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Chapter 1
An Introduction to Integrated Marketing
Communications

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 Small Group Activity

Assume you are in charge of promoting a product to a certain

demographic group. Identify seven methods you might use to
reach this audience.

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 Marketing

Marketing: Activity, set of institutions, and processes for

creating, communicating, delivering and exchanging offerings
that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society
at large (American Marketing Association, 2007)

The four Ps: product, price, place, and promotion

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 Integrated Marketing Communications

The concept was introduced in the 1980s

1. Calls for a “big picture” approach to planning marketing and
promotion programs and coordinating various communication.
2. Ensures all marketing and promotional activities project a consistent,
unified image.
3. Criticisms: Focuses on tactical coordination of various
communication tools with the goal of making them look and sound
alike (one look, one voice)

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 Integrated Marketing Communications 2

A Contemporary Perspective of IMC

• “Integrated marketing communications is a strategic business process
used to plan, develop, execute and evaluate coordinated, measurable,
brand communications programs over time with consumers,
customers, prospects, employees, associates and other targeted
relevant external and internal audiences. The goal is to generate both
short-term financial returns and build long-term brand and shareholder
value” (Don Schultz)
• Contemporary perspective:
• Views IMC as an ongoing strategic business process rather than just
tactical integration of various communication activities

• Goal is to generate short-term financial returns and build long-term brand

and shareholder value.

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 Integrated Marketing Communications 2

Key Features of IMC

• Start with the customer or prospect.
• Use any form of relevant contact or touch point.
• Speak with a single voice.
• Build relationships.
• Affect behavior.

(Shimp & Andrews, 2013)

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 Integrated Marketing Communications 3

Reasons for the Growing Importance of IMC

• Recognize the value of strategically integrating various
communications functions.
• Takes advantage of synergy among promotional tools.
• Adapt to changing environment:
• Evolution to micromarketing (vs. mass marketing).

• Fragmented audiences.

• Consumers’ avoidance of traditional media advertising.

• Marketers should use whatever contact methods that offer the best way of
delivering the message to audiences

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 Integrated Marketing Communications 4

The Role of IMC in Branding

• Helps develop and sustain brand identity and equity.

• Relationship era: Recognizes the need for companies to connect with

consumers based on trust, transparency, and authenticity.

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 Always: #likeagirl

• YouTube pre-roll video

• Paid Facebook and Twitter posts
• Paid influencer outreach
• #LikeAGirl page on Always.com
• Super Bowl ad

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 Always: #likeagirl

• 90m+ views.
• 1100+ earned-media placements and 4.4bn+ media impressions in
the first three months.
• Always Twitter followers tripled in the first three months; Always
YouTube Channel subscribers grew 4339%
• 177,000 #LikeAGirl tweets in the first three months, including many
celebrities.
• Higher-than-average lift in brand preference; claimed purchase intent
grew more than 50% among our target.
• In a study conducted in December 2014, almost 70% of women and
60% of men claimed that "The video changed my perception of the
phrase 'like a girl'".

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 The Promotional Mix: The Tools for IMC

Promotion
• Coordination of all seller-initiated efforts to set up channels of information
and persuasion to sell goods and services or promote an idea.

Promotional Mix
• Tools that accomplish an organization’s communication objectives.

LO1-4

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 Figure 1-2 Elements of the Promotional Mix

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 The Promotional Mix: The Tools for IMC

Advertising (Traditional Definition)

• Any paid form of nonpersonal communication about an organization,
product, service, or idea by an identified sponsor.

• The nonpersonal component:

• Involves mass media.

• Message transmitted to large groups of individuals.

• No opportunity for immediate feedback.

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 The Promotional Mix: The Tools for IMC

Advertising (New Definition)

• Brand-initiated communication intent on impacting people (Dahlen and
Rosengren, 2016)

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 The Promotional Mix: The Tools for IMC

Benefits of Advertising
• Cost-effective way for communicating, with large audiences.

• Ability to create images and symbolic appeals.

• Valuable tool for creating and maintaining brand equity.

• Ability to control the message (what, when and how something is said
and where it is delivered).

