Monday, September 23, 2013
INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS (IMC)
Marketers are beginning to understand that their brands live in the connections, and that they must seize the opportunity by creating an integrated communications strategy. The objective of marketing communications is to enhance brand equity by moving customers along a customer experience path to purchase that leads to advocacy for the brand. Mass communication plays an essential role to inform and educate customers and prospects about brands, new products their benefits and to enhance brand image. The IMC goal is to deliver the right message to the right audience at the right time in the right place. It is critical for marketers to craft an effective integrated marketing communications plan that delivers clear, consistent and compelling messages.
Marketers must explore new methods to leverage all elements of the communication mix and blend traditional, digital an social media into a single, cohesive, holistic approach.
American Association of Advertising Agencies (also 4A's) in 1989, defining IMC as "an approach to achieving the objectives of a marketing campaign through a well-coordinated use of different promotional methods that are intended to reinforce each other."[1] The 4A's definition of IMC recognizes the strategic roles of various communication disciplines (advertising, public relations, sales promotions, etc.) to provide clarity, consistency, and increased impact when combined within a comprehensive communications plan. Basically, it is the application of consistent brand messaging across both traditional and non-traditional marketing channels.
• The Journal of Integrated Marketing Communication from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University refers to IMC as "a strategic marketing process specifically designed to ensure that all messaging and communication strategies are unified across all channels and are centered around the customer."[2] IMC is used practically to allow one medium's weakness to be offset by another medium's strength, with elements synergized to support each other and create greater impact.
• A more contemporary definition states, "True IMC is the development of marketing strategies and creative campaigns that weave together multiple marketing disciplines (paid advertising, public relations, promotion, owned assets, and social media) that are selected and then executed to suit the particular goals of the brand. Instead of simply utilizing various media to help tell a brand's overall story, with IMC the marketing leverages each communication channel's intrinsic strengths to achieve a greater impact together than each channel could achieve individually. It requires the marketer to understand each medium's limitation, including the audience's ability/willingness to absorb messaging from that medium. This understanding is integrated into a campaign's strategic plan from the very beginning of planning - so that the brand no longer simply speaks with consistency, but speaks with planned efficacy.[5] This concept inherently provides added benefits that include: a singular/synchronized brand voice and experience, cost efficiencies generated through creativity and production, and opportunities for added value and bonus.
Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) weaves diverse aspects of business and marketing together. These include:
Prevailing Organizational culture and sub-culture
The organization's vision and mission
Attitudes and behaviors of employees & partners
Communication within the company
Four P's
Price, pricing plans, bundled offerings
Product (product design, accessibility, usability)
Promotion
Place (point of purchase, in-store/shopper experience)
Advertising
Broadcasting/mass advertising: broadcasts, print, internet advertising, radio, television commercials
Outdoor advertising: billboards, street furniture, stadiums, rest areas, subway advertising, taxis, transit.Online advertising: mobile advertising, email ads, banner ads, search engine result pages, blogs, newsletters, online classified ads, media ads etc.
Direct marketing:
these would include direct mail, telemarketing, catalogs, shopping channels, internet sales, emails, text messaging, websites, online display ads, fliers, catalog distribution, promotional letters, outdoor advertising, telemarketing, coupons, direct mail, direct selling, grassroots/community marketing, mobile etc.
Online/internet marketing:
E-commerce Search engine optimization (SEO)Search engine marketing (SEM)Mobile Marketing, Email marketing Content marketing, Social Media ( Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google +, Foursquare, Pinterest, Youtube, Wikipedia, Instagram)etc.
Sales & customer service:
These are Sales materials (sell sheets, brochures, presentations)Installation, customer help, returns & repairs, billing.
Public Relations:
Special events, interviews, conference speeches, industry awards, press conferences, testimonials, news releases, publicity stunts, community involvement, charity involvement & events.
Promotions:
promotional activities would include: Contests, coupons, product samples (freebies), premiums, prizes, rebates, special events.
Trade shows:
Activities here may include, Booths, product demonstrations etc.
Corporate philanthropy:
Donations, volunteering, charitable actions are all considered corporate philanthropy.
It is when these varying aspects of business and marketing are weaved together with an integrated approach that an effective campaign can be achieved.
REFERENCES:
American Marketing association
Wikipedia.org
Integrated marketing communications by David Pickton (Author), Amanda Broderick (Author) FEB. 2005
American Association of Advertising Agencies
The Journal of Integrated Marketing Communication from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University
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