DMM05
Marketing of Services
Assignment – I
Assignment Code: 2015DMM05A1 Last Date of Submission: 15th May 2015
Maximum Marks: 100
Section – A (Each question is of 25 marks)
1. What constitutes the service quality in a restaurant? Take the example of a leading restaurant in your city and evaluate the quality gap based on the Gaps model.
2. Investigate the reasons that prompted the location of the following at a particular site in your neighbourhood. How good was the decision? Give reasons.
a) A fast –food restaurant
b) A barber’s shop
c) A travel agent
d) An auto repair shop
e) Cinema
f) NIIT computer centre.
Section – B Case Study (50 Marks)
The other day when I was withdrawing money from the ATM of a leading private sector bank, a text message flashed on my cell phone’s screen: “you have withdrawn Rs.15000/- from the ATM”. The only problem was that the machine had not disgorged any cash at all. I waited for a few minutes, hoping that my money would come out of the dispenser, but that did not happen.
The private sector bank where I had my account for the last few years provides very good service. They have good online and mobile banking systems, and for most of my banking needs I do not normally visit their branch. Most of my banking transactions are taken care of through my laptop and handheld devices.
The area where the bank fares badly is its ATMs. Despite enjoying the distinction of being India’s largest Private sector bank, they have some of the worst ATM machines. For a number of days every month, the bank ATM close to my house remains shut due to mechanical failures. Even on days when the ATM is working, one cannot be sure if one’s transaction will go through properly.
However, this was the first time that my account was being debited for an amount that I had not received from the ATM. Unfortunately I was withdrawing money after banking hours, so I informed the guard about the situation. After a suspicious glance he asked me to lodge a complaint on the phone. After several unsuccessful attempts the guard reluctantly informed me that the ATM machine malfunctioned quite often as it was very old.
“Do people get their money back in such cases?” I asked, hoping that the guard would say yes.
“I don’t know what happens later, but there have been occasions when some customers have tried to pick up a fight with me, when they did not get the money from the ATM,” he said.
As it was getting late at night, I decided to get back home and lodge a complaint through the online banking service – and if that did not work, I would visit the bank the next morning. On reaching home, I logged into the bank’s website, where I saw that the Rs. 15000/- was already credited back to my account. The credit was marked as ‘ATM withdrawal reversed’. It was solace for me that my money was back into my account.
Of course, the wrong transaction should not have been recorded in the first place. It was sheer waste of time, and more importantly, not only did I spend anxious moments but I also had to return without the much-needed cash.
There should be some kind of quality check on ATM machines. Banks should not be allowed to get away with the installation of sub-standard ATMs; they should get their machines checked regularly for faultless functioning.
Case Questions:
1. What is the problem highlighted in the case? Analyse it from the point of view of image building. (which is very necessary in case of service organizations).
2. “The problem and its timely rectification by bank highlight what characteristics of service marketing”. Explain.
3. “Do you think that an individual who has gone through this problem in the case lost confidence for a moment or will lose it forever, though he is aware of both the positive and negative sides of the bank being a client for such a long period”. Comment on the above statement.
4. What corrective measures should bank take to reinstate the confidence and to maintain its relationship? (12+13+13+12)
DMM05
Marketing of Services
Assignment – II
Assignment Code: 2015DMM05A2 Last Date of Submission: 15th May 2015
Maximum Marks: 100
Section – A (Each question is of 25 marks)
Complete the following table:
Service Example
Type of customer: Individual / Business/Government
Principal Expectations
As a consumer
Air Travel
Insurance
Consultancy
Health
Public utilities
Leasing
Entertainment
1. List two examples of inflated service promises where companies failed to meet them in any of the sectors.
2. What is lifestyle approach to segmentation? Prepare a case of a service provider who uses this or a variation of this?
Section – B Case Study (50 Marks)
CUMMUNITIES ON AIR:
A recent visit to Karnal in Haryana gave us a chance to interact with farmers who came to the institute of Wheat Research to attend a conference on agriculture. The interaction unfolded and farmers shared what they wanted from the government and private agencies. More of their questions were focused on making agriculture a viable economic activity and for that they were asking for various source of information from where they can get updates on advancements in farm technology, weather updates and other inputs on agriculture.
