Chapter 1

Introduction to Integrated Marketing Communication

1.1 What is Integrated Marketing Communication?

Integrated marketing communication (IMC) is an approach used by organizations to

brand and coordinate their communication efforts. IMC is "a concept that recognizes

the added value of a comprehensive plan that evaluates the strategic roles of a variety

of communication disciplines, and combines these disciplines to provide clarity,

consistency and maximum communication impact." The primary idea behind an IMC

strategy is to create a seamless experience for consumers across different aspects of

the marketing mix. The brand's core image and messaging are reinforced as each

marketing communication channel works together in unity, rather than in isolation.

According to William Stanton, “IMC is an element in organisation’s marketing mix

that is used to inform, persuade and remind the market regarding the organisation and

/ or its products.”

Koekemoer & Bird, defines Integrated Marketing Communication as the collective

activities, materials and media used by a marketer to inform or remind prospective customers
about a particular product offering and to attempt to persuade them to purchase or use it.
IMC blends various promotional tools and communication/marketing/advertising

services and techniques to maximize profit. IMC is ultimately achieved through

concise and consistent messaging that fosters familiarity and consumer affinity.

Effective IMC messages and images are meaningful and useful to consumers,

messaging and branding consistency - a proven IMC concept - yield customer

satisfaction and loyalty.

History of IMC:

First defined by the American Association of Advertising Agencies in 1989, IMC was

developed mainly to address the need for businesses to offer clients more than just

standard advertising. The 4As originally coined the term the "new advertising”,

however this title did not appropriately incorporate many other aspects included in the

term "IMC" - most notably, those beyond traditional advertising process aside from

simply advertising.

Future of IMC

The conception of integrated marketing communication (IMC) is fairly new. The IMC

tools allows marketing manager to plan and then execute his marketing

communication programs, which create and maintain mutually beneficial, long-term

relationships with the target market by satisfying their needs and wants. This means

that promotion tools are used to create loyalty.

The future trends of IMC are discussed in the following:

1. Competitive Advantage:

The Various tools that organization has can be used as a competitive edge against the

competitors. Competitive advantage is the edge and the ability of firm to provide

superior value to its target market as compared to competitors. As IMC components

are designed as a whole, the organization is able to focus its efforts in all the

communication elements that create single, powerful brand equity by speaking with
voice. This single brand message provides a competitive advantage to the company as the

target clearly understand that what the company is communicating.

2. Brand Equity

IMC strategies are essential to the company's strategic brand management because

IMC strengthens the interface between the organization's strategy of brand identity

and the target market's brand equity. The organization that uses IMC strategies will be

able to measure the brand awareness and brand image of its various offerings.

Specifically IMC strategies and brand identity are the most vital parts of the

company's overall brand equity strategy. The brand identity strategy of the

organization serves as a foundation for its overall IMC initiative and, for this reason,

accounts for to the firm's brand equity.

3. Online Advertising:

Online Advertising is becoming powerful IMC tool for advertisers and organization

can use online advertisement as people are now spending more time online; the

Internet became another channel via which companies can market their offerings

successfully.

Because of the Internet's versatility, it will give an organization the opportunity to

reach and interact with its target market. Companies can now produce an IMC

campaigns that exclusively target the desired customer more successfully with less

cost as compared to traditional communication efforts. Online campaigns will give

organization new abilities to the organization due to the following reasons:

• Reach: The Internet used by more than 170 million people only in the United States.

• Relevance: Online Advertising shows ads to potential customers who are actively

searching for what businesses have to offer.

• Return on investment (ROI): Using analytical tools, companies can

understand more about the effectiveness and efficiency of their ads. (Google

2007)

4. Viral marketing:

Viral marketing is an IMC technique that is mostly used for trendy brands;

Marketers are increasing acknowledging viral marketing as an important IMC

tool because it offers the traditions benefits and effectiveness of advertising.

In viral marketing the organization promotes its product using Word of

Mouth Marketing (WOMM), utilizing individual's communication networks,

and relying on their individual recommendations to sell the product.

Companies actively seek viral marketing, by fueling discussion on their

offerings.

Tools of IMC :

Advertising refers to "the means of providing the most persuasive possible selling

message to the right prospects at the lowest possible cost". Kotler and Armstrong

(2003), provide an alternative definition: "Advertising is any paid form of non-

personal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods and services through mass media

such as newspapers, magazines, television or radio by an identified sponsor".

