A

DESSERTATION REPORT ON
“GROWTH ANALYSIS OF PROMOTIONAL STRATEGIES OF COMMERCIAL
BANKS”

SUBMITTED TO
SAVITRIBAI PHULE PUNE UNIVERSITY,

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE

“MASTERS OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION”

SUBMITTED BY
Ankush Shrikrushna Badhe

UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF

Prof. Kaustubh Purohit Sir

MODERN INSTITUTE OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

PUNE, MAHARASHTRA
2018-2019
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This project is the outcome of the work assignment carried out at a growth analysis of
promotional strategies of commercial banks in partial fulfillment of Master of Business
Administration Curriculum.

I would like to express my sincere thanks to Director Dr. Vijayalaxmi shrinivas, and Dr.
Nivedita Ekbote , Coordinator MIBM for their support and cooperation.

I owe a deep sense of gratitude to my project guide, Prof Kaustubh Purohit for his
valuable guidance & encouragement which enabled me to complete this project successfully.

I would also like to sincerely thank all faculty members of MBA, MIBM for their valuable
guidelines.
 Student Declaration

I Ankush Shrikrushna Badhe, of MBA II: Roll no: Mkt-21004 hereby declare that the
Dissertation Work titled ‘Impotence of public relation publicity to business with reference to
service sector. Which has been submitted to University of Pune, is an original work of the
undersigned and has not been reproduced from any other source?

Signature

Date Name: Ankush Badhe

Place Roll No: Mkt-21004

 INDEX

Sr. No Title
Page. No

1 Executive Summary

2 Introduction

3 Objective and Scope of the research

4 Literature Review

4 Research methodology

5 Data analysis and Interpretation

6 Research findings and conclusion

8 Recommendation and suggestions

9 Bibliography

10 Annexure
 CHAPTER 1:
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Abstract
This study will examine the phenomenon of public relations in service marketing. Public
relations is a business function and administrative tool that serves to establish mutual
communication, understanding, acceptance, trust and cooperation between an organization
and its target groups and to make this environment permanent. The current business
environment, which is highly competitive, makes public relations essential for service
marketing. This qualitative and descriptive study analyzes public relations in service marketing
in a linear perspective from past to present based on a review of the relevant literature.

1. Introduction
Marketing communication has been a key role during the last decades of new economy
including dense technological affects, branding, sustainability of brand value, acquiring
reputation of a brand, potential customer communication and persuasion process for
buying/selling. Herein, Public Relations -PR- is admitted as an underpinning factor for products
and services. Publicity in marketing mix, has only been perceived as an advertisement.
Marketing communication plays a significant role in branding and brand value to ensure the
continuity of the brand’s credibility, the potential customer’s product purchase to be convinced as
to achieve the objectives of marketing components. Withal intensive structure of new
economy global economical dynamism causes alteration and interaction in public relations and
advertisement. Within that period, diffusion of service marketing and PR’s positioning in
marketing communication take an important place. In this article PR’s positioning in service
marketing has been determined including marketing, service marketing and PR correlation.

