The Value-Mix Triad: product, service and communication as aspects of customer value within the field of customer experience

It is not a mere play on words to argue that there is an equivalence and blurring of the concepts of product, service and communication. This matters to any solution to the problems and requirements of integrated marketing and integrated marketing communications.

Products communicate: for example the effectiveness of Volvo’s automobile advertising is affected by the presence or absence of the new models on the road. Within ads, the design of the product is itself frequently an important factor, as for example in Jaguar, advertising being the means to enhance or focus the intrinsic attractiveness of the product, whether ‘design’ means appearance, functional characteristics or other features. The part of this ‘product communication’ that is effective is only whatever has value, i.e. service, to the customer. For example, a washing machine is of value in as much as it provides a service. Communication is often designed to bring out or emphasise this value.

Service communicates: For example the service experience in a key Touchpoint (‘moment of truth’) is highly influential. “Deeds matter more than words”. Again, what is of service is just and only what is of value (service) to the customer. Again, communication may itself be an element of the service value, for example in product packaging or for example, the EPSON web area for photographers.

Communication works: to the effect that it has a value to the customer and to that extent it becomes a part of the total brand experience and therefore brand value. This may be at the level of utility information, as for example an IBM website, because the brand takes on meaning resonant with the individual identity, as with Nike, or for other reasons.