Sales Promotion is the Demand-stimulating activity designed to boost the sales of a

product or service. It may include an advertising campaign, increased PR activity, a

free-sample campaign, offering free gifts or trading stamps, arranging demonstrations

or exhibitions, setting up competitions with attractive prizes, temporary price

reductions, door-to-door calling, telemarketing, and personal letters on other methods.

More than any other element of the promotional mix, sales promotion is about action.

Public Relations programs are a planned communication effort by an organization to

contribute to generally favorable attitudes and opinions toward an organization and its

products. It is a communication function that seeks to build good relationships with

consumers, stockholders, and legislators. The advantages of publicity are low cost,

and credibility (particularly if the publicity is aired in between news stories like on

evening TV news casts). New technologies such as weblogs, web cameras, web

affiliates, and convergence (phone-camera posting of pictures and videos to websites)

are changing the cost structure.

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. According to American

Marketing Association, Personal selling is the personal or impersonal process

of assisting or persuading a prospective customer to buy a product or service

and to act favorable upon an idea that has commercial significance to the

seller
 Introduction to Online Marketing

What is Online Marketing?

Online Marketing is the art and science of selling products and/or services over

digital networks, such as the Internet and cellular phone networks.

The art of online marketing involves finding the right online marketing mix of

strategies that appeals to your target market and will actually translate into sales.

The science of online marketing is the research and analysis that goes into both

choosing the online marketing strategies to use and measuring the success of those

online marketing strategies.

Online marketing uses internet to deliver promotional marketing messages to

consumers. It includes email marketing, search engine marketing, social media

marketing, many types of display advertising (including web banner advertising),

and mobile advertising. Like other advertising media, online advertising frequently

involves both a publisher, who integrates advertisements into its online content,

and an advertiser, who provides the advertisements to be displayed on the

publisher's content.

2.4 History of Online Marketing

Considering the current volume of internet marketing business, it’s hard to believe

how young the internet marketplace is. While the timeline of internet marketing

has been short, the cumulative events leading up to where we are now have

impacted the entire globe faster than any marketing revolution in history. In 1994,

spending for internet marketing totaled nearly nothing, but increased to over $300

million in 1995. Now, little more than a decade later, marketing spending and
internet marketing business has exploded to nearly $200 billion . Today, it’s hard

to believe in having an organization which doesn’t have some kind of online

presence.

When the internet was first introduced in the early 90s, it wasn’t considered to be

an advertising medium at all. Instead, the internet was treated as a tool for

exchanging emails and digital information, but wasn’t yet considered valuable for

reaching customers. However, it wasn’t long before marketing pioneers began to

see the potential for internet marketing business as millions of web surfers logging

on each day to find valuable and relevant information.

2.2 Importance of Online marketing

Growth of internet users must be credited for the growth of online marketing. With

the advent of internet technology number of internet user is increasing at the

greater extent

across the world. India stands at second place in using internet

 Top 20 countries with higher no of internet users

Online marketing is becoming increasingly important to small businesses of all types. In the

past, marketing online was something that local bricks-and-mortar businesses could

justifiably ignore. It didn't make sense to waste time and money on online marketing when

all your business was local.

Now with increasing local search and people's new habit of searching on the

Internet first, it matters.

Online marketing refers to a set of powerful tools and methodologies used for

promoting products and services through internet. Online marketing includes a

wider range of marketing elements than traditional business marketing due to the

extra channels and marketing mechanisms available on the internet.

Following are few specific contributed to the growth of online marketing -

 
Online marketing can deliver several benefits such as:

 Growth in potential

 Reduced expenses

  Elegant communication

 Better control

 Improved customer service

 Competitive advantage

Online marketing is also known as Internet marketing, Web marketing, digital

marketing and search engine marketing (SEM).

Advantages of Online Marketing

One of the most important advantages is the fast availability of the information.

The clients/users can easily get information, by navigating the internet, about the

products that they wish to purchase, and besides that, they can check the

information at anytime of the day.

1. It allows the companies to save money, an aspect that is really taken into

account by the companies since the online marketing campaigns don’t

require a large amount of investment.

2. The previous mentioned aspect, gives less importance to the differences

between large and small companies in some way, thus increasing the

competition and giving that way advantages to the customers.

3. Presence on the Internet can help the expansion of the company from a

local market to national and international markets at the same time, offering

almost infinite expanding possibilities.