2. Conceptual Framework
Marketing is an organizational function and set of processes for creating, communicating and
delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationship in ways that
benefit the organization and its stokeholders (Solomon et al., 2008: 3). According to the
definition of the American Marketing Association -AMA-, marketing is the activity, set of
institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings
that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.
However, marketing concept is utterly dynamic; or in other words, marketing has been
designed to facilitate the creation and exchange of all of the activities organized for the
satisfaction of all kinds of human wants and needs (Kırdar, 2012: 21). Definition of product
and service marketing includes individual and organizational goals that will satisfy exchanging
ideas, goods and services to the conceptualisation, pricing, implementation process, promotion
and distribution planning. If we define term of product in marketing literature: “A good or
service that most closely meets the requirements of a particular market and yields enough
profit to justify its continued existence. As long as cars are manufactured, companies such as
Michelin that produce tires fill the market need and continue to be profitable”. In a general
approach to the term of product: “A good, idea, method, information, object or service created
as a result of a process and serves a need or satisfies a want. It has a combination of
tangible and intangible attributes -benefits, features, functions, uses- that a seller offers a
buyer for purchase” (Business Dictionary, 2016).
At the heart of every marketing act is something we refer to as an ‘exchange relationship’. An
‘exchange’ occurs when something is obtained for something else in return. The buyer
receives an object, service or idea that satisfies a need whereas the seller receives something
he or she feels of equivalent value (Solomon et al., 2008: 9).
To clarify the differences between product and services, the term of service is determined as:
“A valuable action, deed, or effort performed to satisfy a need or to fulfill a demand”
(Business Dictionary, 2016). A service is a non-material equivalent of goods. A service provision
is an economic activity that does not result in ownership and this is what differentiates it
from providing physical goods. It is claimed to be a process that creates benefits by facilitating
either a change in customers or a change in their physical possessions, or even a change in their
intangible assets.
As in words of Kotler and Keller (2009: 214), the meaning of service is: “A service is an act
of performance that one party can offer to another that is essentially intangible and does not
result in the ownership of anything. Its production may or may not be tied to a physical product.
A service is any act or performance that one can offer to another that is essentially intangible
and does not result in the ownership of anything. Its production may or may not be tied to a
physical product. Many services include no physical products, and some
service firms are purely online, with no physical presence”. Services are processes, and hence
service firms do not offer products that are comparable to pre-produced bundles of physical
resources and features that are provided by manufacturing companies. Instead, the
outcome of the process is an integral part of the service process which is consumed by
customers as a solution to perceived problems. Thus the use of a service can be
characterized as a process consumption as opposed to outcome consumption, where only the
outcome of a process is consumed or used (Grönroos, 1998: 1).
A company can offer some products but this offerings often include some services. Services
can be categorized like; ‘pure tangible good’ -like soap-, ‘tangible good with accompanying
services’ -like Toyota-, ‘hybrid’ -the offering consists of equal parts of goods and services
like restaurants-, ‘major service with accompanying minor goods and services’ -for
example, airline passengers are buying transportation service, although they get snacks and
drinks as well-. Because services are generally high in experience and credence qualities, there
is more risk in purchase. As a result, service consumers generally rely on word of mouth
rather than advertising. They also rely heavily on price, personnel, and physical cues to judge
quality, and are highly loyal to service providers who satisfy them (Kotler and Keller 2009:
215). These characteristic features of
services get stronger boundaries between services and public relations. Public relations is the
management function that establishes and maintains mutually beneficial relationships
between an organization and the publics on whom its success or failure depends (Cutlip
et al., 2006: 5). Public relations is the deliberate, planned and sustained effort to establish
and maintain mutual understanding between an organization -or individual- and its -or their-
publics. It’s the key to effective communication in all sectors of business, government, academic
and not-for-profit. It is a management function which evaluates public attitudes, identifies the
policies and procedures of an individual or an organization with the public interest, and plans and
executes a program of action to earn public understanding and acceptance. Public relations is
another major mass-promotion tool for building relations with the company’s various
publics by obtaining favorable publicity, building up a good corporate image, and handling or
heading off unfavorable rumors, stories, and events. Public relations is a collection of
techniques performing via press relations or press agency, product publicity, public affairs,
lobbying, investor relations, development for gaining financial or volunteer support, used
to optimize the relation between a company and the public.
Public relations makes sure that the service organization is playing an active role in this
process and can prevent negative rumors circulating about the company or its
products/services. There is no doubt to get noted that in a service company, everyone is
responsible for public relations. As Kotler and Armstrong defined, publicity is important, it is
cheap, has high coverage and comes from a reliable and independent source. On the other
hand, publicity is almost uncontrollable and thus can turn out to be negative. Therefore, good
relations between experienced PR people and press are necessary (Kotler and Armstrong, 2010:
97)
In marketing communication base, a service company must have up to date information about
consumers’ direction to buy goods to generate awareness and then selling. Today
consumers pay more attention to culture, localization in global market, environmental issues
and general welfare. Not only service company’s selling activities, but also personal
communication and its connection with vision of the company is another aspect in service
marketing and PR.
Personal communication often called ‘the backbone of service marketing’ and it is based on the
following factors:
• Buying services implies risk;
• Prices are less frequently compared;
• The quality of services is hard to evaluate;
• The image of the service company has a key role for the decision to buy;
• The customer’s satisfaction is influenced by salesperson’s behavior;
• Buying services is less pleasant than buying goods;
• Salesperson often has to reassure their clients.
Service company can have an opportunity for cross-selling possibility and with closer
personal interaction, employees can detect additional customer needs and can provide
information on other services. Prerequisite at this point is a good knowledge of the range
of services and of the customer’s needs as well as the company’s capability to fulfill that
needs. In perspective of awareness, knowledge persuasion purchase the communications mix
for selling includes advertising, publicity, sales promotions and personal selling (Van Looy et
al., 2003: 89).
Building satisfaction, loyalty and profitability is not something that can be decided upon one day
and implemented the next. It can only result from building and sustaining close and/or long-term
relationship. This means that in services much attention must be paid to PR.
Table. 1. Main Characteristics of Services
• Ownership
• Intangibility
• Inseparability
• Variability
• Perish ability
• Lack of ownership
• Service in performance
• Simultaneously
• Quality measurement
• Nature of demand
• Heterogeneity
• Consumer, a part of production

