Twenty years of IMC

A study of CEO and CMO perspectives in

the Asia-Pacific region
Jerry G. Kliatchko
University of Asia and the Pacific, Philippines
Don E. Schultz
Northwestern University
This article examines the understanding and practice of integrated marketing communications
(IMC) in organisations since its inception 20 years ago. It analyses a survey conducted among
chief executive officers (CFOs) of marketing communications agencies, chief marketing offi-
cers (CMOs) of client companies, and other senior leaders ofthe industry in the Asia-Pacific
region. It then looks into the similarities and differences between academics' and practitioners'
understanding and practice of IMC.
Introduction
Twenty years after its inception, integrated marketing communications (IMC) continues
to stir debate, discussion and, in some cases, confusion. In the beginning, IMC was con-
troversial because it challenged the planning and operating principles of advertising, sales
promotion, direct marketing and public relations. It encouraged a 'customer first', rather
than a 'tool first', approach, and suggested coordination and alignment among various
functional departments and groups. A natural resistance to IMC developed among func-
tional managers because it appeared to make obsolete many generally accepted marketing
principles and practices.
With the advent ofthe internet, however, integration began to gain grudging support.
The concepts of consumer multi-tasking with media forms, simultaneous media
consumption, media synergy and the like quickly became the focus of the entire field
of marketing communications. As the idea of consumer or customer control became
more accepted, a whole new range of research topics materialised. The emergence of
social media outlets, such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, offered opportunities for
customers and companies to communicate about products, brands, commercials and
more. These advances have opened a whole new range of research and practice that is
stiU developing.
International Journal of Advertising, 33(2), pp. 373-390
2014 Advertising Association
Published by Ware, www.warc.com 373
DOI: 10.2501/IJA-33-2-373-390
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING, 2014,33(2)
C-suite challenges
Up until recentiy, IMC was considered the domain of the agency or the mid-level manager
in the marketing communications organisation. In today's business environment, however,
functional managers simply don't have the authority or expertise to make necessary IMC
decisions. Marketing communications and integration are now too important to the
various organisations and require more than simply looking at the tools and techniques,
definitions and heritage of the concept. IMC issues have become 'C-suite' challenges
that require senior managers to make decisions about major changes, both structural and
practical, in order to integrate and align the firm's marketing communications activities.
The study discussed here moves IMC research to the next level, that of senior man-
agement. The future of IMC is in the management of processes that are currendy being
developed. We believe this study helps identify a research agenda for further analysis.
Study parameters
In order to gather relevant views of 21st-century IMC, three things were necessary:
1. The research should be done 'with senior managers - that is, C-level executives who are
actually dealing 'with the issues and have the authority to develop or implement changes.
2. The data collection had to be based on an executive-level approach (i.e. one that could
not be captured in a survey or questionnaire). Further, the data needed to be gathered
by individuals who had knowledge of IMC and were experts in the field.
3. The research should be done in an area of the world where rapid growth and changes
in economics, marketing and marketing communications were occurring. It was
believed that a better view of the future of IMC could be gained in an area of growth
and change, rather than in one of established and rigid communication systems.
The study that follows is essentially a form of grounded theory research (Strauss & Corbin
1997; Denzin & Lincoln 2005). Thus, it does not contain the traditional analytical or meth-
odological approaches that have appeared in much of the previous IMC literature. It does,
however, follow the research stream that has gone before. Most important, it meets the three
requirements listed above. The data were gathered primarily through face-to-face or other
personal interview methods. The respondents were aU employed as senior managers in mar-
keting communications firms, their agencies or media organisations. The respondents were
all located in Southeast Asia, one of the most rapidly developing marketplaces in the world.
In addition, each respondent had at least 15 years or more personal experience with IMC.
Review of related literature
The practice of IMC within companies (mainly those based in the United States) has
been a subject of academic research since the early conceptualisation and development of
the concept in the late 1980s and early 1990s (Kliatchko 2008). Towards the latter half of
374
TWENTY YEARS OF IMC
the 1990s, studies on the spread, strategic implementation and practice of IMC globally
began to emerge (Grein & Gould 1996; Eagle et al 1999; Gould et al 1999; Kiteben &
Schultz 1999). From 2000 onwards, more studies on IMC perceptions and practice in
various countries like South Africa, Thailand, the Philippines, Japan, Australia, South
Korea and China have been initiated (Kliatchko 2008).
Eagle and Kitchen (2000) conducted a two-phase study among advertising and mar-
keting practitioners in New Zealand on the implementation and usage of IMC in organi-
sations. Among other objectives, tbe study sought to identify and evaluate problems that
have impeded the development and implementation of IMC programmes, and examined
ways to resolve such obstacles. Ewing et al. (2000) did an exploratory study on Australian
companies and looked into tbe relationships between perceived agency politics, possible
conflict of interest and IMC orientation. The results show that conflict of interest was
more evident between tbe fields of advertising and public relations. Reid (2003) also
examined the relationship between an IMC perspective in managing marketing commu-
nications and brand performance among Australian small and medium-sized service and
consumer goods firms. His study suggests that higher levels of integration tend to produce
higher brand-related performance.
A study on the development of IMC in the South African market was conducted by
KaUmeyer and Abratt (2001) among senior executives of advertising agencies. Their study
shows that advertising agencies were practising IMC strategies on behalf of their clients,
and that clients were rapidly looking at integrated solutions to create competitive advantage.
