INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS (IMC)

A diagrammatic presentation of the I.M.C marketing model

Integrated marketing communications (IMC) is the concept of building and reinforcing mutually profitable relationship with employees, customers, other stakeholders, and the general public by developing and coordinating a strategic communications program that enables them to make constructive contact with the company brand through a variety of media. (Willian F. Arens & Courtland L. Boree-contemporary Advertising-fifth edition)  

IMC as integration includes, advertising, sales promotion, public relations, and direct marketing. They all work together as a unified force.

 The proceeding paragraphs would give you a drop down discussions of the integrated marketing communications (IMC). To precede further discussions is advertising.   

Advertising is the paid form of non-personal presentation and, promotion of ideas, goods and services through the mass media, and with an identifiable sponsor (American Marketing Association).  It supplements personal selling to a great extent. Advertising has, acquired great importance in the modern media characterised by tough competition in the market and fast changes in technology, and fashion and taste customers. It creates an active role in integrated marketing communication mix as it creates, good image, top of the mind awareness, counterclaim the competitor, and reinforce positive attitude.

Another worth noting angle of the IMC model is Public Relation. Public relation is defined as a management function which identifies, establishes, and maintains mutually beneficial relationships between an organization and its publics. Public relations consider multiple audiences (consumers, employees, suppliers, vendors, etc.) and uses two-way communication to monitor feedback and adjust both its message and the organization’s actions for maximum benefit. It is used to generate goodwill for the organization. Public relation helps the company and its public by relating each other for mutual benefits. The main objective of public relation is to remove misunderstanding, doubts, confusion, and wrong impression in the minds of different social groups, to maintain good corporate image, to have the public support to the future of the company, to fulfil social responsibility.

Again is sales promotion. Sales promotion is direct inducement that offers extra incentives to enhance or accelerate a product’s movement from the producer to a consumer. Sales promotion constitutes devices like contests, coupons, free samples, premium, and point of purchase material. Sales promotion is action oriented. It motivates customers to buy the goods under incentive plans. Sales promotion does not only cover consumers, but also, dealers and wholesalers. It acts as a connecting link between advertising and salesmanship. Thus in a competitive marketing sales promotion act as an effective tool to an advertiser to solve several short term hurdles in marketing.

Another and the most effective tool, arguably, in the IMC integration is personal selling. It includes person-person contact with customers with the purpose of introducing the product to the customer, convincing him/her of the product’s value, and closing the sale. The role of the personal selling varies from organisation to organisation, depending on the nature and size of the company, the industry, and the products or services it is marketing. Many marketing executives realise that both sales and non-sales employees act as salespeople for their organisation in one way or another. Personal selling arguably is the most effective way to make a sale because of the interpersonal communication between the salesperson and the prospect. Messages can be tailored to particular situations, immediate feedback can be processed, and message strategies can be changed to accommodate the feedback.                

With the prime aim of creating a positive feeling for their companies in the minds of their public's, many advertisers rely on sponsorship marketing. Sponsorship marketing increase awareness of a company or product, build loyalty with a specific target audience, help differentiate a product from its competitors, provide merchandising opportunities, demonstrate commitment to a community or ethnic group, or impact the bottom line. Like advertising, sponsorships are initiated to build long term associations. Organisations sometimes compare sponsorships with advertising by using gross impressions or cost-per-thousand measurements. However, the value of sponsorships can be very difficult to measure.

Finally is direct marketing. It is a channel free approach to distribution and/or marketing communications. So a company may have a strategy of dealing with its customers 'directly,' for example banks (such as City Bank) or computer manufacturers (such as Dell). There are no channel intermediaries i.e. distributors, retailers or wholesalers. Therefore - 'direct' in the sense that the deal is done directly between the manufacturer and the customer. As mentioned above, 'direct' also in the sense that marketing communications are targeted at consumers by the manufacturers. For example, a brand that uses channels of distribution would target marketing communications at wholesalers/distributors, retailers, and consumers, or a blend of all three. On the other hand, a direct marketing company could focus upon communicating directly with its customers. Direct marketing and direct mail are often confused - although direct mail is a direct marketing tool. There are a number of direct marketing media other than direct mail. These include (and are by no means limited to): Inserts in newspapers and magazines, Customer care lines, Catalogues, Coupons, Door drops, TV and radio adverts with free phone numbers or per-minute-charging....and finally - and most importantly - The Internet and New Media.

REFERNCE:

·         William F. Arens & Courtland L. Boree-contemporary Advertising-fifth edition 

·         Terence Shimp- Advertising Promotions-fifth edition

·          www.mu.ac.in/myweb_test/sybcom-avtg-eng.pdf‎

·         http://www.marketingteacher.com/lesson-store/lesson-marketing-communications.html