Integrated marketing communications (IMC) is the use of marketing strategies to optimise the communication of a consistent message of the company's brands to stakeholders. Coupling methods together improves communication as it harnesses the benefits of each channel, which when combined together builds a clearer and vaster impact than if used individually. IMC requires marketers to identify the boundaries around the promotional mix elements and to consider the effectiveness of the campaign's message.
Maps, Directions, and Place Reviews
History
Integrated communications (IMC) was first defined by the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4A's) in the early 1990s as "a comprehensive plan to further evaluate the strategic roles of a range of different communications disciplines". (Boundless, 2015) Examples include; "general advertising, direct response, sales promotions and public relations, combining these disciplines to provide clarity, consistency and maximum communications impact". (Belch, 2012) The development of IMC at this stage, focused on the need for organisations to offer more than just standard advertising to its consumers. (Integrated Marketing Communications, 2013)
In 1991, Don Schultz, a professor at the Emeritus Service, Northwestern University's Medill school proposed a new definition of IMC as "IMC is the process of all sources and information managed so a consumer or prospect is exposed which behaviorally moves the customer more towards a sale" (Kliatchko, 2005). This definition, however, leaves out the fact that IMC is also a concept and not just a process.
The faculty of Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University began the first ever research conducted on integrated marketing communications in 1991 (Shultz, 1997) furthermore the faculty opened the first graduate-level integrated marketing communications programme in the U.S. after consulting the director of marketing, schools advertising and also the public relations curricula (About Medill, 2015). The study of IMC focused around understanding the concept and the importance of IMC and also to analyse the extent in which IMC was practiced in all major U.S advertising agencies (Kliatchko, 2005). The study was then followed by many other organisations not only based in U.S, but all over the world, including; New Zealand, UK, USA, Australia, India, Thailand, South Africa and the Philippines, etc. The result from these studies concluded in the early definition of IMC to be "deleted" or "put aside" and a new definition was put in place (Kitchen, P.J. 2012).
Tom Duncan introduced his first definition of IMC in 1992, it was later re-implemented as a revised definition in 1994 as "The process of strategically controlling or influencing all messages and encoring purposeful dialogue to created and nourish profitable relationships with consumers and other stakeholders." (Duncan and Caywood 1996) Duncan explained that the reasons for his revised definition were due IMC creating more nourished and profitable relationships with all stakeholders. (Duncan and Caywood, 1996)
Contributions by Nowak & Phelps did not give a concrete definition of IMC, instead they conceptualized the notion of IMC, based on the most "fundamental notions of the concept" these were; one-voice marketing communications concept (implementing consistency of positioning, message and tone across different communications in order to reach consumers with "one voice) (Kitchen, 2014) and secondly; the "integrated marketing communications concept" which pursues both the brand image and behavioral side of the promotional methods, such as; advertising. (Kitchen, 2014) Finally, the third concept focuses on the "Coordinated Marketing communications". This is the sum of all tools involved such as; direct marketing, public relations and advertising. The goal in this is to produce campaigns that achieve both the synergy of both increasing brand image and influences behavior response from the targeted consumers.(Nowak, 1994)
Schultz, D. & Kitchen, P.J published a new definition on IMC in the year 2000, after disagreeing with the original definition of IMC formed by Don Schultz in 1991, this is because "IMC was not just about marketing communications but is also a strategical business process." (Kitchen P. J 2012) The new definition was given by "IMC is a strategic business process used to plan, develop, execute and evaluate coordinate measurable persuasive brand communication programs over time with consumers, customers and prospects, and other that are targeted, relevant internal and external audiences". (Schultz, 2000)
Finally, Raman and Naik defined IMC in 2005 as "an IMC program plans and executes various marketing activities with consistency so that its total impact exceeds the sum of each activity. It is a strategy in which different communication tools like advertising, public relations, sales promotion, direct marketing and personal selling work together to maximize the communication impact on target consumers." (Naeem, B 2013)
The difference between Internet marketing communications and traditional marketing communications.
Marketing communications can be divided into two periods:Traditional marketing communications (before the Internet) and Internet marketing communications (with the Internet). New ways of exchange of information and new categories of interaction are possible because of the invention of the Internet and corresponding digital medium. Specifically, there are three aspects of between the traditional and International marketing communications.
