Promoting Service Marketing at Headoffice Communication

M/S Headoffice Communication is a creative brand communications agency with a quest for creative innovation and excellence, dedicated to assisting directors of business houses to enhance enterprise value by building their brands. Initially, the company, commenced in 2001, was a sole proprietorship farm bearing the company name as Headoffice, operating its business ventures by this name for 10 years. The agency has come across its way, meticulously, and became trustworthy in the communications & activations market, adding market value to more than 400 companies and 100 categories of product lines. Recently, the company has transformed into a partnership organization as M/S Headoffice Communication.

It offers a wide range of services from concept development to its implementation in terms of strategic marketing. The agency offers its expertise in branding, brand repositioning, PR, event management, brand activation, advertising, etc., complimenting marketing communications.

The Organization –

Promotion has been considered as one of the vital elements that drives every organization towards success. A big organization is nothing if people are not aware of it. To capture market share, one organization must create strong presence regarding its existence. The basic way through which companies promote themselves, is to communicate with its target audience. Therefore, communication is the core key of every promotional activity. No matter which promotion the company is going to activate, it must communicate with target audience.

Therefore, before coming to any promotional activity, it must be determined that specific promotional activity is capable enough to communicate. Communication is a certain process which ensures customers are getting what the companies are trying to tell them. There are various ways to communicate and communication is creative.

Company Overview

Headoffice Communication is a creative communication agency. With a diverse range of service offerings, the key purpose is to provide communication. Headoffice serves all kinds of communication need for commercial and non-commercial organization. M/S Headoffice Communication is a reputed brand communications agency devoted to provide distinguishable corporate solutions. The agency believes in compact team work and its clientele forms the essential part of this team. The M/S Headoffice Communication team tries to understand the objectives of the clients, very particularly to serve their purpose more fruitfully. Currently, M/S Headoffice Communication is working for Banks, Telecommunication Companies, Pharmaceuticals, Design Houses, Education Service Providers, Garments Industries, NGOs, Development Agencies, Transport Agencies, Charity Organizations, etc. M/S Headoffice Communication is a trusted partner of its clientele. It believes that working alone is development and working together is progress.

History

Headoffice started its journey back in 2001. It was established by Shoheb H. Khan and Khaled Mahmud who are currently the Chief Executive Officer and Creative Director of this organization. At first, it was a tiny design firm that was used to design only print advertisements for companies. Headoffice first started working in print based media. Making creative use of print media and specializing in paper work, Headoffice gradually made its way out into other fields. Headoffice experienced all forms of papers and print media and processes, and advertisements. Their very initial works were catalogue design, calendar design, visiting card design, folder design etc. It was registered under the name Headoffice Communication as a sole proprietorship business in 2003. Recently, the company has transformed into a partnership organization as M/S Headoffice Communication. Headoffice is a design boutique with a quest for creative innovation and excellence. Headoffice has come across a long way, meticulously, and became trustworthy in the communication market adding market value to more than 400 companies and 100 categories of product lines.

Slogan

“Play with your head”

Vision Statement

“Better communications for a better world.”

Mission Statement

“Headoffice Communication is devoted to provide distinguishable corporate solutions; furnished with a platform, where new forms of creative communications take actions.”

Objective

To create new forms of ingenious techniques for communication.
To best suit the needs of the clientele in the market.
Defining the most effective means of communication.
To maintain the promise to be different.
To create a family rather than a work force.
To ensure optimum utilization of all the available resources.

Strategy

Empowering the internal human resources within the firm to better perform the required tasks assigned by the clientele.
Partnering with the clientele for better understanding of the required tasks.
Train and provide all employees with adequate resources so that customer needs can be addressed responsibly.

Service Offerings

Headoffice Communication offers a wide range of services from concept development to its implementation in terms of strategic marketing. The agency offers its expertise in branding, brand repositioning, PR, event management, brand activation, advertising, etc., complimenting marketing communications. Given below are the core services provided by Headoffice Communication:-

Corporate Identity

M/S Headoffice Communication understands the value of corporate identity and believes in protecting it. The agency believes that corporate identity comes into being when there is a common ownership of an organizational philosophy that is manifest in a distinct corporate culture ‐the corporate personality. M/S Headoffice Communication comprehends corporate identity as being composed of three essential parts:

Corporate design;
Corporate communication; and
Corporate behavior.

