Services Marketing Mix in Library and Information Centres

Transcription

1 456 ICAL 2009 ADVOCACY AND MARKETING Services Marketing Mix in Library and Information Centres Anil Kumar Dhiman Information Scientist Gurukul Kangri University Haridwar (Uttarakhand), India Hemant Sharma Reader & Head SOS in Library & Information Science Jiwaji University, Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh), India Abstract Services marketing mix is the planned package of elements that makes up the product or service offered to the market. It can also support library and information services to reach target markets and specified objectives. This paper discusses services marketing mix concept and its application in library and information centres (LICs). Keywords: Marketing Mix, Library and Information Centres, 4 Ps Model, 7 Ps Model. Introduction The philosophy of librarianship encompasses the fundamental principles on which the practices, techniques, and activities of libraries and information centres are based. These principles serve as guidelines for successful librarianship and as a means for resolving problems. Marketing is a set of activities by which the demand for goods, ideas, and services is managed to facilitate exchange (Kotler, 2000). It is a planned strategic approach of bringing together consumers and the products. The integration of marketing into library services is helpful because it reinforces and reiterates the basic values and beliefs of the profession in the changing environment. The most widely believed notion about library service is that its primary aim is to provide the right information to the right user at the right time, but today s libraries are becoming obsolescent owing to poor approach of modern marketing strategies. New business information enterprises have emerged to challenge and compete with libraries. Besides, information and communication technology has also changed the way of library management (Dhiman and Rani, 2004, 2005). It is rightly stated that While libraries have been closing or struggling to stay afloat enterprising companies have begun to discover the commercial potential of what we do, and are competing with us to sell much of the information the public has declined to pay for through taxes. So, the survival of a library depends among other thing on its image in the minds of the users and the fund allocators. This image as narrated by Narayana (1991) should be the outcome of the quality and effectiveness of the services, the ability to anticipate the desires and requirements of actual and potential users and their fulfillment. Marketing is the instrument through which these library objectives can be fulfilled. Besides, there is also an increasing competition for libraries as the commercial sector began to recognize the profit potential of the information super highway. Snoj and Petermanec (2001) opined that librarians need to comprehend marketing orientation as well as have know-how of marketing as a process. Possession of marketing skills will contribute to better performances, more aggressive marketing and professional library and information service. In order to remain viable in the environment of competition from other information sources such as Internet and webbased commercial services, libraries must market their services to make strong connection with community, anticipate trends and use new technology in ways to make services as timely and convenient as possible for their patrons (Lankes et al., 2006). Therefore, in order to survive and surpass other competitors, libraries must have to follow modern marketing principles. Services Marketing Mix Marketing mix is the key concept in the marketing task. It is the strategy used to perform marketing functions. Marketing mix according to De Aze (1985) is the planned package of elements which will support the organization in reaching its target markets and specific objectives. Marketing mix helps to position the library or information service very firmly in the perceptions of their communities served the wider community for the public library, academic community for the academic library or the clients and customers for the business or specialist information service.

