IMC

Unit I

Marketing Communication

“The role of marketing communication is to support the marketing plan and help key audiences understand and believe in the marketer’s advantage over the competition.” (Burnett 1993, 241)

“Marketing communications is the collection of all elements in an organisation’s marketing mix that facilitate exchanges by establishing shared meaning with the organisation’s customers or clients.” (Shimp in Spotts et al. 1998, 216)

Philip Kotler defined IMC as, "the concept under which a company carefully integrates and coordinates its many communications channels to deliver a clear, consistent message".

Integrated Marketing Communication

• A concept of marketing communication planning that recognizes the added value of a comprehensive plan that evaluates the strategic roles of a variety communication discipline eg. Advertising, direct response, Sales Promotion & public relations and combines these disciplines to provide and consistency and maximum impact.

By American Association of Advertising Agencies

The process of developing and implementing various forms of persuasive communication programs with customers and prospects over Time.

Integrated Marketing Communication

Integrated marketing communications is the process of developing and implementing various forms of persuasive communication programs with customers and prospects over time.

The goal of IMC is to influence or directly affect the behaviour of the selected communications audience.

IMC considers all sources of brand or company contacts that a customer or prospect has with the product or service as potential delivery channels for future messages.

Further, IMC makes use of all forms of communication which are relevant to the customers and prospects, and to which they might bereceptive.

In sum the IMC process starts with the customer or prospect and then works

back to determine and define the forms and methods through which persuasive communications programs should be developed.” (Schultz in Percy 1997, 2; Schultz in Shimp 1997, 12)

Integrated Marketing Communication

“IMC is the planning and execution of all the types of advertising and promotion selected for a brand, service, or company, in order to meet a common set of communication objectives, or more particularly, to support a single ‘positioning’.” (Percy 1997, 2)

"The process of managing all sources of information about product / service to which a customer or prospect is exposed which behaviourally moves the consumer toward a sale and maintains customer loyalty." (Schultz in Sirgy 1998, 4; Belch & Belch 1998, 10)

“IMC is the strategic coordination of all messages and media used by an organisation to influence its perceived brand value.” (Duncan & Everett in Percy 1997, 4)

“IMC is a cross functional process for creating and nourishing profitable relationships with customers and other stakeholders by strategically controlling or influencing all messages sent to these groups and encouraging purposeful dialogue with them.” (Duncan in Spotts et al. 1998, 211)

Features of IMC

• Affect behavior:“An integrated marketing communications program

ultimately must be judged in terms of whether it influences behavior, but it would be simplistic and unrealistic to expect an action to result from every communication effort. Prior to purchasing a new brand consumers generally must be made aware of the brand and its benefits and influenced to have a favorable attitude toward it. Communication efforts directed at accomplishing these intermediate, or pre-behavioural, goals are fully justified...”

Features of IMCUse all forms of contacts: “IMC uses all forms of communications and all sources of brand and company

contacts as potential message delivery channels... Contacts would include TV commercials, magazine ads, messages on the Internet, posters on public vehicles, and a virtually endless list of other possibilities.”

Start with the customer or prospect: “Another important aspect of IMC is that its process starts with the customer or

prospect and then works back to the brand communicator in determining the most appropriate and effective methods through which persuasive communications programs should be developed.”

Achieve synergy: “Inherent in the definition of IMC is the need for synergy. All of the

communication elements (ads, point-of-purchase material, sales promotion, events etc.) must speak with a single voice. Coordination is absolutely critical to achieving a strong and unified brand image and moving consumers to action. The failure to closely coordinate all communication elements can result in duplicated efforts or — worse yet — contradictory messages about a brand being conveyed to consumers.”

Features of IMC

Build relationships: Successful marketing communications requires building a relationship between the brand and the customer. It can

be argued, in fact, that relationship building is the key to modern marketing and that IMC is the key to relationship building... Companies have learned that it is more profitable to build and maintain relationships than it is to continuously search for new customers. This explains the growth in frequent-flyer and many other ”frequency” programs.” (Shimp 1997,

Objective of IMC

• Building Brand equity

• Providing Information

• Manage Demand and build State

• Differentiate products

• Influence perceptions

• Influence attitude and buying behaviour

HUL’s Kushiyon ki Doli

• There are four set of dolis or palkis being moved all around the village. Equipments like LCD TV, a DVD Player and a small generator is there in each of these dolis or palkis.

