The following is a fusion between the two P’s; Place and Physical Evidence that is going to evaluate the usefulness of ICDK’s current distribution channels that they use to sell their Partnership Model.
ICDK’s webpage as primary distribution channel
Currently, ICDK’s webpage is the main distribution channel, where entrepreneurs can obtain some information about the services. At the front page of the general Innovation Centre Denmark webpage, there is a subpage under “What we offer” that is called “Entrepreneurship” with the text (ICDK, 2016c):
Entrepreneurship (headline)
We guide you to research and key players in order to grow
Partners, funding and scaling opportunities (Sub headline)
We help you find partners, funding, and scaling opportunities in one or more of our six locations through meetings, seminars, and networking with key players. We assist you in managing your start-up business, raising capital, and adapting your technology and business model to a foreign market.
Without further guidance where to find more information, interested entrepreneurs must go to
another subpage called “SMEs and startup tools”, to find additional information about the services
ICDK offer (ICDK, 2016d). These are presented under sub-subpages called “Innovation Growth”,
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“Innovation Package”, “Innovation Package”, and “Science and technology scouting delegation”
(ICDK, 2016d).
Every centre has an individual subpage for each of their global destinations. On the subpage page for the centre in Shanghai, there is a submenu in the left side, with information about “Activities”,
“Newsletters”, “Innovation reports”, the “Partnership Model”, as well as their education- and career initiative “Top Talent Denmark” (ICDK, 2016e). At the subpage “Partnership Model”, there is an illustration of the Partnership Model aimed at Danish entrepreneurs and SME’s with a short text about how ICDK aims to assist “start-ups, spin-offs and SME’s to accelerate successful entry into the Chinese market” (ICDK, 2016e) (Appendix H). There is no additional information or links to follow, and interested entrepreneurs must either contact the ICDK in Shanghai directly or go (back) to the main page and find the specific services under above mentioned sub-subpage “SMEs and startup tools”.
Social media distribution channels
Innovation Centre Denmark uses social media in terms of a LinkedIn page, where every centre has an individual showcase page to promote all of their activities and push general news about innovation related activities. ICDK in Shanghai post approximately 3-5 posts each month. In comparison, the Centre in Silicon Valley post almost every day and often with a larger focus on and relevance to entrepreneurship.
Other distribution channels
ICDK has several other channels to use apart from their own webpage and Linkedin, e.g. the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Higher Education and Science webpages. However, ICDK is not very active at promoting themselves here, at least not related to entrepreneurship.
Evaluation of Product, Place & Physical Evidence
It can be discussed whether ICDK uses their distribution channels to the fullest potential in terms of creating a favourable positioning of themselves and whether they are doing it through the right channels to reach targeted R&D entrepreneurs.
The structure of their webpage appears very complex and it is up to the individual to find out how
the different services and Partnership Model are connected. Since convenience is mentioned as one
of the important aspects of a creating a favourable image, this level of complexity and lack of
additional information about the services do not make a very strong value proposition. It appears too
confusing to navigate in and as a consequence risks to discourage rather than spur interest from
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potential clients. As a minimum, there should be some connecting links between the different subpages to improve transparency and ease of use. Since the Partnership Model is a “pick- and- choose” model, it would make sense to provide more detailed descriptions of each of the offered services, perhaps as a subpage to the Partnership Model. If they aim to position themselves as reliable, highly skilled and knowledgeable partners that sell services that is going to make it easier for Danish R&D entrepreneurs to enter the Chinese market, there is a gap between what they aim for and how they actually present it. Since the entrepreneurs do not know the quality of the services beforehand, their representation of the Partnership Model and services are a part of reassuring and convincing the potential customer about the level of quality. This also means, that the physical evidence to prove the value of the services, is actually part of the service (Hollensen, 2010, 356).
Entrepreneurs depend and work through networks. According to Alter, it takes time and careful planning to get involved in social media (2013). By knowing how the targeted R&D entrepreneurs act and what they expect from the Partnership Model, ICDK can choose the most optimal channels and leverage their effort to create the greatest return on investment (Alter, 2013). There is significant differences between different social media channels such as Facebook and LinkedIn. Facebook, for example, is a social network platform, that is designed to encourage people to share, network and communicate in various networks. LinkedIn on the other hand, has a reputation for being primarily aimed at the professional network between business professionals (Alter, 2013). Since LinkedIn generally appeals to a professional business community, job seekers and corporate recruiter, it might not be the optimal way to reach targeted entrepreneurs, create a voice and generate word-of-mouth (WOM) and word-of-web (WOW) promotion. Perhaps other channels, such as Facebook or science related entrepreneurial networks would be more effective for ICDK to use.
7.5. Promotion, People & Process
The Promotion P is where key messages, messengers and communication channels are decided
upon (Kotler & Lee, 2006, 288). This is where ICDK merges the knowledge from the other P’s and
secure coherence into how ICDK can communicate about their services to their targeted R&D
entrepreneurs. The promotion is where ICDK informs, educates, and persuades Danish
entrepreneurs and other involved stakeholders about the Partnership Model through communication
(Hollensen, 2010, 491). In the relationship approach, communication is not one-way but two-way, as
receiving feedback is just as important as sending messages. There is an increasing tendency for
institutions to use integrated marketing communication (IMC), where the communications to different
stakeholder groups are aligned, directly and indirectly, in a unified way. The communication efforts
can be used to create awareness, interest, desire and thereby action with the customer (Hollensen,
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2010, 491). This is also referred to as the AIDA model. According to this model, advertising can be strong enough to change people's attitudes to persuade them into buying the services (Hollensen, 2010, 493). However,
the AIDA model does not take time, experience, history or brand image into consideration, which are also influencing the customer's decision making process (Hollensen, 2010, 492).Furthermore, the increasing amount of “noise” from competitors in the environment risks to dilute the message (Hollensen, 2010, 494). The mission is to ensure that the target audience knows about the offered service, believe that they get the benefits offered and are convinced to act (Kotler & Lee, 2006, 35).
The People P was originally called participants, but has been renamed to People. The People P defines the human actors that play an important part in the service delivery. Naturally, the employees of ICDK are a large part of influencing how Danish entrepreneurs are going to perceive ICDK and the services they offer. Since the services ICDK offer requires a high level of contact, it is important that they have the skills, knowledge and experience to meet the entrepreneur’s expectations (Hollensen, 2010, 356, Brooms & Bitner, 1981).
The Process P is how the service is provided to the customers. It is the mechanisms, flows and
procedures of activities that define how the service is acquired and when it is delivered (Hollensen,
2010, 356).
In document
INNOVATION CENTRE DENMARKS’ POSITIONING STRATEGY TOWARDS DANISH ENTREPRENEURS
(Sider 56-59)