INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATION

 IMC involves coordinating the various

promotional elements and other marketing
activities that communicate with a firm’s
customers.
 Many companies see IMC as a way to
coordinate and manage their marketing
communication programs to ensure that
they give their customers a consistent
message about the company and its brands
 The IMC approach presents an improvement
over the traditional method of treating the
various marketing and communication
elements as virtually separate activities.
 The IMC approach helps to identify the most
appropriate and effective methods of
communicating and building relationships
with their customers as well as other
stakeholders.
Reasons for the growing Importance of IMC
 Companies understand the importance of
strategically integrating the various
communications functions rather than
having them operate autonomously. By
coordinating their marketing
communication efforts, companies can avoid
duplication, take advantage of synergy
among promotional tools and develop more
effective marketing programs. Proponents of
IMC argues that it is one way of maximizing
the return on investment in marketing and
promotion.
 The move to IMC reflects an adaptation by
marketers to changing environment with
respect to consumers technology and media.
Major changes have taken place in regard to
consumers with respect to demographics,
lifestyles, media use, and buying and
shopping patterns. Everyday consumers are
surfing the internet to seek for online
 services.For example Jumia provide the
opportunity to shop for and order a vast
array of products and services.
 The traditional media are being affected by
new technologies. Television, Radio and
magazines and newspapers are becoming
fragmented and reaching smaller and
selective audiences. Thus there is decline in
audience size for many media.
 Consumers are less responsive to traditional
advertising. Marketers recognize that many
consumers are turned off by advertising and
tired of being bombarded with sales
messages. These factors are prompting many
marketers to look for alternative ways to
communicate with the target audience
 The IMC movement is being driven by
changes in the ways companies market their
products and services. Example companies
are shifting their marketing dollars from
media advertising to other forms of
 promotion especially consumer and trade
oriented promotions. Many marketers feel
that traditional advertising has become too
expensive and is not cost effective.
 The rapid growth of data base marketing –
many companies are building data bases
containing customer names, geographic,
demographic and psychological profiles
purchase patterns, media preferences, credit
ratings and other characteristics. Marketers
use this information to target consumers
through a variety of direct marketing
methods ie telemarketing, direct mail, and
direct response advertising rather than
relying on mass media.
 The rapid growth of the internet which is
changing the very nature of how companies
do business and the ways in which they
communicate and interact with customers.
The internet revolution is underway and the
internet audience is growing rapidly. The
 internet is an interactive medium and is
becoming an integral part of communication
strategy and even business strategy.
 Companies are realizing that they must
change the way they market and promote
their products. They can no longer depend
on one specific communication tool, rather
they should use whatever methods which
offers the best methods of advertising the
message to the target audience.
The role of IMC in Branding
 Imc plays a major role in the process of
developing and sustaining a brand identity
and equity.
 Well known brands have a better
competitive edge in todays market place
 Building and maintaining brand identity
and equity require the creation of well know
brands with favourable,strong and unique
associations in the mind of the customer.
 Brand identity is a combination of many
factors including the name, logo, symbols,
design, packing, and performance of a
product or services as well as the image and
the type of association that comes to mind
when consumers think about the brand.
 It encompasses the entire spectrum of
consumers’ awareness, knowledge, and
image of the brand as well as the company
behind it.
 It is the sum of all points of encounter or
contacts that the consumers have with the
brand and it extends beyond the experience
or outcomes of using it.
 These contacts can result from various forms
of integrated marketing communications
activities by the company including mass
media adversting,sales promotion offers,
sponsorship activities at sporting and
entertainment events ,websites on the
 internet and direct mail such as letters,
catalogues or videos.
 Consumers can also receive information at
the point of sales, through articles or stories
they see or hear in the media or through
interactions with company sales persons.
 Marketers recognize that in the modern
world of marketing there are many different
opportunities and methods of contacting
current and prospective customers to
provide them with information about the
brand and/or the company.
 The marketers must find the right
combination of communication tools and
techniques define their role and extent to
which they can be used and coordinate their
use
Branding
 Brands are a product of the work of
managers who attempt to augument their
products with values and associations that
 are recognized by and are meaningful to
their customers.
 Brands are a composite of 2 constructs, the
first being an identity that managers wish to
portray and the second being images
construed by the audience of the identities
they perceive.
 Both managers and customers are involved
in the branding process.
 Consistent quality fulfilled brand promises
and customer satisfaction through time can
help buyers to trust the brand
 This may lead customers to prioritize a
brand within their evoked set for that
product category.
 Brand names provide information about
content, taste, durability, quality, price and
performance, without requiring the buyer to
undertake time consuming comparison tests
with similar offerings or other risk reduction
approaches to purchase decisions.
  Branding requires ,a significant contribution
from marketing communications and is a
long time exercise.
 Many organizations are moving the balance
of their communication mix away from the
emphasis on advertising towards the other
tools of the media.
 For example, mobile phone companies have
used advertising to develop brand
awareness and positioning and then used
sales promotion and direct marketing
activities to provide a greater focus on
loyalty and reward programs.
 These companies operate in a market where
customer retention is an issue.
Brand characteristics
 The essence of a strong brand is that it is
sufficiently differentiated to the extent that it
cannot be easily replicated by its
competitors.
 This level of differentiation requires that a
brand possess many distinct characteristics
and to achieve this it is important to
understand how brands are constructed.
 Brands consists of 2 attributes
i) Intrinsic attributes – refer to the
functional characteristics of the products
such as its superior performance, and
physical capacity. If any of these is
changed it can alter the product.
ii) Extrinsic attributes – refer to those
elements that are not intrinsic and if
changed do not alter the functioning and
performance of the product itself.Such as
the brand name,marketing
communications,packaging,price and
mechanisms that enable consumers form
associations that give meaning to the
brand.Buyers often use the extrinsic
attributes to help them distinguish one
brand from another because in certain
 categories it is impossible for them to
make decision based on the intrinsic
attributes alone.
Benefits of Branding
 They are strong means by which the product
can be identified understood and
appreciated
 Brands provide a means by which a
manufacturer can augment its product in
such a way that buyers can differentiate the
product recognize it quickly and make
purchase decisions that exclude competitive
products in the consideration set.
 Through branding loyalty is developed
which enables cross-product promotions
and brand extensions.
Customer benefits
 Assist the identification of preferred
products
  Can reduce levels of perceived risk and so
improve the shopping experience.
 Can reduce the time spent making product
based decisions and in turn reduce time
spent shopping.
 Can provide psychological reassurance or
reward
 Provide cues about the nature of the source
of the product and any associated values.
Supplier benefits
 Permits premium pricing
 Helps differentiate the product from
competitors
 Enhance cross-product promotion and
brand
 Provides legal protection
 Provides for greater thematic consistency
and uniform messages and communications.
The role of marketing communications in
Branding
 Marketing communications plays a vital
role in the development of brands and is
the means by which products become
brands
 The way in which marketing
communications is used to build a brand
is determined strategically by the role it
is expected to play in achieving an
organizations goals
 The role during brand extension is to
show buyers how the benefits from the
established brand have been transferred
or extend to the new brand.
 Another way is to remind buyers abd
reinforce their perceptions and in so
doing defend the market.
 Whatever the role, one major
determinant that applies to all
 organizations is the size of the financial
resources that are made available.

