• Integrated Marketing Communications is a term used to describe a holistic approach to marketing communication.

• It aims to ensure consistency of message and the complementary use of media.

• Integrated marketing communication is integration of all marketing tools, approaches, and resources within a company which maximizes impact on consumer mind and which results into maximum profit at minimum cost.

Integration of all the promotional tools such as advertising along with other components of marketing mix to gain edge over competitor is called Integrated Marketing Communication.

Integrated Marketing Communications is a data-driven approach that focuses on identifying consumer insights and developing a strategy with the right (online and offline combination) channels to forge a stronger brand-consumer relationship.

It includes two concepts channels• Online• Offline

Online marketing channels include any e-marketing campaigns or programs, from search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click, affiliate, email, banner to latest web related channels for webinar, blog, micro-blogging, podcast, Internet Radio and Internet TV.

Offline marketing channels are traditional print (newspaper, magazine), mail order, public relations, industry relations, billboard, radio, and television. A company develops its integrated marketing communication programme using all the elements of the marketing mix (product, price, place, and promotion).

Integrated Marketing Communication means different things depending on who you ask. Marketing guru 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".

This concept is expanded on in the 4Cs of IMC which define how various Marketing Communication Mix tools should be coordinated in the following ways:

Coherence Consistency Continuity Complementary

According to the JIMC(Journal of Integrated Marketing Communication), "IMC - the management of all organized communications to build positive relationships with customers and other stakeholders - stresses marketing to the individual by understanding needs, motivations, attitudes and behavior."

Based on the several definitions of Integrated Marketing Communications, there are obviously several factors to keep in mind while implementing IMC are

• creating and presenting a unified "Marketing Personality" through whom you communicate with your customers and

 • coordinating various sales and marketing

activities for maximum impact.

Integrated Marketing Communication involves the following ways:

Horizontal Integration Vertical Integration Internal Integration External Integration Data Integration

Horizontal Integration• Sales and marketing is not the sole prerogative

of just the Sales and Marketing departments. Every department within a company should be aligned around creating value and creating customers.

Vertical Integration• CEO, Directors, Managers and frontline

employees should all be able to articulate your message and tie it to the various needs and benefits of peers within the customer organization as well as corporate objectives.

Internal Integration• Product Marketing, Field Marketing, Corporate

Marketing, Event Marketing and other marketing disciplines should not work in isolation but rather in a coordinated way that fosters the exchange of ideas and creates new synergies.

External Integration• Customer Advisory Boards, Partner Vendors,

Focus Groups and others may have valuable input as well as a key role to play in establishing successful Integrated Marketing Communication.

Data Integration• A key aspect of IMC in any shape or form is

making sure that all players have access to the same customer and marketing data. As newer customer data is collected and as the marketing message and new initiatives are refined and developed, employees and partners should have access to the latest data via your CRM or other centralized data system.

• IMC wraps communications around customers and helps them move through the various stages of the buying process.

• It can create competitive advantage, boost sales and profits, while saving money, time and stress.

• This 'Relationship Marketing' cements a bond of loyalty with customers which can protect them from the inevitable onslaught of competition.  

• A better chance of cutting through the 'noise' of over five hundred commercial messages which bombard customers each and every day.

• Reduces their 'misery of choice' in a complex and busy world.

• Consistent images and relevant, useful, messages help nurture long term relationships with customers.

Advertising Sales Promotion Public Relations Direct Marketing Personal Selling

Marketing communications involves what you say about your business? and who you say it to?

Set objectives, Make the objectives quantifiable and you'll be able to build results measurement into your plan.

set your identity. Define your logo and colors and use them consistently.

Provide basic information. Be visible Strengthen your connections, Think about

what these folks need to know. A regular newsletter, a handbook and relevant information sheets maybe just what you need to strengthen client relationships.

Establish a budget and timetable since it seems they're locking into something.

Functions of IMC:

Marketing communic

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marketing

database marketin

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Direct marketin

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Public relationPublic

relation

Personal selling

Web sites

Advertis -ment

Advertis -ment

Sale promotion sponsoring exhibits

It has four characteristics: it is convincing in nature; it is non-personal; it is paid for by an identified sponsor; and it is disseminated through mass channels of communication.

Advertising effects are best measured in terms of increasing awareness and changing attitudes and opinions, etc.

Advertising also helps create and maintain brand equity. Brand equity is an intangible asset that results from a favorable image, impressions of differentiation, or consumer attachment to the company, brand, or trademark.

This equity translates into greater sales volume, and/or higher margins, thus greater competitive advantage.

Cost is the greatest disadvantage of advertising.

