Introduction
For years, most companies concentrated their promotional functions through the use of sales promotions through mass media advertising. In almost all aspects of marketing communication, companies depend on expertise of advertising agencies. Although, most marketers have already introduced and used other marketing communication and promotional tools, package design firms, direct marketing agencies and sales promotion were generally considered as supplementary services and were only used on specific projects. Agencies on public relations were employed to handle the affairs, publicity and image of a company to the targeted public. However, these services were not regarded as vital processes in marketing communication. Traditionally, marketing practices were founded within strong barriers wherein various functions on marketing and promotion are planned and managed separately, with specific market views, budgets, goals and objectives. During this time, marketers failed to realize the importance of coordinating all marketing tools in order to enhance communication and image to target markets (Moore and Thorson, 1996).
By 1980s, several organizations have understood and realized the effective strategy behind the integration of various promotional tools. Later, this marketing approach was termed as the integrated marketing communications or IMC. This involves the incorporation of different promotional elements and marketing activities used in communicating with the company’s clients (Moore and Thorson, 1996). A significant transition on marketing approach occurred as marketers were no longer concentrated on solely using media advertising for marketing. Moreover, several companies began to go beyond conventional practice and used other promotional specialists to improve and implement their market plans.
Benefits on Sales Volume in Unilever
One of the companies operating