Re: A customer centric choice
Fiona van Iersel
MSc Marketing — King's College London
Module: E-Services Marketing (7QQMO519X)
Date: 25 May 2025
https://keats.kcl.ac.uk/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=757429

Re: A customer centric choice
Submitted: 25 May 2025 9:58 AM

Hi Stefano,

You’ve done a great job articulating the customer-centric strengths of Tide Dry Cleaners, especially through a clear breakdown of objectives, KPIs, gains, and service features. What I appreciated most: • You highlighted core customer needs such as convenience, quality, and trust—all central to the Jobs-To-Be-Done (JTBD) framework (Christensen et al., 2016), which is particularly relevant when analyzing service innovations like Tide’s. • Including metrics like Customer Satisfaction Score and NPS shows a strong grasp of how brands monitor service effectiveness and customer loyalty (Reichheld, 2003).

Would it be an idea to deepen the analysis by connecting service features to specific customer personas—such as time-poor professionals or eco-conscious millennials—using STP (Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning) principles (Kotler & Keller, 2016). For example, the 24/7 kiosk service and drive-thru appeal strongly to urban commuters. The Perceived Value vs. Price Sensitivity the pain point around higher pricing is on the money. It might be backed by referring to Zeithaml’s (1988) definition of perceived value, where customers weigh perceived benefits against costs— not just monetary but also time and effort. Tide’s loyalty program could be positioned as a strategy to boost perceived value and reduce price sensitivity. In service Differentiation and Positioning Tide Cleaners clearly embraces service differentiation by leveraging brand equity (Tide) and tech-enabled convenience. Linking this to Porter’s differentiation strategy (1985) or brand positioning models would give your argument more strategic depth. In your Customer Experience (CX) Frameworks Your points about staff training and the store environment connect well with Pine & Gilmore’s (1999) Experience Economy—emphasizing how staging a memorable customer experience becomes a competitive advantage in services.



References

• Christensen, C. M., Hall, T., Dillon, K., & Duncan, D. S. (2016). Competing Against Luck: The Story of Innovation and Customer Choice. Harper Business.

• Zeithaml, V. A. (1988). “Consumer perceptions of price, quality, and value: A means-end model and synthesis of evidence.” Journal of Marketing, 52(3), 2–22.

• Kotler, P., & Keller, K. L. (2016). Marketing Management (15th ed.). Pearson.

• Pine, B. J., & Gilmore, J. H. (1999). The Experience Economy: Work Is Theater & Every Business a Stage. Harvard Business Press.

• Reichheld, F. F. (2003). “The One Number You Need to Grow.” Harvard Business Review, 81(12), 46–54. Fiona