When asked about the present medium, from where they get these updates, these farmers said that they use both radio and TV to get updates on agriculture. However, due to limited availability of programmes on agriculture , farmers are left with no other option but to get whatever little information they can from programmes like Krishi Darshan. Apart from agriculture, there are several other areas, where people in the villages want expert opinion and for that they find radio as an interactive medium to engage.
In the country, community radio (CR) is becoming a popular medium to interact with the community it serves. The approach of a CR is to have customized content for the local population, and its local approach is what makes it popular among the masses.
A community radio in Dharward district of Karnataka has changed the lives of farmers in the region. Now people from the community participate in the programmes, get expert advice on what to do and what not in the agriculture and they also get a chance to share their ideas, success stories and problems with each other through it.
As a station manager of a CRS shares his views that people are keen to tune into his station’s frequency as they get a chance to know about the happenings around them. The extent of its popularity can be seen in the formation of ‘Chanderi ki Awaaz’, a community radio station in Madhya Pradesh which was set up by the money that was contributed by the community.
PRESENT STATUS
In India, there are 143 CRS, which are operational at present. Going by the population size, the numbers of CR stations in the country are not very encouraging and many people believe that the faulty policies of the government are responsible for it.
Archana Kapoor, Director of Radio Mewat says, “There is this myth that if you set up a community radio, the government supports it, but the truth is that the government does not support you in any way”.
She says that the process of getting a license is very time taking and tiring. At times, it can take as much as two years or more to get the license. One official from the ministry of broadcasting, who did not want to be named said, “We have planned to bring the single window clearance system in place to make the process faster and transparent, but it will take some time”.
The official also added that the ministry is planning to introduce subsidy for those who are setting-up CRS in India but refused to divulge more details on it. There are more than 250 applications pending with the ministry and are supposed to be cleared soon.
Zahir Koradia, the lead developer at Gram Vaani, an organization that develops GRINS, a radio automation system specially designed for community radio station says, “Most of the stations are run with a social objective and get their funding from NGOs and trusts. But prior to that the whole licensing process is very time taking and people face a lot of challenges in getting the license to operate the station”.
Apart from the challenging licensing environment, revenue generation is another area of concern for these stations. The CRS have tried various models to generate revenue but not many have succeeded in making it work. At present, most of these stations are getting their revenue from funding from the parent organization and some of the expenditure cost is recovered through local and government ads and partly from individual donations.
Archana feels that community radio is not a profit oriented business and only those people who have some social commitment should start such ventures.
IMPACT ON COMMUNITY
Archana feels that CRS have an advantage over mediums because of its local connection. She shares her experience with Radio Mewat, “Mewat is one of the most backward regions near Delhi. There is no industry and any other source of employment. Initially, people were hesitant to participate and looked sceptical. Gradually, when they realized that we are here for their wellbeing, they opened up”.
Now, Radio Mewat has become a roaring success and become very popular among the community. Now people complain, share and react to the programmes that are aired. Swadesh Samaiya, the station manager of ‘Chanderi ki Awaaz ‘ says, “impact of our station is huge on the community and this can be understood by the fact that we receive calls from as far as 60 kms from our station. We have many programmes where local people get a chance to engage and interact with each other. The folk music works as a pull factor for us.”
The Chanderi CR started a programme by the name ‘Chanderi ke Gaurav’ in which it highlighted the achievements of students and other people who have done well and brought glory to the town. The programme became a huge success and, according to Samaiya, after listening to such success stories people have started sending their kids to school. The CRS have also forced on women empowerment extensively. ‘Rudi no Radio’ an Ahmadabad based CRS, runs various vocational programmes for the women including spoken English courses for girls of the community it serves.
Archana shares Radio Mewat’s experience. Mewat is muslim dominated area, where literacy rate is quite low and women participation was negligible when Mewat CRS came into existence. But after series of programmes on health related and other women oriented issues, they started participating. Mirasi music, one of the most popular forms of folk music in the region had a great impact on the society and is being widely used by Radio Mewat.
CONTENT FOCUS
Community radio stations are for the development of community or society they operate in. So content is designed to make it community centric, in the local language and participative. Zahir says, “the content of any CR is the major factor that drives that station, in fact it is so local, that people instantly connect to it”.