4. On the internet everything can be measured, thus it’s easier for the

companies to know almost instantly if their campaign is working or not,

what company or user is interested in their products, from what cities or

countries are they, etc.

 2.6 Disadvantages of Online Marketing:

1. Slow internet connections can cause difficulties. If the companies build too

complex or too large websites, it will take too long for users to check them

or download them and they will get bored eventually.

2. The e-commerce doesn’t allow the user “to touch” the merchandise before

purchasing it. Because of this, some salesmen are starting to guarantee the

possibility of returning the product. In Germany, where a law that regulates

e-commerce and guarantees the customers the total refund of the money

exists since 2000, the electronic commerce is very popular.

3. Other factor is the payment: many users still don’t trust in the electronic

methods of paying and give up buying online because of this.

4. One of the major disadvantages may be the lack of trust of the users

because of the constant virtual promotions that appear to be frauds. This is

an aspect that deteriorates the image and reputation of quality and honest

companies.

5. Other disadvantage is the cash on delivery system, since it doesn’t

guarantee the 100% purchase of the product. This is also the case of

thousands of users that dedicate themselves to daily mock big companies

by ordering on the internet using false identities.

Benefits of Online marketing :

 Internet gives you a wide access of your potential customers. It has been

estimated that a couple of billion people around the world use the Internet, and

more are becoming aware of Internet with each passing day. So, marketing

your business to such a large group of people is only possible through Internet.

  Internet is the only medium that is able to cross geographic and national

boundaries.

 The cost of promoting your business on the Internet is cheaper than other

mediums of marketing. This makes it easy for small and mid-sized businesses

to advertise their products.


 Internet allows the ability to stay connected with customers on a real-time

basis. If any discount going on, then it is easier to send an email to customers

and they can buy the product instantly. Internet also allows to send multiple

messages at the same time, which saves the tedious task of sending a

newsletter to every client.


 Internet marketing facilitates an instant feedback from the customers.

Customers can share about their experience after using the product.

 Internet marketing saves a lot of time and effort. Instead of having a customer

service representative to answer the queries of customers, one can put all the

information about the product or service on the Internet so that customers can

go through it. The most common way of doing it is to have a section dedicated

to frequently asked questions (FAQs) about the product so that customers get

all the required information about the product or the service.


 Internet marketing allows your business to be available 24/7, which means

increased sales and profits.

Limitations of Online marketing :

 Although, Internet marketing allows a wider reach, the start-up costs of a

website can be high. This includes the cost of the required software and

hardware, and maintenance costs.


 There are still a lot of customers who use the Internet just for having more

information about a product and prefer to buy it in person. For example,

 Internet marketing allows a customer to view how a phone looks like and its

technical specifications, but customers prefer having a look at the phone in the

store to get a hands-on experience.

 There are a lot of customers who are not proficient in using the Internet and

focusing solely on Internet marketing can cause you to lose these customers.

 The rules of the trade change rapidly in Internet marketing, and it requires

constant attention and monitoring to ensure that your marketing strategy does

not look out-of-date.


 The biggest disadvantage of Internet marketing is its vulnerability to

fraudulent activities. There are a lot of illegitimate websites out there which

look similar to original websites and rob the customers of their money.

Spamming is also one of the biggest challenges for Internet marketing and

confidential data can be easily stolen by hackers.


 Internet marketing lacks the human touch that is involved when a customer

buys a product from a salesperson. This hampers the prospects of relationship

building which plays an important part in repeat sales and word-of mouth

publicity.





 Chapter 3

Literature Review

This chapter aims at exploring detailed information on major domains of the

dissertation topic by reviewing past research, books and related articles. Modern

studies and past theories concerning these domains are presented. These theories

will be the foundation for the dissertation.

Since the major domains of research topic are – Integrated Marketing

Communication & Online Marketing. The review of literature will revolve around

these.

3.1 Literature on Integrated Marketing Communication

Integrated marketing communication can produce stronger message consistency

and greater sales impact. It forces management to think about every way the

customer comes in contact with the company, how the company communicates its

positioning the relative importance of each vehicle and timing issues. It gives some

responsibility to unify the company’s brand image and messages as they come

through thousands of company activities. IMC should improve the company’s

ability to reach right customers, with the right message, at right time in the right

place. Thus personal and non-personal communication channels should be

combined to achieve maximum impact.

By Philip kotler

Integrated Marketing Communication is a marketing concept that ensures all forms of

communication and messages are carefully linked together.