Advertising & Communications

M/S Headoffice Communication perceives advertising & communications as an instrument to channel out information on products and services to the potential customers and inform them about how to obtain and use them. Many advertisement tools are also designed by M/S Headoffice Communication in order to create demand of registered products and services in the market through brand reinforcement, while raising brand loyalty. For these purposes, advertisements prepared by M/S Headoffice Communication often contain both factual information and persuasive messages and are presented in a defined communication modality. M/S Headoffice Communication is comfortable in using every major medium to deliver these messages; viz. television, radio, documentary film, audio‐visual presentation, magazines, newspapers, video games, website, billboard, PoS / Retail Point etc.

Event management

M/S Headoffice Communication specializes in organizing and managing corporate event; viz. brand activation, product launching, sales promotion, press conference, corporate meeting and conference, promotional events; special events like concerts, award giving ceremonies, film premieres, fashion shows, commercial events; seminar, symposium, conference; and personal events, such as weddings and banquette, etc..

Print media

M/S Headoffice Communication is well experienced in using all forms of paper materials; printing media and processes; and print advertisement tools.

Web & multimedia design

M/S Headoffice Communication designs websites. With sincere efforts, the agency defines corporate website solutions with original style, dynamic multimedia animation, content management systems, search engine, and robust database applications.

Product design

M/S Headoffice Communication designs products of tangible and non‐perishable items using a combination of artistic, scientific, and commercial standard procedures. The evolution of design formulation is facilitated by digital tools that allow the designers to communicate, visualize, and analyze ideas in a pragmatic and optimized manner.

Organizational Organogram

There are mainly three major sections in the organizational hierarchy. CEO holds the top position in the hierarchy. Under the supervision and control of CEO, three major sections are: – Administration, Marketing and Creative section. Admin department ensures that the organization is keeping as well as maintaining its value and core codes. This department makes sure that in every project, Headoffice is following its distinct work process. It also deals with employee issues and other regular issues regarding human resources. Marketing department is mainly responsible for getting the work from the clients and ensuring proper delivery to the clients. Besides, keeping network with all the current clients is also a vital task. Marketing department also holds another strong sector which is Business Development.

Business Development functions along with reporting to Marketing department. Creative department is another major department. This is the place where outputs are being made by the designers. Creative director directly supervises and holds the supreme authority for this department. No matter what output is being prepared, it must be done with keeping creative guidelines from the Creative Director. Apart from these there are other regular minor sections lying on the organizational hierarchy.

Future directions

With the modification from a sole proprietorship business with a supplier license to a partnership organization with an advertising agency license, M/S Headoffice Communication has leveraged more opportunity towards itself. Firstly, this change will be a boost for the firm, because it would allow more clarity towards the customers about their services and policies, which is expected to create more profound experiences for the customers as a result, delighted customers. Secondly, M/S Headoffice Communication is planning to expand its services from the national arena to the international arena; to which the current legal changes would certainly help the firm to start in the right track. Finally and most importantly, this transformation is likely to allow the firm to compete with globally popular firms which would be highly beneficial for the company in the long run because such competitiveness would certainly challenge the organization to produce services that are aesthetically of high qualities, in other words, would push M/S Headoffice Communication just enough to remain unique.

Objective of the report

The objective of the report can be viewed in two forms:

General Objective
Specific Objective

General Objective:

This internship report is prepared primarily to fulfill the Bachelor of Business Administration (B.B.A) degree requirement under the Faculty of BRAC Business School, BRAC University.

This report is the primary project on Business Development process and Service Marketing at Headoffice Communication. The main objective of this report is to identify every segment of Business Development as well as Service Marketing of this company.