Anantachart (2001,2003) publisbed two studies on the practice of IMC in Thailand
in the proceedings of the American Academy of Advertising Asia-Pacific conferences in
2001 and 2003. Both studies show that Thai companies have positive attitudes towards
the IMC concept, and claim they have been practising certain aspects of it, albeit at the
initial stages.
The study of Kim et al. (2004) on the difEision of IMC in South Korea reveals a posi-
tive outlook for IMC and is viewed as a valuable marketing approacb among advertising
agencies and clients. Agencies, however, seem to be taking the lead in the integration
process, perhaps as a result of the agencies' higher level of understanding of IMC over
clients, at least at the time the study was conducted nine years ago. Other studies indicate
that IMC implementation is largely client-led rather than agency-driven. Advertising
agencies can only practise integration in so far as their clients desire and implement it
(Laurie & Mortimer 2011).
Einvidller and Boenigk (2011) present a framework of integrated communication
management incorporating corporate performance measures that possibly demonstrate
the link between IMC and business performance, thus reducing the scepticism in some
quarters about the effectiveness of implementing IMC programmes.
Luck and Moffatt (2009) posit that the emphasis of IMC on message consistency,
focus on target segments and two-way communication could have many benefits to a wide
range of organisations, and is not just limited to the product or consumer goods market.
The study of Kitchen et al. (2008) on the practice of IMC in the United States,
United Kingdom and South Korea shows that IMC is not just a management fad but is a
375
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING, 2014,33(2)
discipline taken seriously and implemented by advertising and PR agencies, largely driven
by client organisations. They note that measurement of IMC programmes stUl remains
a major concern.
Reid (2003) affirms that there is a positive relationship between the implementation of
the IMC process among consumer goods and consumer services organisations and brand
outcomes, such as brand awareness, brand loyalty and sales. He posits, however, that IMC
is more likely to exist in larger consumer goods companies due to more established plan-
ning processes and better systems for gathering and analysing customer data. Similarly,
the relation between implementing the IMC approach and marketing performance in
terms of sales, market share and profits appears to be strong, according to the research
findings of Low (2000).
Kitchen and Li (2005) report that, in a study among advertising and PR executives in
Beijing, China, IMC is an accepted concept and is taken seriously by both marketers and
advertising and public relations agency practitioners. However, its practice among local
companies might take a long time because of cultural differences.
After a brief review of research studies done on IMC in the Asian context over the
last decade, we propose the following research objectives below, to ascertain the extent by
which IMC has been accepted across organizations in Asia-Pacific.
Study objectives
This study has three objectives. First, find out how marketing communications leaders
in the Asia-Pacific region understand IMC. Second, look into how these leaders practise
I MC within their organisations according to their point of view. Third, identify nuances
and similarities between how academics define and propose to practise IMC, and how
practitioners understand and practise it in their organisations.
Methodology
A total of 22 intensive, one-to-one in-depth interviews were conducted for this study,
among chief marketing officers (CMOs) from client companies with both local and
regional roles, and among heads of advertising and media agencies with regional func-
tions across the Asia-Pacific region. AH interviews were conducted face to face, with the
exception of two: one opted for a phone interview and another responded via email. The
interviews were undertaken in two waves (due to availability of both the researchers and
the interviewees, and the associated costs of travel). The first wave of interviews was
conducted between January and March 2011, and the second between January and AprU
2012. Each interview lasted approximately between 60 and 90 minutes.
In order to explore with greater profundity the perspectives of the respondents on the
understanding and practice of IMC within their organisations, in-depth interviews using
a semi-structured questionnaire were conducted in a free-flowing manner. Unlike most
previous studies, this research does not seek to pre-empt respondents on the supposed
tenets of the IMC construct or on what IMC ought to be, based on academic literature.
376
TWENTY YEARS OF IMC
The questions were designed to cover the necessary issues related to the study and were
framed using open-ended questions to aUow more latitude for respondents to express
their views on various issues.
Respondents
Respondents for this study were selected deliberately, and there is no attempt to generalise
the conclusions to a bigger population. In order to preserve the confidentiality of infor-
mation shared by the respondents, neither they nor the corporations they represent have
been identified.
In total, 13 foreign respondents in the region and eight locals from the Philippines took
part in the study. Today, aU multinational companies are globally and regionally aligned,
foUowing matrix-like organisational structures tbat necessitate a lot of interaction among
offices worldwide. AU respondents, including those from the PhUippines, were shown to
be deeply immersed in regional issues related to marketing communications, as weU as the
global business process in general.
Tbe youngest among them had at least 15 years of work experience in marketing
communications, whUe the most senior had spent 37 years in the field at the time of the
interview. The majority of respondents had spent an average of 20 years in the field and
worked in various markets across the Asia-Pacific region, including China, Japan, India,
Fiji Islands, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, New Zealand,
Vietnam and the United States. Some had cross-posting experience in other markets such
as western and eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Twelve of the respondents
had regional purview from client corporations coming from categories such as food, bank-
ing, bealtbcare, beverage, nutrition and hospitaUty, and nine senior executives had regional
roles from advertising, media and digital agencies.
Discussion and findings
The interview questions were divided into two main parts: the first part sought to
contextualise current practices in marketing communications in general, whUe the second
focused more specifically on the understanding and practice of IMC in the Asia-Pacific
region.