• The village housewives are the main target of audience.

• The wide ranges of HUL’s products commercials are being shown in these LCD’s. as a common human habit.

Some Major Changes that are driving companies to adopt IMC

• Decreasing impact of traditional advertising• Proliferation of new ways to reach consumers• Demand for greater accountability• Growth of database marketing• Growth of International marketing• Need for a single brand custodian • Need for creating brand identity• Emphasis on Relationship Marketing• Tighter control over communication• Changing compensation of agencies

After a two year long push into the hinterland, P&G has come up with a new addition to its marketing strategy in the form of a character called Sangeeta Bhabhi, a dedicated housewife. The personality was conceived to push P&G's leading brands, Tide and Head & Shoulders as a dual proposition called 'kamyab jodi' in rural areas of the country. After much deliberation over the eight to nine categories that P&G operates in, marketers picked the detergent brand Tide and shampoo Head & Shoulders as the focus in this particular rural initiative.

Promotional Mix: The Tool for IMC

Tools Strengths Weaknesses

Packaging Makes the final impression, consumers in catches the ‘ready to buy’ stage

Placed in competitive environment, reaches small audiences

Specialties Personalized and Highly Targeted

Reach a small audience, relatively expensive

Internet / Interactive Marketing

Is direct, low in cost, interactive and two- directional, personalized, up to date, targeted, less intrusive and less commercial

Smaller audiences, unsuitable for non-savvy audiences, Some forms like spam emails or pop- ups can be quite intrusive

Point-of- purchase

High impact as it is one of the last reminder messages, makes a powerful visual statement, catches the impulse buyer

Reaches a small audience, low life cycle as no guarantees of continuous retail display/support

Tools Strengths Weaknesses

Event Marketing

Creates excitement, builds brand association with a particular event/cause, brings dedicated audience in a clutter-free environment, helps gets publicity, possibility for more interaction with consumers

May be expensive, reaches a small audience, may not be measurable, has no direct impact on sales

Sponsorship Earns goodwill, builds brand association with a particular cause, brings dedicated audience in a clutter free environment, helps get publicity

May be expensive, reaches a small audience, may not be measureable has no direct impact on sales.

Trade show Dissipates information to targeted audiences, gets visibility and media coverage, can promote interactivity provides an opportunity for competitive survey

Reaches Small audiences, relatively expensive exposes exhibits to competition

Customer services

Delights customers, creates differentiation at the time of purchase

Directly adds to the cost of the product, has to be monitored quality

Factors Affecting on IMC

Major Factors

• Fragmentation of Media• Better Audience Assessment• Consumer Empowerment• Increasing Advertising clutter• Database technology• Channel Power• Accountability

Minor Factors

Nature of products State of product life cycle i) introduction stage ii) growth stage iii) maturity stageiv) decline stage v) obsolesce stage Nature of Target Market i) size of market ii) concentrated customers iii) socio- economic characteristics of

customers iv) intensity of market coverage

• Size of promotion budget • Push and pull strategy • Promotional objective • Promotional Methods• Price policy Distribution policy • Level of completion • Degree of brand familiarity• Brand/unbrand products • Seasonal products

Marketing communication planning framework should help in deciding

• Who should receive the messages• What the messages should say• What image of organization/brand receivers are

expected to retain• How much is to be spent establishing this new

image• How the messages are to be delivered• What actions the receiver should take how to

control the whole process once implemented• What was achieved

Integrated marketing communicationsplanning is needed which should involve consideration of:

● situation analysis● objective setting● targeting● positioning and message strategies● method and media strategies● communications budget● implementation● measurement, evaluation and control.

An integrated planning model for marketing communications.

Situational Analysis

• Customer context

• Business context

• Internal Context– People resources– Financial resources– Technological resources

External Context

Marketing communication Objectives

• Corporate objectives

• Marketing objectives

• communication objectives

Control of Marketing communication

• Analyze trends (Internal and External)• Audit communication spending• Identify all point of contact • Team up in communication planning• Make all communication elements

compatible• Create performance measures• Appoint an IMC manger

The Six Success Mantras