Specific Objective:

More specifically, this study entails the following aspects:

Researching on the primary activities of Business Development process of Headoffice Communication and demonstrating all the elements and measures of this process.
Obtaining knowledge of the research and business development activities undertaken by the company to boost the quality of work and managing business development department to improve the performance.
And finally, acquiring real case scenario of the total value chain process and making analysis of deviation and required improvement accordingly to prolong the brand image.
To watch carefully the degree of difference and similarities between the real life and theory.

Scope

This study revolves basically around Headoffice Communication. This study includes a detailed process of Business Development as well as Service Marketing of Headoffice Communication. Furthermore, what could be the possible steps that should be taken to improve the overall process. The report entails detailed analysis of the business development process where its shows how the process takes place. In what phases this process of business development gets done. What greater values can be added by the Business Development process. Moreover, how Headoffice Communication is providing service marketing to its clients.

Business Development at Headoffice Communication

Headoffice Communication plays vital importance on its business development process. Business development puts greater value to the works that Headoffice Communication delivers. Headoffice Communication believes that business development takes the service of company into a more prominent place. Business development increases the excellence of service marketing. Business Development makes sure that output is being followed by client’s requirements. As the name suggests, business development process develops the quality of business for Headoffice Communication.

Headoffice Communication applies specific process for implementing projects. Within the process of project implementation, business development takes place and adds value.

Project Implementation Process

M/S Headoffice Communication provides its clients with a wide range of services that accurately reflect their business values and the specific features of their products and services. M/S Headoffice Communication team spends adequate time and effort to understand the need of its clientele, the business ventures and the product lines, prior to embarking on any assignment, adapting the current best practices of the ever‐changing global market.

Agency brief/ Request for Proposal (RFP): Client will provide M/S Headoffice Communication a written brief or Request for Proposal (RFP) for any form of procurement process.

M/S Headoffice Communication defines RFP in five components:

Background: Short description / definition of assignment, or title of the task.
Objective: Intention of communications or procurement of services. In case of any research study, the client must clarify the vision of the purpose.
Scope of work: An objective narration of the tasks and its volume & infrequency.
Terms & Condition: The line of authority.
Deadline: Day, month, year, and time of submission of deliverables.

In case of oral briefing, meeting minutes will be sent to the client that may convey the understandings of the agreed project execution modality followed by a list of queries, if necessary, for further clarification.

Agency Brief Template: M/S Headoffice Communication may provide agency brief template, if necessary, facilitating the client to give the brief comfortably.

Project Proposal: According to the brief, M/S Headoffice Communication will then submit to the client the detailed project proposal, estimated budget, and all forms of design layouts of communications materials required.

Work Order/ Purchase Order: The client will provide M/S Headoffice Communication with formal work order/ purchase order immediately after approval of the project proposal and estimated budget. In accordance to the work order/ purchase order, M/S Headoffice Communication will start implementing the project.

Compensation: Cancellation of work order/ purchase order will cause to the client a compensation of 10% of the Contract value in favor of M/S Headoffice Communication.

Steps of Project Implementation Process

Step‐01

Debriefing:

Client will provide M/S Headoffice Communication with a brief or Request for Proposal (RFP) with legal service Contract document and deposit (if any).

Step‐02

Research:

M/S Headoffice Communication will submit to the client with a set of queries, if necessary, regarding the project. Project proposal, design layouts of communications materials, and budget estimation are formulated in this phase.

Step‐03

Client Approval:

Submission of project proposal, design layouts of communications materials, and the estimated budget for the project, seeking client’s approval. If not approved, the client may then send their comments, if required. Further amendments of the proposed deliverables are made in this phase until finalization. Work order/ purchase order is received in this phase. For each corrections/ revisions of the design materials, after two such revisions, addition cost of 10% of the Contract value is to be compensated in favor of M/S Headoffice Communication.

Step‐04

Evaluation:

Final submission of deliverables; i.e. printed copies, end products, or installations. Upon client’s evaluation of the submissions, addressing any complaint is also performed in this phase. Payment is received at the end.