Interactivity
Interactivity is the typical feature of the Internet that was first proposed by John Deighton. He argued that in Internet business environment clients rather than the marketers usually start the interaction and they will actively look for the information that they need. Moreover, personal responses of customer will be collected by corporation and their individual demands will be met according to their personal desire.
On one hand, traditional media is the "push" media where marketers send their broadcasting messages to customer, in which consumers seldom have a chance to give their feedback. Therefore, the interaction between the two parts is far and few between. On the other hand, Internet media have the attribute of "pull" where customers on the Internet have the freedom to search the items of their wish. For instance, whenever a consumer type "flower" on Google's search engine, an advertisement of a specific flower shop might occur on the top or bottom of the search result page by the program of the Google Adword. Internet makes it possible for Google to find the right time to place the proper ad to the potential suitable consumer who might be in proper need. This way the traditional one-way "push" communication becomes the two-way "push and pull" interaction which is more active than before.
Individualisation
Compared with the traditional media where one same information sent by the company is received by all the consumers, Internet media can send "tailored" information in accordance with the personal need of a specific consumer.This is another advantage of two-way interaction of the Internet media. One of the first and most famous example of this attribute is the personal tailored service provided by Amazon in which consumers are called by their names and "tailored" recommendations are provided according to their previous purchase records. Furthermore, besides "tailored" individual service, with the development and accumulation of consumers' information on the Internet, mass customisation become possible in which companies provide "tailored" content to particular segment of consumers with similar interests. Douban is a Chinese social networking service website which allows its users to rate the movie, TV dramas, music and concerts. It rapidly grew to 200 million registered users in 2013 (founded in 2005). In addition, people who like the same TV drama, like Game of Thrones, or fans of the same movie star, such as Tom Cruise, will group together to discuss and share their feelings. This is where companies could take advantage of mass customisation to sell their products or reinforce their brand equity in suitable target consumers. We can see that by doing so, the interaction and co-operation of companies and consumers are deepening, widening and multiplying in a variety of ways.
Industry restructuring
Restructuring followed by disintermediation and reintermediation is one of the essential features of the transition from traditional to Internet marketing communications. Internet may make the traditional distributors or retailers leave out of the business simply because the Internet communication is less costly than them. JD.com significantly changed the distribution channels of personal computer selling in China by letting the consumers order different parts of the computers and then pact together online before 2009, leaving tens of thousands of retailers in that field out of their jobs. In 2015, JD.com accounted for 22.9% of the Chinese online shopping's market share. Again, according to Financial Times, with the shifting trend of using mobile phones for online purchase in China, the people using cellphones to log on to the Internet outnumbered those using PC, the next wave of restructuring faced by JD.com and its major competitors like Alibaba. In 2014, JD.com's orders deriving from mobile phones increased to 543%, compared with the last year's quarter of the same period. Haoyu Shen, the chief executive of the JD.com, ascribed this result to its own company's app rather than the co-operation with Tecent, the Chinese second largest online corporation, although it invested in JD.com on March 2014. We can see that as a company doing business of ecommerce, JD.com has been constantly facing challenges and opportunities of disintermediation and reintermediation with the rapid shifts of the technology development of the Internet.
Integrated Marketing Communications Video
Integrated marketing communications
Originally marketing was focused around the 4P's (product, price, place and promotion) which narrowed companies perspectives to concentrate on their internal concepts. There needed to be a change of direction as the McCarthy's model was outdated. The idea of integrated marketing communications was first instigated in 1993 by Don E. Schultz, a professor most notable for his study and contributions toward IMC (Gambetti & Schultz, 2015). Schultz revolutionised the 4P's concept by changing it with the 4C's model. The four parts include; consumer, communication, convenience and cost. This switched the attention towards a consumer orientated outlook which took into consideration their needs and wants. Weak and plain messages were evolving towards a larger scale platform that allowed for creativity between the fusion of marketing and communications. Integrated marketing communications accomplished synergy when each element was executed in accordance with the overall vision of the organisation's campaign, which allows the message to be executed efficiently. Businesses are now able to implement IMC strategically within their business practice as it has progressed towards a holistic analysis from audiences internally and externally. Companies started to take a different angle when approaching the questions concerning the preferences of consumers. Finding out who the target market is to answer the 4C's and study what products they're willing to purchase, the willing amount of money they will spend for it, how the product will fulfil their needs and wants, the accessibility consumers have to purchase the product and communication for ease of correct information being transmitted (Nagra, Kumari, Gopal, & Manjrekar, 2012). Changing the emphasis onto what consumers desire leads to a higher success being attained through IMC, as it is being influenced by not only internal stakeholders but also external ones.