2 ANIL KUMAR DHIMAN AND HEMANT SHARMA Marketing mix needs more properly to be termed marketing mixes, to encourage librarians and information managers to perceive the value of different marketing mixes for specific market segments or groups of users. These are inter-related, interdependent, and also a combination of many factors. Four Ps All marketing decision-making can be classified into four strategy elements, referred to as the marketing 457 mix or the four P s: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. As each library product or potential product is analyzed and developed for its target customer, it must be viewed with the four P s in mind. McCarthy s (1978) classic model of the four Ps how the product or service is best presented, in attributes, price, availability and promotion, to the desired market segment is a development of a theory put forward initially by Neil Borden (1965). Borden s mix is now more precisely found in market research and market strategy. Figure 1: 4 Ps Model of Marketing Mix Product A product is anything that can be offered to a market to satisfy a need or want. The products, which can be marketed, include physical goods, services, persons, places, organizations, and ideas. In the deeper sense, the product is not a physical item but a perception of the consumer or the user. Product means the satisfaction of the customer rather than a physical good. Goods are ingredients of customer satisfaction. Marketing mix is the process or device that makes this customer satisfaction. All of the services offered by the library lending services, inter library loan, on-line searching, housebound readers services, picture loans etc. are library s products that can be marketed successfully. Library can provide bibliographic information, abstracts and summaries of information, which disseminate the core level information. Books, databases, journals, bulletins, etc. represent the tangible information. Library can also augment information through quality, reliable, speedy and timely professional services. Under the product mix, library s resource collection represents as a product line while product items include books, periodicals, videos, films, audio recordings etc. For further fact, services of the library can be considered as a product line and the circulation of library materials, ILL, reference services, and online searching represent as product items. Place It represents the distribution channels that an organization utilizes to convey its own physical products or services to the end users. The distribution of the library s products refers to When Where and How service is made available for the user. When implies the time period in which information is provided. Where indicates the location of the services and How constitutes the type of distribution. Price It is a flexible and dominant element, which determines the revenue/profitability/market share for the organization. From the customer s viewpoint price is a determinant factor because most customers depending on their income level consider the price before they purchase the product. The concept of price constitutes two different types the monetary price, and the social price. Monetary price implies the payment of certain sum by the customer, and the social price refers to the additional effort that the customer must make in order to obtain access to a product. Price for the product is set when the organization introduces or acquires a new product. Price can be revised to match the change of the product. Librarians should consider the monetary price concept as well as the social price concept when

3 458 ICAL 2009 ADVOCACY AND MARKETING the price is decided for library products. In calculation of monetary price, factors such as size of the demand, cost for the product, and the impact of the competition must be taken into account. Real value of the product can be ascertained by the practice of cost analysis. Costing is important even when a service is provided free of charge. Social price is related to determine the needs, wants, and interests of target markets and to deliver the desired satisfaction more effectively and efficiently. Promotion This involves the communication that marketer engages in with the customers in order to acknowledge the product. The basic aim of library promotion is to select a technique that can encourage the recipient to respond either by buying or requesting further information, or by filling the promotional material away for the use in the future. While these four factors are important individually, their real significance lies in the mix, the unique way they are combined into a careful plan or strategy. The services marketing mix is an extension of the 4- Ps framework. The essential elements of product, place, price and promotion remain same but three additional variables people, physical evidence and process are included to 7 Ps mix. The need for the extension is due to the high degree of direct contact between the continuing education providers and the customers, the highly visible nature of the service process, and the simultaneity of the production and consumption. While it is possible to discuss people, physical evidence and process within the original-ps framework (for example people can be considered part of the product offering) the extension allows a more thorough analysis of the marketing ingredients necessary for successful services marketing. Librarians and information professionals also need to know that extra P s have been added to marketing mix considerations for service marketing. Extra P s are : People People are the staff who occupy the key position in influencing customer s perceptions of product quality because of the simultaneity of production and consumption in services the continuing education. In fact the service quality is inseparable from the quality of service provider. An important marketing task is to set standards to improve quality of services provided by employees and monitor their performance. Without training and control employees tend to be variable in their performance leading to variable service quality. Training is crucial so that employees understand the appropriate forms of behaviour and trainees adopt the best practices of the analogy. Physical evidence It is the environment in which the service is delivered and any tangible goods that facilitate the performance and communication of the service. Customers look for clues to the likely quality of a service also by inspecting the tangible evidence. For example, prospective customers may look to the design of learning materials, the appearance of facilities, staff, etc. Process Process means procedures, mechanism and flow of activities by which a service is acquired. Process decisions radically affect how a service is delivered to customers. The service in continuing education includes several processes, e.g. first contact with customers, administrative procedure regarding course delivery, preparation, delivery and evaluation of the courses. In library and information centres, new technology can