Building a service brand in an emerging market - A case study of Saigon Petroleum Service Corporation

Abstract

Branding is considered important for any company aiming to be successful. Thus, service branding is essential in helping a service company to position its brand among many competitors in the dynamic business context. A strong brand will greatly influence customer’s perceived quality and purchasing decision. This study draws on the concept of brand equity to investigate about service branding process in the closely examined context of an emerging market. As there still limits in research about service branding, especially when it comes to relate service branding process to a context of an emerging market, the researcher decides to fill in this gap. Therefore, the main purpose of this research is to explore service branding process in an emerging market. This will be achieved through a single-case study of the company Saigon Petroleum Service Corporation (SPSC) in Vietnam. The study follows qualitative methodology with the primary data collected from personal interviews with the managers of the case company and the secondary data gathered through official sources. The key findings of the study suggest that a successful service brand must possess a full set of brand identity and have a correct positioning strategy while continue to provide to customer’s a guarantee about the highest quality of service delivery. Undoubtedly, the influence of an emerging context to service branding is great and organization must be very flexible in the approach. In Vietnam, the role of relationships to government is considered vital and supporting legal framework is deemed a prerequisite for any organization to capture arising opportunities. Not only that, cultural factors can also play a key role in deciding about a national brand – a winning brand that not only understands thoroughly about Vietnamese customers but also cares deeply about the sustainable growth of the local community.