Expanding from this, Tom Duncan and Sandra E. Moriarty formed the concept of communication based relationship marketing. This model expanded from the concept of the general one way, business influencing consumers what to believe scenario (Lucia, del Barrio-Garcia, & Kitchen, 2012). However, Duncan and Moriarty initiated that communication between business and consumers was the key to developing strong establishment for the consumer orientated marketing endeavours. As they pursued their studies they found a strong and positive correlation between the interaction of communication and marketing as they both interconnected to create a dynamic element of marketing. The process of IMC through communication-based marketing goes through a sequential three stage process. Organisations begin with choosing an effective mixture of communication methods, in addition, the marketing methods are selected, thereafter the best of each element is fused and integrated together which thence is channelled from the organisation to the audience using a clear and efficient method (Vladmir, Miroslav, & Papic, 2012). Subsequently, these findings shaped the way for modern marketing as it is known for today as being an interactive two-way approach that builds rapport with stakeholders. Developments from integrated marketing communications have evolved into three categories; inside-out approach, outside-in approach and cross-functional strategic approach.
The theory of marketing has morphed into a multi-dimensional with techniques analysing all aspects of the organisation, where integration has become customary (Lucia, del Barrio-Garcia, & Kitchen, 2012). The evolving nature of integrated marketing communications will continue to transform its concepts especially with technologies being developed at a fast pace. Organisations are seeking strategic approaches to gain a competitive advantage which IMC delivers through combining the most dynamic elements and incorporating mediums such as social networks and media enables marketing communications to interconnect globally. As we have identified that the cross-functional approach holds an advantage tactically nevertheless needs the supervision of all departments and senior management to identify internal and external weaknesses so they're rectified to succeed in integration.
Integrated marketing communication categories
Inside-out approach
The inside-out approach to integrated marketing communications has a one sided view point as it combines the elements of communication and marketing to create a single unified message (Lucia, del Barrio-Garcia, & Kitchen, 2012). Granting this approach is solely based on the organisation's perspective. It demonstrates poor customer orientation. This approach is deprived of the organisation's strategic notion. The term used to describe the integration of marketing communication is the "one voice" which represents the one clear message organisations are wanting to achieve when communicating to consumers. IMC changes when applied to different organisations; however, the inside-out approach is weak due to the stagnant, outdated method.
Outside-in approach
The outside-in approach of integrated marketing communications seeks to understand the needs and wants of the consumer (Lucia, del Barrio-Garcia, & Kitchen, 2012). In addition to the previous category, this approach establishes significant progression. Organisations can gain in-depth knowledge based on consumers and therefore can accommodate the way they approach to fulfil their requirements. Relationship marketing aids in building up a history of frequent conversation between organisations and stakeholders which creates trust (Gambetti & Schultz, 2015). Communication builds rapport that could prove to be profitable as they retain clientele. IMC approaches in a unique way as it operates backwards by concentrating on customers first, then determining the most effective course of marketing and communication methods to implement. Effectively managing the strategic business process is crucial as it defines the steps to follow which ensure brand value is upheld.
Cross-functional strategic approach
Cross-functional strategic approach of integrated marketing communications diverges away from the other two categories, it does not centre around the concept of marketing promotional elements, instead the focus has shifted toward restructuring the organisation to increase a customer-centric environment (Lucia, del Barrio-Garcia, & Kitchen, 2012). Investing for the reorganisation sparks change where all departments interconnect to work cohesively toward managing and planning all stages of brand relationship. As a unified organisation, the cross-functional process is a competitive advantage as they can achieve profitable relationships with customers and stakeholders. This can be achieved through improving the relation amongst messages sent from all departments through channels to the receivers. By sending strategic messages and monitoring any external reaction it encourages the prospect of gaining feedback data from consumers. The process is circular, not linear, at the beginning organisation and consumer communicate by interacting and dialogue which ignites the relationship, over time trust is earned and the consumer may continue to purchase, which in turn increases sales and profitability for the organisation and finally, the relationship is strong and the organisation retains clientele. Two-way communication is advantageous for a cross-functional approach as the business and consumer are interactive for brand communication, evaluating and planning to fulfil both of their needs and wants (Valos, Habibi, Casidy, Driesener, & Maplestone, 2016). Implementing IMC is a flexible process due to the changing nature of the marketing dynamics therefore by eliminating borders within the organisation it allows for this notion.
