Integrated marketing communication - Essay Example

Integrated Marketing Communication: There is a much used clich sentence in marketing circles that goes - "If you build a better mousetrap, the worldwill beat a path to your door." (Crilley 2009). But according to management experts this no longer holds good today. Hence "the reality is that when you build the world's best mousetrap, customers don't naturally come knocking at the door." (Cannon 2008, p.124). A product or service whether it is provided by a private or public service organization needs to market it and marketing needs marketing communication for it to succeed. According to Ms Linda Hall and Dr. Mark Wickham of the University of Tasmania, there is a lot of homogeneity in products, services and price, the concept of integrated marketing communication has become the 'new frontier' to enable organizations to differentiate themselves, their products and services from other. (Hall and Wickam). IMC is the transformation of business messages to the consumer group on an integrated basis "IMC is defined as a management concept that is designed to make all aspects of marketing communication such as advertising, sales promotion, public relations, and direct marketing work together as a unified force rather than permitting each to work in isolation." (Lake 2009). Primary reasons for the shifting focus to IMC: There are several primary reasons why organizations need to change their isolated marketing communication approach to an integrated one. They are changes in the society, changes in the economy, and changes in technology. (Varey 2001, p.254). Changes in society: The behaviour and pattern of buying among consumers have undergone a sea change when compared to a few decades back. The concept of a brand loyal market has changed to a repertoire market. An article titled 'Mistakes Marketers Make' that appeared in eh Wall Street Journal states that marketers focus on building brand loyal customers, while in reality, this concept is fast disappearing. This is truer in the case of consumer goods. "Most frequently purchased consumer goods are in repertoire markets, though many consumers don't realize it." (Corkindale 2008). The feature of a repertoire market is that customers will have a basket of goods of the same type of product which he or she will alternatively buy. "In a repertoire market, the customer will buy from a repertoire of brands (more than one brand)." (Marketing Wisdom for 2004: 99 Marketers and Agencies Share Real Life Tips). The Wall Street Journal Article mentioned earlier states that in such a case marketers need to reach a larger audience and hence resorting to an integrated marketing approach will be more practical. . Changes in the economy: The cost of media advertising is increasing as time goes by. Organizations can no longer rely on a single expensive media like the television to promote their products and services. They have to be more cost conscious and at the same time be effective. An IMC strategy uses all types of promotional media and hence a marketing mix can be developed integrating less costly media with the more expensive ones. Changes in technology: Fifty years ago, the choice of advertising media would have been limited to the print and radio and television is certain markets. A little later few televisions channels appeared which later boomed with the introduction of cable TV and direct to home services. The internet as an advertising medium also became very popular. The huge increase in choice has also necessitated in an integrated marketing strategy for effectiveness. Global business scenario: Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) is considered as essential part of the business operations in the global business environment .Both public and private sector organisation are required to run their business in the global competitive environment. Expansion and diversification of business operations on global basis requires integrated marketing communication. Integrated communication improves business productivity and performance on a greater extend. Extreme Competition: Due to extreme competitive condition in the business field, firms are required to integrate all the available promotional measures to attain competitive advantage among the rivals and to boost sales and profits through reducing cost, time, and stress in business operation. Achievement of Customer Loyalty: In IMC, all forms of communications and messages are vigilantly linked together to attain maximum effectiveness in communication. It helps to attract all types of customers. It is better to create a strong relation with the customers through developing its brand image among the customers. Customer loyalty is a powerful competitive advantage for firms. It can be developed through relationship marketing. Messages conveyed through IMC should be more consistent and reliable for the customers. Long term existence: IMC approach in marketing communication is capable of producing long- term effects on the business such as brand loyalty and long term customer relationships. In order to survive in this highly competitive market place, for a long term, integrated approach in communication and other business operations it is highly essential. Cost reduction and sales promotion: IMC is capable of increasing the effectiveness in production and marketing operations. In IMC, work loads and resulting stress levels can be greatly reduced through united actions in communication. "IMC can boost sales by stretching messages across several communications tools to create more avenues for customers to become aware, aroused, and ultimately, to make a purchase." (Marketing Communications: Benefits for IMC. 2008). The advantages resulting from the integrated communication for the business operations are the basic factor of force on the integrated marketing communication approach of business organisations. Taking advantage of the consumer decision making (behaviour) process: In a complex and competitive market, consumer behaviour is often unpredictable. Now consumers have choices to make and hence unpredictability of their behaviour is more. Studies on consumer behaviour and the steps they take in the process of buying have shown that there is a distinctive pattern most people follow. "When people buy things, they engage in a decision-making process." (Olsen 2008). An integrated marketing approach can be beneficial in influencing the consumer to induce them to buy. The five are need recognition, information search, evaluation of alternatives, purchase decision and evaluation of purchase. Examples would be buying an automobile by the consumer in the case of a private corporation. Non-profit organizations have policies regarding health of communities. Health promotion and disease prevention activities by the World Health Organization shown as an example of IMC in later sections of this paper would serve as an example here also regarding consumer buying process. (Olsen 2008). Need recognition: A consumer will have to have a need for the product before he makes a decision to buy it. "In the initial decision-making stage, the buyer recognizes a problem/need or could be responding to a marketing stimulus" (Pay Per Click Advertising and Your Next Media Buy: Need Recognition. 