Concretely, the first part of the study, as discussed here, delved into the respondents'
views on: (1) the most important challenges they face in the practice of marketing
communications across the Asia-Pacific region; and (2) the marketing philosophy
espoused by the corporation (for client companies only).
The second part of the study sought to investigate the points of view of the respondents
on three key areas of IMC: (1) understanding of the IMC concept; (2) practice of IMC in
their organisations; and (3) barriers to overcome for the effective implementation of IMC
in organisations. The discussion concludes by comparing findings from the respondents
on the understanding and practice of IMC vis--vis the IMC tenets put forth in academic
literature.
377
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING, 2014,33(2)
Challenges in the practice of marketing communications in
Asia
Client respondents
The practice of marketing communications in the Asian context presents nuances peculiar
to this part of the world, whUe still sharing several that are prevalent in western markets.
Client respondents made the foUovidng observations on the challenges they face in the
Asia-Pacific region:
WhUe not only peculiar to the East, several respondents acknowledged the growing need
for CMOs to keep abreast of, and constandy monitor, global business trends and, more
specifically, issues across the Asia-Pacific region. Issues such as the economic health of
the region; weather conditions such as typhoons and monsoon rains that might affect
production and distribution, logistics and supply chain; constraints on legislation; and
bad press on brands could impact local business with positive or negative consequences.
Breaking local habits while building new ones is a key factor that markefing has to
contend with in introducing brands in Asian markets. Transporfing ideas and pracfices
fi-om the West for adoption in the East provokes certain challenges. For example, some
celebrations - such as Christmas, Chinese New Year or Ramadan - typically have mar-
keting campaigns associated with them, are culture bound and are not celebrated in all
markets in the same way. As far as product usage is concerned, some cultures in Asia, par-
ficularly in rural areas that are huge potential markets for consumer brands, have different
approaches to personal hygiene and do not use products such as nappies, deodorants,
shampoo, shaving cream or shaving blades. Some markets also do not have a tradifion of
drinking soda. Transporfing pracfices across other parts ofthe world might not seem as
problemafic as doing it in Asia because, as one respondent pointed out, there seems to be
greater homogeneity among cultures in Europe or Latin America than there is in Asia.
The interviewee opined:
There is a North Asia and South Asia divide. If anything, this is a less homogene-
ous region than any other region I've worked in. It's actually bizarre especially now
perhaps wdth the economic success, it seems to put together as a region much more
than any other region. I guess success breeds closeness. Europe is disintegrafing.
But culturally there is a much greater affinity in Europe or Lafin America than
there is in Asia.
Client, marketing director Asia-Pacic, personal interview, January 2011
A corollary issue in relafion to dealing with multiple cultures in Asia, and certainly also in
the global context, is what one CMO respondent called the difficulty of'travelability' of
an adverfising message across markets. Tbere is a need to adapt the so-called big idea in
creafing adverfising messages to suit cultural realifies and social, as well as moral, norms.
378
TWENTY YEARS OF IMC
It is also difficult to achieve synergy in communication considering the varying levels
of brand penetration and acceptance in the different markets within the region. Global
directions and strategies mandated from head offices mainly from the West cannot be
implemented in Asia unless the local markets are given sufficient leeway to get out of
fixed templates and customise those strategies to achieve relevance and local acceptance.
Respondents posit that global brand architectures have to be locally relevant for them to
succeed and take off. One respondent shares some 'views on this issue:
Global co-creative ideas from the central theme that is based firom our corporate
office ... So they would outline the brand strategy... We would then take off ...
and do the localised interpretations... It's the right balance between the two. Right
balances, we take the best of the thinking that the central theme produces, take it up,
and then do it at the Asia level... And then finding the right hot buttons, finding
the right nuances, finding the right themes, right context, that would make the work
relevant and consistendy good across multiple markets has not been an easy task.
Client, marketing director for Asia, personal interview, January 2011
Varying levels and degrees of technological penetration are evident in several markets
in the region. In large pockets of rural areas in several developing Asian nations, digital
and mobile technologies are less developed and utilised than those in more advanced
economies across the region.
A clear advantage, rather than a challenge, of multinational companies operating in a
global en'vironment today is their abUity to readily share innovation capabilities and
resources, technologies and expertise across the region. In particular, developing markets
in the region benefit fiom a structure that facilitates the exchange and sharing of resources.
Agency respondents
The cost of failure is still relatively small in the Asia-Pacific region (with the excep-
tion of Japan and, increasingly, China and India) compared to developed markets like
the US and Europe, where the cost of media and opportunity costs are tremendously
high. For the most part, experimentation is low-risk and relatively inexpensive. The
advantage of having greater flexibility for experimentation in Asia is that it allows
companies to test unknown waters more aggressively and encourages greater creati'vity
in approaching solutions to marketing communications problems.
Clients and agencies both observed the disparity across markets regarding the practice
of marketing communications and levels of sophistication in the use of digital and
mobile media, where natural clusters seem to form among countries like the Southeast
Asia cluster, the Japan-Korea cluster and the Australia-New Zealand cluster. On the
whole, however, the rise of social media and mobile technology as a means of engaging
with consumers and customers is evident in the region. As one interviewee observes:
379
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING, 2014,33(2)
Where digital media was in the fringe, it very rapidly became the heart of every-
thing. That's what people are realising now but still very slowly in some markets,
that it underpins everything that we do in communications. Everything - from
guerrilla marketing to direct marketing - it should touch and underpin every-
thing that we do.