Shifts that enable it
Determining on the way a business in the market uses integrated communications, the business itself can change the way aspects of integrated communicational marketing as it spreads to ones targeted audience. This can be analyzed through the differing shifts of integrated marketing communication channels, from beginning to end of the product's development. By using feedback from consumers, a business finical status throughout the marketing of the product and connectivity from advertising to the consumer.
- Traditional marketing to digital market
- Mass media to specialised media
- Low accountability in market spending to high accountability in market spending
- Limited marketing connectivity to pervasive marketing connectivity
- Mass advertising to niche marketing
Therefore, developing more cost effective marketing channels, from the business to consumer. Thus delivering value to the consumer and finically improving the business or marketed product, hence enabling the business to reach the perfect competition within the market.
Within advertising agencies
As a large portion of successful integrated marketing communications is the synergy of all promotional tools, advertising agencies are an important catalyst to the achievement of harmonious integrated marketing relationships within organisations (Laurie & Mortimer, 2011).{{fact)) With the constant growth of technology sparking a need for evolving views on integrated marketing, agencies and practitioners have begun shifting from an attitude of "if it's not advertising, let someone else do it" to "if it is anything to do with communication, we can do it" (Olatunji, 2011). Moving away from the traditional integrated marketing approach of only linking branding through media outlets, agencies have begun to conform to the more recent developments in integrating marketing communications by bringing forth multi-level organisational strategies in order to integrate branding throughout an organisation as a whole (Laurie & Mortimer, 2011). To gauge this development in 2010, exploratory research was conducted by Campaign; a weekly magazine for the communications industry in the United Kingdom. It was aimed at analysing 10 essays about where integration is headed from a variety of advertising industry leaders within the London sector against a checklist influenced by Kliatchko (2008), and Duncan & Moriarity (1998).
The checklist was as followed:
- Level of integration 1, 2, or 3
- Branding issues
- Customer-centric
- Involvement of internal staff
- Media synergy
The results illustrated by this study showed that while there had been growth in the understanding of the strategic approach to integrated marketing communication among advertising industry leaders in the United Kingdom, especially in fields of media synergy and branding, 6 out of 10 industry leaders discussed the change in the customer role in integrated marketing communication, and only 3 out of 10 explained the importance of internal staff being involved in strategic branding (Laurie & Mortimer, 2011).
Another example of research focused on assessing utilisation of integrated marketing communication within advertising agencies was conducted by form of a questionnaire in Nigeria in 2011. Participating agencies were required to complete a questionnaire asking the following questions:
- What is the pattern of integration adopted by advertising agencies in Nigeria?
- What are the dominant integrated marketing communication tools in use by advertising agencies?
- In what ways have the adoption of integrated marketing communications influenced advertising agency practice in Nigeria?
Results from this study showed that whilst these agencies had full intention of being a fully integrated marketing communications organisation, they didn't possess the financial capabilities of doing so; however, this is not to diminish the fact that majority of these organisations had adopted necessary steps in the shift towards fully integrated organisations.
Such studies indicate clearly that whilst there has been major growth in the advertising sector towards becoming and providing full-service integrated marketing communication services for clientele, there is still a remaining divergence between academic ideals of integrated marketing communication practices verses practitioner actions which are not necessarily at the fault of the agencies themselves. As according to Laurie et al. (2011) "it is clear that a number of viewpoints of the definition of IMC and its meaning still exist in the literature, which is not helpful for client or agency advancement..." and that "evidence suggests that confusion and misunderstandings are still a significant barrier to [integrated communication managements'] implementation at the higher levels of an organisation".
Customer-focused versus customer-centric
A recent revelation in integrated marketing communication is the change in the role of the customer within the business world. Due to the fast-paced growth of technology, customers are rapidly gaining more power through forums such as word of mouth; now with capabilities of reaching a much wider audience through the use of social media. Recognizing this power shift, organizations have begun to re-evaluate their typical marketing strategies and customer approaches from the traditional customer-focused attitude to the wide-spreading customer-centric method in order to develop a more integrated strategy.
