INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATION
1. The nature of communication
● Communication - transmitting, receiving and processing information
● Communication is the essence of any advertising or marketing program. It
helps move products, services and ideas from manufacturers to users and
maintains relationships with customers. Communication establishes a two-
way connection between the brand and the consumer.
● Individual communication model
❖ Sender - the person delivering the message/idea
❖ Encoding - the verbal and non-verbal cues that the sender uses when
delivering the message
❖ Transmission devices - human (salesperson, friends, influencers,
brand ambassadors) and non-human (TV commercials, radio, SM,
magazine ads, billboards) devices that carry a message
❖ Decoding - the moment when the message reaches one or more of
the receiver’s senses
❖ Receivers - the target audience
❖ Feedback - the receiver’s response to the sender
● Noise - anything that destroys or disrupts the message
● Clutter - the large volume of advertising messages that the consumer is
exposed to on a daily basis
2. Integrated marketing communication
● The coordination and integration of all marketing communication tools,
avenues and sources in a company into a seamless program designed to
maximize the impact on customers and stakeholders
● Complete IMC plan combines the marketing mix (4Ps)
● In the past, promotion included advertising, sales promotion and personal
selling activities. Now it includes DM, SM, PR programs, alternative marketing
and more
● Steps in IMC plan
❖ Current situational analysis - examination of the current market
situation
❖ SWOT analysis - identifies internal strengths and weaknesses
along with the marketing opportunities and threats coming from
the external environment
❖ Marketing objectives - establishes targets
❖ Key target markets
❖ Marketing strategies - positioning, differentiation and branding
strategies
❖ Marketing tactics - guides the day-by-day activities
❖ Implementation
❖ Evaluation
3. Trends in marketing communication
● Emphasis on accountability and measurable results
❖ Advertising should produce tangible results. It should present
measurable gains in sales, market shares, loyalty etc.
● Integration of digital media
, ❖ This strategy seeks to create an experience with the brand rather than
mere purchases. SM provides customers with information about
companies, brands and products. Positive and negative reviews are
spreaded fast, as well as individual messages.
● Integration of media platforms
❖ Content grazing - looking at the two or more screens at the same time
for different information
❖ Investigative spider webbing - pursue specific content on multiple
devices
❖ Quantum journey - completing a specific task
❖ Social spider-webbing - sharing content/info across multiple devices
● Changes in channel power
❖ Heavily influenced by the media - consumers complains immediately,
disregarding previous good opinions
❖ Retailers seek to maintain channel power by controlling shelf space
and purchase data
● Increase in global competition
❖ Due to the advanced technologies competition has become global, not
just local
❖ The company that delivers the best value and price makes the sales
often regardless the location
● Increase in brand parity
❖ The perception that most goods and services are essentially the same
❖ Result - consumers choose from a group of brands rather than just
one
❖ Purchase decision is also influenced by price, availability and
promotion
❖ Customers easily switches brands when they don’t follow a specific
one
● Emphasis on customer engagement
❖ Brands connect with customers at every contact point (any place
where customers interact with or acquire additional info about the
brand ) to ensure brand loyalty
❖ Strong customer engagement and good emotional connection
4. The role of IMC
● Unify strategy and message across the channels - audiences hear the same
message across multiple platforms
● Streamliness timing
● Connects with multiple audiences
● Creates meaningful insights
● Insights maximizes the impact
IMC combines multiple types of outreach tactics to most effectively reach a brand key
audience at every part of the customer journey.
5. International implication - GIMC
● Standardization - a company features an uniform product/message across
countries - generates economies of scale in production while creating a global
product using a more universal approach theme
, ● Adaptation - the creation of products and marketing messages designed for
and adapted to individual countries
BRAND MANAGEMENT
BRAND - the word, term or phrase featured as the name of a product or company/ a type of
product created by a company under a specific name
BRAND IMAGE - the feelings consumers and businesses have about the overall
organisation as well as its individual products
1. Corporate and brand image
● It expresses what the company stands for as wells as how it’s known in the
marketplace
● The goal is to create a specific impression in the minds of clients and
customers
● Consumers beliefs are more important than how company officials perceive
the image
● Components of brand image
❖ Tangible elements - goods and services, retail outlets, advertising,
marketing communication, name and logo, package and labels,
employees
❖ Intangible elements - corporate personal (ideals, beliefs, conduct),
environment policies, corporate culture, country location, media
reports
Negative publicity can stain or injure consumer’s perception of an image.
● The role of brand image - consumer perspective
❖ Provides confidence regarding purchase decisions
❖ Gives assurance about the purchase when the buyer has little or no
experience
❖ Reduces search time
❖ Provides psychological reinforcement (the confidence that the
service/goods will do well) and social acceptance (others will accept
our choice)
● The role of brand image - company perspective
❖ Extension of positive customer feelings to new products
❖ Ability to charge a higher price or fee - better quality = higher price
❖ Consumer loyalty - more frequent purchase
❖ Positive WOM endorsement - additional sales
❖ Higher level of channel power
❖ Ability to attract quality employees
❖ More favorable ratings by financial observers and analysts\
Brand alliance - two companies use brand strength to develop and co-market a new product
2. Brand names and brand types
● Provides the overall banner for operation - it sets an attitude and tone and it’s
the first step towards a personality
● Categories of brand names
❖ Overt names - reveals what the company does - American Airlines
❖ Implied names - recognizable words that convey what the company
does - Home Depot