In today’s economic perspective, rise of service sector in economics because of people’s

increasing income, their demand for food -the main product of agriculture- reaches its natural
limit, and they begin to demand relatively more industrial goods. As incomes continue to rise,
people’s needs become less ‘material’ and they begin to demand more services -in health,
education, entertainment, and many other areas since 1990s. Meanwhile, labor productivity in
services does not grow as fast as it does in agriculture and industry because most service jobs
cannot be filled by machines. This makes services more expensive relative to agricultural and
industrial goods, further increasing the share of services in gross domestic product -GDP- in
developed countries. Economists like to divide our industries into three or sometimes even
four broad -some economists have mentioned an evolution to a quaternary sector, but there is
some disagreement over which services are tertiary and which are quaternary- sectors (Van
Looy et al., 2003: 4):
• The primary sector -farming forestry and fishing
• The secondary sector -the industrial sector, including gas, mining and
manufacturing, electricity, water and construction.
• The tertiary sector -a synonym for the service sector.
It is hard to pinpoint one determining factor in the service sector’s growth rather, a
combination of different factors have all played a part in the sector’s increasing importance. In
general, two groups of factors can be determined.
• Increasing consumer incomes and sociological changes have led a greater demand
for services.
• Increasing professionalism in companies and technological changes have brought
about the creation of new services, notably of producer services.

According to Engel’s Law

*
 when people are poor, they have to allocate all or a large part of their income to the
necessities of life-namely food and shelter. When incomes rise, people spend more on food, but
not all of the increase in income is spent on food, since this need can be saturated. Instead of
spending their extra income on food, people spend it on clothing, personal care, travel and
other luxury items. Disposable incomes have risen in, most countries in the last few decades. As
a result, the demand for both social and personal services -such as leisure, private health
care, hotels and restaurants- has increased. New customer services, such as fitness centers,
have been developed in order to satisfy people’s needs for services. Such a development
can be explained by Maslow’s pyramid of needs, where a distinction is made between basic
and complementary needs.
Customer Perceived Value -CPV- is the difference between the prospective customer’s
evaluation of all the benefits and all the costs of an offering and the perceived
alternatives (Kotler&Keller 2009: 82). Total customer value is the perceived monetary
value of the bundle of economic, functional and psychological benefits customers expect
from a given market offering because of the services, products, personnel and image involved.

Figure. 1. Value Equalisation in Service Marketing

Source: Adapted from Islamoglu et al., 2006: 100.

Total estimation of services, rise or fall as in directly proportional depends on PR executions’
Efficiency. The success in service marketing relies on not only in good management of
pre/post marketing processes, but also relies on estimation management and verification of these
estimations of how services will be perceived by customers. Perception has a key role in
marketing mix. It is known that Borden introduced the marketing mix concept through
describing a marketer as a mixer of ingredients in practicing company activities. However, the
formal use of the marketing mix model in the marketing context was presented by McCarthy
who proposed the 4Ps of the marketing mix ingredients model, which are product, price,
promotion and place. A marketer should make a combination of these elements to create a
distinctive marketing mix by which a company may achieve its objectives (Akroush, 2011: 116).
It gives a picture of a product/price mix of an organization, in combination with a promotion plan
so it can approach and serve customers on the basis of well-considered distribution and customer
contact channels. The 4Ps offer marketing managers focus areas with respect to objectives and
the resources to achieve those objectives. (Vliet, 2013: 1). According to Kotler, Marketing Public
Relations -MPR- is a contributing process for four main marketing goals to reach. Awareness,
credibility, encouragement of selling force, and lower expenditure of promotion activities. All
four elements are people oriented, including reflection of customer preference in pre and
ongoing production processes. During last decades MPR has an increasing value between
marketing people in their actions. One of the main reason of this is, sometimes
advertising would not be enough to manage customer’s preferences (Kotler and Armstrong,
2010: 81).
Relationship between marketing and PR can be explained with in five models in terms of
Topsümer et al. (1999: 76-79) which are; separated but equal functions model, equal but
intersecting functions model, marketing-overbeared functions, PR-overbeared functions,
equality of marketing and PR functions.
However, the 4Ps of the marketing mix have been criticised by a number of services
marketing scholars from different perspectives. Furthermore, the traditional 4Ps model is
considered to be a handy mnemonic model and easy to remember.
Table. 2. Marketing Mix Theories Summary

