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Most of us
grew up learning about 'the 4Ps' of the marketing mix: product,
price, place, promotion. And this model still works when the focus
is on product marketing. However most developed economies have moved
on, with an ever-increasing focus on service businesses, and
therefore service marketing.
To better
represent the challenges of service marketing, McKinsey developed a
new framework for analyzing and improving organizational
effectiveness, the 7S model:
The 3Ss across
the top of the model are described as 'Hard Ss':
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Strategy:
The direction and scope of the company over the long
term.
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Structure:
The basic organization of the company, its departments,
reporting lines, areas of expertise, and responsibility
(and how they inter-relate).
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Systems:
Formal and informal procedures that govern everyday
activity, covering everything from management
information systems, through to the systems at the point
of contact with the customer (retail systems, call
centre systems, online systems, etc).
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The 4Ss across the bottom of the model are less tangible,
more cultural in nature, and were termed 'Soft Ss' by McKinsey:
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Skills:
The capabilities and competencies that exist within the
company. What it does best.
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Shared
values:
The values and beliefs of the company. Ultimately they
guide employees towards 'valued' behavior.
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Staff:
The company's people resources and how they are
developed, trained, and motivated.
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Style:
The leadership approach of top management and the
company's overall operating approach.
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In combination
they provide another effective framework for analyzing the
organization and its activities. In a marketing-led company they can
be used to explore the extent to which the company is working
coherently towards a distinctive and motivating place in the mind of
consumer.
Ask
yourself: Are we effectively harnessing each part of our
organization to build our brand and our business?
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