2009). In the case of products and services like the examples given above, the process will usually entail the further steps given below. Information search: "The second stage defines a consumer's options available and the product package - or bundle of benefits the customer perceives the item to be. This includes the price, quality, and access to the product." (Consumer Decision Making Process: Information Search. 2009). Information search can be internal and external. Internal search is where a person has first hand knowledge about the product by previously experiencing it. IMC will become handy in the case of external search which can include any media by which information about the product or service can be made available. It can include all the methods that form a part of the integrated marketing strategy. It can also be through product reviews, information from friends and relatives etc. Information in this sense is not necessarily about a particular brand, but more about the product itself. For example, if the consumer wants to buy a car, he would first seek information on the different models, prices, performance etc. An integrated marketing strategy will provide more visibility in a cluttered market which can turn the focus of the consumer to the company that implements the above mentioned IMC. A well planned public relations strategy (part or an IMC campaign) can provide information about social issues like health and disease prevention. Evaluation of alternatives: In an era of intense competition, a consumer will have a lot of choice in selection of a product. If the consumer is intent on buying a sedan after the information search, he will have a lot of choice among the many auto manufacturers in the market. He can make a decision on price, performance, features or any other criteria that he thinks important. Moreover, "each consumer sees a product as a bundle of product attributes with varying capacities for delivering these benefits and satisfying the need." (School of Management: Evaluation of Alternatives). Here again, multiple ways of promotion through IMC will be more effective in helping the customer to come to a final decision. The more he or she sees and understands a particular brand, the more chance that the particular product will be a serious contender in the evaluation process. Purchase decision: "Once the alternatives have been evaluated, the consumer is ready to make a purchase decision. Sometimes purchase intention does not result in an actual purchase. The marketing organisation must facilitate the consumer to act on their purchase intention." (Consumer Behaviour: Purchase Decision. 2006). The effectiveness of the integrated marketing communication strategy will play a crucial role in this stage. Purchase evaluation: A customer who has spent money on a product will want to make sure that the purchase was a value for money decisions. This evaluation will vary from customer to customer depending on his mindset and on the level of interest he or she has in the product. A good public relations and customer relations strategy will ensure that the customer is satisfied. Suppose he has a clarification regarding the product or it has developed some complaint, public relations can definitely help in making him or her happy. Examples of IMC practices in the private and public (or non-profit) sectors: The concept of IMC has grown in importance to such an extent that large organisations are now approaching professional companies who specialises in the field. For example, Omnicom Group Inc, a company that specialises in IMC was selected by Toshiba for its American operations and was given the responsibility for IMC and building the brand in the country. The main aim behind this move was to promote a new line of its award winning (Emmy Award for technology development) Cinema Series(R) home theatre systems. (Business Service Industry: Toshiba Selects Omnicom for Integrated Marketing Communications and Branding Services in the US. 2002). It should be noted that Toshiba had resorted to an IMC strategy even after the earlier models of the product had been made available in the country ten years back. Even public sector, governmental and other international organizations have seen the need to have an IMC strategy to promote their operations. An example that can be provided is the WHO (World Health Organization). "The World Health Organization has successfully applied the IMC approach (referred to in WHO as COMBI - "Communication for Behavioural Impact") in dealing with a broad range of communicable diseases over the past 8 years." (Integrated Marketing Communication for Behavioural Impact in Health and Social Development 2009: Introduction. 2009). The WHO clearly states the measures adopted in implementing the IMC. The COMBI steps involve five distinct and clearly laid out actions or steps. This particular project is with regard to 'Planning Social Mobilization and Communication for Dengue Fever Prevention and Control'. The first step is to have effective public relations machinery in place. It also involves the advocacy and the mobilization of the administrative machinery of the particular region where the project is implemented. For this purpose, the following activities will be conducted "namely, news coverage, talk shows, soap operas, celebrity spokespersons, discussion programmes; meetings/discussions with various categories of government and community leadership, service providers, administrators, business managers; official memoranda; partnership meetings." (Combi's Five Integrated Actions). Another action plan is to mobilize the local community using more or less the same methods mentioned above. The step is to have a sustained advertising campaign addressing the issue. Personal or direct marketing of the concept and the program will also be a part of the IMC strategy. The fifth step is to implement a point of sale promotion. It can be seen that this is an ideal example of a non-profit organization, adopting the strategy of integrated marketing communication. It can be seen that integrated marketing communication has now become an integral part of many organizations. The examples the IMC strategy taken by a non-profit service organization like the World Health Organization also shows even such organizations are taking the concept seriously. It has come to such a stage that companies cannot rely on a single promotion method to make their product or service stand out in a crowded market place. The adoption of integrated marketing communication strategy will soon become inevitable for a company if they have to succeed commercially. This is true maybe even for the company that has built the best mousetrap in the world. 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