Week 2.6 Services Marketing; Modifying the marketing mix for business markets, services and international

Marketing Environment

Simon Isrif, 438344, DIM1VC

21-12-2016

Week 2.6       Services Marketing; Modifying the marketing mix for business markets, services and international

 

(UFS, n.d.)

Which services (related to your product) are offered by the manufacturer of your product? Describe the extended marketing mix for these services.

Sennheiser offers both pre-sale and after-sale services for their headphones and other products. Sennheiser’s global services at a glance are the following:

• A worldwide network has more than 90 service centres in over 80 countries.
• A workforce with over 100 fully trained technicians.
• All service workshops carry a parts stock that meets the needs of their local customers.
• The service technicians can remotely order parts online.
• Each technician has instant access to the service documentation of more than 3.000 products.
• Nearly all reported problems are successfully resolved by our service technicians on their first call.

(Sennheiser, 2016).

Which new services do you see could be interesting to have for your product?

Sennheiser currently already has a very wide range of offered services relation to the offered products and therefore it is a difficult task to find new potential services that are not already in use. However, services that could be interesting are ones involved in a higher level of costumer involvement.

Explain the intangibility, variability, inseparability and perishability of these services and explain which consequences these service characteristics have for the marketing of your product.

To improve the intangibility, the inherent quality of services, the experience prior of the purchase, the experience after purchase and attributes after consumption have to be assessed.

The quality of the service is a key feature of services. Give two examples of how the quality of services for your product could enhance the client/consumer’s quality perception.

Quality of the services offered by a company in relation to their product is important to keep consumer loyalty and repeat purchase. To take as an example that could enhance the quality perception are the level of commitment and motivation of personnel to help customers with potential problems or questions, this improves the ambience that the customer experiences in the store which could lead to a higher appreciation and quality perception of the products. An

What promotional strategies could you follow in relation to the product issues and promotion? Describe a possible strategy for your product.

Senneiser is a global, respected and settled company and it is therefore advised to use the current product and promotion in a new country. This strategy is very efficient for Sennheiser because it eliminates the expenses of marketing research and product redevelopment for individual countries. The translation of the products and promotional massages is however advised to make sure potential clients understand the product and the company.

Explain how the P of people is linked to your product from the perspective of personnel

A company’s personnel represents the company and it is therefore very important to make sure that the interaction between them and the costumers involves a high level of human involvement and attention. Sennheiser values a quality based image of its products, which also means that personnel have to be specifically selected, trained and motivated to illustrate this professional and qualitative image.

References

Sennheiser. (2016). Sennheiser Global Services. Retrieved from https://en-us.sennheiser.com/global-service

UFS. (n.d.). Aim for the Services Marketing Module. Retrieved from https://lms.tuit.co.za/courses/95/pages/aim-for-the-services-marketing-module

Week 2.5 Channel players and physical distribution

Marketing Environment

Simon Isrif, 438344, DIM1VC

14-12-2016

Week 2.5 Channel players and physical distribution  

How is the product presented in a shop?

In this case I use Media Markt, Europe's number one consumer electronics retailer (Media Markt, 2016) located in Deventer, to give a detailed description of how the headphones/earphones produced by Sennheiser are presented in the majority of the stores that offer the product. Even though Media Markt is quite a big store, the clean and clear design creates a comfortable atmosphere for the costumers. Colors used in the store are primarily red and white, the same goes for the personnel’s clothing. The Sennheiser products in question are presented in the same way as other major electronic audio producers, in the headphones sector of the store which is located in somewhat in the back of the store. A reason why this specific location has been chosen could be that headphones are a relatively expensive product, a product which is not purchased on a regular basis and requires research and thought before buying. A front or near cash register location would therefore not be very efficient or necessary.

Where are the best known brands located? Which value brands are offered? Which own-label offerings are present?

Other best known headphone brands (Sony, Panasonic etc.) are located in the same location as Sennheiser, in the middle of the headphones section of the store. Value brands, which primarily consist of Media Markt’s own branded headphones (house brand), are located more on the sides of the section. The centralized location chosen for the Sennheiser products indicated the status of a premium product.

  

The number of facings of your product compared to the number of facings of competing brands. Measure the space on the shelves and calculate the “share of space” of your brand

The product has an equal share of facings (8x9=72 facings) compared to the competing brands. The share of space of all the competing brands plus Sennheiser is 1:5.

