Integrated Marketing Communication - Case Study Example

INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATION INTRODUCTION As mentioned in the last paper Austali bikes imported from Italy are specially meant for females in order to provide them better facilities. The manufacturers of these bikes always want to make these bikes the most popular and successful among customers, this is the reason why the internal marketing of these bikes is being done in an efficient manner. Whenever any product is produced in any company the main concept is that it should be produced efficiently and after the phase of production it should be targeted appropriately as well as distributed through efficient channels. It should be always consider that what actually the demands of the customers are. Along with the internal marketing, the integrated marketing communication is also one of the important concepts because it is only with the help of the integrated marketing communication that how and why the product becomes more important and how the customers are influenced to buy that particular product. Integrated marketing communication is the most important process and with the help of which any brand can gain success and can gain popularity too. Gaining success is the most important for any company. (Kitchen, 2004) According to the American Marketing Association, Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) is termed as a planning process which is designed to assure that all the brands which are created are according to the needs and demands of customers. (IMC) integrated marketing communication is termed as a holistic approach of the marketing level. Along with this, the concept of integrated marketing communication also consists of the offline and online marketing channels. Online marketing channels basically consist of different kinds of e-marketing programs or campaigns, from different level of search engine optimization, different kinds of the email banners and also the pay per click programs. Whereas on the other hand, the offline marketing channels are one of the main examples of the traditional prints like newspaper or magazines. These above mentioned marketing channels are the main source for any kind of company in order to provide such working environment where people can work easily and can generate better results. Marketing channels basically provide the target through which any company can identify its customers in order to achieve their targeted goals. It is all because of the marketing channels that how the company is working and how their products are becoming more popular among people. When a company launches any product, only half of the work is done and almost half is left. The work which is left is the main and one of the most important works that is how to make this produced product popular among people. People can only know about any product with the help of marketing. When the marketing is done for that product only then everyone will know that what exactly the product is and what it actually means. (Pickton, 2004) (IMC) STRATEGIES There are several kinds of strategies which are related to (IMC) integrated marketing communication in order to develop into a primary and the most important tool for the market: • Media advertising towards the multiple kinds of communication. • Mass media towards the most specialized media also known as niche media. • Manufacturer dominating market towards a retailer dominating market. • General kind of the focus advertisings towards the data based marketing. All the above mentioned strategies are very much important in the area of integrated marketing communication as it plays an important role, because if there are no strategies company can gain no profit and therefore in the result it will suffer loss. Nowadays integrated marketing communication has become a wide perspective which is now also done via internet. Now everything can be done via internet and via networking. (Shimp, 1993) The main aim of selecting individual elements of the proposed integrated marketing communication is to create a major and a basic campaign, which is very effective and also consistent across the media platforms. There are many marketers who want only the ads along with the greatest breadth of appeal; this is not the right way. If you really want to make your product the most successful, then you should work on it from the very first day and you should make it popular by different ways. Nowadays many companies are making their products popular with the help of different and unique ads. They use different concepts in order to make their brand totally different from other’s brand. Along with this people are also expecting different from different companies. A huge amount is spent on the creation as well as on the distribution of the advertisements. Integrated marketing communication is not just an ad with the help of which one can make their product popular but integrated marketing communication is also a concept with the help of which we can make our product totally different and unique from other's and can gain profits with the help of this. The concept of advertisement is different and it helps in gaining profits too. (Shimp, no year) RELATING IMC TO 4P’S Raul Danny, president of VARCom solution said that integrated marketing communication is an effective and also a productive way of managing the concept of communication. Before we get too deep in order to understand the IMC integrated marketing communication process, it is very much important to know that what actually it is, and where it lays in our overall efforts done for the market. 4 P’s which are the most important terms used in the field of marketing are Price, Place, Promotion and People. These above mentioned 4P’s have a vast impact on the marketing communication because it is only with the help of it that the product becomes important and different for every other person. Along with this 4 Cs are also there which play an important role in this. Whenever any company produces any product, the main aim is to promote it according to the demands of the customers. (Belch, 2003) (IMC) AND PROMOTION There are many possible ways and objectives with the help of which a company can promote their products • Create awareness. • Stimulate demand and supply. • Retain customers • Identify all the prospects. • Combat the competition. With the help of these above mentioned perspectives one can gain success and can promote their products. Promotion which is linked to communication, place to convenience, product to customer and price to cost are those important features which are very much important when you are producing any product. The marketing process is less marketing oriented and more segmented oriented. What actually are the demands of the customers is the main question and it should be fulfilled properly. STEPS OF (IMC) Following are some steps which should be considered when practicing