Introduction

Services marketing is a sub field of marketing which refers to both business to consumer (B2C) and business to business (B2B) services, and includes marketing of services like telecommunications services, financial services, all types of hospitality services, car rental services, air travel, health care services and professional services.
One of the largest banking and financial services organisation in the world is known as the HSBC Group. It has established businesses in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, the Americas, the Middle East and Africa. In 1991, HSBC holdings were incorporated in England, with its head office based in London. In 1999, the company established its international brand name, which ensured that the Group's corporate symbol became a familiar sight all across the world. HSBC differentiates its brand name from those of its competitors by describing the unique characteristics which distinguish HSBC, namely being, 'The world's local bank'. As at 31st December 2004, its total asset was valued at £660 billion. It has over 9,800 offices worldwide. It employs over 253, 000 people, across different countries and territories. Its shares are held by around 200,000 people in some 100 countries and territories. The company's shares are also traded on most of the world's renowned stock exchanges, namely, London, Paris, New York, and Bermuda stock exchanges respectively. One of the major tools it uses for functionality on a worldwide scale is the company's use of information technology. Its e-business channels include the internet, PC banking, interactive TV, and telephone banking. It maintains its own private network (intranet and extranet), in which HSBC's websites attracted 900 million visits in 2004.
In Bangladesh, the HSBC Group's history dates back to 1996 when The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) Ltd opened its first branch. Today, the HSBC Group offers a comprehensive range of financial services in Bangladesh including commercial banking, consumer banking, payments and cash management, trade services, treasury, and custody and clearing.
General Background * Opened first Bangladesh branch in December 1996 * Network of 13 offices, 39 ATMs, 9 Customer Service Centres, an offshore banking unit, and offices in 7 EPZs. * 1051 employees as of December 2010
Key business areas: * Retail Banking and Wealth Management * Commercial Banking * Corporate and Institutional banking * Global Markets * Shariah Compliant Banking

Services are very different from products. So the marketing concepts need to be revisited while marketing a service. Services can range from financial services provided by the banks, technology services provided by the IT company, food and ambiance as a service provided by restaurants or even a blog where an author provides a service to his audience. Services marketing are dominated by the 7 Ps of marketing namely Product, Price, Place, Promotion, People, Process andPhysical evidence.
Product
The product is the heart of the firm’s marketing strategy. Poorly designed service products that do not create value for customers are destined to fail regardless of how well the other 6 Ps are executed. The goal of the product element is to create a service concept that would offer more value to a market segment than competitors. Working to transform this concept into reality involves designing a cluster of different but mutually reinforcing elements.
The product must be a means to solve a problem or satisfy a want in the market. To date, overspending is a major issue in the Western world. * HSBC offers an unmatched efficient banking structure along with a whole rangeof products and services to suit all business needs. At HSBC understands that running a business takes time, money and planning. That is why extensive range of products andservices has been designed to give maximum value with the minimum of paperwork andeffort. * With over 9,800 offices and a presence in over 77 countries and territoriesincluding the Asia-Pacific region, Europe, the Americas, the Middle East and Africa, andwith over 100 million customers, HSBC has the ability to take the business forward.

HSBC Premier Services * HSBC ATMs worldwide * Global View - monitor balances of your worldwide HSBC accounts online in one convenient place with Global View2. Launch the demo to learn more. * Global Transfers -free instant fund transfers online between your worldwide HSBC accounts, whichever country they are in2 * Dedicated HSBC call centers will connect you to a qualified person who speaks your language and can give you immediate assistance 24/7.

As an HSBC Premier client, you have access to a Premier Relationship Manager who you can contact for guidance, support and access to all that HSBC has to offer. * Receive personalized attention and global insights from your Relationship Manager, no matter where in the world you are. * Connect with a Relationship Manager at any one of our Premier Centers worldwide3
HSBC Premier Products * Premier Checking * Premier Investor Savings Account and Preferred Rates on CDs * Premier Credit Card Privileges and Rewards * Premier Wealth Management1 * Premier Mortgage and Home Equity

HSBC's structured products help clients to: * Help minimize investment risks * Optimize returns within risk-reward parameters * Minimize capital raising costs * Hedge or diversify market exposures * Customize investment returns * Access international markets * Manage credit exposure * Price
The pricing component plays twin roles for HSBC in the sense that it must be able to first attract customers to purchase the service and also generate revenue for HSBC. According to Adrian Palmer (2008), there are five main factors that influence pricing decisions, namely, profit maximisation, market-share maximisation, survival, social considerations and personal objectives.
Payments and Cash Management: HSBC is one of the leading service providers of payments and related services to financial institutions, corporate and personal customers in Bangladesh. Underpinned by the Bank’s our extensive network of offices and capabilities, payments and cash management assists companies through the provision of payments, collections, liquidity and account services. HSBCnet, a proprietary computer-based software package, provides customers with an instant link into the HSBC’s international computer network, allowing customers to perform transactions and obtain a diverse range of up-to-date information 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Place
The place element involves delivering the product element to customers through appropriate methods and delivery channels. Delivery may involve both physical and electronic channels. Failure to make a service product readily available to customers would guarantee its failure regardless of how good the service product is. The new current account package would be made readily available throughout HSBC’s 1,492 branch network and also through the internet.

