ABSTRACT
Combining certain principles of strategic marketing with the concept and practices of human resource management (HRM) has been an increasingly apparent organizational development in recent years. Television commercials feature ‘employees’ in the workplace of the organization rather than the traditional advertisement scenarios of well-known actors in rather more exotic locations. Service sector companies ranging from personal computer stores to supermarkets, restaurant chains, hotels and banks have caught on to the notion that ‘fronting’ the commercials with your employees, and the products and services that they provide, can forge a strong and meaningful marketing relationship with existing and potential customers. Underpinning the notion is the belief that if the customer considers the employees as personified in the advertisement to be supremely socially skilled and in possession of excellent product knowledge, then they will be more inclined to place their custom in such safe, capable and welcoming hands. The employees had better deliver when the customer arrives!