 At its most basic level, Integrated Marketing Communication or IMC means

integrating all the promotional tools, so that they work together in harmony.

Promotion is one of the Ps in the marketing mix. Promotion has its own mix of

communication tools.

All of these communication tools work better if they work together in harmony rather

than in isolation. Their sum is greater than their parts - providing they speak

consistently with one voice all the time, every time.

Integrated Marketing Communication is the concept that makes all the marketing

tools to work together as a unified force rather than work in isolation. It makes the use

of entire marketing efforts in the form of advertising, public relation, personal selling,

sales promotion, internet marketing , direct marketing in order to generate maximum

impact on the target audience at the minimum cost.

Benefits of IMC:

 Although Integrated Marketing Communication requires a lot of effort, it

delivers many benefits. It can create competitive advantage, boost sales and

profits, while saving money, time and stress.


 IMC wraps communication around customers and helps them move through

the various stages of the buying process. The organization simultaneously

consolidates its image, develops a dialogue and nurtures its relationship with

customers. This 'Relationship Marketing' cements a bond of loyalty with

customers which can protect them from the inevitable onslaught of

competition. The ability to keep a customer for life is a powerful competitive

advantage.

  IMC also increases profits through increased effectiveness. At its most basic

level, a unified message has more impact than a disjointed myriad of

messages. In a busy world, a consistent, consolidated and crystal clear

message has a better chance of cutting through the 'noise' of over five hundred

commercial messages which bombard customers each and every day.

 IMC can boost sales by stretching messages across several communication

tools to create more avenues for customers to become aware, aroused, an

ultimately, to make a purchase.


 Carefully linked messages also help buyers by giving timely reminders,

updated information and special offers which, when presented in a planned

sequence, help them move comfortably through the stages of their buying

process and this reduces their 'misery of choice' in a complex and busy world.

 IMC also makes messages more consistent and therefore more credible. This

reduces risk in the mind of the buyer which, in turn, shortens the search

process and helps to dictate the outcome of brand comparisons.


Limitations of IMC :

 In addition to the usual resistance to change and the special problems of

communicating with a wide variety of target audiences, there are many other

obstacles which restrict IMC. These include: Functional Silos; Stifled

Creativity; Time Scale Conflicts and a lack of Management know-how.


 Some organizational structures isolate communication, data, and even

managers from each other. For example the PR department often doesn't report

to marketing. The sales force rarely meets the advertising or sales promotion

people and so on.


 And all of this can be aggravated by turf wars or internal power battles where

specific managers resist having some of their decisions (and budgets)

 determined or even influenced by someone from another department. It

shouldn't matter whose creative idea it is, but often, it does. An advertising

agency may not be so enthusiastic about developing a creative idea generated

by, say, a PR or a direct marketing consultant.


 IMC can restrict creativity. No more wild and wacky sales promotions unless

they fit into the overall marketing communication strategy. The joy of rampant

creativity may be stifled, but the creative challenge may be greater and

ultimately more satisfying when operating within a tighter, integrated, creative

brief.

IMC supports the AIDA model where in it helps to gain attention of consumers,

generate interest, create desire, and result in purchase action.

AIDA model developed by Elmo Levis is the set of stair –step stages, describes the

stages through which every potential customer passes till the act of purchase.

This basic model guides the copywriters in writing persuasive copy. AIDA is an

acronym of

Attention – grab the attention of target audience and attract them towards ad

message. It leads to generate -

Interest – in the central theme of the ad that presents a forceful selling point,

which arouses –

Desire – to give positive response and act in a favourable manner that ultimately

leads to –

Action – of purchasing product or making an inquiry for the product.

  Literature on Online Marketing

Online services will drive marketing to the opposite end of the spectrum from

“mass” marketing to customized “one-to-one” marketing. Online marketers

communicate instantly and directly with the prospective customers and can provide

instant fulfillment as well. Marketers with carefully designed World Wide Web

sites are already interacting computer to computer, with prospective customers or

an individual basis, much as ATM does in very primitive fashion. Online one to

one approaches while innovative and still glamorous in their pioneering aspects,

offer significant new challenges. The significant aspect is the access with the

customers. Communication and information technology development has

encouraged the emergence of new communication channels that have increased the

options available to organizations for building relationships with clients.

How important is Internet marketing to the success of an organization?