Credibility and mess are other disadvantages. New media are emerging, such as DVRs

(digital video recorders) which allow consumers to record programs

It management function which identifies, establishes, and maintains mutually beneficial relationships between an organization and the public’s upon which its success or failure depends.

Advertising is a one-way communication from marketer to consumer.

public relations considers multiple audiences (consumers, employees, suppliers, vendors, etc.)

Also used for the two-way communication to monitor feedback and adjust both its message and the organization's actions for maximum benefit.

A primary tool used by public relations practitioners is publicity.

Publicity capitalizes on the news value of a product, service, idea, person or event so that the information can be disseminated through the news media.

This third party "endorsement" by the news media provides a vital boost to the marketing communication message.

Ex: Bosch, Nestle etc.

DIRECT MARKETING: Direct marketing, the oldest form of

marketing, is the process of communicating directly with target customers to encourage response by telephone, mail, electronic means, or personal visit.

Users of direct marketing include retailers, wholesalers, manufacturers, and service providers.

they use a variety of methods including direct mail, telemarketing, direct-response advertising, and online computer shopping services, cable shopping networks, and etc.

they can serve more effectively and profitably, companies may be more efficient in their marketing efforts.

direct marketing can reach individual consumers and develop a relationship with each of them.

DATABASE MARKETING: Database marketing is a form of direct

marketing that attempts to gain and reinforce sales transactions while at the same time being customer driven.

Successful database marketing continually updates lists of customers by identifying who they are, what they are like, and what they are purchasing now or may be purchasing in the future.

database marketing is viewed by many marketers as succeed traditional marketing strategies and is a major component of most IMC programs.

database marketing is expensive to develop and complex to implement effectively.

SALES PROMOTION Sales promotions that offer extra incentives

to improve the product's movement from producer to consumer.

Consumer promotions such as coupons, sampling, premiums, sweepstakes, price packs (packs that offer greater quantity or lower cost than normal), low-cost financing deals, etc.

Trade promotions include slotting allowances, display and merchandising allowances, buying allowances (volume discounts and other volume-oriented incentives), bill back allowances (pay-for-performance incentives), incentives to salespeople, and other tactics to encourage retailers to carry the item and to push the brand.

Two perspectives may be found among marketers regarding sales promotion.

First, sales promotion is supplemental to advertising in that it binds the role of advertising with personal selling.

sales promotion as a minor player in the marketing communication program.

A second view regards sales promotion and advertising as separate functions with objectives and strategies very different from each other.

Advertising sets up the deal by developing a brand reputation and building market value.

Sales promotion helps close the deal by providing incentives that build market volume.

Sponsorships increase awareness of a company or product, build loyalty with a specific target audience, help differentiate a product from its competitors, provide merchandising opportunities, demonstrate commitment to a community.

Exhibits, or trade shows, are hybrid forms of promotion between business-to-business advertising and personal selling.

Because many trade shows generate media attention, they have also become popular venues for introducing new products and providing a stage for executives to gain visibility.

Personal selling includes all person-to-person contact with customers with the purpose of introducing the product to the customer, convincing him or her of the product's value, and closing the sale.

Personal selling is the most effective way to make a sale because of the interpersonal communication between the salesperson and the prospect.

Web sites provide a new way of transmitting information, entertainment, and advertising, and have generated a new dimension in marketing: electronic commerce.

E-commerce is the term used to describe the act of selling goods and services over the Internet. Ex: Amazon.com, CD Now, eBay, etc

What makes a good integrated marketing campaign? Analysts like Marissa Gluck of New York-based Jupiter Communications say it's consistency: "The look and feel must be the same offline and online." Nike "Whatever" campaign not only was consistent, it was groundbreaking--so groundbreaking that major TV networks almost refused to run it.

The campaign was also effective in driving traffic both to Nike's original site and to the whatever.nike.com site created specifically for the campaign. According to New York-based Media Metrix, unique visitors to Nike.com went from 589,000 in January to 852,000 in February, when the campaign reached its height. Whatever.nike.com garnered 524,000 unique visitors in February (Media Metrix's figures for January and March were too small for an accurate sample).

IBM introduced the now-ubiquitous red "e" logo that looks like an @ sign, designed, says Steve Hayden, president, worldwide brand services for IBM at Ogilvy, to capture the "Internet symbology."

The e-business campaign launched Oct. 7, 1997, with an eight-page insert in The Wall Street Journal. It was followed by TV and print ads that talked about various Internet issues. By the end of 1997, knowledge of e-business was up 25 percent among its core target audience of competitors, according to Ogilvy, as was the concept's association with IBM.

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