Creative agency, digital director Asia, personal interview, January 2011
TV advertising is still dominant in Asia, even with the rise of digital media. Unlike the
US or Europe where the rise of digital brought forth a decline in traditional media, the
rise of digital in Asia continues to drive TV as a relatively strong medium due to the
large pockets of people still living in poor conditions with limited access to the internet.
Marketing philosophy espoused by client companies
The client respondents were asked to identify what the authors of this study call the
philosophy of marketing espoused in their organisations that best describes the framework
or approach their companies employ in the practice of marketing. The following findings
were uncovered:
The majority of respondents claim their companies do not have a fixed institutional
framework or philosophy of marketing. Quite a numher are dependent on the system
introduced and put in place by the chief marketing officer (CMO).
Examples of marketing frameworks introduced by CMOs in tbeir organisations
include: 'fusion marketing', 'insight-driven marketing', 'holistic marketing', 'marketing
is customer experience' and 'integrated business planning'.
Only two of the companies represented in the study claim that the IMC framework
is the global marketing philosophy espoused across all their markets. Another two
respondents affirm their companies employ a global proprietary approacb to marketing.
Still a couple of them claim their approach to marketing takes off from their overaU
business plan, corporate tbrust or mission.
Understanding of IMC
The majority of study respondents claim they do not use the term IMC within their organi-
sations. More agency respondents said they did not use it compared to clients. In fact only
one agency and four clients said they use the term IMC. Most respondents (especially agen-
cies) said they use other terms, such as integrated thinking, integrated planning, integrated
marketing, iU service, 360 or simply integration. Whue only a few companies included in
the study actually use the term, all interviewees were in agreement that, no matter what it is
called, they all practise IMC in their organisations. IMC is something expected, and is an
indispensible and standard practice in all organisations today, albeit in varying degrees. An
interviewee provides his viewpoint on why IMC is desirable today:
380
TWENTY YEARS OF IMC
Because the old, traditional method of intrusion is a large waste of money, and con-
sumers now have the ability to shut irrelevant, boring, unengaging messages off... I
think it's a necessity to survive. Unless all brands truly look at practicing IMC, their
ability to survive gets extremely limited.
Agency, regional president Asia-Pacific, personal interview, January 2011
Both client and agency respondents were unanimous in identifying the top four notions of
what IMC meant for them. These were as follows:
1. Use of multiple channels, touchpoints or contact points to deliver a message to a target audience.
This presupposes an understanding of the consumer journey, their path to purchase,
communication pathways and media spaces in order to deliver effective communica-
tions. This also includes the notion of media neutrality, employing only the most relevant
media, thus avoiding biases towards certain media like television. The use of multiple
touchpoints also implies the ability to generate creative ideas that may be implemented
across multiple channels.
2. Consumer centricity that is, the need for deep consumer understanding, consumer engagements
and ongoing connections and conversations as a basis for marketing communications planning
and execution. Consumer centricity means, for the respondents, being outward-looking,
understanding consumer mind-sets and their issues, inspiring behavioural change (for
the better) in people, understanding consumer behaviour, and extracting meaningful
consumer insights to drive marketing strategy and communications. One respondent
posits that a consumer focus brings about a shift of perspective from the integrated
'campaign' mentality of marketers to that of integrated conversations and engagements
with consumers.
3. Coordination and consistency of 360 or total communications solutions. This involves the
coordination of messages and media channels to create and deliver one-sight, one-sound,
clear messages to achieve synergy. This also extends to coordinating different elements
to work together aside from media and communications, such as packaging, pricing,
distribution and product design. Coordination also implies the process of thinking
about the big idea (or creative idea) that wdll work across various media channels and
contexts, and amplifying this idea to maximise effectiveness. One respondent stresses
the need, however, to go beyond simply the 'look and feel' to being more strategic about
communications:
We're moving today from impact to consumer engagement ... Integration is
not just part of communication. Integration bas to go down all the way to how
we answer the phone, how we greet customers who walk into a branch, how we
fulfil requests, how easy is it, or what process you go through when you redeem
rewards, or when you have to open an account ... all those things need to be
integrated ... Everybody is in charge of integration ... even if it is something
381
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING, 2014,33(2)
very hard to do especially because of our size and diversity of our business ...
So there's communication integration, customer experience, and service deHvery
integration ... there's the integration of the customer experience.
Client, marketing director Asia-Pacific, personal interview, January 2011)
4. Involvement of overall business process, not just marketing communications. This presup-
poses understanding the business and the integration not only of marketing and sales,
but also of aU functions within the organisation, encompassing both horizontal and
vertical integration across business platforms within the firm; everyone in the organ-
isation is a steward of integration. At the core of the business process is the consumer.
Practice of IMC
It is interesting to note that the interviewees' descriptions of bow IMC is practised are in
congruence with their conceptual understanding of IMC. There are three key features of
IMC practice common to both agency and client respondents, namely: (1) use of multiple
media in planning and delivering marketing communications messages; (2) primacy of con-
sumer understanding as the kernel of marketing communications planning and execution;
and (3) use of proprietary frameworks or processes for IMC planning, including measure-
ment tools, by botb clients and agencies. A brief discussion of these features follows:
It is common practice for botb agencies and clients to be more media neutral and
use a wide range of contact points otber than traditional media to deliver marketing
communications messages. Although TV continues to be prevalent in less developed
markets, other channels, especiaUy digital, that aUow greater interaction and engage-
ment with consumers have grown in importance. The use of more varied channels is
also clearly refiected in the budget aUocations of cUents for the different media they
utilise. Clients do a lot more coordination work among the various agencies they work
with (i.e. media agencies, creative agencies, digital agencies and activation agencies)
in planning and delivering relevant messages and content to targeted audiences using
multiple touchpoints.
