A brief introduction to Integrated

Marketing Communication (IMC)

Mohamed Rashid

+919809209195

What is marketing
Marketing is defined by the American

Marketing Association (AMA) as

"the activity, set of institutions, and
processes for creating, communicating,
delivering, and exchanging offerings that
have value for customers, clients, partners,
and society at large."

Advertising and sales promotion play an

important role in the exchange process by

informing consumers about an
organisations product/services and
persuading them to purchase to satisfy
their needs and wants.

The Marketing Mix

The marketing mix has been the key

concept to advertising. The marketing mix

was suggested by Jeremy McCarthy,
professor at Harvard Business School, in
the 1960s.
The four Ps- Product, Price,
Place(distribution), and Promotion are the
elements of Marketing Mix
Marketers must combine these elements
into a cohesive marketing strategy.

Many companies recognize the need to

integrate their various marketing

communication efforts, such as media
advertising, direct marketing, sales
promotion, and public relations, to achieve
more effective marketing communications.

Integrated Marketing
Communications
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.
The concept includes online and offline
marketing channels.

Online marketing channels include any e-

marketing campaigns or programs, from

search engine optimization (SEO), pay-perclick, affiliate, email, banner to latest web
related channels for webinar, blog, microblogging, face book marketing, RSS,
podcast, Internet Radio and Internet TV.
Offline marketing channels are traditional
print (newspaper, magazine), mail order,
public relations, industry relations,
billboard, radio, and television.

company develops its integrated marketing

communication programme using all the

elements of the marketing mix (product,
price, place, and promotion).
An integration of all these promotional tools
along with other components of marketing
mix to gain edge over competitor is called
Integrated Marketing Communication.

Role of IMC in Branding

A brand is the personality that identifies a

product, service or company (name, term,

sign, symbol, or design, or combination of
them) and how it relates to key
constituencies: Customers, Staff, Partners,
Investors etc.
With more and more products and services
competing for consideration by customers
who have less and less time to make
choices, well known brand have a major
competitive advantage in today's market.

There are many ways for a company to

contact the customer to provide them the

information about the co:
The challenge is to understand how to use
the various IMC tools in an effective way in
a right combination.

Tools of IMC
Advertising
Direct Marketing
Interactive/Internet Marketing
Sales Promotion
Publicity
Public Relation
Personal selling

Advertising
Any paid form of nonpersonal

communication about an organization,

product, service, or idea by an identified
sponsor.

Types of advertising
Digital advertising
Television advertising / Music in advertising
Radio advertising
Online advertising
Product placements

Physical advertising
Press advertising
Mobile billboard advertising
In-store advertising
Celebrity branding

Direct Marketing
Traditionally this has not been considered

as an element of promotional mix.

The development of IT and Internet have
made Direct Marketing a very powerful tool
in marketing mix

Channels of Direct Marketing

Direct Marketing is much more than direct mail and mail

order catalog. It involves a verity of activities including

Database management
Direct mail
Telemarketing
Email Marketing
Door-to-Door Leaflet Marketing
Broadcast faxing
Voicemail Marketing
Couponing
Direct-response television marketing
Direct selling

Interactive/Internet
marketing
The definition of interactive marketing

comes from John Deighton at Harvard, who

says interactive marketing is the ability to
address the customer, remember what the
customer says and address the customer
again in a way that illustrates that we
remember what the customer has told us
(Deighton 1996).
Interactive marketing is not synonymous
with online marketing, although interactive
marketing processes are facilitated by
internet technology.

Interactive media allow for a back-and-forth flow of

information whereby users can participate in and

modify the form and content of the information they
receive in real time.
Unlike traditional forms of marketing communication
such as advertising, which are one way oriented, the
new media allows users to perform a verity of
functions such as receive and alter the information
and image, make inquiries, respond to question, and
ofcourse make a purchase.
Although internet is the primary media of Interactive
Marketing, There are other forms which include
CD-RMs, Kiosks, and interactive television.

Sales Promotion
Sales promotion is any initiative

undertaken by an organisation to promote

an increase in sales, usage or trial of a
product or service (i.e. initiatives that are
not covered by the other elements of the
marketing communications or promotions
mix). It adds an extra value or incentive to
the sales force, the distributers, or the
ultimate consumer and can simulate
immediate sales.

Sales promotions are varied. Often they are

original and creative, and hence a

comprehensive list of all available
techniques is virtually impossible.
However it can be broken into two major
categories
Consumer oriented sales promotion and
Trade oriented sales promotion

Consumer oriented sales promotion is

targeted to the ultimate user of a product

or services and includes
couponing, samples, premiums, rebates,

contests, sweepstakes, and various point of

purchase materials.
Trade oriented sales promotion is targeted
towards marketing intermediaries such as
wholesalers, distributers, and retailers.
Promotion and merchandising allowances, price deals,

sales contests, and trade shows are some of the

promotional tool used.