There are no exact answers for this question. It depends on the nature of one

company business line. There are many companies currently using the Internet as

their main business transaction such as DELL, AirAsia, etc… However, companies

such as UPM, the world’s leading forest products producer only uses the Internet

as a media to introduce the company and its products to customers via its website.

Besides that, during the whole purchasing decision making process, customers not

only use the Internet in isolation to search for products but other media such as

print, TV, direct mail and outdoor as well. These media still play an extremely

important role for the marketers to communicate with customers, for example,

direct or face – to – face marketing more or less helps marketers build up the trust

in customers and encourage them to purchase the products. Therefore, it is better to

use the Internet as part of a multi-channel marketing strategy which “defines how

different marketing channels should integrate and support each other in terms of
 their proposition development and communication based on their relative merits

for the customer and the company.

 Tools of Online marketing :

Display advertising - Display advertising conveys its advertising message visually

using text, logos, animations, videos, photographs, or other graphics. Display

advertisers frequently target users with particular traits to increase the ads' effect.

Web banner advertising - Web banners or banner ads typically are graphical ads

displayed within a web page. Banner ads can use rich media to incorporate video,

audio, animations, buttons, forms, or other interactive elements using Java applets,

HTML5, Adobe Flash, and other programs.

Frame ad (traditional banner) - Frame ads were the first form of web banners. The

colloquial usage of "banner ads" often refers to traditional frame ads. Website

publishers incorporate frame ads by setting aside a particular space on the web page.

Pop-ups/pop-unders - A pop-up ad is displayed in a new web browser window that

opens above a website visitor's initial browser window. A pop-under ad opens a new

browser window under a website visitor's initial browser window.

Floating ad - A floating ad, or overlay ad, is a type of rich media advertisement that

appears superimposed over the requested website's content. Floating ads may

disappear or become less obtrusive after a preset time period.

Interstitial ad - An interstitial ad displays before a user can access requested content,

sometimes while the user is waiting for the content to load. Interstitial ads are a form

of interruption marketing.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) - Search Engine Marketing, or SEM, is designed

to increase a website's visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs). Search

engines provide sponsored results and organic (non-sponsored) results based on a web

searcher's query. Search engines often employ visual cues to differentiate sponsored

results from organic results. Search engine marketing includes all of an advertiser's

actions to make a website's listing more prominent for topical keywords.

Sponsored search - Sponsored search (also called sponsored links or search ads)

allows advertisers to be included in the sponsored results of a search for selected

keywords. Search ads are often sold via real-time auctions, where advertisers bid on

keywords.

Social media marketing - Social media marketing is commercial promotion

conducted through social media websites. Many companies promote their products by

posting frequent updates and providing special offers through their social media

profiles.

Mobile Advertising - Mobile advertising is ad copy delivered through wireless

mobile devices such as smartphones, feature phones, or tablet computers. Mobile

advertising may take the form of static or rich media display ads, SMS (Short

Message Service) or MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) ads, mobile search ads,

advertising within mobile websites, or ads within mobile applications or games (such

as interstitial ads, “advergaming,” or application sponsorship).

Email Advertising - Email advertising is ad copy comprising an entire email or a

portion of an email message. Email marketing may be unsolicited, in which case the

sender may give the recipient an option to opt-out of future emails, or it may be sent

with the recipient's prior consent (opt-in).

 4Ps of marketing

Product is the solution to customers wants or/and needs. It refers to the

characteristics of a product, service or brand. The Internet offers options for

varying the core product, options for changing the extended products, conducting

research online, velocity of new product development and velocity of new product

diffusion Many digital products now can be purchased easily over the Internet via

providers’ website. For other products, instead of providing actual products to

customers, many companies publish the detailed product information with pictures

or images. Thanks to this, consumers still have concepts about different kinds of

product even when staying at home.

Price is the most flexible element comparing to other three elements of the

marketing mix, since it can be changed quickly to adapt to the market's demand.

Place decisions outline where a company sells a product and how it delivers the

product to the market. The goal of business executives is to get their products in

front of the consumers most likely to buy them. In some cases, this may refer to

placing a product in certain stores, but it also refers to the product's placement on a

store's display. In some cases, placement may refer to the act of placing a product

on TV shows, films or web pages to garner attention for the product, but this

placement overlaps with the promotion.

