Omar Khateeb

Assignment 1 - Integrated Market Communication

Despite the increased use of IMC and the growing number of organisations that
plan to implement it into their strategies, is IMC beneficial only or are there
limitations or risks that need to be addressed and attended to? According to
(Eiamkanchanalai & Hongeharu, 2009), new communication technologies have
broadened opportunities for the internet and mobile phones, to name a few, to
grow significantly during the past decade and have been utilized for marketing
purposes, and this review aims to provide empirical data and discuss the
benefits and risks of this growing marketing strategy. Limitations and future
suggestions for improved learning and understand of IMC will also be provided.

In the last few years, various articles on IMC have been published in business
and communication journals worldwide, such as IMC strategies in new high
technology product launches (Susanna & Sundqvist, 2008), which show IMC has
a growing, useful marketing tool. This paper provides empirical evidence on the
application of IMC in new high technology product launches among companies
that operate and exist within different areas of business, yet providing similar
innovation to the same market. A qualitative case research methodology was
used and various sources of information were acquired including interviews with
key figures, documentary data and IMC mini-audits. It claimed that organisations
from all backgrounds of business can achieve high levels of IMC, with priority
being placed on the maintenance of good relations with the customer. It focuses
primarily on IMC usage between different organisations in different areas of
business, then on usage of IMC as part of a new high-tech product launch
strategy, according to (Susanna & Sundqvist, 2008). The analysis and findings
were based on empirical data obtained from questionnaires handed out to a
software company (50 employees), a media agency (15 employees) and a
telecommunications firm and manufacturer (100,000 employees). The employer
of the software company was in his thirties with a university-level background in
engineering. The executive from the media agency was a technical expert in his
twenties and the representative from the telecommunications firm was in his
thirties and was a senior manager in market sales. The analysis revealed that
IMC practices vary from company size, business area and customer/product-
service orientation. Prior research has shown that large companies fare better in
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IMC as compared to small companies, and some evidence was found that
practices across firms from different industries vary (media versus
telecommunications). This report also shows IMC proportionality between size of
firm and integration (Beverland, 2005). Since this was a qualitative research
study, the results cannot be deemed generalisable.

IMC is also used as an influential tool to attract target consumers in an indirect

manner, while also explaining the term the Third-Person Effect (TPE), which is
found in Daugherty’s (2009) Third-Person Effect and Social Networking. Lo’s
(2002) understanding of TPE proposes that individuals tend to expect mass
media to have greater effect on others than themselves, also linking TPE to
behavioural consequences related to word-of-mouth communication via social
networking sites such as Facebook. Survey questionnaires were given to 245
undergraduate students at a major South-Western University in America and
results showed that the participants showed more interest to advertising on
social networking sites than traditional advertising mediums such as newspaper
or television advertisement, regardless of age or gender. TPE between genders
varied mildly, but this paper generates implications for marketers targeting
young consumers or those that engage in word-of-mouth communication
through sites such as Facebook (Daugherty, 2009). Another study which
examined the use of Facebook as a marketing tool, Zhang’s (2010) To Play or
Not to Play: An explanatory content analysis of branded entertainment in
Facebook, aimed to examine and report product categories that presented
branded entertainment the most, and the different types of branded
entertainment in the context of Facebook profile pages. With empirical data
being obtained from the 2007 Annual Survey of Social Networking Website users,
the major findings were consistent with the conceptual framework, although
some unexpected findings were discussed further. It shows that the line between
entertainment and advertisement have become blurred, or even erased, during
recent years – particularly in the internet context (Zhang, 2010). The results
from this study supported the theory that not all brands lend themselves equally
to branded entertainment, and that consumer goods marketers are highly active
in providing branded entertainment. Brands that targeted females held a major
presence on Facebook profiles more than the likes of food, liquor, drugs,
automobiles or electronics and although marketers did not directly encourage
word-of-mouth communication, they devised more subtle ways of achieving this.
For example, a reward is won by a contestant and prizes are also given to his or
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her friends, who may voluntarily advertise their winnings to friends on Facebook
to also enter the competition. Only 89 sponsored brand profile pages were the
entire population on Facebook, this number is relatively small and is listed as a
limitation.

Shukla’s (2010) Factors Affecting ‘Internet Marketing’ Campaigns with

Reference to Viral and Permission Marketing also provides empirical data
supporting the theory that social networking sites, but more importantly – the
internet, is an efficient and effective way of advertisement. Faced with rising
competition and consumer demand, marketers are shifting their focus on
modern forms of advertisement. This paper covers areas related to internet
marketing and consumer’s choices towards different communication mediums.
The questionnaire’s results show that internet marketing offers information and
efficiency, and offers new opportunities that businesses were never aware of or
have never experienced in India. Thus helping them understand the market and
make changes to enable better internet marketing skills. It concludes by stating
the internet as the most effective and efficient medium to advertise and deliver
messages to consumers in India (Stokes & Lomax, 2010).