Borden (1953)
The concept of the marketing mix reportedly introduced by Neil Borden in
1953. The term “marketing mix” therefore referred to the mixture of elements
useful in pursuing a certain market response. Marketing Mix 4P is a method
for determining product strategy and product portfolio. Father of this
thought was Neil H. Borden. It was based on the analogy with a cake mix.
He claimed that the starting powder is a suitable basis for baking a good
cake. It can be modified to some extent -sugar, flavour-, but it is no good to
overdo it -e.g. too much sugar-.

McCarthy (1960)

The marketing mix of Product, Price, Promotion, and Place was introduced
to marketing education by E. Jerome McCarthy in 1960. These easy-to-
remember labels rapidly became the organizing structure for virtually all
introductory marketing textbooks. Since then, there have been many
advances in marketing thought and conceptualization, including the
broadening of the marketing concept -1970s-, an emphasis on the exchange
Total Customer Value = Core Service Value + Service Value + Image Value + Personal Value
Total Expenditure Value = Price (The service includes energy in the process of fulfilling) + Time
Value
transaction -1980s-, and, most recently -1990s-, the development of
Relationship Marketing and Total Quality Management. Each of these
advances has posed challenges to McCarthy’s four P’s.

Booms and Bitner (1981)

They argued that the traditional marketing mix model is inadequate for
services marketing context; especially with the existence of the unique
characteristics of services. Booms and Bitner (1981) had modified and
expanded the traditional marketing mix elements from 4Ps to become 7Ps by
adding another three new Ps which are ‘people’, ‘process’ and ‘physical
evidence’. These new marketing variables are fundamental marketing
variables for the success of any service company.

Cowell (1984)
Questioned whether the new elements of the expanded SMM are relevant to
be distinct elements. The additional three Ps can be incorporated within the
existing framework of the 4Ps, especially if the importance of the augmented
product rather than the generic or core product is recognized. The physical
evidence can be incorporated within the product and promotion; meanwhile,
the process can be incorporated within the place -distribution- element.
Magrath (1986)
; Ennew and Watkins (1992)
Argued that the four Ps are not enough for the marketing of services. There
are another three Ps, which are personnel, physical facilities and process
management, to be considered as strategic elements about which
management should pay attention.
Kotler (1986) Kotler (1986) adds political power and public opinion formation to the Ps
concept.
Judd (1987)
Judd (1987) argues that employees should be recognized as a distinctive
element of the marketing mix and as an integral part of marketing strategy.
Managing people as a distinctive element of the marketing mix can gain a
competitive advantage for the organization.

Marr (1987)
Marr (1987) argued that the customer service should be viewed as a fifth
element alongside the 4Ps of the marketing mix to become five elements. He
argued that customer service is a crucial element to achieve a company’s
marketing success and can play a crucial part of a non-price competitive
strategy. Beaven and Scotti (1990) Argued that the traditional 4Ps of the marketing mix model
are considered very narrow and simple within the services marketing context and services
marketers should think in service oriented thinking not within the
manufacturing thinking.

Grönroos (1991)
Argued that the marketing concept is predominantly related to the exchange
concept and leads to the use of the marketing mix. Another approach has
been introduced which is concerned with the development of long-term
customer relationships with the company’s customers and its other parties
such as its suppliers and distributors.

Gummesson (1991)
Criticized the traditional marketing mix model and trials to incorporate
additional variables to extend it to be appropriate to the services marketing
context. His suggestion is the concept of part-time marketers and their
crucial role in creating a market-oriented company.

Collier (1991)
Argued that the 4Ps traditional model should be expanded to become the 7Ps
services management. These 7Ps can be used to formulate a marketing
strategy by which a service company can achieve a competitive advantage.
Each one of the 7Ps of the service management paradigm can be viewed as
an opportunity to gain competitive advantage and define business strategy.

Smith and Saker (1992)

Argued that the marketing mix elements are considered an essential element
of any marketing strategy. They argued that the traditional 4Ps model should
be extended to include the other 3Ps. These 3Ps are considered highly important and they
affect the perceived quality of service.