The Promotion element of the marketing mix refers to how marketing

communication are used to inform customers and other stakeholders about an

organization and its products. The Internet can be used to review new ways of

applying each of elements of communication mix such as advertising, sales

promotions, PR and direct marketing; assess how the Internet can be used at

different stages of the buying process; and assist in different stages of customers

relationship management from customer acquisition to retention

Internet Advertising: It is a form of advertising that uses the Internet to attract

customers by delivering messages through websites or advertising banners on other

popular websites which leads online users to a company site. The company website

must be well-organized, well-designed and user-friendly in order to attract more

target customers. (Rowley, 2001)

Sales promotion: Thanks to the Internet, sales promotions such as competitions or

price reductions can be provided to visitors of the company’s website in a cost-

reduced way. Not only encourage the customers to visit the company website

again, this also provides the means for the company to build a long term

relationship with their customers

 E-commerce challenges for India

As compared to the west, E-commerce is relatively a new concept, but is catching

up fast and Indian companies are learning new ways to approach and please their

clients. E-commerce is a boom for the Indian Industry as it has opened up new

markets and opportunities which earlier had not existed. Along with the
opportunities e-commerce has also thrown some challenges which have to be

addressed to before we could say, that e-commerce is now completely established

in India.

Connectivity: Videsh Sanchar Nigam limited enjoys a virtual monopoly in

submarine cables and all other Internet Service Providers have to go through them

to provide fiber optic link. In order to improve on the service provided by the ISP,

there needs to be better international connectivity. E-commerce thrives on better

connectivity and therefore we need more players who are offering international

connectivity through submarine cables.

Legal Framework: Though the Information Bill is in force, there is very low

awareness towards its implication Cyber crime is on the rise and unless and until

the IT Bill is taken up seriously, people are going to stay away from e-commerce.

Taxation: Another major challenge is the way the deal will be taxed. Clarity as to

the taxation method needs to be made.

Electronic Payment: Though there are many banks and online payment modules,

the issue of safety and security needs to look into. The methods of electronic

payment need to be refined and stabilized as they are the backbone of e-commerce

People need to divulge private information on the internet which may attract the

attention of criminals so care needs to be taken to ensure that safety and security

are utmost when the payment are being made.

 Steps Involved in Developing Effective Communication

Step 1- Identify the target audience:

The process must start with a clear target audience in mind: potential buyers of the

company’s product, current users, deciders or influencers, individuals, groups,

particular publics, or the general public. The target audience is a critical influence

on the communicators decision o what to say, when to say, where to say & whom

to say it.

The target audience can potentially be profiled in terms of any of the market

segments. It is often useful to define target audience in terms of usage & loyalty. Is

the target new to the category or a current user? Is the target loyal to the brand,

loyal to a competitor, or someone who switches between brands? If the target is a

brand user, is he or she a heavy or light user?

Step 2- Determine the communication objective:

As showed with the example of a new brand to remove the problem of cracked

heels, marketers can set communication objectives.:

a. Category need: Establishing a product or service category as necessary to

remove or satisfy a perceived discrepancy between a current motivational state &

desired emotional state. A new-to-the-world product such as electric cars would

always begin with a communication objective of establishing category need.

b. Brand Awareness: Ability to identify (recognize or recall) the brand within

the category, in sufficient detail to make a purchase. Recognition is easier to

achieve than recall-consumers are more likely to recognize the distinctive red-and-

white packages of Colgate Dental Cream than recall the brand if asked to think of a

brand of toothpaste. Brand recall is important outside the store, brand

reorganization is important inside the store. Brand awareness provides a foundation

for brand equity.

c. Brand Purchase Intention: Self instruction to purchase the brand or to take

purchase related action. Promotional offers in the form of coupons or two-for-one

deals encourage consumers to make a mental commitment to buy a product. But

many consumers do not have an expressed category need & may not be in the

market when exposed to an ad, making intentions less likely to be formed.

Step 3- Designing a message:

An effective message should get attention, hold interest, arouse desire, & obtain

action (AIDA model). In practice, few messages take the consumer all the way

from awareness to purchase, but the AIDA framework suggests the desirable

qualities of a good message. In putting the message together, the marketing

communicator must decide what to say & how to say it.

According to ‘AIDA’ model, a marketer should begin by winning attention or

gaining awareness, creating interest, inspiring desire and precipitating the action

for purchase, in the prospects in order to enable its product to be adopted by the

target public.