an effective integrated marketing communication: Identify the target audience. This basically includes that who is the target audience. Who are the major sources? Who actually want what? Whenever any company or organization produce any product, their main aim is to cater all the customers so that they can buy their product and can make that particular company the best and also the successful one. In order to cater every customer the main aim is to identify: who those customers are. Determine all the communication objectives. This can generally be started from generating awareness in order to counter the competition. Design the content, messaging content. This basically means that when a product is being made, the main aim is then to design the content with the help of which the product can very easily be promoted. Select the mean of communication. When a product is being made the main target is to make it popular among people. How it can be popular? How to develop the perception of the brand? The main question which arises here is communication. Communication is the main source with the help of which any product can be become successful. Selecting means of communication is one of the most important things because with the help of it a product can gain maximum shares. Define the mix of media, budgeting etc. In other words integrated marketing communication is a simple and an easy concept which is very essential for each company because it is only way with the help of which any company can gain success and also can become powerful one. Along with this integrated marketing communication also ensures that whether all the forms of the messages and the communication are linked together or not? This is the major aspect which should be considered while working. In short integrated marketing communication means assembling and joining all the promotional tools together. (Stone, 2007) There are other levels of integrated marketing mix too which work better if they work in harmony like Horizontal Vertical Internal External Data integration BENEFITS OF IMC Along with this, integrated marketing communication has several kinds of benefits. No doubt Integrated Marketing Communications also requires a lot of effort in order to deliver many benefits. It can also boost sales and profits, can also create competitive advantages, and can make profits while saving money. IMC wraps all the communication around their customers and helps them to move through different stages of the buying process. It also helps in increasing the profits with the help of increased effectiveness. IMC is a process with the help of which any one can make their product the successful one. (Harris, 1999) Most important feature is the communication process as it only requires customer’s attention and only with the help of it one can gain success and vice versa. Integrated marketing communication is all about delivery. Now the main question is that how you can take your brand to your customers. It is very simple; you can take your brand or product by communicating. With the help of communicating you can take your brand to your customers so that they can know that what actually it is, what actually are the main features and what it actually stands for so that they can take the decision that now what they are supposed to do? (Yeshin, 1998) Communicating is one of the important points because without communication you and your brand are nothing and you can do nothing. It is only because of the communication and also because of the communication styles that how you make your brand the successful one and people actually tend to like your brand. Making any product is not that much difficult because when you make any product it is at the beginning stage and it needs a lot of attention in order to be the most powerful one. How it can be the most powerful one? The possible answer is that you can make it popular by communicating it, by making other people know about your brand and about your product. Nowadays different methods are there with the help of which you can make your product significant, create a brand and you can make other people also know about your product. Now different methods which are being used are ads with the help of which any brand can become the powerful one and people will also know about it. Making ads is not a simple task as it requires creativity. It should be totally different and unique so that people will love to see and therefore will tend to buy those products. This is also the major part which is included in the integrated marketing communication process. Basically integrated marketing communication is a process which makes each and every brand the successful one. It is the process with different strategies, if you follow their strategies; you can for sure become the huge brand and thus can have an immense power. (Smith, 2000) Without communication nothing is possible. If you are producing a very efficiently and offering the best in the market but not doing any kind of marketing, promotion and not communicating with your customers about your product then it is difficult to face any kind of success because producing product is not the main aim, the main aim is to produce product and then the main work begin which is promoting, advertising, communicating. Promoting your brand is one of the most essential tasks because only with the help of this you can gain success. Advertising is also an important task because with the help of this you can make your product or brand the most successful one and in the end the most important one is communicating which is vital because without communicating you and your brand are nothing and you can not gain any kind of the success. Communicating not means to tell your customers that what is your brand, communicating is to tell your customers that how your brand is different from others brand, to tell them that how your brand is unique and how it can cater you. (Percy, 2008) Integrated marketing communication is the base with the help of which any brand can make its base strong therefore can gain popularity. Austali bikes also uses the integrated marketing communication process as the main source because only with the help of this they can gain success and can very easily cater their customers. They actually know that what their customers want from them, as mentioned in the earlier paper that their main target is females so they try to make their communication that much popular so that they can make their brand the successful one and thus can gain success and popularity. Making or producing bikes is not their main aim or target, their main aim is to provide that kind of product which can give as much benefit to their customers which they really want and for which they are looking for. This is the main aim and target of every organization that they have to make the kind of product which is popular among the masses and which fulfills their customer’s needs and