ASSIGNMENT in SERVICES MARKETING

Effectiveness of Advertisements

NAME SONAL

IBS ID NO. 08BS0003303

IUD NO. 08PMP04085

FACULTY NAME Prof. S. Dasari

COURSE CODE SLMM 604

Student Signature

Date

Q. In chapter 15 of Z&B the criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of advertisements have
been spelt out. Choose any five advertisements pertaining to services of your choice.
 Evaluate each of these advertisements using these criteria. Critique these advertisements
with regard to their overall effectiveness or ineffectiveness in bridging gap4.

A. According to Zeithaml and Bitner following criteria create effective services

communication (that is, in this case, advertisements):

a. Present vivid information - Information should create a strong or clear impression

on the senses and produce a distinct mental picture.
b. Use interactive imagery - Imagery is a mental event that involves the
visualization of a concept or relationship and as such it can enhance recall of
names and facts about the service. Interactive imagery integrates two or more
items in some mutual action, resulting in improved recall.
c. Focus on the tangibles - Featuring tangibles is important as services are abstract,
for example bank’s credit card or columns if featured in the advertisements,
provide more clues about the service.
d. Feature service employees - Featuring actual employees doing their jobs or
explaining their services in advertisements works in two ways. Firstly, they are
effective for the primary audience, that is, the external customers; and secondly,
the internal customers are also made to feel that they are important. Furthermore,
when employees who perform their task well are featured in a commercial they
become a benchmark for other employees.
e. Promise what is possible - It is very important that the advertisements carry only
those promises and clues which are deliverable to the customers. Many a times
the commercials raise the expectations so high that actual service performed does
not live up to that. Such a failure to live up to the promise can backfire.
f. Encourage word-of mouth communication – Services advertising need to
generate word-of mouth publicity as it is a certain way to enhance the credibility
of the message delivered in the commercials. This is because of the fact that
services are high on credence quality and as such people frequently turn to others
like family members or friends, in order to get information about the services. As
such, it becomes important that advertisements are compelling, unique or
humorous. Community or public relations and sponsorship of events are also
useful in this regard.
g. Feature service customers – this might be useful in generating positive word of
mouth as it is a credible way to communicate the benefits of the service.

So now in the following pages we will be looking at five advertisements

(released in electronic media) from the standpoints discussed above and as such,
evaluate whether the advertisements have been successful in bridging the gap 4
or not.
The first advertisement chosen for the purpose pertains to the advertisement of
Hotel Hyatt Regency Sharm-al-Shaikh, Egypt.

The commercial shows the hotel in great detail. Everything from balcony to
terrace and sea view to interior décor of the hotel is shown. A voice in the
background keeps telling us about all the facilities at the hotel and what it stands
for. Even, exotic locations near the hotel are shown for that everlasting
impression. Added to this, we can see customers enjoying their stay at the hotel.
Hotel employees have also been shown several times during this long
commercial doing their chores in a very professional manner. In addition to all
this, the commercial also promises adulation, comfort and ultimate luxury to the
customers. The imagery itself is very strong and interactive so as to build an
atmosphere of leisure associated with luxurious stay, and which ultimately
remains with a viewer even after the commercial ends. The imagery used, in fact
can lead a person to recall the advertisement every time he sees a picture or even
in reality a beach or any other thing like good food.
Above all, the advertisement along with the high class service that Hyatt is
famous for, creates a positive impact. This has been fostered by great clientele
that Hyatt has. Besides, the customers of Hyatt are known to have generated
word of mouth publicity for it.
Also, throughout the commercial there is a constant focus on luxury and this is
reflected in everything that is shown; for example the suits of the hotel reflect
ultimate luxury. This also helps a person to know that the price to be shelled out
would also be premium. Above all, Hyatt has been extremely successful in
standardizing service delivery process and is also known for the experience
which it provides.
Overall, we can say that the advertisement aired by the Hyatt Regency has been
quite impressive as well as effective in bridging the gap4.

