Integrated Marketing Communication
Send your Message through Spider web
Happy day, amazing people!!!
A person is trusted based on what he or she says, likewise a company is trusted based on its marketing message. Hence marketing message must be clear and consistent in whatever media they choose to market.
Synopsis
| About IMC |
| IMC scenarios |
| Conclusion |
About IMC (Integrated Marketing Communication)
Earlier people were using only one or two media to market their product but now they are using different online and offline modes to market.
When all these communication media are connected like web and spread the same message then it is called as Integrated Marketing Communication.
IMC Scenarios
Let’s understand IMC by taking 2 scenarios, where companies are trying to develop an effective marketing communication through prescribed steps. And by the end of this article, you should tell us which one of these is the best representative of IMC plan.
| Scenario 1 Jack’s Shoe Shop |
| Step 1 : Identify the target audience Jack’s shop identified sports players, health freaks and youth as their target audience .  Jack Step 2 : Determining the communication objective The company has been there in the market for few years. Hence there is no need for awareness marketing. But competition in the shoe business is growing, so Jack’s communication objective was to persuade the people to buy the products. For this purpose, they chose to provide offers through celebrity endorsement. Step 3 : Designing the message Company decided to have a rationally appealing message, which will be delivered by a celebrity sports player in a “one-sided message” format. The campaign will be called as “Shoes are light for you to flight”. Step 4 : Selecting communication channels From the personal and non-personal communication channels, Jack’s shop chose non-personal channels for marketing. Step 5 : Establishing the marketing communication budget Budget vary from company to company and from industry to industry. For the sake of this example, let’s say Jack’s company chose percentage of sales method, which means promotion budget is based on sales happened. ( Less sales, more promotion; More sales, less promotion) Step 6 : Developing and managing communication mix After knowing the budget, companies must select specific media from promotional tools (i.e., from advertisement, sales promotion, personal selling, public relations and direct marketing) and allocate the budget accordingly. Jack’s company chose TV ads and billboards. Step 7 : Measuring results Any marketing efforts taken, has to be measured and evaluated. Here in this case assessing the ratings from television, tracking the sales & inquiries and interviewing the potential buyers were executed. And also, to collect the information about no. of people passing the billboards from the local transportation authority were arranged. Step 8 : Managing the IMC process Jack’s company must check, which of these media selected by them are more profitable and then they must allocate the budget for the coming year accordingly. Companies must not spend on things which are not driving sales. |
| Scenario 2 Jill’s Apparel Store |
| Step 1 : Identify the target audience Jill’s store feels that young girls, mid age women and early boomers are their target audience.  Jill Step 2 : Determining the communication objective Same was the case for Jill’s apparel store. Competition is skyrocketing at a rapid phase. So, Marketing to persuade was decided. For this purpose, they chose to provide discounts. Step 3 : Designing the message Jill’s store wanted to go with emotional appeal because of the forthcoming festive season. They ran the campaign as “Dress up for the Meet up”. Step 4 : Selecting communication channels This company decided to have a mix of both personal and non-personal communication channels. Step 5 : Establishing the marketing communication budget And her company chose competitive parity method, which means spending at par (same as) with competitors. Step 6 : Developing and managing communication mix On the other hand, Jill’s apparel store chose TV ads, e-mail marketing, pop up ads in website and magazine advertising. Here you could see a mix of personal and non-personal communication channels as we have mentioned above. Step 7 : Measuring results Jill’s communication mix is measured through ratings from television, e-mail tracking tools, pop-up ads tracking tools, and tracking sales &inquiry from magazine ads. Step 8 : Managing the IMC process The same applies to Jill’s company . Companies must not spend on things which are not driving sales. |
Conclusion
Ok, now… tell us which one of these scenarios is the best representative of IMC.
Yes, you are right. It’s the scenario 2, Jill’s Apparel store.
We can’t deny the fact that scenario 1 has also used little bit of IMC but their message got disappeared in the cluster (other ads) and they were not paid attention by the target audience due to lack of personal touch. However, on the other hand, scenario 2 Jill’s appeal store cleverly chose various valuable media to market their product and they made sure all of them worked seamlessly to speak the same about the company/product.
We hope you guys have understood about Integrated Marketing Communication with this example. Try thinking of an example and analyze them as above. There is no hard and fast rule.
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