Step 4- Choose the Media through which to send the message:

There are two broad types of communication channels – Personal and Non

personal.

a. Personal Communication Channels: In personal Communication channels,

two or more people communicate directly with each other. They might

communicate face-to-face, over the telephone, through the mail or even through an

internet chat. Personal Communication channels are effective because they are

allowed for personal addressing the feedback. Personal influence carries great

weight for expensive, risky or highly visible products. For example, buyers of
automobiles often go beyond mass media sources to seek the opinions of

knowledgeable people.

Non Personal Communication Channels: Non personal communication channels

include media at most year-end events. Media consists of

1. Print media –newspapers, magazines, direct mail etc.

2. Broadcast media-radio, television etc.

3. Electronic media-audiotapes, videotapes, CD-ROM, web page etc.

Display media-billboards, signs, posters, banners, hoardings etc. Most of the non-

personal messages come through paid media

Step 5- Selecting the message source:

In personal or non-personal communication, the messages impact on the target

audience is also affected by how the audience views the communicator.

Messages if delivered by highly creditable sources are more persuasive. Thus,

marketers hire celebrity endorsers; well known athletes, actors, and even cartoon

characters- to deliver their messages. Many food companies hire doctors, dentists

and other health care providers to motivate and recommend their products to the

patients. For E.g. Boost is being endorsed by sport personalities like Sachin

Tendulkar and Sehwag, Lux by Priyanka chopra, Vivel by kareena kapoor etc.

Step 6- Collecting feedback:

After sending the message, the communicator must find its effect on the target

audience with the help of DAGMAR (Defining advertising goals for measuring

advertising results) which was given by Russell Colley in the year 1961. This
involves asking the target audience members whether they remember the message,

how many times they saw it, what points they recall, how they felt about the

message, and the past and the present attitudes towards the product and the

company. The communicator would also like to measure the behavior resulting

from the message how many people bought a product, talk to others about it or

visited the store.

 Participants in the Integrated Marketing Communication Process

1. Advertiser or Client: They have the product, service or causes to be marketed

and they provide the funds that pay for the advertising and promotions.

2. Advertising Agency: This is an outside firm that specializes in the creation,

production, and/or placement of the communication message and that may provide

other services to facilitate the marketing and promotions process. Many large

advertisers retain the services of a number of agencies when they market a number

of products.

3. Media Organizations: The primary function of media organizations is to

provide information or entertainment to their subscribers, viewers or readers but

from the point of view of the promotion planner, the purpose of the media is to

provide an environment for the firm’s marketing communication programs.

4. Specialist Marketing Communication Specialist organizations are of

different categories:

i. Direct-response agencies.

ii. Sales Promotion agencies.

iii. Interactive Agencies.

iv. Public Relation firms.

 Reasons for the Growing Importance of Integrated Marketing

Communication

Several shifts in the advertising and media industry have caused IMC to develop

into a primary strategy for marketers:

1. From media advertising to multiple forms of communication.

2. From mass media to more specialized (niche) media, which are centered

around specific target audiences.

3. From a manufacturer-dominated market to a retailer-dominated, consumer-

controlled market.

4. From general-focus advertising and marketing to data-based marketing.

5. From low agency accountability to greater agency accountability,

particularly in advertising.

6. From traditional compensation to performance-based compensation.

7. From limited Internet access to 24/7 Internet availability and access to goods

and services.

8. Shift from media advertising to other forms of marketing communication

9. Movement away from advertising focused- approaches that emphasize mass

media.

IMC is a concerned with the strategic coordination of all the messages and media

used by an organization to influence the prospectus. In the IMC approach the

different communication are in the form of arcs making up a 360- degree circle, at

the center of which lies the customer.

IMC is concerned with the 4c’s and 4p’s i.e.,

1. Not PROUCT But CONSUMER

2. Not PRICE But COST

3. Not PLACE But CONVENIENCE

4. Not PROMOTION But COMMUNICATION

The heart of IMC lies in the FIVE POWER CONCEPTS that makes the

communication efficient and effective i.e.,

1. Consumer focus

2. Customer empowerment

3. Immersive marketing

4. Brand resonance

5. Emotional bonding

Lastly, “Integrated Marketing Communication” is like a band. The different

communication instruments. Advertising, public relations, data base, marketing,

media specialist, sponsorship, interactive, even marketing and the rest are just

like the different musical instruments: piano, trumped, trombone, violin,

clarinet, percussion and the rest. This analogy is neither as silly nor as simple as

it sounds.