IMC - Integrated Marketing Communication

Trigger: „Lidl Surprises“

Learning Objectives:

• DEFINITION OF IMC  AND WHO IS INVOLVED IN IMC?

• HOW TO USE IMC TO PLAN A MESSAGE FOR A DESIRED USING RESPONSE?

  

Definition of IMC:

“IMC is the coordination and integration of all marketing communication tools, avenues, and sources within a company into a seamless program that maximizes the impact on customers and other stakeholders at a minimal cost.” – Integrated Advertising Promotion and Marketing Communication, Kenneth E.Clow and Donald Baack.

IMC includes internal communication among departments with the messages sent to external customers and suppliers. So it means that all parts of the organisation’s operation have to understand customer needs and characteristics and send, therefore, the same message behind each marketing activity to the target customers.

A complete IMC should incorporate four elements of marketing mix: Product, Price, Promotion and Distribution and the core of integrated marketing communication is Promotion

Involvement in IMC:

IMC differs from traditional marketing processes in coordinating the marketing and communication planning. To obtain an effective IMC strategy is nothing better than that all corporate marketing functions are dedicated to achieving company’s objectives.

As we can see at exhibit A , all departments of organisation’s operation such as Operations, HR, Marketing, Sales, R&D and Distributions are responsible for the planning and monitoring of IMC. It is also important to notice that IMC is not the same as Marketing or Public Relations. While the marketing objectives are sales and profits, IMC objectives should be related to communication effects. So that is why in the exhibit A, the IMC was built as a separate team that has the same function level like any other departments.

An exhibit B will explains the responsibilities of each organisation’s department for IMC in more details. A company has always to identify its target customers before any decision is made and according to different target groups, the company must find out appropriate marketing communication tactics, which will be made by the whole company’s departments. For example, with the loyal brand customers the company tries to promote sales and to maintain a brand loyalty by focussing on direct marketing, advertising, sales promotion, public relations and event marketing.

In addition, some companies can use an external advertising agencies to promote their marketing campaign but it doesn’t mean that they can totally rely on them without any in-house monitors or coordinators. The in-house monitors or supervisors will ensure all members or all part (internal and external) of the marketing campaign are on the same page.

Recently, Canada’s largest insurance company Co-Operators experienced its two worst years in history because the advertising agency didn’t understand the problems of the company and the whole property and casualty insurance industry. As a result, the company had to develop its in-house marketing team with the objective of revitalising the company reputation

HOW TO USE IMC TO PLAN A MESSAGE FOR A DESIRED RESPONSE

According to IMC planning model of Wang-Schultz there are seven essential steps which the marketers should notice when they make decisions.

Starting the planning process with a segmenting the company’s customers. This first step is fundamentally required for any effective IMC strategy, as defining correctly the target customer will help the company reach its goals without wasting any resources.

The second step is analysing information on your target customers to understand their interest, their attitudes, their buyer decisions, what channels they use and how they discover our brand and interact with our products and services. The goal in this steps is to find the best time, place and situation to build and maintain relationships. Marketing managers should also use information technology to develop database and analyse strengthen and weakness of selected channels, so that everyone in the company can understand customer needs and characteristics

Next, the different objectives will be made appropriate to each target groups. The message sent to customers must be clear, consistent and compelling. Whether the company’s target is a website (for purchase, reservation, email newsletter, etc.) or a social network such as Twitter, Facebook, etc. (for engagement), each objective and part of this marketing campaign must have the same message behind them and meet exactly the company’s goal.

Finally, once the marketing and brand behaviour objectives have been made, the managers will decide for communication objectives and strategies with appropriate marketing tools and tactics. 

Sources:

Kenneth E.Clow and Donald Baack (2010) - Integrated Advertising Promotion and Marketing Communication.

William F. Arens, Michael F. Weigold, Christian Arens (2012 – International edition) - Contemporary Advertising and Integrated Marketing Communications.

http://www.cio.com/article/2377257/online-marketing/7-ways-to-create-a-successful-integrated-marketing-campaign.html