Grönroos (1994, 1996)

Emphasized that even the marketing mix that has dominated marketing for a
long time is declining; this does not mean that the marketing mix elements
themselves are less important than before. He forwarded another criticism,
which is that the marketing mix model focuses on the seller side by
considering him as active and does not focus on the buyer by considering
him as passive. The 7 Ps model, also known as the services marketing mix, goes beyond
the four basic marketing principles for product marketing. Services have unique
characteristics, for example intangibility, heterogeneity, inseparability and perishability.
Bernard H. Booms and Mary J. Bitner’s insight in
relation to physical products and services led to an extension of the traditional marketing
mix. In addition to the four traditional factors, three important factors have been added:
‘People’, ‘Process’ and ‘Physical evidence’. In first half of 1980s using the
abovementioned information above, Booms and Bitner further developed the traditional
marketing mix developed by Jerome McCarthy into the extended marketing
The service sector possesses some distinctive characteristics which require a different PR
programme. This special feature of service demands a new vision, innovation and a class of
professional excellence to market the services effectively and profitably.

The following are important characteristics:

i. Intangibility :
Services are intangible, we cannot touch them. They are not physical objects. In influencing and
motivating the customer in services the functional responsibility of PR is quite different. The
feature of intangibility complicates the role of PR professionals. The PR personnel do not find it
easy to display the positive and negative opinions regarding services. It requires a different
outlook.

ii. Perishability :
Unlike labor, services too are perishable. They have a high degree of Perishability. Here the
element of times assumes importance.
Services cannot be stored. Unutilized services are an economic waste. Services have a high level
of perishability.
This perishability nature of services complicates the functioning of PR professionals. The PR
executives must use their professional skills and minimize waste, regularity and consistencies are
very important to minimize perishability.

iii. Inseparability :
Services are generally created or supplied simultaneously. They are inseparable. For an example,
the entertainment industry, health-experts and other professionals create and offer their services
at the same time. Services and their providers are closely associated and thus not separable.
While promoting relations, the PR professionals bear the responsibility of the service built-in in
the product as promised.

iv. Heterogeneity :
This characteristic of services makes it difficult to set a standard for any service. The quality of
service cannot be standardized, customers rates the services in different ways. This is due the
difference in perception of individuals at the level of the providers and users.As there is no scope
for transfer of ownership in the process of providing services, the PR personnel find it difficult
experience. Hence he needs to be more careful.

v. Ownership :
In case of services the user only has an access to the services, he cannot own the services, and he
cannot own the services. The ownership remains with the provider, as there is no scope for
transfer of ownership, the PR personnel requires world class professionalism.

vi. Simultaneity :
Services cannot move through channels of distribution and cannot be delivered to the potential
customers and users. Thus, either users are brought to the services or providers go to the users. It
is right to say that services have limited geographical area. The PR executives must promote
optimum good relations by using their professional skills.

ABSTRACT
Because of the services having the features of being human-centered, consumed when they are
produced and not able to be stocked; the institutions should give more importance to the works
of public relations, use the media communication intensively; maintain and improve their image
they should do this permanently. The image of an institution that the companies and
organizations reflect out, has a vital importance in its relations with the public. Public relations
give reputation to the image of an institution. Public relations have the major responsibility in
creation, protection, and consolidation of an institution's image. Under the scope of our work, it
is discussed how the public relations studies; that we think it is not used intensively, affect the
corporate image and especially on the necessity of public relations methods and techniques to be
used by the enterprises to create a corporate image operating in service sectors. As a field
research, the in-depth interview was made with the Marketing Manager of Pamukkale Tourism in
the transportation sector, which is one of the leading on road public transportation companies, on
to what extent they use the advantage of public relations activities on creating a corporate image.
As a result of research, we reached the conclusion that Pamukkale Tourism take the advantage of
social media with public relations studies, especially considering the investments they made on
social media, they used the public relations methods about customer satisfaction and providing a
service quality and all of these studies affect the corporate image in positive frame.
Introduction:

