Branding in library and information context: the role of marketing culture

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Singh, Rajesh

Affiliations: Department of Information Studies, Åbo Akademi University, Tavastagatan 13, Åbo-20500, Finland. Tel.: +358 2 215 4825; Fax: +358 2 215 4581; E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract: Branding is seen as one of the canons of the marketing doctrine. Although, there is extensive literature on services that deals measuring or delivering customer satisfaction in library and information settings, but not much of it addresses the issue of branding services. Branding culture has yet to be embedded in information service organizations. Internet is so trendy now a days that a growing number of non-industry players, like banks, insurance companies and trade associations, want to become Internet service providers (ISPs)-sort of. And, they have plenty of reasons to get involved. Developing a deeper relationship with customers is one. Then why information service providing organizations should be lagging behind than their other service counter-parts. But, the branding in library and information context involves a lot of challenging issues, as there are important differences between the execution of product and service brands. These differences revolve partly, at least around the fact that within a service profession the staff's relationships and interactions with customers play a pivotal role in influencing brand quality and brand values. Before going for branding of information products and services, organizations need to know their marketing culture as it assumes a paramount importance in defining consumer satisfaction and developing brand loyalty. This brings in forefront the issue of leadership and the awareness of staff about marketing theories and practices as brands just don't reflect the products/services but also creation of images and expectations in the minds of the consumer and most importantly represent the organization's promise to deliver consistently a specific set of benefits and services. Hence, information service organizations need to be very careful in designing their web sites and beware of over promising. The paper attempts to address what relevance does branding have in the marketing of library and information services. It further pinpoints the importance of marketing culture in branding. It also narrates briefly what Finnish library directors think about the role of their library websites.

DOI: 10.3233/ISU-2004-24203

Journal: Information Services & Use, vol. 24, no. 2, pp. 93-98, 2004