AOL -- Service Marketing -- Case study

Despite its humble beginnings as an unsuccessful on note of hand gaming service, America Online (AOL) has blossomed to parcel issue more than 10 million international members by providing e-mail, news, sports, online conferencing, profit access, weather, and more. A simple, yet ingenious market plan helped AOL sink in its current level of success: wide distribution of innocuous CD-ROMs containing AOL software. Users were able to sample AOL?s wares from the comfort of their home, at their leisure.

straightway boasting over 109 million monthly visitors (http://corp.aol.com), AOL hopes to continue to enthrall rising profits by expanding and upgrading its advertising platforms, as comfortably as continue to expand into international markets. Additionally, AOL is attempting to branch out into the business-to-business realm, by offering network systems to businesses and industries.

AOL?s wares straddle the line mingled with the product and service categories, but lean towards the latter. Obviously, AOL?s software is a product, but it requires AOL services for use. Service marketing differs from product marketing in that the marketing mix differs between the two. Services rely on availability to nodes, thus stressing the vastness of distribution, for example. Also, gauging the success of marketing for services can also be problematic, as quality is more subjective than with a product. Additionally, of course, a customer cannot return a service if dissatisfied!



America Online appeals to customers via its family relationship marketing techniques in the form of retention programs. Examples of such customer retention efforts include promotions, superior technical support, online events, and the steady door of upgraded content, services, and programs. Loyal customers prefer AOL due to its child protection preference of parental controls, as well as specialized tattle rooms aimed to subpopulations of customers, including children, women, and Christians.

Paradoxically, America Online?s success created trouble for the firm. afterwards introducing its flat rate fee in 1996, the network...

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