Creating customer value in the not-for-profit sector: a case study of the British Library

Abstract

*Public sector organisations are being increasingly subjected to both legislative and competitive pressures forcing them to reconsider their relationships with users and customers (Chapman and Cowdell, 1998) in order to develop a more overt marketing orientation (defined as focusing on customer needs as the primary drivers of organisational performance (Jobber, 2004)). The creation of customer value underlies the development of a meaningful marketing orientation, and is a nettle that more public sector and not-for-profit organisations will have to grasp. This article considers how a more marketing-oriented approach was adopted by the British Library in order to clarify and communicate its value proposition to its identified target markets, and in doing so, hopefully achieving a sustainable competitive advantage on an ongoing basis.

Individual customers' use and integration of resources: Empirical findings and organizational implications in the context of value co-creation

“…There is a considerable overlap between its B2C and B2B services. Indeed, the BL's ethos and marketing communications activities regarding learning center on, for example, citizenship, and creative research, which align with the S-D logic concept of the cocreation of value (Warnaby & Finney, 2005). In so doing, it can be argued that the BL exists to 'support the customer's value creating processes with both service activities and goods that render services' (Ballantyne & Varey, 2008, p. 12).…”

Are there common academic library customer values?

“…There is very little in the library-related professional literature about values per se, although Warnaby and Finney (2005) write about 'creating customer value' at the British Library. Is there a correlation of what library customers value and the questions that are asked in benchmarking satisfaction surveys?…”

Marketing Orientation of National Libraries

“…The British Library (BL) was selected as a potential benchmark simply because of its apparent marketing profi le as evidenced by Finney and Warnaby (2004) and Warnaby and Finney (2005). This was not to suggest that other national libraries had not approached a marketing orientation in a similar, or indeed, more advanced manner, but purely that within the fi ndings of the literature review (of mainly English language publications) the BL appeared to be a reasonable choice.…”