Business Development Process

Business development starts from meeting first with the client. Then it goes to creative session, brain storming, big idea and creative guidelines. After this, it goes to production. Business Development has secondary activities which is research and analysis. To be more elaborative, this means finding the story.

Primary Activities

Meeting Client

At first at the process, prospective clients contact business development officer. Business development officer gets to know form the clients what exactly the client is looking for. For having detailed idea, business development officer might sit for a meeting with the client.

Here client will notify that what is the project that needs to be done. Furthermore, what are the preferences for the projects. Business Development officer will inform the client a bit about Headoffice Communication and its services.

Meeting Minutes

After successfully attending the meeting with client, business development officer sends meeting minutes to client. This entails the basic summery of what have been discussed between the client and business development officer. In the meeting minutes, all the specifics of projects are usually mentioned. Preferences for the project from the clients are mentioned in the meeting minute. Meeting minute also contains what are task that need to be done for both the client and Headoffice Communication.

Client query form

After sending the meeting minutes, now the client gets a client query form from Headoffice Communication. This form entails few questions which help to understand the philosophy as well as mentality of client. The quality of work and how better the output could be that very much depends on the mind of client. Headoffice Communication believes it is very important to understand the clients before starting any projects. This query form contains specific questions regarding client’s preferences toward various subjects. Clients are asked very simple question about what they generally like and dislike. Clients are required to tell about their favorite brands, products, food, game, color etc. These help to give a brief overview of client’s mentality. Clients are also asked about how much they want to spend for projects and what is their expectation from Headoffice Communication regarding specific projects.

Sometimes projects fail instead of having great quality. One of the major reasons behind this is that client’s mentality could not be identified properly. If Headoffice Communication fails to understand clients then there miscommunication happens between two parties. So there might be a work done with best quality but client cannot understand it. In some cases clients inform that they expected the outcome to be different.

Client Requirements

In this stage client submits projects in a detailed format in written document. Client takes out all the requirements that need to be followed for successfully finishing projects. Clients specify what are the possible circumstances for the projects and the preferable time frame for the project. It basically entails what kind of features the project would be equipped with.

Creative Session

Once client submits all the requirements for the projects, business development officer goes to the strategic planner and sits for creative session. Here in this process, business development officer, strategic planner and creative director sit together for discussion of project. What is tried to do here is to come with the creative root for the project. This is a session done before starting project. The purpose here is to think about the project in deep.

Setting up basic plans for the project. Moreover, here specific models are followed for setting up core plans. Based on the model, all the current information is disseminated and regrouped again according to the communication model.

Brain Storming

Likewise the creative session here business development officer along with strategic planner sit for a brain storming session. The main propose here is to set up the core philosophy and creative roots for the project. What happens here is Headoffice Communication follows a certain chart for brain storming. This chart encloses a wide range of words from which whichever word suits the project best, that gets picked. In this process couples of words are chosen. Within these words, different roots are created. Headoffice Communication has its own brain storming chart.

The “Big Idea”

From the words that has been previously collected, one big idea is generated. After collecting all the words, it is tried to come up with a big idea. It is seen that whether there can be a relation among all the collected words. In most cases, all the words create a common harmony. This helps to form the “Big Idea”.

Creative Guideline

After the “Big Idea” creative guidelines has been set up for projects. These are the standards which must be followed while designing the output. With the creative guidelines, now projects enter to the designing phase. Moreover, designer must prepare the output keeping the creative guidelines.

Studio

Here at this stage, the project enters into the designing phase. Headoffice has its own studio, which is full of designers. While preparing the design for the project, it’s important that the designs must be prepared according to creative guidelines. At Headoffice Communication, the design studio solely belongs to creative department. The designing studio is completely out of outside interaction from other departments. Only the creative department has the authority over the designing studio. At the same the designing studio is only responsible for its work to creative department. Creative director directly controls and supervises the designing studios. Creative director monitors all the work that takes place in the designing studio. Creative director sets relevant rules and regulations for designing studio. At the initiation of every design, a team is being assigned for the project and for every team there’s a business development office and designer. Business Development explains the creative guideline to the designer. Moreover, the designers portray the creative guidelines given by the business development officer into the design. At the time of designing if the customers want to change or modify the design, it can be done through business development officer. At last the final output is ready to be delivered to the clients and this way projects are completed.