A customer-focused approach can be defined as "when an organization learns more about the habits of the customer so that they can identify opportunities for cross-selling etc" (Laurie & Mortimer, 2011). While this type of approach can be viewed as entirely satisfactory, Kliatchko (2008) introduced a contrasting concept which concentrates on "working from the outside in" and promotes a different perspective on organizations. When an organization adopts a customer-centric technique, they forgo the view that customers are only passive receivers of marketing techniques and focus on listening to what their needs are and striving to satisfy them; integrating the customer into the process (Laurie & Mortimer, 2011). Many organizations are yet to relinquish such control, as shown by research conducted by Campaign magazine, which can only be suspected to be due to the fear that it could potentially diminish the marketing profession (Laurie & Mortimer, 2011). This view, however, is rebutted by Saihtiri et al. (2014) who claims that "achieving superiority in customer-centric performance is then rewarded through stronger brand performance in the marketplace".
Synergy
Integrated marketing communication can be defined as "[a] concept of marketing communications planning that recognises the added value of [a] comprehensive plan that evaluates the strategic roles of a variety of communication disciplines - for example, general advertising, direct response, sales promotion, and public relations - and combines these disciplines to provide clarity, consistency, and maximum communications impact" (Prasad & Raman, 2003). This definition highlights two key factors important to successful integrated communications marketing; clarity and consistency. The focus of integrated marketing communications is heavily based on a consistency throughout all areas of the organisation; "one voice across everything" (Laurie & Mortimer, 2011). By linking all communication in each media outlet, and therefore creating synergy, thus, enabling organizations to create a higher impact with their message. As according to Laurie et al. (2011), "a variety of media can have a strong impact on the overall effectiveness of a campaign, and one medium can improve the effectiveness of another". In laments terms, whilst a certain media outlet may not have a substantial impact as a single media source, when integrated into a larger-scale harmonious relationship with multiple other media platforms, the said media outlet has a stronger impact and benefits the marketing campaign by continuing consistency and reaching a wider audience.
Successfully coordinating synergy among all media platforms is not the final step in a rewarding integrated marketing communications plan. As according to Hughes "creating customer value is dependent on the synergistic coordination of many parts of the organisation, wherein internal resources and capabilities are effectively harnessed to create a competitive advantage", this meaning that synergy must exist across all levels of the organisation including organisational culture, branding and staffing. It is evident from previous integrated marketing communications research that the role of external and internal staff is key in reaching the highest level of integrated marketing communication planning; it helps to coordinate and encompass all levels of the organisations (Laurie & Mortimer, 2011). With the synergistic coordination of all internal and external staff, the organisational branding is exuded through all possible forefronts, therefore reaching maximum impact.
Barriers
No support from senior management
It is vital for an organisation who implements integrated marketing communications to have the commitment from all levels of employees, including senior management. The union between both marketing and corporate goals should coincide and support simultaneously. The lack of involvement from senior management could lead to IMC being deprived of resources which prevents the full potential IMC can deliver for the organisation to benefit from (Valos, Habibi, Casidy, Driesener, & Maplestone, 2016). Higher levels of the business need to coincide with the efforts of staff in the strategic planning to grasp that IMC's programme is valuable.
Clients are confused about the concept
Some companies such as advertising agencies could possibly take advantage of the integrated marketing communications model, due to the stress they receive from clients and budgets being reduced. The introduction of new technology broadens the boundaries for advertising elements to endeavour with such avenues like the internet. Their focus may stray from the core principles of IMC which is to integrate the elements together, as they're less effective individually. Also, their clients may not grasp the IMC concept as an essential attribute, therefore, they perceive IMC as saving money due to the strategic juxtaposition.
Organisation is too specialised
One of the core fundamentals of integrated marketing communications is that of the focus aspires toward a customer orientation. In spite of that, the purpose of some organisations have not adopted the framework and are still task orientated. Examples include public relations, direct marketing and advertising.
Conflict within organisation
Trying to implement integrated marketing communications into strong hierarchy structured organisations may cause staff resistance due to the nature of horizontal communication causing disagreements amongst staff. Staff may not perform their tasks and functions which jeopardises the work environment. For IMC to be successful the culture of the organisation needs to accommodate an open perspective where communication amongst the varying departments are managed tactically. Individuals reactions toward the new restructure will differ, as some become custom to the process and enjoy the borderless integration, on the other hand, some may feel threatened from the absence of control that once maintained order and power within the previous structured organisation (Vladmir, Miroslav, & Papic, 2012). A corporate structure may not necessarily invite IMC due to their culture being incompatible for the integration.