The need for deeper consumer understanding as a pivotal and necessary element of
effective marketing communications planning is also widely understood today among
agencies and clients. A consumer-centric approach involves, among other things, being
respectful and culturaUy sensitive to wbat consumers need and want, conducting ongo-
ing research on consumer trends, understanding the entire customer experience and its
integration in the context of aU business decisions, and understanding the consumer
journey or path to purchase.
About half of the client respondents and a few from the agency side claim that they use
their own proprietary frameworks of implementing IMC within their organisations.
These frameworks correspond to the philosophies of marketing purported by client
382
TWENTY YEARS OF IMC
interviewees described earlier. Some common features contained in these firameworks
include consumer understanding, business scenario and analysis, brand fundamentals,
marketing and communications strategies and tactics implemented at all levels and
functions within the organisation, budget allocations and measurement metrics.
Clients and agency respondents also reported certain differences in their practice of IMC.
Agencies singled out the increasing need to train their staff to think about total communi-
cations, and develop talent and experfise in various marketing communications disciplines
other than advertising, particularly in digital technology. Some agencies also have had to
undergo structural changes within their agency networks to become more integrated and
aligned with the new demands of the marketplace.
Client interviewees highlighted a few other ways by which they claim to practise IMC
that did not surface among agency respondents. These features of integration include
(1) utilising metrics to measure effectiveness of integrated marketing programs; (2) coord-
ination, planning and execution of integration across all functions ofthe organisation, and
not just limited to marketing communicafions; (3) need for commitment and buy-in of
top management to make integration work; and (4) appointing an IMC director or head
of marketing communicafions at local and regional levels.
Barriers to effective implementation of IMC
The agency and client respondents identified resistance to change, lack of IMC training
among existing talent pool, and inadequate financial measurement tools as the three fore-
most barriers hindering the effective practice of IMC in organisafions.
Agency respondents claim that clients' tradifional mind-sets, their resistance to change
(especially top management), and slowness to adapt to new realifies in the digital age are
major barriers to integration. Some clients share this observation within their organisations
as well. Many clients also seem to be risk-averse and still invest heavily in traditional media,
even as they struggle to understand the benefits and effectiveness ofthe digital space.
One respondent highlighted the widespread industry practice among media agencies
and their clients of buying media space in bulk a year in advance (to take advantage of large
discounts and cost efficiencies) even before clients have decided on their marketing plans
for the next year. This practice goes against IMC thinking because it forces television buys
even when this might not be the best medium for a given brand. This practice also sfifies
the fiexibility to experiment in other media. A few respondents have also pointed out that
the traditional, time-bound approach of the so-called 'campaign mentality' in promoting
brands is yet another indication of traditional thinking. This points to the need to shift to
today's reality of engaging consumers in ongoing, always-on, conversations.
The lack of well-trained industry talent wdth the necessary sldU sets to drive integration
is the second most important barrier identified by both agency and client interviewees in
the study. They pointed to a regional need to train agency and client managers to have a
better appreciation ofthe total marketing mix in the context of digital technology, creating
a breed of both creative generalists and craft specialists. One agency respondent claims
383
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING, 2014,33(2)
that creative people in agencies also have to learn how to be more business minded - to
think about sales, business and consumers.
Inadequate methods of measuring the effectiveness of integrated programmes emerged
as yet another barrier to advancing the practice of IMC in organisations. The majority of
clients today, however, as can be drawn from the interviewees, have enhanced their capabili-
ties in analytics and quantitative measurement models and tools to track results of market-
ing communications programmes. One interviewee believes, however, that more needs to
be done as far as IMC measurement tools are concerned:
One of the bartiers is [a lack of] quantitative measurement ... Nobody has a
measuring model that allows you to play 'with three or four factors, one being
context of media, one being the channels, one being the messages, to dictate impact
on consumers. Currently what most marketers or most researchers do is look at
independent parts of the mix to then form a considered opinion of the success or the
probability of success ofthat mix. When you just look at IMC, I think if there was a
quantitative modelling available that allowed you to play 'with certain parameters to
dictate what is the most ideal optimum mix, and 'with that high level of accuracy, it
'wiU give clients far more reassurance to practice this as a ritual and a necessity, rather
than an experimentation and a nice to have.
Agency, regional president Asia-Pacific, personal interview, January 2011
While a few other barriers were mentioned by the respondents, the ones cited highlight the
need for clear, consumer-based and well-grounded strategic directions for brands in order
to originate compelling creative ideas and consistent brand messages for eflFective practice
of IMC.
Industry perspectives vs academic literature on IMC
Understanding of IMC
The results of this study indicate that, in the more than 20 years since academic literature
began to examine the subject of IMC, there seems to be a general consensus between
industry practitioners and academics on the understanding and practice of IMC in
organisations.
The IMC definition introduced by Schultz and Schultz (1998), and the one proposed
by Kliatchko (2008) a decade later are both in agreement with the concepts put forward by
respondents in this study. As points of reference for discussion, both definitions are stated
below:
IMC is a strategic business process used to plan, develop, execute, and evaluate
coordinated, measurable, persuasive brand communication programs over time with
consumers, customers, prospects, and other relevant external and internal audiences.
