Integrated Marketing Communication
1.0 Introduction
"Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) is a concept of marketing communications planning that recognizes the added value of a comprehensive plan. It evaluates the strategic roles of a variety of communications disciplines for example, general advertising, direct response, sales promotion and PR and combines these disciplines to provide clarity, consistency and maximum communications impact."
-American Association of Advertising Agencies
The importance of implementing a sound Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) campaign by any organisation is to properly compliment their sales efforts by effectively gaining awareness from the target market. Essentially, a successfully-implemented IMC campaign would draw maximum attention towards the company 's main offering of products and/or services.
Promotion (of Marketing Mix) uses five main tools to achieve its communications goal. These include Advertising, Personal Selling, Sales Promotion, Direct Selling and Public Relations. Traditionally, companies tend to employ only one/two tools to realise their goals. Today 's competitive market, however, has made it increasingly difficult to achieve similar results without integrating most or all of the five tools.
Kotler (2003) justifies the integration necessity of the tools by clarifying that, "the proliferation of new types of media, along with the growing sophistication of consumers, makes it imperative that companies move towards Integrated Marketing Communications." Ideally, IMC is a synergic concept that understands the added value of a wide-ranging communications plan in appealing consumers.
The purpose of this paper is to exemplify the importance of Integrated Marketing Communication by studying a real IMC effort by an existing company. A cross-sectional study would be conducted by assimilating available information as a result of the chosen company 's IMC efforts. Their efforts are then analysed into a Strength-Weakness layout to
"Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) is a concept of marketing communications planning that recognizes the added value of a comprehensive plan. It evaluates the strategic roles of a variety of communications disciplines for example, general advertising, direct response, sales promotion and PR and combines these disciplines to provide clarity, consistency and maximum communications impact."
-American Association of Advertising Agencies
The importance of implementing a sound Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) campaign by any organisation is to properly compliment their sales efforts by effectively gaining awareness from the target market. Essentially, a successfully-implemented IMC campaign would draw maximum attention towards the company 's main offering of products and/or services.
Promotion (of Marketing Mix) uses five main tools to achieve its communications goal. These include Advertising, Personal Selling, Sales Promotion, Direct Selling and Public Relations. Traditionally, companies tend to employ only one/two tools to realise their goals. Today 's competitive market, however, has made it increasingly difficult to achieve similar results without integrating most or all of the five tools.
Kotler (2003) justifies the integration necessity of the tools by clarifying that, "the proliferation of new types of media, along with the growing sophistication of consumers, makes it imperative that companies move towards Integrated Marketing Communications." Ideally, IMC is a synergic concept that understands the added value of a wide-ranging communications plan in appealing consumers.
The purpose of this paper is to exemplify the importance of Integrated Marketing Communication by studying a real IMC effort by an existing company. A cross-sectional study would be conducted by assimilating available information as a result of the chosen company 's IMC efforts. Their efforts are then analysed into a Strength-Weakness layout to