In today's increasingly competitive environment, institutions often must strengthen their corporate
image in order to create demand by differentiating from other enterprises. With the formation of the
internal and external image of the institution, its products and services are demanded more, more
qualified employees are in demand of working in that workplace, both financial institutions, public
institutions as well as the suppliers confide that institution and sustain long-term relations. In particular,
since there aren't any concrete products presented in the service sector, the image of the institution is of
great importance. At this point, it becomes a must to focus on public relations studies in order to build
the corporate image and to ensure services are being demanded. Configuring intra-institutional and non-
institutional communications, public relation studies are among the cornerstones providing the
corporate image and protecting this image in the service sector. In this study, one of the qualitative
research techniques, in-depth interview technique, is applied in order to determine the contribution
public relations activities made to the firms in the service sector. Operating in service sector as one of
the leading firms in road transportation sector, Pamukkale Tourism Transportation Trade and Ltd. Co.,
which has carried an average of 300 million passengers by having traveled an average of 3.8 trillion km
for 53 years with its fleet reaching up to 400 vehicles and 3,600 employees in 500 different points, is
determined as the subject of the research. In this research, it has been tried to find out what public
relations activities Pamukkale Tourism Transportation Trade and Ltd. Co. benefited to preserve and
develop its corporate image, and what these activities have earned to the enterprise. In this context, the
in-depth interview was conducted with the company's senior official. In the last part of the research,
some suggestions were made on providing more effective public relations services in service sector
enterprises. The Service Sector It is a known fact that the service sector has increasingly become more
important in all the world's economies, especially in recent years. When people's desire to spare more
time to themselves is also added to developing technology and complicated work life, the service sector
has become a growing sector. While people were performing many services on their own before, there
are many experienced, expert and professional individuals and organizations to offer that service today
(Baydaş, Gökdeniz and Erdal, 2008: 1). Services are spread across so many different areas. It ranges from
the services provided in institutions related to physical development and physical health to the services
provided by financial institutions. Services also include a wide variety of heterogeneous activities. For
instance, it may emerge in a thought, entertainment, information, food, security, transportation or in
many aspects like these. Therefore, service has become a term which is extremely complex, dispersed
and difficult to define. According to İçöz (2005), a current service definition is as follows: "Service can be
defined as an abstract activity or benefit offered to one party by another and it does not result in
possession of anything. Service production can be linked to or independent of physical production" (p.9).
A Service requires face to face relation and closeness between the producing and the consuming parties
of the service. For this reason, the existence of a human being is inevitable in the service sector. In
laborintensive and service-intensive featured service, quality and performance are also human
depended. Since services are produced and consumed simultaneously, customers are often present in
the environment where the service is offered and they communicate with the operating personnel
(Öztürk, 2010: 25). Service quality also affects the customer's purchasing behavior and contributes
positively to the financial results of the enterprise by attracting the customer to the enterprise (Zeithaml
et al. 1996 transformed by Barutçu, 2008: 109). Enterprises should provide services that meet customer
expectations and should communicate, inform, listen to and sometimes even surprise customers.
Particularly in service enterprises, these activities should be planned and regularly carried out by the
public relations units, expectations of the internal and external customers should be investigated, and
communication plans aimed at them should be carried out with appropriate communication tools. Public
Relations Activities in the Service Sector The satisfaction and fulfillment of the needs and desires of
individuals depend on the mutual involvement of individuals, companies, institutions, and organizations.
Public relations in this regard has an important role in establishing and managing the relations between
people and organizations (Tengilimoğlu and Öztürk, 2011: 21). As in the modern busines s administration
understanding, all organizations have to internalize public relations as one of the indispensable
components of the management process, which has an aim of giving information and account to public
about the services they perform, learning the wishes and thoughts of the public and making use of
them, and thus providing the highest rate of adaptation between themselves and the public (Sezgin,
2007: 3). No matter how qualified is the service an enterprise produces and offers, there will be some
service disruptions that occur from time to time. In order to eliminate these disruptions, the enterprise
will have to change its image in public opinion. One of the methods it will be used for this purpose is
public relations. However, it is also known that public relations studies which have been done for many
years for a positive image can be lost in a short time, in the case of a small issue (İslamoğlu, Candan et al.
2006: 255). Today, when the competition is so intense, enterprises have begun to use non-price
competition tools to differentiate from their competitors. Service enterprises also use their public
relations departments to communicate with customers, listen to them, surprise them when it is
necessary, and show them reassuring behaviors. Customers are able to communicate all kinds of their
requests and complaints to these units and get quick returns. At this point, the customer who trusts to
the enterprise might well remain faithful for many years. Those enterprises which prepare their loyalty
programs, creating customer cards, and databases for it and question the customer satisfaction
constantly through questionnaires, face-to-face and phone interviews are able to survive long years and
build a good corporate image. The establishment of good mutual relations and communication between
the customer and the transactor in the service process can be formed by a qualified service delivery
environment in the enterprise. Therefore, no matter how developed is the technology of the service, the
human factor is deeply important in giving a service in the best possible way (İçöz, 2005: 35). Business
firms acting with the philosophy; "our most important customers are our employees, always win".
Applying the public relations projects firstly to the employees in the institution, taking their support and
interpretation will bring benefit in the long-term. Not only the commitment of the employees to the
company will increase but also the work quality of them within the organization can be tested. It is
known that the efforts of the companies that are endeavoring for the satisfaction of their employees are
turned into the satisfaction of the customers and the profit increase in the enterprise after all. If the
service personnel are not content with their job, they reflect that to the customer, and the customer is
not satisfied with the service. In particular, the quality of services in the marketing of professional
services is closely associated with the person providing the service. Customers do not only mind if the
technology of the service is good, but they also give great value to the quality of the service (Karahan,
2006: 98) As a result of the long-term public relations studies performed by the business firms, the
image of the institution is created, the goods and services of the business firms with a high corporate