Tune Ups

Tune up the title is self-explanatory, as because the project gets tuned up by the clients. If any customer wants to tune up, it can be done by through business development officer. However Headoffice Communication allows customer to tune up the project maximum three times.

After that no more tuning up is allowed. If the clients are still unhappy with the project and therefore further want to tune up the project, then a new work order and budget must be issued. After tuning up the entire project is handled to the client. In other words the project is done.

Secondary Activities

Research and Analysis

Research is a very important part for business development process at Headoffice Communication. Business Development department spends enough time researching to find out creative solutions of projects. Before starting all the activities, business development, strategic planning division and creative director study regarding the specific project. The purpose here is to go deep and think about the projects. To find out what could be possible attributes of the project and how the projects will add value and who are the possible beneficiaries for the project. This might be considered as a preplanning for any project.

Headoffice believes that every successful brand has a philosophy beside it. According to Headoffice every renowned brand in the world has some roots working behind the brand and supporting the brand. Henceforth, Headoffice Communication sets basic philosophy for every project. It creates creative root for projects. These roots are derived from three basic categories: functional, rational, and emotional. Based on these roots, creative guidelines are set up. For example, Headoffice has built a brand namely “Jatra”. This is retail clothing. It also has local handmade accessories, handicrafts and traditional jewelry. Headoffice has set the basic philosophy for this brand which is “folk art”. So we see everything at “Jatra”, starting from its logo, interior design, furniture and mostly all the product offerings represent and relate folk-art. For every brand there has be philosophy which will be related through the nature of business. During my internship period, Headoffice set up core philosophy another food brand. It was a restaurant and relax dinning namely Orange N’ Half. As a core philosophy, Headoffice chose hip culture. The reason behind this was that the name orange represents freshness and the color Orange shows hipness. The name Orange N’ Half has some funkiness and hipness in it. It is mostly for young generations. That is why hip culture was chosen as core philosophy. As a result brands logo, design, furnishings, employee uniforms, serving to customers, everything was styled as hip culture. Every of that brand has funkiness and hipness. Therefore, Business Development vigorously research and analyze to find out core philosophy and creative roots for business.

Service Marketing at Headoffice Communication

The world economy nowadays is increasingly characterized as a service economy. This is primarily due to the increasing importance and share of the service sector in the economies of most developed and developing countries. In fact, the growth of the service sector has long been considered as indicative of a country’s economic progress. Economic history tells us that all developing nations have invariably experienced a shift from agriculture to industry and then to the service sector as the main stay of the economy.

Organizations use a wide array of business-to-business (B2B) services, varying to some degree according to the nature of their industry, but usually involving purchases of a much larger scale than those made by individuals or families. Nowadays, firms are outsourcing more and more tasks to external service providers in order to focus on their core business.

Headoffice is a service oriented firm. It mainly provides services to its clients. In most cases it provides business-to-business service. Usually Headoffice provides communication service to solve different communication needs. Headoffice believes that the key to successful promotion is successful communication. Unless the company communicates to its clients, no matter how good its promotion is, it creates no sense. The reason here is lack of communication. Therefore Headoffice communication always strives to build strong communication through its service offerings. For promoting its service, Headoffice follows indirect promotion. Headoffice principally focuses on words of mouth. Headoffice has got some giant companies in from different business sector as their client. Headoffice works for companies like Grameen Phone, Care Bangladesh, Concern Worldwide, and American Embassy. Moreover, these companies have given their trust to Headoffice Communication and Headoffice has been serving them for year. Therefore, clients spread the goodwill of Headoffice Communication to others. Headoffice mostly get new clients through the existing clients. Besides, Headoffice takes part in minor promotional activities for promoting its service. In some cases, Headoffice participates in bidding process. There it has to compete with other communication firms. Headoffice has its official website which Headoffice believes is a great ground for promoting its services. Headoffice provides creative presents and gifts to its clients on various traditional occasions. This also promotes services of Headoffice. Apart from this, Headoffice promotes itself through the quality of work that Headoffice does for clients.

