Fenn-Smith, founder of beasyousay, provides a more constructive approach. If innovation is an important brand value, why not offer short training workshops on creative thinking to all employees? This would be a more effective way to ensure that innovation is demonstrated through the service delivered and throughout the broader client relationship.

• Measuring brand perceptions. Finally, it is up to marketing to know how their brand is perceived at all times by all major stakeholders, including clients, prospects, employees, partners, investors, and other influencers such as analysts and the media. Measuring brand perceptions is critical to maintaining a consistent image across all stakeholders and knowing how best to evolve the brand over time to meet changing opportunities and needs.

Marketing's role in building services brands that increase shareholder value is under the spotlight. But just as the investment community is beginning to understand that service brands can be more complex to deal with than product brands, there is a growing conviction in the marketing community itself that service brands need to be managed differently. Services marketers need broader strategies, new skills, and a strong commitment to work as much within and across the company as on the external image and communications.

-Bev Burgess, info@itsma.com

About ITSMA
ITSMA specializes in helping companies market and sell services and solutions more effectively. As a membership organization, we provide research, consulting, and training to the world's leading technology, communications, and professional services providers to generate increased demand, strengthen customer relationships, and improve brand differentiation. ITSMA is based near Boston, and has offices in London and Tokyo. Learn more at www.itsma.com.