image are demanded more, the crisis situations are overcome more easily, and more qualified job
applications is received. There are many factors constituting the corporate image. The experience in
product and service, the stance of the management, corporate citizenship, communication studies,
employee behaviors and attitudes, organizational structure, physical environment and financial
performance are some of these. The most important one among these factors is the communication
studies of the institution which have an importance for the reflection of the business firm in the external
environment. If we are to define the corporate image as the perceived image of the institution
(Peltekoğlu, 2009: 570), then it is appropriate to direct the public relations studies to the way the
institution is wanted to be perceived in the external environment (such as customers, suppliers, financial
institutions, public institutions). When the constantly changing expectations and needs of the targeted
market are also added to many of the mentioned features of the service sector before, like being
abstract, having the production and consumption simultaneously, the necessity of the public relation
studies arises. In order to increase the corporate image, service companies have to take public relations
studies into their priorities in their external marketing efforts. Public relations activities lie on the basis of
the healthy communication established both with the internal and with the external target group. The
Field Research As a result of the high number of firms operating in the transportation sector, and airline
services being frequently preferred by consumers in terms of both low price and appropriate quality, the
competition rises. Being aware of the necessity of differentiating from their competitors to be able to
increase their market shares, road transport operators also use public relations methods and techniques
to both strengthen their corporate image and act towards customer expectations. Within this scope, the
aim of this study is to reveal the public relation activities used by one of the leading firms in road
transportation sector, Pamukkale Tourism Transportation Trade and Ltd. Co., which has carried an
average of 300 million passengers by having traveled an average of 3.8 trillion km of road for 53 years
with its fleet reaching up to 400 vehicles and 3,600 employees in 500 different points, to protect and
develop its corporate image and what these activities have earned for the company through an indepth
interview with its senior official. By this interview; the activities carried out by the institution towards the
internal customers, the studies carried out by the institution to ensure the service quality of the
institution, and the extension they use the public relations methods and techniques or not in these
studies are investigated. In order to investigate the importance Pamukkale Tourism gives to public
relations techniques in creating its corporate image, questions prepared by one of qualitative research
methods, in-depth interviewing, are directed to the company's senior official, and the results are
interpreted. The questions are prepared in 3 sections: In the first section, the concept of customer
service is emphasized, and customer satisfaction and public relations activities and the studies were
done to provide and strengthen this satisfaction are investigated. In the second section, the public
relations studies made towards employees, who have a great contribution in creating a corporate image,
are examined. And in the third section, considering the fact that corporate identity must be established
to create and protect the corporate image, questions about the studies done related to corporate
identity were directed. In the answers given to the questions in the first section, it has been observed
from customer questionnaires and communication studies established with the customer that
Pamukkale Tourism Transportation Trade and Ltd. Co. has made investments towards their customers
and evaluated customer requests and demands. It has been determined that by examining the customer
data with the loyalty card named "Pamukkart" it has put public relations programs in accordance with its
target market into practice. Since 40% of its target market consists of students, Pamukkale Tourism
Transportation Trade and Ltd. Co. organizes campaigns directed to students. Pamukkart members are
reached via SMS messages, e-mail messages and are informed about the target market events and
campaigns. A service compensation in which a structure is created for social media, rapid responses are
given to feedbacks from social media, customer requests and the complaints are evaluated, is being
used. For crisis situations, they have crisis teams who have been trained in the crisis management
process, from the general manager to departmental heads. Surprise the customer tactic, which has an
importance for the service sector, is also done by following the customers on social media, guerrilla
marketing tactics are applied. Methods of surprising and impressing the customers are applied through
establishment of an emotional bond with customers, like organizing meal in the closest way station for
the customer who says "I am hungry" from social media, allocating bus tickets for the customers who are
in a difficult situation because of his canceled flight, blanketing the customers who are sleeping. Being
published every month, with "the Pamukkale" image magazine consisting of columns, such as fashion,
technology, art, interview, biography, sports, health, it is aimed to make customers to have a pleasant
time. It has been determined that Pamukkale Tourism Transportation Trade and Ltd. Co. also attaches
great importance to the concept of corporate citizenship. It compiles its social responsibility projects
under the name of "Pamukeller" and continues to carry out projects especially in the field of education.
Social responsibility projects are being carried out with universities and student clubs at universities. In
the field of art, it sponsors the International Ankara Theater Festival, brings together thousands of
people who have never been to the theater with the theater. In the field of health, it carries on studies
with the Foundation for Children with Leukemia and a certain share of each ticket sold is donated to the
benefit of the children with leukemia. With the "Voice Descriptions Social Responsibility Project" aimed
at visually impaired people, it provides the opportunity to watch movies for its visually impaired
customers. It has been seen that these applications are shared with the target market both on its
website its magazines or in the posters at the ticket sales branches, and also with the use of e-mail and
SMS. In the second section, questions are asked to determine the communication studies directed to
employees, education programs, and internal public relations studies. Internal communication is
provided through the software named "Pamukwin" and the education of the employees at every level is
planned with "Pamukkale Academy" which makes training plans for employees. In addition, there is an
in-house magazine, which is prepared regularly every month and shared with employees, containing
news about the company. Pamukkale Tourism Transportation Trade and Ltd. Co. has been giving great
importance to public relation studies since the past. In 1990, the Public Relations Directorship was
established in Izmir and today, the public relations activities are carried out within the Marketing
department. In the third section; it is seen that the name of the brand has been taken from Pamukkale, a
natural wonder in the hometown of the founders, Denizli and that its corporate identity has been
established, and the same standard has been maintained in printed documents, communication studies,
personnel clothes, interior and exterior layouts, external and internal visual arrangements of the
vehicles. If we examine the press relations in two groups as news studies and advertising studies,
Pamukkale Tourism Transportation Trade and Ltd. Co. is in communication with the sector newspapers
and magazines and its directors inform about the institution through press interviews.