Components of solving barriers
Integrated marketing communication is the process of communicating an idea in order to attract customers using an array of tools. It is the process of sending out a message to a receiver (Communications, 2016). Depending on the company values and the type of product or service they offer, the most appropriate message to deliver will depend on the brand and consumer. To understand how integrated marketing communication can benefit a business, three main areas will be discussed. These areas being who the Sender is? Who is the Receiver? And what tools can the sender use in order to pass a message on to the receiver?
Practical solutions towards improving marketing strategies by using integrated marketing communications can be done through two differing marketing concepts the four P's (price, product, place and promotion) or the four C's (consumer, cost, convenience and communication). Also, the uses of encoding and decoding should be followed, all of which intertwine to form growth in sales financially for a business.
A sender is someone who is aiming to communicate an idea to a receiver (Oxford, 2016). This can be an individual or a group. It is a person who is aiming to offer a product or a service. Marketers must first understand who the brand is in order to successfully implement marketing communications. Who is Staples? (Staples, 2016) In order to answer this, one must consider what value they offer their customers. What this company proposes is that it is a 'one-stop' shop for all office needs. They offer a wide variety of office supplies, safe and on time delivery, competitive pricing and excellent customer service. Staples focuses its marketing efforts on advertising those values. Their slogan "To make more happen, everyday". This theme is the most appropriate because it attracts their target audience. Workers have little time on their hands, the product they offer will give them the ability to make life easier; by doing so, they save time. In today's fast-paced lifestyle, if a service is convenient, customers will most likely use the product. Staples have successfully taken the necessary steps in order to communicate their values to their customers. They have done this through understanding who they are and who they should be targeting.
Branding plays a significant role in marketing communications. It is the process of establishing the identity of a product or service within the market, as well as differentiating itself from its competitors (WebFinance, 2016a). In order to identify which tool should be used in communicating a business's vision, the conglomerate must understand what their brand stands for and who their target market is.
The consumer is this person (Collins, 2016). People receive messages in two different ways: central (MedicineNet, 2016) and peripheral (Linde, 2016). Central receivers require extrinsic motivation (WebFinance, 2016b) in order to be attracted, some of the commonly used tools to capture this type of audience are catalogues and discount advertisements. Peripheral deals with the use of emotion in order to get a customer interested. For example, ADIDAS sponsoring the All Blacks (AIG, 2016). The customers will purchase ADIDAS products simply because the team they love wears them. All they need to do is advertise their sponsorship. However, it is important to note that consumers can be both extrinsically and intrinsically motivated into utilizing a product or service regardless of what is being offered.
To take advantage of the first, aggressive advertising of factual information must be conducted and 'on sale' type deals must be offered. This is because someone who receives a message centrally listens to reason, knows a lot about the industry or does not know why he needs the product or service yet. If the best deal is offered, we can expect that the customers will take part in the service. Businesses who sell a product that is not a necessity should use this strategy. Conglomerates within a highly competitive industry should use this theory as well. We'll use the sports shoe consumers as an example. This product is in the maturity stage of the product life cycle, as a result, there is a high level of competition. The consumer gains the advantage of choice and access to options and information. Aggressive advertising will reach those who buy on impulse and discounts will attract those who are looking for a deal. Retailers should implement these two strategies in order to highlight reasons a customer should visit their store.
To intrinsically motivate (Harackiewics, 2000) someone into taking part in a service, one must use emotion. There are a number of ways for a business to do so, one example is the direct comparison of a product to a familiar context, for example, a movie. A good example of such advertisement is the Brokeback Speights commercial (Speights, 2006).
What are some communication tools and how can they use them? The most effective marketing tool today is the use of social media (Technopedia, 2016). Twitter, Facebook and other services provide businesses with access to consumers all over the world. What methods can marketers use to take advantage of these services? They can use key opinion leaders (Matter, 2016). These people usually have adequate knowledge of the industry, hold credible titles for example members of parliament or have a large number of followers. Therefore, consumers are likely to follow the opinions they post about a product or service.