be employed to provide better services at lower costs and high quality staff is to be recruited. The staff should be treated well and be communicated clearly because their attitudes and behaviour are the keys to service quality and differentiations. Applying Marketing Mixes in Library and Information Centres The markets for libraries and information services are profoundly affected by the elements of the marketing mix that are handled for the organization as a whole. To use an analogy, the soft drink manufacturer offers a range of products and services, just as the library or information service does. The markets will be diverse and often complex for each product or service, but the response to those products and services will be affected according to different market segments perception of the overall organization. When a new soft drink is launched, diet style or vitamin enriched, in new bottles, via supermarkets or expensive fitness clubs, it is brought to the market in the light, or shade, of its parent company s image and reputation. The library or information service must also be seen as a quality organization offering a range of appropriate and effective products and services. Renault, Ford and Toyota work as hard on their corporate image networks of dealerships, staff training, promotion work, after-sales service and the like as they do on the technical and aesthetic qualities of their individual car models. How many, even of our specialist information services, contact users to discuss whether they have problems that need addressing or merely to check that they are satisfied with current levels of service? Marketing an entirely new product is much easier than attempting to change a target market s indifference to an existing service or to erase a poor image and replace it with a more attractive, exciting service. Take the public library and its education services for instance how education services are used will depend on how the library is perceived by different market segments. Is it a quality organization, hightechnology, budget-conscious, high performance or old-fashioned? The public library is expected to offer education materials and services to a massive range of market segments the under-fives, via their parents;

4 ANIL KUMAR DHIMAN AND HEMANT SHARMA school children; college and university students, rising numbers of mature students; part-time and eveningclass students who are learning for pleasure; distancelearning students to whom the library building becomes their proxy educational institution; the unemployed who wish to retrain; women returning to work; the third age, living longer and making new demands on community services in enhancing their quality of life; local businesses operating in-house training courses. A marketing mix for each group served will have to be designed, but each of the target groups will already have a perception of the public library or the local authority. The marketing mix must take this into account and all the target markets need investigation with this in mind. What proportion of potential users is being attracted? How satisfied are they with services? Who are the non-users and what are their reasons for non- use? What changes might be made to provide more effective services? And how might products be augmented? Appropriate levels of materials; changes to loan periods; more comfortable study areas; staff attuned to a different way of treating requests for help; and a system to allow staff to offer a greater quality service in terms of time and depth all these would be possibilities in the marketing mix. The promotional activities may vary depending on the type of library (public, academic, or corporate) and on its respective marketing objectives and goals. Information technology has also affected the way of promoting and providing services to its readers (Dhiman, 2003, 2006 & 2008a). Some initiatives may as be as under ( PDF_Web/article1988/chap5_MarketMix.pdf): Special Libraries The mission of many corporate libraries is to sell the library s function within the company. The marketing thrust generally is to develop targeted information products and services and create an indispensable service department. Some ideas to consider are: Write a brochure describing the library and its services; distribute it throughout the corporation, targeting heavy information users in marketing, sales, after sales support, and research groups. Send a memorandum introducing the library to all new employees to participate in all new employee orientation programmes. Announce all new library services, acquisition and staff expertise. Make presentations to such information hungry groups as marketing, sales and strategic planning. Highlight the new technologies and information available that relates to their corporate function. Write articles for the corporate newsletter and other internal publications that are distributed to key departments or groups. 459 Prepare quarterly or annual reports on the library s progress and future plans for management. Include evidence of where the library has had direct impact on the corporation s effectiveness; for example, the money saved or productivity improved may be included in the company s annual report. Know your management s goals and information needs. Supply executives with tailored information, such as a clipping service about competition, market conditions, or a consultant s analysis of your firm s products. Academic Libraries Academic libraries can enhance their image as the intellectual centre for the university s faculty and students by applying marketing concepts. Write stories for the university newsletter on topics such as new information technologies available at the library. Organize seminars to promote underused reference materials, underutilized reference skills, and new information technologies, such as online searching. Participate in freshman orientation; organize visit to the library and give a refresher course on research methodology. Work with department chairmen in collection management and publicize holdings within these groups. Include the library in the university s promotional literature. Reach out to disciplines where online research can benefit teachers and the students. Public Libraries The large group of population is the ultimate target of public libraries. For this a public library may: Sponsor a Little League team in your community; host breakfasts for community business leaders and donate books to charities or local hospitals. Target a group of citizens for example, parents and children, senior citizens, local businessesand develop a newsletter aimed at their information needs. Prepare an annual report in which you present your image to the community in terms of the benefit return on investment in the library. Try a new format such as a videotape. Write articles or editorials for local press about the value of the library s products and services, stressing the totality of the institution. Use CD-ROM or DVDs technology as a magnet to pull patrons to the reference service with a media campaign.