No brand, in relation to share of space, has a competitive edge. However, the central location of the Sennheiser headphones in the store section could be seen as profitable, causing the edge over competitors.

Describe the relation between transportation, packaging and communication in relation to your product.

Sennheiser headphones are packaged in a durable and sturdy case. The case communicates a no-nonsense vibe to its customers. This way of packaging is also effective for transportation, there is less need for additional protection which consequently causes a lower transportation cost.

References

Media Markt. (2016). Europe’s largest retailer for consumer electronics. Retrieved from http://www.mediamarkt.com/

Week 2.4 Marketing channels

Marketing Environment

Simon Isrif, 438344, DIM1VC

07-12-2016

Week 2.4      Marketing channels

      (Outsidesource, n.d.)

Draw an overview of the distribution channels for your product. Describe the channels in terms of complexity and distance.

Sennheiser uses multiple distribution channels for its headphones and other products to aim at a larger, more varied target group. Sennheiser focusses on both consumers and business customers. This multi-channel marketing strategy includes the following channels for consumers:

·         Producer-consumer: A direct, low distance channel with low complexity used primarily through eCommerce (internet communications, selling and purchasing).

·         Producer-retailers-consumers: A channel where products first go to retailers after production before they are sold to the consumers. Distance and complexity increases.

And the following for business-to-business:

·         Producer-business customers:  A direct channel similar to the Producer-consumer channel. An example in which this channel applies for Sennheiser is the selling of products to professional users, like for example DJ’s or other artists. This channel has a low distance and complexity, which consequently is useful for business customers who then can receive technical assistance with ease.

·         Producer-business to business distributors-business consumers: A channel that is aimed at reaching a larger number of business customers. Products are send to distributors before being sold to business consumers. By the building of an inventory of the distributors, a larger quantiy of good can be sold to companies in for example the office and telecommunication sector in which Sennheiser is active (Sennheiser, n.d.). The channel complexity and distance increases compared to the more direct Producer-business customers channel.

Describe which distribution functions are fulfilled through the different channel members.

Both the ‘Producer-consumer’ and ‘Producer-business customers’ channels serve as a direct channel in which distribution functions like price negotiation and costumer relationship building are the main focus. These channels create a greater communication and relationship between the producer (Sennheiser) and the costumers.

The ‘Producer-retailers-consumers’ channel and ‘Producer-business to business distributors-business consumers’ channel mainly fulfil the distribution functions involved in the promotional and storage/distribution sector (Tutorsonnet, n.d.).

How can your product’s image be influenced by the retail concept in which it is sold?

The retail concept in which Sennheiser headphones are sold can influence the product’s image greatly. Sennheiser values highly qualified dealers that focus on customer service and a qualitative retail environment to mirror the quality offered in their products. Sennheiser even has an “Authorised Sennheiser Partner” labelling system to protect the brands image (discussed in the next paragraph).

Which distribution strategy has been chosen for your product?

In 2013, Sennheiser introduced the selective distribution strategy for its products. This strategy applies for all the dealers across the different channels. The selective distribution strategy was introduced to protect the Sennheiser brand by providing accreditation, which in this case means labelling the qualified dealers as an “Authorised Sennheiser Partner”, this way of labelling channel members makes it easier to monitor and distinguish the difference between the various vendors (Sennheiser, 2013). Selective distribution is desirable when a company, like Sennheiser, values customer service and a high quality standard from its channel members.

References

Outsidesource. (n.d.). Making sense of multi-channel marketing. Retrieved from http://www.outsidesource.com/blog/making-sense-of-multi-channel-marketing

Sennheiser. (2013, November 11). SENNHEISER UK FURTHER INVESTS IN SELECTIVE DISTRIBUTION STRATEGY. Retrieved from http://en-uk.sennheiser.com/news-sennheiser-uk-further-invests-in-selective-distribution-strategy-

Sennheiser. (n.d.). SENNHEISER AT A GLANCE. Retrieved from http://en-uk.sennheiser.com/about-sennheiser-at-a-glance

Tutorsonnet. (n.d.). Functions Of Distribution Channel. Retrieved from http://www.tutorsonnet.com/functions-of-distribution-channel-homework-help.php