Promotion
The promotion element relies on effective communications to bring awareness in the market of the service products offered by HSBC. The three objectives of the promotion element are to gain the attention of customers, provide additional information and persuade customers to purchase the product. Advertising is mass, paid communication that is used to transmit information, develop attitudes and induce some form of response on the part of the audience
Exclusive promotions for those who deserve the best
Going beyond your expectations
At HSBC Premier, we constantly create new promotions that will appeal to your discerning taste. It's our way of delivering more than just excellent financial services, where we strive to also provide a rewarding lifestyle package that will richly reward.
Ongoing Promotions * HSBC Premier/HSBC Amanah Premier Birthday Program 2011 * Exclusive Premier World MasterCard Privileges * home&Away Privilege Programme People
Despite technological advances, many financial services still require direct interaction between customers and bank employees. The nature of these interactions strongly influences how customers perceive service quality. This is particularly true for financial services as employees are often the first line of contact with the customer. At HSBC, we have more than 315,000 uniquely talented professionals. Each day, we bring our experience, skills and individual perspectives to the table, to anticipate and respond to our customers’ needs, and to create one of the world’s most richly vibrant and successful financial services companies.
A diverse and engaged workforce is central to our success and in turn, we believe in partnering our employees to carve out their careers in the bank and realise their aspirations through networking opportunities, mentoring programmes and diversity initiatives that have earned us recognition by diversityinc.com as one of the “Top 50 Companies for Diversity.”We are believers in the power and the promise of our people.HSBC is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We pay for performance and we offer the top-tier benefits, learning and development opportunities, and work-life programmes that you would expect from a worldwide leader.With HSBC, our employees are empowered to take on greater responsibility for their career management and enjoy greater flexibility in determining the development of their careers in the Bank.

Building customer loyalty

Customer loyalty matters because selling more to existing customers is easier, and cheaper, than finding and selling to new ones.
Loyal customers tend to buy more, more regularly. And they will frequently recommend your business to others.

Physical Evidence
It is generally recognized that physical evidence can be subsidized into two components peripheral evidence which can be possessed by the consumer but has little independent value and essential evidence, which cannot be possessed by the consumer but has independent value. The peripheral evidence is the prepaid card itself while the essential evidence includes bank branches, cash machines, posters and brochures.
Process
The process element focuses on the mechanisms by which the service is delivered, including business policies for service provision, procedures, degree of mechanization etc. It is imperative that the policies and procedures are written and tested before the launch of the new current account package.

Market Segmentation and Targeting
A market segment should consists of a group of customers who share a similar set of needs and wants. A market segment must be accessible, measurable, large enough and profitable in order to be worth targeted by an institution.

Successful strategies take a deliberate step-by-step approach, focusing on a limited set of well-defined objectives.
Market Penetration
The market penetration strategy is implemented when an organization seeks to increase market share of its current products/services. This strategy is the least risky as the organization is already equipped with the experiences, capabilities and resources to market and support its products/services. If the market is a high growth market, simply maintaining market share would suffice. However, as the market reaches the saturation stage, a new strategy must be implemented. HSBC is able to use this strategy to gain market share from competitors that have lost confidence in banks that have failed in the recent sub-prime mortgage crisis.

positioning has come to mean the process by which marketers try to create an image or identity in the minds of their target market for its product, brand, or organization. Positioning is a perceptual location. It's where your product or service fits into the marketplace. Effective positioning puts you first in line in the minds of potential customers. Market Positioning
Positioning is the act of designing the company’s offering and image to occupy a distinctive place in the minds of the target market In the case of HSBC, the bank is known to be a truly global bank with an international branch network.
Points-of-parity are associations that are not necessarily unique to the brand but may in fact be shared with other brands (Brunner & Wänke, 2006).[5] There are two types of points-of-parity, namely, category and competitive points-of-parity. Category points-of-parity includes HSBC being a reputable financial institution and also a bank entrusted with fiduciary responsibility. In terms of competitive points-of-parity, HSBC must be seen to ‘break even’ with other financial institutions in terms of service quality.
HSBC has been positioning itself as the “worldwide local bank” for a while now. They are a bank that takes pride in understanding the subtleties of cultural differences. Last year, they introduced a thought-provoking ad campaign illustrating how there are multiple perspectives on any given subject.
Although HSBC only commenced operation in Bangladesh in 1996, the Bank has quickly made its presence felt in the local market. From the 27th position in 2003, HSBC is now one of five largest private banks in the country.
As a full service international bank, we offer competitive pricing and efficient execution. We provide a wide range of treasury, loans, markets, payments and cash management, and trade and supply chain services. We have advisory capabilities for clients wishing to invest/operate in Bangladesh. Bond issuance capabilities are also being developed.
We have a strong Offshore Banking Unit (OBU) that provides USD facilities for Export Processing Zone customers (100 per cent foreign owned) and onshore customers