Schultz and Schultz (1998)
384
TWENTY YEARS OF IMC
IMC is an audience-driven business process of strategically managing stakebolders,
content, channels, and results of brand communication programs.
Kliatchko (2008)
Both industry and academe concur on the following key tenets of IMC:
IMC is a strategic process rather than a tactical one, encompassing the integration
of not only marketing communications, but of tbe entire business process as a wbole,
including all functional areas wdthin the organisation.
IMC is consumer-centric. The whole process of planning and integration is anchored
on a deep consumer understanding, and aU decision points have the consumer as the
hinge and constant reference point. Moreover, although academic literature more
explicitly indicates that IMC goes beyond focusing solely on the consumer and should
look at all relevant stakeholders of an organisation for integrated planning, industry
practitioners acknowledge and imply that, in fact, the integration process involves both
internal and external publics of a given brand or firm.
IMC strategically uses and invests in relevant contact points or media channels to most
effectively deliver brand content or messages to target audiences in a coordinated and
consistent manner.
IMC involves measuring and tracking effectiveness of programmes and their financial
contributions to overall business success.
Practice of IMC
To examine the extent to which IMC is practised in the organisations represented in
this study, we use the four levels of IMC proposed by Schultz and Schultz (1998) as a
framework.
Level 1: Tactical coordination
Focus on producing one-sight, one-sound, one-feel communications to achieve greater
synergy; create cross-functional teams among advertising agencies to provide fiiU service,
one-stop-shop services to clients.
Level 2: Redefining the scope of marketing communications
Consider all the possible contact points by which customers get in contact with the brand
or their total experience with the brand, wbicb shapes customer perceptions and influ-
ences the buying-decision process.
Level 3: Application of IT
Harness technology to improve performance through data-driven marketing, by deliver-
ing more personalised and relevant content or messages to target audiences wdth the use of
databases tbat capture information about customers, consumers and prospects. Tecbnology
provides empirical transaction data over time, customer valuation and analytical tools, etc.
385
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING, 2014,33(2)
Level 4: Strategic and financial integration
Allocate resources and ensure organisational alignment; use measurement systems to bet-
ter rationalise and compare financial returns to financial investments; and measure return
on customer investments and IMC as an approach to drive organisational and strategic
directions.
As discussed earlier, all interviewees assert that they do practise IMC vwthin their organi-
sations. Using the four levels of IMC framework as a take-off point, the following may
be assumed:
All respondents are definitely well within levels 1 and 2 in the way they practise IMC.
Coordination, consistency, synergy in communications, use of multiple touchpoints,
and so on, are established marketing communications practices today.
Now that the use of technology and databases is standard practice in most organisa-
tions, it may be said that all the firms represented in the study, to a greater or lesser
extent, also practise some dimensions of level 3 of IMC. Perhaps the aspect of level
3 that is more fiJly developed in large multinational companies, but not necessarily
so for small and medium-sized firms, is the use of sophisticated analytics and other
measurement tools to create closed-loop evaluation systems (Schultz 8c Schultz 1998).
It may also be inferred that only a few of the large global companies included in the
study are well vwthin the criterion for level 4 of IMC, and that most companies still
have to work towards a mind-set of using customer income flows as the key element of
measurement rather than isolated communication efforts to drive financial investment
decisions in marketing communications. On the other hand, the aspect of level 4 that,
for the most part, more companies seem to practise is the outside-in approach of IMC
(that of being consumer-centric) to drive organisational and overall strategic directions
and decisions for the organisation.
Conclusion and next steps
This senior management view of IMC and integration raises the level of discussion to
a much higher organisational level than previous research. Thus, we believe it can add
substantially to the literature. Respondents seem to lay out clear directions for developing
and implementing IMC in today's interactive, 'one foot in the past and one foot in the
future' marketplace. In terms of planning for the fiiture, previous IMC research is perhaps
interesting but not very helpil. The future is exciting, but there are few clear directions.
Clearly, senior managers are concerned about the rise of digital media and the frag-
mentation of previously monolithic marketer-controlled media systems. When asked
about the changes they had observed, they highlighted a number of issues such as the
deluge of data, the speed of change, and the demand for transparency and authenticity
brought on by consumers' instantaneous access to external and third-party data. Yet these
senior managers contended that, in spite of all the changes and turmoil, some of the mar-
ketplace basics have not changed. Things such as product quality, customer service and
386
TWENTY YEARS OF IMC
good-to-great storytelling stiU seem to provide a foundation for all forms of marketing
and marketing communications today.
Wbat is obvious, bowever, is the intensely local and even individual nature of today's
marketplace. Clearly, each respondent has a unique view of today's marketplace and what it
is likely to be in the future. The concept of mass' no longer seems to be uppermost in the
minds and actions of these senior managers. One can probably argue these are unique views,
given the emerging markets fiom which they were gleaned. Yet, if these types of market
make up 80% or so of the world's population, it may weU be that today's established western
market approaches may be the taU wagging the dog. What seems to be critically important
is that, often, in our search for best practices and discovery of commonalities among mar-
kets and marketers, we overlook the marketer's ability to create and implement individuaUy
focused marketing communications programmes that are unique and have the potential to
be incredibly successful.
