• INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS

INTEGRATED MARKETING
COMMUNICATIONS
What is IMC & why IMC?
IMC is the concept and practice of
designing marketing communications
programs that coordinate all promotional
activities – Ad, PS, SP, PR, publicity, and
direct marketing – so as to provide a
consistent message across all audiences
of the organization.
The Communications Process:
Key components:
* endcoding: idea  symbols
* decoding: reverse: interpret symbols into
the original idea and meaning
communication process – breakdowns
* poor encoding
* poorly or misdirected
* wrong channel
* faulty decoding
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Field of experience: similar understanding
and knowledge of both sender & receiver –
e.g. share similar cultural context
Problematic: transplanting communication
to a foreign market
Promotional Mix:
Advertising: paid, nonpersonal, targeted;
sender in control of how, when, to whom
Personal selling: 2-way comm., face-to-
face, highly focused, expensive
Public relations: influence feelings,
opinions, beliefs  lobbying, press
conferences
Publicity: non-personal, indirectly paid 
get a favorable story out
Plus: credibility  believable
Minus: lack of control over what is said
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Sales promotion: short-term inducement
Coupons, rebates, samples, sweepstakes
Plus: stimulates sales during promo period
Minus: gains are temporary; effectiveness
wear-out with repetition
Direct marketing: many forms
Face-to-face; direct mail; telephone
solicitations; catalogs; online marketing
Fastest growing forms
Minuses: need comprehensive/current
database  very expensive & time
consuming; concerns about privacy
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 IMC – Basic Issues
WHO? – the target audience
 determines the comm. vehicle &
medium/media
 consumer vs biz; nature of products
The PLC: adjustments
Intro: awareness  use all tools available
Growth stage: persuasion  consumers:
ads  gain brand preference; biz: channel
 distribution  shelf space
Maturity: keep buyers/loyalty repeat
purchase  reminders
Use combination: ads, discounts, coupons,
price cuts
Decline: phase out  very low key
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Product characteristics:
Complexity: More complex  PS
Risk: greater risk  PS
Ancillary services: maintenance; PS
Stages of the buying decision
Prepurchase: ads awareness; samples
Purchase: sales promo; ad  deliver
coupons, deals, rebate
Post-purchase: assurance  ads reduce
PPD
Channel strategies
Pull vs push
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 IMC – HOW TO?
WHO: target audience
Know intimately  lifestyle, attitudes, values,
media habits, shopping habits
WHAT1: Promo objectives
 link to hierarchy of effects:
awareness  interest  evaluation  trial 
adoption
WHAT2: Promo budget setting
* % sales
*competitive parity
* affordability
* objective and task
WHAT3: kinds of promo
Diverse audiences, tools, contexts
Combinations can achieve same objective
WHERE: promo design  creativity
Know what tools for which audience, product
 relate to consumer interests & buying beh
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WHEN: scheduling
Seasonality  skiing, travel
Timing & sequencing of promo program 
esp in new product introduction
EXECUTION  design & use
Measure effectiveness: Pre-test & post-test
 test result database
IMC measure complicated becos different
phases of campaign with different objectives
Media ad  awareness
Sales promo  generate inquiry
Direct mail  more info
PS  conclude transaction
IMC goal: SYNERGY
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 DIRECT MARKETING
Direct mail & catalogs, TV, telemarketing,
direct selling
Explosive growth in DM
Factoids:
DM expenditures  >$300B;
Revenues > $3 trillion;
Employment  >20 million
WHY?
Increasing interest in CRM  customize
communication; 1-on-1 intereactions
Technology: hardware and software 
databases;
Internet: Sales . $150 billion
Increasing consumer access to Internet
Increasing # online biz
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Benefits to biz:
Geographically unbounded
Time unbounded
Create more value  guarantees
Customers ready to buy
Orders 24/7
Generate sales leads from info ads
Traffic generation
Benefits to consumers:
No need to go to store
24/7 availability
saves time
saves money
no hassles with salespeople
privacy
excellent customer service
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