CONSUMER DECISION MAKING PROCESS

INTRODUCTION
 Customers make products purchase
decisions in different ways.
 Understanding the ways in which buyers
make decisions and the factors that impact
upon the decision process can affect the
effectiveness of marketing communications.
 It can influence the message, structure,
content and scheduling.

A general buying – decision making process

 Five stages
- problem recognition –information search-
alternative evaluation- purchase decisions-
post purchase evaluation.
Problem recognition
 Occurs when there is a perceived
difference btn an individual’s ideal state
and state and reality.
 Advertisers introduce ‘problem
recognition’ by suggesting that the current
state is not desirable or by demonstrating
how consumers can tell whether they have
a similar problem.
Informal search
 After identifying a problem, a prospective
buyer will search for information in an
attempt to solve it.
 2 main areas of search activity
i) Internal search involves – a memory scan
to recall experiences and knowledge,
 utilizing the perceptual process to see
whether there is off the shelf solution.
Is there is no solution the prospective
buyer will resort to external search eg
family and friends,the web,references
sources and commercial guides and
advertising.

Alternative evaluation
 Potential sources need to be
evaluated
 Products considered feasible
constitute the preference set, and it is
from these seven or eight products
that a smaller group of products is
assembled
 This is revered to as the evoked set
and is from this that consumers make
a choice.
 Attributes used to determine the sets
are referred to as evaluative criteria.
Purchase decision
Having evaluated various solutions, the buyer
may develop a predisposition to make a
purchase.
This may involve matching motives and
evaluative criteria with product attributes.
Post-purchase evaluation
This a state where, after the purchase decision
has been made, a buyer may feel tension about a
past decision either a product fails to reach
expectations or because the consumer becomes
aware of a superior alternative.
This is called cognitive dissonance.
Marketing communication at this stage should
aim at reinforcing past decisions by stressing the
positive features of the product or by providing
more information to assist its use and
application.
Types of consumer decision making
Introduction
Buyers do not follow the general decision
making sequence at all times.
The procedure may vary depending upon the
time available, levels of perceived risk and the
level of involvement the buyer has with the type
of product.

Extended problem solving

 Consumers considering the purchase of a
house or a car undertake a great deal of
external search activity and spend a lot of
time reaching a solution that satisfies as
closely as possible the available criteria
previously set.
 This activity is usually associated with
products that are unfamiliar, where direct
experience and hence knowledge are weak
and where is considerable financial risk.
  Marketing communication should provide a
lot of information to assist the decision
process
 The provision of information through sales
literature such as brochures and
leaflets,websites,for determining product
and purchase criteria in product categories
where there is little experience, access to
sales persons and demonstrations and
advertisements are some ways in which
information can be provided.
Limited problem solving
 Having experience of a product means a
greater use can be made of internal memory
based on search routines and external search
can be limited to obtaining up to date
information or ensuring that the finer points
of the decision have been investigated
 Marketing communication should provide
information about any product
modifications or new attributes and provide
 messages which highlight key attributed
known to be important to buyers.

Routinized response behavior

 For many products, the decision process will
consist only of an internal search
 This is because the buyer has made a number
of purchases and has accumulated a greater
deal of experience
 So little time will be spent on external search
 Low value goods which are frequently
purchased fall into this category such as
tooth paste, soap, canned foods and
confectionery.
 Communications should focus on keeping
the product within the evoked set or getting
into the set.
 Learning can be enhanced through
repetition of messages.