As one of the senior executives interviewed for the study said, 'The cost of failure is still
relatively low in the Asia-Pacific region. Therefore, this may weU be the best area to experi-
ment and test new ideas and concepts.'The abiUty to test, measure and learn in emerging
markets sbould be an important consideration for marketers, agencies, and others seeking
knowledge and researchable concepts that are easily tested and either confirmed or discarded.
One of the most interesting areas of the study came from the 'philosophy of marketing'
that was being implemented by both clients and their agencies. In the research, IMC was
mentioned, but no preconceived definition was provided to respondents. Most respond-
ents clearly espoused an IMC-type approach to marketing communications through their
discussion, but they just didn't use this terminology. Instead terms such as 'fusion', 'insight
driven' and 'holistic' replaced IMC, much to the chagrin of the researchers.
The academic community thrives on clearly defined concepts, and tried and tested expla-
nations in which the messy world of actual marketing and marketing communications can be
codified. Such is not the case with these practitioners. Each seems to have a unique view of
integration, what it is, how it should be used, how it can be implemented, and so on. Indeed,
from the client or marketing organisation view, each CMO seems to have brought his or
her own unique view and definition of the concept and how it should be played out in each
company and each country And, most likely, when that CMO moves on, his or her replace-
ment wiU bring a new view of integration to tbe firm as well. Tbus, we can conclude that
a clearly defined and agreed upon definition of IMC may not be possible, practical or even
useful. We probably should be dealing with broader concepts such as thinking and planning
at a more strategic level, being driven by customer focus, and using contact points rather than
media forms or even the 'bright, new, shiny objects' that seem to define today's social media.
Can this study help provide direction for future research efforts in IMC? We believe it
can. Here are some clear initiatives that need to be undertaken, starting today:
Almost aU respondents agreed on the need for better measures and measurement of inte-
grated programmes, whatever form they take. Clearly, if we couldn't successfliUy measure
the returns on individual media forms in the past, today's proliferation of media forms
complicates that question substantially. Perbaps something that is resident in the answers
387
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING, 2014,33(2)
of respondents provides a clue to how that might be done going forward. If the customer
tnily does control the marketplace today, what the marketer does may well be less impor-
tant than what tbe customer does. Although this perspecfive may be viewed differently
by different academics and pracfifioners, we believe that, rather than trying to measure
the impact of what we are doing as marketers, it might be better to try to measure what
customers are doing ... parficularly in terms of their media usage, purchasing behaviours,
how they are combining and consolidafing aU the media forms available to them, and so
on. So, maybe one of tbe key learnings is to focus on customer access and use of media
forms, rather than what media forms tbe marketer is using - consumer consumpfion
rather than marketer distribufion.
Financiis are crifical. Every respondent interviewed stressed the critical nature of devel-
oping strategic business approaches, not just 'm to look at creafive execufions, no matter
how integrated they are'. The future of marketing and markefing communicafions is
financial. It's fime for both academics and professionals to focus on what is important to
the firm - financial returns, not just likes and loves and buzz and good feelings.
Running throughout the study was a theme of change. What has been developed and
codified both by the academic community and the senior markefing executives is 'nice
to know, but not terribly relevant' today. That is clear firom the comments about the
resistance to change the senior marketing people found in their ovm organisafions and
among their agencies. The 'campaign nature'of marketing communicafions planning and
implementafion must clearly give way to more strategic, longer-term, financially viable
relafionship programmes that buUd value for both the marketer and customer over time.
We simply need to rethink what marketing communicafions is all about in an interacfive,
informaon-laden system where the customer probably knows as much as, or perhaps
more than, the marketer. Control is gone. Informafion sharing is likely to be the future,
and reciprocity for both parfies the goal.
As academicians, this study raises some important issues. We can probably continue to
build glorious, stafiscaUy bulletproof models of how the wotld sbould be. But how prac-
fical and valuable are they going forward? Simply creating more elegant models, which
may be supported by and regaled by our associates, may have no long-term, applied value.
One ofthe academic challenges to IMC has been the inability of its proponents to pro-
vide a widely agreed upon definifion. It may well be that now, 20 years later, the CMOs
and agency execufives in the Asia-Pacific region have shovwi us just how irrelevant find-
ing an agreed upon definifion really is. Maybe IMC is really the concept of customer
focus, contact points and measurable returns implemented in mulfiple ways by mulfiple
organisafions and directed to mulfiple audiences. Perhaps its only real value is that it is
relevant, authenfic and usefiil to the persons at the buying end ofthe confinuum.
Clearly, there is much work to do and many exdting new avenues to ptirsue. We hope this
study wiU provide some insight into where to start.
388
TWENTY YEARS OF IMC
References
Anantachart, S. (2001) To integrate or not to integrate: exploring how Thai marketers perceive
integrated marketing communications. Proceedings of the 2001 Special Asia-Pacific Conference of
the American Academy of Advertising, 6673.
Anantachart, S. (2003) In the eyes of tlie beholder: a comparison of Thai marketers'and
advertising practitioners' perceptions on integrated marketing communications. Proceedings of
the 2001 Special Asia-Pacific Conference of the American Academy of Advertising, Al47.
Denzin, N.K. 6c Lincoln, Y.S. (2005) The Sage Handbook of Qualitative Research (third edition).
London: Sage.
Eagle, L. & Kitchen, P. (2000) IMC, brand communications, and corporate cultures: client/
advertising agency coordination and cohesion. European Journal cf Marketing, 34(5/6), 667-686.