Publicity
Non-paid, non-personal communication to

promote the organisation, products,

services, idea or image of the company not
directly done under an identified
sponsorship.
It usually comes in the form of a news
story, editorial, or announcement about an
organisation and/or its product and
services.

An advantage of publicity over other forms

of promotion is its credibility.

Consumers generally tend to be less
skeptical towards favorable information
about a product or service when it comes
from a source they believe is unbiased.
Publicity is not always under control of an
orgnisation and is sometimes unfavorable.

Public Relations
Public Relations (or PR) is a field concerned

with maintaining public image for highprofile people, commercial businesses and
organizations, non-profit associations or
programs.
It defined the practice of public relations as
"the art and social science of analyzing
trends, predicting their consequences,
counseling organizational leaders, and
implementing planned programs of action,
which will serve both the organization and
the public interest."

Publicity v/s Public Relations

It is important to recognize the distinction

between publicity and public relations.

When an organization systematically plans
and distributes information in an attempt to
control and manage its image and nature of
the publicity it receives, it is really engaged
in a function known as public relations.

Personal selling
Personal selling is oral communication

with potential buyers of a product with the

intention of making a sale. The personal
selling may focus initially on developing a
relationship with the potential buyer, but
will always ultimately end with an attempt
to "close the sale
Personal selling is one of the oldest forms
of promotion.
It involves the use of a sales force to
support a push strategy (encouraging
intermediaries to buy the product) or a pull
strategy (where the role of the sales force

Kotler describes six main activities

of a sales force:
(1) Prospecting - trying to find new customers
(2) Communicating - with existing and potential customers

about the product range

(3) Selling - contact with the customer, answering
questions and trying to close the sale
(4) Servicing - providing support and service to the
customer in the period up to delivery and also post-sale
(5) Information gathering - obtaining information about the
market to feedback into the marketing planning process
(6) Allocating - in times of product shortage, the sales
force may have the power to decide how available stocks
are allocated

IMC Planning Process

The individuals involved in promotion

design a promotional plan that provides the

framework for developing, implementing,
and controllingthe orgnisations integrated
marketing communications program and
activies.
Promotion is one part of, and must be
integrated into, the overall marketing plan
and program.

George E. Belch & Michael A. Belch brakes

the IMC planning Process into

Review of the Marketing Plan
Promotional Program Situational

Analysis
Internal Analysis
External Analysis-

Analysis of the Communication Process

Budget Determination
Developing the IMC Program
Monitoring , Evaluation, and control

Review of Marketing Plan

Examine overall marketing plan and

objectives
Role of advertising and promotion
Competitive analysis
Assess environmental influences

Analysis of Promotional Program

Situation
Internal analysis
Promotional department organization
Firms ability to implement promotional

program
Agency evaluation and selection
Review of previous program results
External analysis
Consumer behavior analysis
Market segmentation and target marketing
Market positioning

Analysis of Communication Process

Analyze receivers response processes
Analyze source, message, channel factors
Establish communications goals and

objectives

Budget Determination
Set tentative marketing communication

budgets
Allocate tentative budget

Develop IMC Program

Advertising
Set advertising objectives
Determine advertising budget
Develop advertising message
Develop advertising media strategy

Direct marketing
Set direct marketing objectives
Determine direct marketing budget
Develop direct marketing message
Develop direct marketing media strategy

Interactive/Internet marketing
Interactive/Internet marketing objectives
Determine Interactive/Internet marketing budget
Develop Interactive/Internet marketing message
Develop Interactive/Internet marketing media

strategy
Sales Promotion
Set Sales Promotion objectives
Determine Sales Promotion budget
Determine Sales Promotion tools and develop

messages
Develop Sales Promotion media strategy

Publicity/ Public relations

Set Publicity/ PR objectives
Determine Publicity/PR budget
Develop Publicity/PR message
Develop Publicity/PR media strategy

Personal Selling
Set personal selling and sales objectives
Determine personal selling/sales budget
Develop sales message
Develop selling roles and responsibilities

Integration and Implement

Marketing Communication Strategy
Integrate promotional- mix strategy
Create and produce ads
Purchase media time, space, etc
Design and implement direct-marketing

programs
Design and distribute sales promotion
materials
Design and implement PR/Publicity
programs
Design and implement Interactive/Internet
Marketing Program

Monitor, Evaluate, and Control IMC

Program
Evaluate promotional program

results/effectiveness
Take measures to control and adjust
promotional strategies

References
Advertising and promotion An Integrated

Marketing Communication Perspective

George E. Belch & Michael A. Belch

Thank You