Key opinion leaders drive existing thoughts. They take the lead in voicing opinions - for example, Donald Trump, who is currently running for a chance to be the leading candidate of the Republican Party (Team, 2016). UPDATE (2017) - He is the current President of the United States. One of his strategies is to target the issue of immigrants entering America. He states that he's going to build a bigger wall in order to keep them out. Although his approach raises controversy, many Americans have that same thought in their minds: immigrants are taking jobs and opportunities, therefore, making it harder for citizens to live in their own country. Some like-minded people will agree with Donald Trump's views because it is an opinion that resonates with citizens. Leaders also have the ability to invoke thought to those who know little about a product or service. The opinion does not have to be an existing one. They have the ability to convince consumers that a product or service that they know nothing about satisfies an everyday need (for example, voters who did not know that immigration was a problem in America).
Other tools which businesses can use are touch points (SurveyMonkey, 2016), other languages, artwork for example logos and slogans. An example of the first is the student service centre at the Auckland University of Technology (Technology, 2016). The service enables students to interact with the university. Other examples are Facebook group pages. In other words, the touch point is the process of creating a service which allows consumers to communicate with the brand. Retail stores are another good example of touch point communications.
Nike specialises in the sale of sports gears ranging from shoes to apparel (Game, 2016). Originally they established themselves as a business that offers technical footwear. Today, they are known globally and have a following loyal to their brand. Consumers now, generally purchase their products because of the brand rather than the technical aspects it offers. Whether it be through sponsoring players or the event itself, this is an example of the use of Key Opinion leaders. Sports is an activity that a large population is interested in - an event that creates role models such as Michael Jordan (Rovell, 2016). In his early days, Nike was successful in gaining Jordan's endorsements, thus ensuring that loyal fans would follow what he said or what he wore. For example, the introduction of the Nike Air Jordan (Liquidrice, 2006) saw an increase in the consumption of Nike products simply because it was designed by a key opinion leader.
Artwork is a form of communication that engages with the consumer's emotions. Logos need to be carefully designed because they are a representation of who a company is (Newspapers, 2016). Kathmandu (Ltd, 2016) have over the years, changed their logo many times. Why have they done this? The scope of their target audience was changing and therefore to ensure that consumers knew this, they changed their logo as well. They were not just changing their logo but also what they stood for.
Slogans (Taube, 2014) are a quick and easy way to communicate what a business stands for. However, finding out which slogan best appeals to the target market is difficult. An example of a slogan that works is video game developer EA Games' "challenge everything". Playing an EA game - for example, NFL 2016 - is almost like playing a real game of football. Although it can be fairly predictable, the strategies used in order to win is relatively the same. "Challenge everything" means that in the cyber world, anyone can be experts at any sports, as long as they're willing to take up the challenge. It means that the dreams that people had about being the best at a sport can become a reality as long as they play their games. This is an example of an effective slogan because it tells the consumer what they stand for and resonates with many consumers.
Previously there were four P's but now it has been recognized there are more than four (Belch et al, 2014)
Seven P's of marketing
Price - An amount the consumer is willing to pay for the item
Place - Location
Product - A tangible or intangible good or service
Promotion - Strategic communication methods, in order to increase sale/exposure of a product
People - Part of delivering the service
Process - Activities are undertaken as part of delivering the product
Physical Evidence - Tangible presentation
Four C's of marketing
Consumer - Targeted audience intending to purchase the product
Cost - The amount the consumer is willing to purchase the product for
Convenience - An item value to the consumer
Communication - Touchpoints of communication
Encoding conveys the meaning of a brand or messages meaning through differing words, colors, pictures, signs, symbols or music. Therefore, the differing channels of communication act as a ladder towards the consumer understanding the message being produced by the business/brand. This related to the concepts of the four P's, price, product, place and promotion. By the encoding of differing advertisements by their placement/where the consumer will notice the product, and promotion such as billboards, pamphlets and free samples.
Decoding is the process of interpreting messages and relies on the power of correct encoding and the ability of the targeted audience to deconstruct the meaning or meanings of a product, or an items given message. Therefore, making feedback a two-way street depending on the intended reaction of integrated marketing communications, from the target market to business. This is where co-creation for a business helps in ways of transforming/problem solving different ways of interaction, personalisation, customization and reconfiguration of the businesses item of delivery to the targeted audience. If the frame of reference from the sender isn't understood by the target market, the communications of the product's message will not take place nor expand.