Eagle, L., Kitchen, P., Hyde, K, Fourie, W. ScPadisetti, M. (1999) Perceptions of integrated
marketing communications among marketers and ad agency executives in New Zealand.
International Journal of Advertising, 18(1), 89119.
Einwiller, S.A. & Boenigk, M. (2011) Examining the link between integrated communication
management and communication effectiveness in medium-sized enterprises. Journal of
Marketing Communications, DOI:10.1080/13527266.2010.530055.
Ewing, M.T., De Bussy, N. M. & Caruana, A. (2000) Perceived agency politics and conflicts of
interest as potential barriers to IMC oentation. Journal of Marketing Communications, 6(2),
107-119.
Gould, S.J., Lerman, D.B. 8c Grein, A.F. (1999) Agency perceptions and practices on global IMC.
Journal of Advertising Research, 39(1), 7-14.
Grein, A.F. 8c Gould, S.J. (1996) Globally integrated marketing communicadons./owr/ of
Marketing Communications, 2(3), 141-158.
Kallmeyer, J. 8c Abratt, R. (2001) Perceptions of IMC and organizational change among agencies
in South Africa. International Journal of Advertising, 20(3), 361380.
Kim, I., Han, D. 8c Schultz, D. (2004) Understanding the diffusion of integrated marketing
communications./ora/ of Advertising Research, 44(1), 3145.
Kitchen, RJ. 8cLi,T. (2005) Perceptions of integrated marketing communications: a Chinese ad
and PR agency perspective. International Journal of Advertising, 24(1), 5178.
Kitchen, P.J. 8c Schultz, D.E. (1999) A mul-country comparison of the drive for WIC Journal of
Advertising Research, 39(1), 21-38.
Kitchen, P.J., Kim, I. 8c Schultz, D.E. (2008) Integrated marketing communications: practice leads
theory. Journal of Advertising Research, 48(4), 531-546.
Kliatchko, J. (2008) Revisiting the IMC construct: a revised definition and four pillars.
International Journal of Advertising, 27(1), 133-160.
Laurie, S. 8c Mortimer, K. (2011) IMC is dead. Long live IMC: academics'versus practitioners'
views. Journal of Marketing Management, 27(13/14), 1464-1478.
Low, G.S. (2000) Correlates of integrated marketing commuic3.tons. Journal of Advertising
Research,40{3),27-39.
Luck, E. 8cMoffatt, J. (2009) IMC: has anything really changed? A new perspective on an old
demton. Journal of Marketing Communications, 15(5), 311-325.
Reid, M. (2003) IMC-performance relationship: fiirther insight and evidence from the Australian
marketplace. International Journal of Advertising, 22(2), 227-248.
Schultz, D.E. 8c Schultz, H.F. (1998) Transitioning marketing communication into the twenty-
first centMxy. Journal cf Marketing Communications, 4(1), 9-26.
Strauss, A. 8c Corbin, J. (1997) Crounded Theory in Practice. London: Sage.
389
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVERTISING, 2014,33(2)
About the authors
Jerry G. Kliatchko is an Associate Professor of Integrated Marketing Communications
(IMC) at the University of Asia and the Pacific (UAScP) hased in Manila, Philippines. He
is currently the Dean of the School of Communication at UAScP. He was also the Vice
President for Academic Affairs and Corporate Communications of the same university
from 2006 to 2010.
He has a doctorate in Public Communication from the University of Navarra in
Pamplona, Spain. He began the graduate programme in IMC at UAcP in 1997. In 2005,
he initiated the Asia-Pacific Tambuli Awards, an award-giving body on social good market-
ing that delivers business results for corporations in the Asia-Pacific region. Dr Kliatchko is
also the AGORA awardee in the Philippines for the Outstanding Achievement in Marketing
Education award in 2005. He has published books and academic journal articles in interna-
tional refereed journals over the last years. He is on the editorial board of the International
Journal of Integrated Marketing Communication.
Don E. Schultz is Professor Emeritus-in-Service of Integrated Marketing
Communications. He is also president of the global marketing consultancy Agora, Inc.,
located in Chicago.
Prior to his academic career, Schultz spent 15 years in media and advertising agency
management, the last ten at Tracy-Locke Advertising and Public Relations, Dallas, where
he was a senior vice president and management supervisor on a number of national
accounts. He resigned from Tracy-Locke to pursue a career in academia.
Schultz lectures, conducts seminars and conferences and consults on five continents.
His current research and teaching focuses on communication integration, emerging mar-
kets, branding and tbe financial measures of marketing and communication, social media's
impact on consumers, media synergy and intemal marketing. He also holds or has held
appointments as an adjunct/visiting professor at the Queensland University of Technology
in Australia, Cranfield School of Management in the UK,Tsinghua University and Peking
University, China and the Swedish School of Economics, Finland.
He is the author/co-author of twenty-six books and over 150 trade, academic and pro-
fessional articles. He is a featured columnist in Marketing News and Marketing Insights. He
was founding editor of xhe Journal of Direct Marketing, and is associate editor of the. Journal
of Marketing Communications, co-editor of tbe International Journal of Integrated Marketing
Communication and is on the editorial review board for many trade and scholarly publica-
tions. He is a former member of tbe National Advertising Review Board.
Address correspondence to: Jerry G. Kliatchko, Dean, School of Communication,
University of Asia and the Pacific, Philippines, Pearl Drive, Ortigas Center, Pasig City,
Philippines 1605.
Email: jerry.kliatchko@uap.asia
390