Chanderi CRS for example, runs programmes like, ‘subah hoti hai, sham hoti hai‘ in which it captures the daily routine of the workers. ‘Ghoonghat ke pat khol sakhi ri,’ is a women centric programme that talks about various success stories of women and also broadcasts expert opinion on various health related issues.
Satish Nagaraji of one world says, “We support the grassroots organizations in capacity building, getting the licensing and preparing thematic content.”
One World runs a project named ‘Ek Duniya Ek Awaaz(EDEA). Through this project, the organisation helps existing CRS to share their content online. At present, there are nearly 1700 programmes in 26 different languages on the site of EDEA. The site also develops a micro site for each CRS it helps.
The focus as station director of Gurgaon Ki Awaaz said is all inclusiveness. “The very objective of the community is to engage everyone and holistically develop the society you work for. After lot of work with the women in the society, we see a lot of participation from them, so it is an effective medium to engage the target audience,” she further added. The programmes are designed in such a way that they are more engaging and because it is presented by people from the community, masses listen to it with more attention. On the field activities, local folk music, phone in programs are some of the pull factor that works in the favor of community radio stations across India.
APT ADVERTISING TOOL
Although not much of advertising has been attempted with community radio in India, it has lots of potential due to its huge impact over the society. Experts feel that, for region specific advertising campaigns, it can be very effective medium. The very advantage of a CRS over any other medium is its reach.
It is impactful and trusted by the community people. Till date, CRS are dependent on local and government ads for revenue. Few funded projects help them recover some operational cost. In the region where such radio stations operate, prepare in house ads in local dialects that are going to be an advantage for the corporate world. It can reach the right audience in a minimum possible expenditure and its impact, as experts feel will be more than any other medium.
FUTURE FORWARD
The future of CRS in India looks promising despite several policy hurdles. The ministry of I&B has been trying for long to streamline the licensing process but till date, there has not been any significant move in this direction. The CRS are not willing to pay the increased licensing fee and people working and operating these stations say that there should be some subsidy from the government.
In their quest to make the content more engaging, these stations call local folk artists to their studios to perform live or to record it for future broadcasts. But, as Swadeshi Samaiya of ‘Chanderi Ki Awaaz, says, “in the region, Bundeli music is very popular artists to perform in our studios. But due to limited money, we cannot offer them any remuneration. This is very discouraging and I don’t know how long will they be coming here”.
Although, Radio Mewat has come up with some scheme to pay a token amount to the artists but it is not feasible for many other CRS to do so because there is always a shortage of money. For Satish, the future of CRS is going to be stronger and he is very optimistic about it.
On the technical side, the transmitters that are used in CRS can only be repaired in Kolkata and that works as a major deterrent. Only BECIL (Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Ltd.) has the facilities to repair it in Delhi. So, when there’s some snag, CRS has to wait for weeks to get it repaired. There are only four manufacturers of radio transmitters in India and despite many suggestions no company has attempted to customize their products for community radio stations. Servicing of these transmitters remains a major issue and companies have to streamline their processes to make servicing less time taking.
On the positive side, it has been learnt that ministry is going to introduce some form of compensation to all the upcoming and existing CRS in India. Archana feels that the step would certainly be helpful to operators in recovering some investment cost.
Note 1: As per the data provided by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, the ministry
received 1128 applications for CRS , issued LOI (Letter of Intent) to 386, rejected 477
applications and 265 applications are under process.
Note 2: STATES WITH MAXIMUM CRS: (Source – Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, 2012)
Tamil Nadu – 22
Uttar Pradesh – 16
Maharashtra – 16
Karnataka – 11
Madhya Pradesh – 8
Case Questions:
1. What are the benefits of community radio stations as highlighted in the case?
2. According to Archana Kapoor (Director, Radio Mewat) “truth is that the government does not support you in any way”. Give your views as to how lack of support of government can hamper the growth of farmers and what are the facts highlighted in the case signifying the lack of support?
3. As per the case study how is the acceptability of CRS among the farmers? Explain.
4. What steps were taken by Radio Mewat to make it a roaring success in Mewat region?
5. How can APT ADVERTISING POOL help corporates to grow in rural marketing?
(5x10 Marks)