5 460 ICAL 2009 ADVOCACY AND MARKETING Conclusion The marketing mixes aim at communicating effectively with the publics of the library or information service and satisfying target user, client and customer needs. It is a significant and substantial part of marketing policy that supports the mission and corporate image of the library or information service. Marketing policy must have serious resources to underpin it. Its success could mean the difference between merely surviving and real growth and development, and this success is very largely based on understanding market need. But we should never forget that it is the user who drives marketing and shapes the service and we, the librarians must keep the needs and wants of users in the forefront when planning for services and programs, including Library 2.0 connecting information literacy, virtual learning and social technologies. So our approach should be customer focused (Gupta and Jambhekar, 2002). Go where the users are, this should be applied to delivery of library services and to marketing the library products. New resources are available and new ways exist to market library services, communicate the value of the library, respond to increasing demands for mobile services, and meet the growing need to integrate delivery of services for users involved in online communities. The banks have become bright, friendly, customer-comfortable places, where tellers are at open desks, their names and smiles openly displayed from awe-inspiring, gloomy, miserable halls of unapproachable tellers imprisoned by high barriers and grills. Can the libraries not copy banks in the way that they have their image and public perceptions successfully? For the purpose, the librarians and library staff need to be educated and trained (Dhiman, 2008b; Dhiman and Sharma, 2009). They can learn from other services; not every service or individual can afford to be at conferences, national or international, but simply traveling to a neighbouring authority or another library in the same region can often produce fruitful ideas. Bibliography 1. Borden, N. H. (1965). The Concept of the Marketing Mix. In G. Schwartz edited Science in Marketing. Wiley John. Pp De Aze, Elliot E. (1995). Marketing Concepts for Libraries and Information Services. London, Library Association. 3. Dhiman, A.K. (2006). Information Technology and Marketing of Library Services. Library Progress. 26 (1), Dhiman, A.K. (2008a). Hand Book of Special Libraries and Librarianship. Ess Ess Publications, New Delhi. 5. Dhiman, A.K. (2008b). Educating Library Professionals: An Essentiality in Digital Era. PEARL: A Journal of Library Science. 2 (1), Dhiman, A.K. and Rani, Yashoda. (2004). Library Management: A Manual Book for Effective Management. Ess Ess Publications, New Delhi. 7. Dhiman, A.K. and Rani, Yashoda. (2005). Learn - Library Management. Ess Ess Publications, New Delhi. 8. Dhiman, A.K. and Sharma, H. (2009). Knowledge Management for Librarians. Ess Ess Publications, New Delhi. 9. Gupta, Dinesh K and Jambhekar, A. (2002). Developing a Customer-Focus Approach to Marketing of Library and Information Services. DESIDOC Bulletin of Information Technology. 22 (3), article1988/chap5_marketmix.pdf. 11. Kotler, P. (2000). Marketing Management. 10 th Edition. Prentice Hall, London. 12. Lankes R. D. et al. (2006). The Virtual Reference Desk: Creating a Reference Future. Facet, London. 13. McCarthy, E.J. (1978). Basic Marketing : A Managerial Approach, 6th Edition. Richard D. Irwin, Homewood. 14. Narayan, G.J.(1991). Library and Information Management. Prentice Hall, New Delhi. 15. Snoj, Boris and Petermanec, Zdenka. (2001). Let Users Judge the Quality of Faculty Library Services. New Library World. 102 ( 1168),