wants so that they can buy their products and with the help of this the company can gain success. (Scolt, 2007) Here the main aim of Austali bikes which are from Italy is to provide the superior quality to their customers so that their company can gain attention. One of the main reason that why integrated marketing is important is that with the help of this you become well known and also famous and one can very easily know that why this company is well known. Now there is a lot of competition in the market, every organization is working in order to gain success and to become popular. The main aim of Austali bikes manufacturer is to provide the high quality to their customers so that they can be the loyal customers and through this their company can gain high profits. Austali bikes after being produced are advertised effectively with different styles which really attract the customers and they then come to know that what actually these bikes are for. Advertisements play a very important role in upbringing of any product. In order to make any product the powerful one advertisement should be attractive and eye catching so that it can be a positive sign for any company. It really works if you are making great ads, because ads are something with the help of which customers will buy your product or will not buy your product. (Bleakeman, 2009) CONCLUSION Different strategies are used in order to make Austali bikes, one of the successful brands. Main theme which is used is technical strategies. Technical strategies are those strategies with the help of which a brand can work well, can gain maximum amount of share, can gain attention and also can make any company a strong one. As there are many competitors around the markets who are also working in order to be the best one, therefore to save one’s company one should work very hard with different sets of strategies and techniques so that no one can beat you or can copy you. You should be different with unique and innovative ideas and also with efficient and effective techniques. Creative ideas come up when you are working with a diverse group of people. The main idea is that a company should hire those people who are hardworking and capable in order to work well and to produce something creative and innovative. Austali bikes manufacturer are also working day and night in order to produce something new, something totally different which is attention gaining so that their product can gain maximum amount of attention and therefore can become the successful one. (Brannan, 1995) One most important concept is the brand line, all the members who are working in any company should consider the products which are gaining profits in the market, and how they are gaining profit so that they can use those techniques in order to make their own product one of the unique ones. Competition is always there in any market. It is no doubt harmful but along with this competition is something that fosters innovation in the market as every company aims to produce better than the other one. The companies fear if they don’t innovate and come up with products according to the market requirements, they may lag behind in the competition. And this fear is a motivating factor for the companies to work more efficiently by applying different techniques in order to make their product the competitive one so that the company can achieve a competitive edge and a greater market share. Austali bikes are popular because they follow the concepts of integrated marketing communication, and only with the help of this they can gain success and are gaining success. They actually know that what their customers want and they are producing such kind of products for their customers who are fulfilling their demands and needs and thus their brand is becoming more popular and gaining success day by day (Linton, 1995). Therefore it is very much important to follow every single principle of the marketing mix in order to make one’s brand the successful one. Integrated marketing mix is an integral part which should be followed properly in order to gain popularity and to make one’s brand the most successful one. In the end of this paper the most important term should be included which is making any brand is not a difficult task; the difficult thing is to make that brand which your customers really want, which are according to your customers needs and desires. If you successfully make such kind of brand then you can gain success and can very easily gain the power in order to work in the market with all your competitors. Working conditions also matters because when you are working in a friendly environment you can work very well and can generate better results. When producing any brand it should be noticed that what others are doing, what are their strategies, how they are working so that we can work in more unique ways and can generate products demanded by the customers. So it is very much important to follow all the strategies in order to generate different products and also to make your company the powerful one. With the help of all these activities your company can gain maximum amount of shares too and can provide more benefits to you. (Schultz, 2000) REFERENCES 1. Belch, George E. & Belch, Micheal A. (2003). Advertising and Promotion: An Integrated Marketing Communications Perspective. 6th edition. McGraw-Hill. 2. Blakeman, Robert. (2009). The Bare Bones Introduction to Integrated Marketing Communication. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. 3. Brannan, Tom (1995). A Practical Guide To Integrated Marketing Communications. Kogan Page Publishers. 4. Harris, Thomas L. & Kotler, Philip (1999). Value-Added Public Relations: The Secret Weapon Of Integrated Marketing. McGraw-Hill Professional. 5. Kitchen, Philip J. & Pelsmacker, P. (2004) Integrated Marketing Communications: A Primer. Routledge. 6. Linton, Ian & Morley, Kevin (1995). Integrated Marketing Communications. Butterworth-Heinemann. 7. Percy, Larry. (2008) Strategic Integrated Marketing Communications: Theory and Practice. Butterworth-Heinemann. 8. Pickton, David & Broderick, Amanda (2004). Integrated marketing Communications. 2nd Edition. Prentice Hall. 9. Schultz, Don E., Tannenbaum, Stanley I. & Lauterborn, Robert F. (1996). The New Marketing Paradigm: Integrated Marketing Communications. McGraw-Hill Professional. 10. Scolt, David Meerman (2007). The New Rules of Marketing and PR. John Wiley and Sons. 11. Shimp, Terence A. (1993).Promotion management & marketing communications. 3rd edition. Dryden Press. 12. Smith, Paul Russell & Taylor, Jonathan. (2000). Marketing Communications: An Integrated Approach. Kogan Page Publishers. 13. Stone, Bob & Jacobs, Ron (2007). Successful Direct Marketing Methods: Interactive, Database, and Customer-Based Marketing for Digital Age. McGraw-Hill Professional. 14. Yeshin, Tony (1998). Integrated Marketing Communications: The Holistic Approach. Butterworth-Heinemann. Read More