what is imc

8/8/2019 what is IMC

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Integrated Marketing Communications is the coordination and integration of all marketing

communication tools, avenues, functions and sources within a company into a seamless

program that maximizes the impact on consumers and other end users at a minimal cost. It

aims to ensure consistency of message and the complementary use of media. The concept

includes online and offline marketing channels. Online marketing channels include any e-

marketing campaigns or programs, from search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click,

affiliate, email, banner to latest web related channels for webinar, blog, micro-blogging, RSS,

podcast, Internet Radio and Internet TV. Offline marketing channels are traditional print

(newspaper, magazine), mail order, public relations, industry relations, billboard, radio, and

television. A company develops its integrated marketing communication programme using all

the elements of the marketing mix (product, price, place, promotion and public relations).

Integrated marketing communication is integration of all marketing tools and resourceswithin a company to impact consumers, and maximize profit at minimal cost. Generally

marketing starts from "Marketing Mix". Promotion is one element of Marketing Mix.

Promotional activities include Advertising (by using different media), sales promotion (sales

and trades promotion), and personal selling activities. It also includes internet marketing,

sponsorship marketing, direct marketing, database marketing and public relations. And

integration of all these promotional tools along with other components of marketing mix to

gain edge over competitor is called Integrated Marketing Communication.

Using outside-in thinking, Integrated Marketing Communications is a data-driven approach

that focuses on identifying consumer insights and developing a strategy with the right (online

and offline combination) channels to forge a stronger brand-consumer relationship. This

involves knowing the right touch points to use to reach consumers and understanding how

and where they consume different types of media. Regression analysis and customer lifetime

value are key data elements in this approach.

The starting point of the IMC is the marketing mix (Product, Price, Promotion, and Place)

which involves different types of marketing, advertising and sales. Without a complete IMC

plan there is no integration or harmony among client and customers. The goal of an

organization is to create and maintain communication throughout its own employees and

throughout it's customers.


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Reasons for the Growing Importance of IMC

Several shifts in the advertising and media industry have caused IMC to develop into aprimary strategy for marketers:

1.From media advertising to multiple forms of communication.2.From mass media to more specialized (niche) media, which are centered aroundspecific target audiences.

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

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 (increased salesor benefits to the company).

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

8.its brilliantSelecting the Most Effective Communications Elements

The goal of selecting the elements of proposed integrated marketing communications is to

create a campaign that is effective and consistent across media platforms. Some marketers

may want only ads with greatest breadth of appeal: the executions that, when combined,

provide the greatest number of attention-getting, branded, and motivational moments. Others

may only want ads with the greatest depth of appeal: the ads with the greatest number of

attention-getting, branded, and motivational points within each.

Although integrated marketing communications is more than just an advertising campaign,

the bulk of marketing dollars is spent on the creation and distribution of advertisements.

Hence, the bulk of the research budget is also spent on these elements of the campaign. Once

the key marketing pieces have been tested, the researched elements can then be applied toother contact points: letterhead, packaging, logistics, customer service training, and more, to

complete the IMC cycle


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Marketing Communications (orMarCom orIntegrated Marketing Communications)

are messages and related media used to communicate with a market. Marketing

communications is the "promotion" part of the "Marketing Mix" or the "four Ps": price, place,

promotion, and product.

Those who practice advertising, branding, brand language direct marketing, graphic design,

marketing, packaging, promotion, publicity, sponsorship, public relations, sales, sales

promotion and online marketing are termed marketing communicators, marketing

communication managers, or more briefly, marcom managers.

Traditionally, marketing communications practitioners focused on the creation and execution

of printed marketing collateral; however, academic and professional research developed the

practice to use strategic elements of branding and marketing in order to ensure consistency of

message delivery throughout an organization - a consistent "look & feel". Many trends in

business can be attributed to marketing communications; for example: the transition from

customer service to customer relations, and the transition from human resources to human

solutions and the trends to blogs, email, and other online communication derived from an

elevator pitch.

In branding, every opportunity to impress the organization's (or the individual's) brand upon

the customer is called a brand touch point(orbrand contact point.) Examples include

everything from TV and other media advertisements, event sponsorships, webinars, and

personal selling to even product packaging. Thus, every experiential opportunity that an

organization creates for its stakeholders or customers is a brand touch point. Hence, it is

vitally important for brand strategists and managers to survey all of their organization's brand

touch points and control for the stakeholder's or customer's experience. Marketing

communications, as a vehicle of an organization's brand management, is concerned with the

promotion of an organization's brand, product(s) and/or service(s) to stakeholders and

prospective customers through these touch points.

Marketing communications is focused on the product/produce/service as opposed to

corporate communications where the focus of communications work is the

company/enterprise itself. Marketing communications is primarily concerned with demand

generation, product/produce/service positioning while corporate communications deal with

issue management, mergers and acquisitions, litigation, etc.


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what is imc

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