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 The Promotional Mix: The Tools for IMC

Disadvantages of Advertising
• Cost of producing and placing ads can be very high, particularly
television commercials.

• Can be difficult to determine the effectiveness of advertising.

• Credibility and image problems associated with advertising.

• Vast number of ads has created clutter problems and consumers are
not paying attention to much of the advertising they see and/or hear.

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 The Promotional Mix: The Tools for IMC

Digital/Internet Marketing
• Digital Media/Interactive media:
• Allow users to participate in and modify the form and content of
information they receive in real time.

• Social media:
• Digital platforms that enable individuals to create, share, and interact with
content, information, and other users within a virtual social network.

• Mobile Marketing:
• A digital marketing strategy and practice that focuses on reaching and
engaging with target audiences through mobile devices

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 The Promotional Mix: The Tools for IMC

Advantages of Digital/Internet Marketing

• The Internet can be used for a variety of integrated marketing
communication functions.
• Messages can be tailored to appeal to the specific interests and
needs of the target audience.
• The interactive nature of the Internet leads to a higher degree of
customer involvement.
• Information provided by marketers can be updated and changed
continually.
• The Internet has tremendous creative potential.

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 The Promotional Mix: The Tools for IMC

Disadvantages of Digital/Internet Marketing

• Many Internet users do not pay attention to banner ads and the click-
through rate on most is extremely low.
• A great deal of clutter on the Internet.

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 The Promotional Mix: The Tools for IMC

Sales Promotion
• Marketing activities that provide extra value or incentives to the:

• Sales force.

• Distributors.

• Ultimate consumer.

• Aids in stimulating immediate sales.

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 The Promotional Mix: The Tools for IMC

Reasons for Increased Emphasis of Sales Promotion

• Declining brand loyalty.
• Increased consumer sensitivity to promotional deals.
• Retailers’ demand for more trade promotion support from vendors.

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 The Promotional Mix: The Tools for IMC

Advantages of Sales Promotion

• Provides extra incentive to consumer or middlemen to purchase or
stock and promote a brand.
• Way of appealing to price sensitive consumer.
• Way of generating extra interest in product or ads.
• Effects can often be more directly measured than those of advertising.
• Can be used as a way of building or reinforcing brand equity.

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 The Promotional Mix: The Tools for IMC

Disadvantages of Sales Promotion

• Many companies are focusing too much attention on short-run
marketing planning and performance.
• Short-term sales gains are often achieved at the expense of long-term
brand equity.
• Sales promotion clutter.
• Consumers may become over-reliant on sales promotion incentives.
• In some industries, promotion wars may develop.

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 The Promotional Mix: The Tools for IMC

Publicity
• Nonpersonal communications regarding an organization, product,
service, or idea not directly paid for or run under identified
sponsorship.
• Advantages:
• High credibility and low cost.
• Often generates word of mouth discussion among consumers.

• Disadvantages:
• Lack of control over what is said, when, where and how it is said.
• Can be negative as well as positive.

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 The Promotional Mix: The Tools for IMC 12

Public Relations
• Evaluates public attitudes.
• Goal is to establish and maintain positive image among various
publics.

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 IMC Involves Audience Contacts

Touch Point
• Every opportunity a customer has to see or hear about a company
and/or its brands or have an encounter or experience with it.
• Categories of touch points
• Company-created: planned marketing communication messages
created by the company.
• Intrinsic: interactions that occur with a company or brand during the
process of buying or using the product or service.
• Unexpected: unanticipated references or information about a
company or brand that a customer or prospect receives.
• Customer-initiated: interactions that occur whenever a customer or
prospect contacts a company.

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 Figure 1-6 IMC Touch Points: Control vs. Impact

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 Figure 1-5 IMC Audience Contact Tools

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 IMC Involves Audience Contacts 2

Paid, Owned, and Earned Media

• Paid media:
• Channels marketers pay to leverage.

• Includes traditional advertising media (TV, radio, print, etc.).

• Owned media:
• Channels of marketing communication that a company controls.

• Websites, blogs, apps, social media channels.

• Earned media:
• Free exposure for a company.

• Viral marketing, media coverage.

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 Figure 1-7 Paid, Owned, and Earned Media

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