Conclusion and evaluation

It is clear that it is quite difficult to provide customer satisfaction for a long time in the service sector.
The Customer might well switch to the rival company even in the case of a minor distress. In order to
provide customer loyalty, it is necessary to effectively perform public relations practices that will provide
long-term cooperation with customers. Clients of companies that can keep up their corporate image
have confidence in that institution, follow the works has been done by the institution and stand by the
institution even during the crisis periods.

It is seen that Pamukkale Tourism administration also communicates with the customers by using the
public relations methods and techniques in order to strengthen its corporate image. Both social media
and magazines, web sites, regular surveys are used to communicate with external customers, and with
the loyalty card, Pamukkart, the campaigns, and discounts are applied for the customers. In addition,
Pamukkale Tourism, which implements the concept of corporate citizenship and shares it with all target
groups, carries out the mission of giving what it received from the public back to the public, in the
awareness of its social responsibility. All these practices are shared through communication studies
made by the institution and they contribute to the image of the institution. In addition, Pamukkale
Tourism, which has a young and dynamic vehicle fleet and staff, has always tried to put its activities on
the basis of trust in order to strengthen its corporate image and to provide this trust, it has carried on
practices directed to customer reassurance and satisfaction. As a result of this research, it has been
reached to the conclusion that customer relations and public relations concepts are intertwined in the
service sector, and public relations practices in customer service are important. If we investigate public
relations activities in two main functions as recognition and promotion, we see that Pamukkale Tourism
has made progress towards recognizing the target group in its public relation studies and has performed
projects towards university youths, who are the main target group of the institution. It is thought that
Pamukkale Tourism must have some improvement studies on sharing of the public relation studies with
the external environment. The public relations department should have a separate structure rather than
being within the Marketing unit, that their activities should take more place in the press, and that the
public relations activities should be coordinated from Istanbul in order to ensure a better communication
with the press. Considering that the service sector is on a knife's edge and volatile as a sector, the only
power that can keep the enterprises up is actually their corporate images. And the most important factor
in protecting these images is the long-term and well-planned public relations studies.