Once these distinct aspects have been achieved or avoided the brand will be able to perform successful uses of integrated communications, by effectively intertwining cross channels of communication the four P's, four C's, encoding & decoding. Therefore, reaching a greater impact financially in the marketing of the product.
Linear communication model
The Linear communication model can inspire a business in the long term by the format of different information, ideas and emotions to the target market, the model itself shows how the differing components of encoding, decoding, noise and feedback can contribute to how the message of a product is produced. And can determine if the message will be successful in the market, by the realm of understanding. As encoding creates the message, which then can be interpreted by the formation of decoding by the target market, therefore avoiding noise and accomplishing the understanding of an integrated communication message to the targeted audience.
Origins
First defined by the American Association of Advertising Agencies in 1989, IMC was developed mainly to address the need for businesses to offer clients more than just standard advertising. The 4As originally coined the term the "new advertising"; however, this title did not appropriately incorporate many other aspects included in the term "IMC" - most notably, those beyond traditional advertising process aside from simply advertising.
Overall, an influx of new marketplace trends in the late 20th century spurred organizations to shift from the standard advertising approach to the IMC approach:
- Decreasing message impact and credibility: The growing number of commercial messaging made it increasingly more difficult for a single message to have a noteworthy effect.
- Decreasing costs of databases: The cost of storing and retrieving names, addresses and information from databases significantly declined. This decline allowed marketers to reach consumers more effectively.
- Increasing client expertise: Clients of marketing and public relations firms became more educated regarding advertising policies, procedures and tactics. Clients began to realize that television advertising was not the only way to reach consumers.
- Increasing mergers and acquisitions of agencies: Many top public relations firms and advertising agencies became partners or partnered with other communication firms. These mergers allowed for more creativity, and the expansion of communication from only advertising, to other disciplines such as event planning and promotion.
- Increasing global marketing: There was a rapid influx of advertising competition from foreign countries. Companies quickly realized that even if they did not conduct business outside their own country, they were now competing in global marketing.
- Increasing media and audience fragmentation: With the exception of the decline of newspapers, media outlets, such as magazines and television stations, increased from 1980 to 1990. Additionally, companies could use new technologies and computers to target specialized audiences based on factors such as ethnic background or place of residence.
- Increasing number of overall products: Manufacturers flooded retailers with a plethora of new products, many of which were identical to products that already existed. Therefore, a unique marketing and branding approach was crucial to attract customer attention and increase sales.
Model and stages
Tactical marketing communications
Mixed elements of "sight and sound" related communication channels givs a business the beginning of the implementation towards becoming an integrated marketing business to its target market. Once this stage is triggered, the business ought to aim into progressing into understanding the consumer's requirements based on market trends at the time of development. This produced through key marketing skills of advertising, promotions, direct selling and personal events. Therefore, increasing the chance of sales in the competitive market, through the channels/touch points of integrated marketing communication. Therefore, encouraging sales to the target market, in order to avoid the chance of a decline in the companies marketing position.
Redefining integrated marketing communication
Elements of tactical Integrated marketing communications is primarily focusing on one's businesses marketing strategy of advertisement. This including mostly promotional work, the public relations the business has with the market and the direct response of the businesses promotional work to its customers. The strategy itself connects to "Tactical marketing communications" by the aspects of "sight and sound" therefore, starting the beginning of specialization within the market and the targeting of core values of the consumer within the market, as well as brand equity.
Applications of strategic marketing integration
Firms becoming highly practical with their approach to marketing communication as their main performance strategy, eventually, gain more sales financially compared to differing businesses. Also, in addition, motivating the target market to purchase the item repetitively or more-so over another businesses item. Financially the achievements of a businesses pricing of a product can fluctuate the demand of a product, this avoiding downfalls in the market.
Financial and strategic integration
The final stage shows the highest level of integration by the evaluation of marketing strategies and the strategic planning of one's target market understanding. Therefore, making the business re-evaluate its financial infrastructure, marketing expenditures and its marketing communication accomplishments to create growth and value externally and internally throughout one's company.
Evaluation
- Have objectives been meet?
- Evaluate alternatives
- Develop efficient and effective communication
- Help defend budgets
- Enrich planning and managing
- Provide controls
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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