Eiamkanchanalai & Hongeharu’s (2009) A Comparative Study of Traditional

Mass Media, The Internet and Mobile Phones for Integrated Communications also
agrees that IMC target audiences are gradually evolving, with revenues of
traditional mass media not providing the same promising results with wide
coverage as it has in the past. It shows how the target audience is drifting
towards a more segmented audience via cable television, special magazines and
the internet (Keller, 2008). This study illustrates the effect of traditional mass
media, the internet and mobile phones as better to understand, exploring
strengths and weaknesses of their characteristics. Implications for brand building
and customer relations are provided as well as information for marketers to
understand the evolving media world. Finally, it provides data that supports new
communication technologies have opened new doors of opportunity for the
internet and mobile phones to grow substantially over the past decade, and have
been used for marketing purposes. In Turkey, IMC is being regarded as a
potentially dominating marketing strategy as seen in Yuksel & Tosun’s (2009)
Managing Marketing Communications in a Developing Country. The paper
studies the possibility of IMC being used as an overall strategy by Turkish
companies. The research question was to determine the relationship between

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crises and practices of an overall marketing communication strategy (Yuksel &
Tosun, 2009), and found that the majority of advertising managers claim
humorous advertising is a good business tool when introducing new products.
The majority also say that it is beneficial to use humorous advertisement during
crisis periods and none of them thought it was a waste of money. Although they
agreed that television is a more effective media channel than other media
(including the internet), they deduced that the repetition of humour does not
decrease customer’s interest towards their product. In conclusion, it was found
that television was the most effective and cost efficient tool of advertisement in
Turkey and that humour’s influence on audience behaviour may be a
complication for it includes perceptions, values and morals.

Although IMC has many benefits and potential to advertise a vast number of
products, some of the products advertised, such as prescription drugs, cause
controversy – illustrated in Frosch et. al’s (2010) A Decade of Controversy:
Balancing Policy with Evidence in the Regulation of Prescription Drug
Advertising. It explains how IMC’s Direct-to-customer advertising method (DTCA)
of prescription drugs has been controversial since regulations were liberalised by
the Food and Drug Administration in 1997. Empirical evidence was reviewed
addressing the claims made in the policy debate for and against DTCA (Frosch
et. al, 2010). Results showed that although DTCA of the drugs were educational,
shows the quality of today’s healthcare and encourages patient involvement in
the aiding of their treatment, it also states the weaknesses including the
reproduction of consistent information through advertisement worldwide, and
the increased amount of prescription requests for anti-depressants and relaxants
(sometimes falsely claimed) were major risks that could potentially jeopardize
the credibility of major Pharmaceutical companies and healthcare systems all
over the world (Mastin, 2007). Results were obtained via a national
representative survey of Physicians in America in 2009.

In conclusion, I agree that IMC is a beneficial and useful marketing tool,

especially through the medium of the internet via social networking sites as
Facebook. The authors of the journals mentioned were not prejudicial and
conducted relevant surveys and questionnaires providing empirical data on the
strengths and weaknesses of IMC. The articles provided convincing insights into
the growth of IMC and also illustrated that traditional mass media methods, such
as television and newspapers, were decreasing in revenue and interest due to

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the rise of newer technologies such as the mobile phone or the internet. Finally,
the articles complemented each other, supported each other, provided me with a
greater understanding on the area of IMC and also showed me that there are
areas of risk, as seen in Frosch et. al’s (2010) article. More study and research
must be done for greater understanding within the public, and more care should
be taken by marketers when creating humorous messages and when advertising
on Facebook. More care should be taken due to younger audiences and ethical
and moral values across cultures and practices.

References
Beverland, M. (2005), Managing integrated marketing action and launch tactics
for high-technology products. Industrial Marketing Management, 87-103

Bulik, B.S. (2007) Apple Targets Facebook for College Students. Bizmind. 25-27

Carl, W.J. (2008). The role of disclosure in organized word-of-mouth marketing

programs. Journal of Marketing Communications. 225-241

Daugherty, Z. (2009). Third-Person Effect and Social Networking. American

Journal of Business , 53-63.

Eiamkanchanalai, L. &. Hongeharu, S (2009). A Comparitive Study of Traditional

Mass Media, The Internet and Mobile Phones for Integrated Marketing
Communications. Journal of Business & Economics Research , 31-40.

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Frosch, F. Grande, L. Tam, W & Kravitz, H. (2010). A Decade of Controversy:
Balancing Policy with Evidence in the Regulation of Prescritpion Drug Advertising.
American Journal of Public Health , 24-32.

Keller, K.L. (2008). Strategic Brand Management. 103-124

Lo, V.H. (2002). Third-person effect, social desirability and behaviours. Journal of
Communication. 242-256

Mastin, T. (2007). Health Disparities and Drug-advertising. Health

Communication Magazine. 49-58

Shukla, T. (2010). Factors Affecting 'Internet Marketing' Campaigns with

Reference to Viral and Permission Marketing. The IUP Journal of Management
Research , 27-37.

Stokes, D & Lomax, W. (2002) Taking Control of Word-of-Mouth Communication.

Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development. 349-357

Susanna, W. & Sundqvist, S. (2008). IMC strategies in new high technology

product launches. Emerald Insight , 191-210.

Weinberger, M & Gulas, C. (1992). The impact of humour in advertising. Journal

of Advertising Research. 34-38

Yuksel, R. &. Tosun, M. (2009). Managing Marketing Communications

Strategically in a Developing Country. The Business Review, Cambridge. , 214-
220.

Zhang, J. (2010). To Play or Not to Play: An explanatory Content Analysis of

Branded Entertainment in Facebook. American Journal of Business , 53-63