4a's

American Association of Advertising Agencies 4A’s

The American Association of Advertising Agencies 4A’s provides advertising agencies and marketing communications firms with leadership, advocacy, guidance and community to maximize business success The value added service concept has become popular recently although it has been existent for the past few decades. The concept was formally introduced by the telecommunication industry, a term they used for non-core service offerings that they were offering consumers in order to provide the consumers an incentive for purchase and as a differentiation factor for their business.

Some of the characteristics of value added services are that they are usually the non-core service or product offering for the business. However it is still possible for the value added services to stand alone operationally and be offered as a separate product. Another important characteristic for a value added service is that although it enhances the basic product/ service offering it should not attempt to cannibalize the main product/service offering for the business, i.e., take the customers away from the main product.

The most commonly used value added services of 4A’s include the following:

· Offering different types of packaging and sizes for the product

· Providing specific service levels for the products with specific service level agreements for services

· Rewarding the consumers for their loyalty to the brand by giving them gifts and developing frequent buy programs

· Providing specific training and education for the product and service or a value added service center like a help line or a customer support center for the clients. “They are about performing all of those activities as close to the end consumer as possible.” (‘Impact of Value Added Service Center’, 2002)

· Provide different types of qualities for the product according to the requirements of the consumer. Premium pricing can be charged on these quality levels....