Now, let us have a look at the famous Incredible India campaign run by the
ministry of tourism, India.
The advertisement that is shown on television is a great example of how an
advertisement can foster interactive imagery. The commercial features many
famous tourist destinations across the country – Rajasthan, Laddakh, Buddhist
monasteries, Kerala and its backwaters, Himalayas and Taj Mahal - one after
another contrasting one view with the other. Meanwhile a background score runs
in which the seven notes of classical Indian music can be heard. Also, there is a
lot of emphasis on colors. In other words, beautiful locales are combined with
great music and some pleasant clichés about the country. This all, virtually, takes
the viewer into a geography of which he might or might not be the part of during
the playtime. It immediately appeals to the viewer, including those in India and
urges them to take a trip. At the end of the commercial also, the great India
hospitality adage – “Atithi Devo Bhava” – is also heard. Actually, the
advertisement has been able to push the number of tourists undertaking a tour of
India-not only foreign but also Indians.
But there are certain drawbacks in the advertisement that need to be taken care
of. First of all, physical evidence related to the service is missing. There is no
such feature in the advertisement which helps one to form an idea as to what kind
of service one can expect during the sojourn. Since the advertisement is directed
at the millions of people who undertake world tour every year, it should convey
to them about the kind of services to be expected. Also, many tourists time and
again complain of the lack of proper infrastructure and good hotels at “good
rates”. Moreover, despite giving a high status to our guests (tourists in this case)
there have been incidents which the administration has not been able to deal with
in swift and efficient manner and thus making mockery of it. So there has been a
gap between service delivery and external communication to customers.
Yet, the thing to be noted is that the advertisement has generated very good word
of mouth publicity for India, especially among the foreigners who can be called
“Indophiles” and Buddhists.
The advertisement promises just one thing-an Incredible India. This message is
successfully driven across. On the whole we can say that the feature has had a
limited success. So to make it effective in bridging the gap4 certain things as
discussed above should be taken care of.

Now, let us proceed to the third example of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance.
The advertisement chosen for our purpose was aired at the time of launch of the
insurance service by ICICI Bank. This advertisement also has played a lot on
interactive imagery. Throughout the commercial there is a constant theme being
played in the background-Jeevan ka bandhan hai (bond of life). As such to show
it a great deal of symbolism is used-like an army personnel going to the war front
putting vermillion (sindur) on the head of her wife, a young couple briefly
separated in a rush and then reuniting, a women having labor pain, an elderly
couple and also a couple during their own marriage ceremony. In all the frames
women have vermillion in their heads. In fact, vermillion is a constant theme,
which in Indian culture has great significance. If a man puts vermillion in the
head of a woman, it symbolizes that they have been married and as reflects the
vow of the man to take care of the wife all his life. In the last frame a voice can
be heard urging the customers to keep their loved ones secure (Aapke apno ko
surakshit rakhiye). And at the end of it ICICI Prudential’s logo appears and a
man’s thumb runs below it putting a straight line of vermillion which takes the
form of a red line in the logo. Through this the message is conveyed that ICICI
Prudential promises to take care of our loved ones so that even if we are not
there, they are secure (financially of course). The advertisement fulfilled several
criteria of an effective campaign - vivid information, interactive imagery,
tangibles in the form of logo of the company and a promise that can be fulfilled.
It must be noted here that the advertisement did generate a lot of curiosity and
also positive word of mouth for the company. This advertisement was shown
during several cricket tournaments of which ICICI Prudential was a sponsor.
Every time a wicket would fall this commercial came up again reflecting the idea
of security. However, the aspects missed here were-service employees and
customers. Yet, the advertisement can be said to be highly effective.

Now let us analyze the Air-Tel commercial in which two children are shown
playing football in a no man’s land between North Korea and South Korea,
which are hostile countries. The children are from different sides of the border.
The soccer lands on the other side of the barbed wire fence and a child in that
side of the border hears the noise. He goes outside and sees a child on another
side asking him to kick the ball, and so he does. Then both of them move into the
no man’s land to play together and both of them are happy. At the same time the
iconic Air Tel music begins to play. A voice at the end says, “There is no wall,
no barrier that can keep us apart if only we talk.”
This advertisement also plays a great deal on interactive imagery and vivid
information. The tangibles can be the logo of Air Tel. Besides, the advertisement
was aired when India cricket team toured Pakistan after 16 years’ gap. Also the
advertisement had great emotional appeal and everyone who saw it would smile
at it. Air Tel utilized the brand equity that it had in market and decided not to
divulge much information in the advertisement. Besides, it had the resources in
place to deal with service delivery process. Yet, the image that customers formed
because of the advertisement might have tended to create high expectations.
Though the advertisement was appreciated a lot and did generate positive word
of mouth, yet it was not highly successful in bridging the gap4.

Now let us see what its rival Vodafone did recently as a sponsor of T20 World-
Cup broadcasts. The advertisement used the highly adorable characters known as
“zoozoos”. These zoozos brought about the several service benefits of Vodafone
in a very humorous and subtle fashion. As such, everybody began to remember
the company and related it to zoozoos. The advertisement was declared a huge
success. The advertisement also played on interactive imagery quite successfully.
The subtle manner in which messages were delivered is very typical of
Vodafone. The tangible can be seen in the form of Vodafone logo. As such the
only aspect of an effective advertisement that can be found to be missing here are
service employees and service customers. But it can be noted here that in telecom
very less direct interaction takes place between employees and customers.
Besides, in recent times Vodafone has enhanced its network coverage also. Now,
what is to be observed is whether Vodafone has proper service delivery system in
place or not. As of now the advertisement seems to have taken care of external
communication in an efficient manner.