Result and Discussion

After working for three months at Headoffice Communication I gained endless experience regarding real life job situation. Headoffice is a creative communication firm and it is way too different than the other agencies in the market. Headoffice Communication is of the few firms of Bangladesh that can successfully create story lines for business communication.

Moreover, it is one of the few firms that set up core philosophy behind brands. At Headoffice Communication, the name “Brand” has different definition. Previously I used to know that brand is an identity. However, after working at Headoffice, now I get the real picture of brands. A brand without giving experience is nothing but a name and for having been able to give enough experience, brands must have core philosophies supporting behind. For example, there is an existing myth regarding the British automobile manufacturer “Rover”. Some people admit that no British are a pure British unless they ride on “Land Rover”. That is the kind of experience that Rover provides. By this way a brand becomes more that a brand. So the mantra here is that brand needs to connect. Brand must connect its audience.

Findings & Recommendations:

My critical observations and recommendations are given below:

There is less coordination between some major departments. What I found out is that there is less information sharing and transfer of data between few departments. There are major departments that are only concerned within their own span of work. Apart from their department they are not aware of the status of other departments. Here the problem is, at Headoffice Communication, work and projects are assigned under teams. Works are done here through team basis effort. For example every work goes into different departments and final becomes an output. For example, marketing department gets a client. Finance division then submits budget and afterwards the progress goes on progress through strategic planning, creative briefing and finally designing. Here, marketing department might not know what are the current other projects going. Designers might not know which one is the top priority work. This hampers the flow of the work. It also affects on delivering the output on time.

Suppose business development officer is having urgency from the clients regarding finishing the work immediately. However, creative department might not understand the priority and urgency of this work. Therefore, designers do not put more pressure for completing the work. As a result proper delivery of the work gets delayed.

Every department has its weekly action plan. Here, one weekly meeting can be held where all the departments will sit together and make a joint action plan. This will help all the departments to build better coordination and all departments will be aware of what to do for each division. So all departments will get better understanding of the projects and it will be successful team efforts.

There is also lack of cooperation between Business Development and Creative Department. As business development deals with clients and this departments mostly stays on every progress of the work, business development know more about the work. Business Development knows the time to time update and status of the work as it has to inform the clients about the work status and updates. Business development thereby knows the priority of the work. But designers of creative department are only followed by the instructions given by the Creative Director and Associate Creative Director. Designers so less understand the clients and they do not understand the needs of work.

Designers make the final outputs. They prepare designs based on given instructions. They keep up the guidelines set up on strategic planning. If they could also participate in the brainstorming sessions and strategic planning, they can understand the instructions and idea that has been set up.

They would understand what exactly the client prefers. They would also understand what philosophies are working behind the guidelines and strategies. Therefore they would understand the priority of the work.

From my perspective, Admin division and HR Department should be more concerned as well as focused on the other departments. It is the duty of proper Human Resource management that it creates a balanced harmony between all the departments in the office. What I found in Headoffice communication is that admin division does not dig in deep to other departments.

So what happens is, admin may go by with rules and regulation without having the real picture of other departments. Sometimes clients pressure for more tune ups. There might be situations where a work is very well prepared but, clients do not get the quality of work because they lack enough understanding of design. So admin here needs to get the real picture as well as find the basic reasons that why a specific project has failed. Admin go by with different regulations and consequences to departments for the failure of project. This should be discouraged.

Conclusion

To conclude me report I would like to state that communications or business communication is used to promote a product, service, or organization; relay information within the business; or deal with legal and similar issues. It is also a means of relaying between a supply chain, for example the consumer and manufacturer. It encompasses a variety of topics, including marketing, branding, customer relations, consumer behavior, advertising, public relations, corporate communication, community engagement, research & measurement, interpersonal communication, employee engagement, online communication, and event management. It is closely related to the fields of professional communication and technical communication. Headoffice Communication is promised to deliver all these communication services at one go through various creative ways.