Marketing Communication Strategy - Assignment Example

Marketing communication strategy Marketing communication strategy Discussion of the reasons that make Integrated Marketing Communication desirable as well as the issues that make it hard to achieve IMC implementation Integrated Marketing communication (IMC) is a technique used for communications branding such that varying modes function together to establish a seamless customer experience (Smith & Taylor, 2004, p. 16). Each mode presentation is in a tone and style identical to others in order to enhance the criticality of the intended message. With IMC, it is possible to combine all elements of marketing such that the resulting force while working in unity results to cost efficiency optimization compared to when working distinctively. Communication intensity results from combining advertising, sales promotion, public relations, direct marketing, online communication, personal selling, and social media marketing aspects to emphasis one brand story (Keillor, 2007, p. 139). The figure below promotion tools in IMC. Figure 1: Promotional tools used in IMC. Source: (Keillor, 2007) IMC enables businesses to make the right mixes and choices regarding media thereby facilitating efficient communication deployment. Although IMC may seem to be attained with ease, Yesin (2012, p. 76) reveals that the process of achieving integration among all communication aspects is a challenging task. Integration involves defining a clear feedback mechanism mostly around the promotional tools deployed by the organization to fulfill the marketing goals. With the right integration of marketing communications, organizations are guaranteed of optimum impact on the consumer emotions resulting to organizational profit maximization and loss reduction. Improved organizational productivity and profitability is depends on effective integration of promotional tools like advertisement, personal selling, sales promotions, internet marketing, public relations, and database marketing, to other aspects of the marketing mix to gain a competitive edge over competitors (Yeshin, 2012, p. 77). Additionally, IMC is attributed to improvements in consumer behaviors and attitudes especially due to the use of synergy to create consistent customer experiences of the value of the brand (Barker & Shimp, 2011, p. 7). Synergy involves integrating all brand communications to ensure that they all communicate using a single voice making the message stronger hence establishing more influence on the customer’s decision to purchase. Positioning element of marketing mix works well in defining the brand perception retained in the mind of the consumers. With the right positioning, the brand message is transferred easily to the audience each time they get across the brand hence increasing market share that translates to improved profitability. In addition, IMC implementation is linked to efficiently flowing business processes hence higher benefits; improvement in staff morale, cohesion, and creativity. However, Smith & Taylor (2004, p. 17) reveal several issues that delay or hinder the implementation of IMC with numerous target audiences. These barriers include timescale conflicts, functional silos, stifled creativity, and inadequate management experience. According to Mortimer & Laurie (2012, p. 3) and Grew (2001, p. 32) conquer that inflexible organization structures or functional silos result to difficulties in IMC integration. Rigid structures result from managers who concentrate more on protecting their power base and budgets thereby prohibiting investment into effective promotional tools. In addition, functional silos contribute to the isolation of data, communications, and managers from each other and this results to internal timescale conflicts as some managers fail to accept decisions made by other departments. In addition, in most cases, employees lack relevant expertise and skills to achieve IMC. The lack of know-how also affects managers and clients who fail to identify the best way to achieve IMC development objectives. Bibliography Barker, N. V. M. & Shimp, T. A., 2011. Integrated marketing communication. 3rd ed. South Melbourne, Vic: Cengage Learning. Grew, P., 2001. If IMC is Good, Why Is it not being impemented in corporate America: Barriers to IMC Adoption. Journal of Integrated Communications, Volume 2000-2001, pp. 29-37. Keillor, B. D., 2007. Marketing in the 21st century. Ills ed. Westport, Conn: Praeger. Mortimer, K. & Laurie, S., 2012. Barriers to the implementation of Integrated Marketing Communications: the client perspective.. Southampton, Academy of Marketing. Smith, P. R. & Taylor, J., 2004. Marketing communications : an integrated approach. 4th Ed ed. London: Sterling (VA). Yeshin, T., 2012. Integrated Marketing Communications. eds ed. United States: Routledge. 2. Question 4: assessment of the key differences between Traditional and digital media and the impact on IMC campaigns with examples The aim of this section is to understand the unique qualities that differentiate traditional media from digital media. According to Stafford & Faber (2005, p. 68), IMC involves performing market analysis, advertising, and selling goods through methods that catches the customer’s eyes. These methods combine both traditional and digital media. Traditional media include use of Yellow Pages, television, newspapers, billboards, announcements, road shows among others. Traditional advertisements are aimed at creating brand conscious, make known new products, and target masses and require huge monetary investment. Despite the high expenses, traditional marketing involves a passive approach that involves low convention rates especially since the approach is prospective rather than attractive and is based on the concept of one-size fits all (Gupta, 2005, p. 143). The one-size fit all approach of traditional advertising results is attributed by the fact communication with prospective customers is one-way and the customer has no way to communicate with the advertiser provider relevant feedback. The result is that the customer does not engage with the brand being advertise hence resulting to low maintenance of positive brand awareness and few loyal customers (Stafford & Faber, 2005). Further, traditional marketing does not deliver information within the right time mostly due to its permanence characteristic. Permanence attributes to the fact that upon their creation traditional media cannot be altered. For instance, once the creation of an advertisement is through and magazines or newspaper or television advertisement is aired, it is impossible to alter the content. Finally, the mode of communication used in traditional media has a narrow range and this is not effective in emphasizing the brand story thereby engaging the client (Chitty, et al., 2011, p. 172). The figure below summarizes integrated marketing communication as a product of traditional and digital media Trigger Access Engage Figure 2: IMC model as present in traditional and digital media. Source: According to Chitty, et al. (2011, p. 143) traditional media advertisement presents not only numerous but also very expensive challenges in the modern business environment. Digital or online marketing however, resolves the challenges of traditional media using tools like search engines, promotions, mobile marketing, direct mails, bulk sms, and marketing display advertisement. Digital media involves using these technologies with the aim of developing an integrated, measureable, and targeted message necessary for acquisition and retention of customers while establishing intense relationships. This is possible given that digital marketing is driven by a strategy that include customer attraction, appealing, and that is dual-communication. Unlike traditional media, digital media offers an alternate that delivers reduced costs. According to OGuinn, et al (2914, p. 11), everything in digital media is measurable and it is not as hard as traditional media to access the direct impact of sales on the business. With digital marketing, everything can be illustrated and tracked in detailed graphs that demonstrate traffic growth, leads and sales exchange from your explicit exploration marketing campaigns given the distinct categories of digital media: tablets, smartphones, computers, television, and television (Choi, 2013, p. 599). In addition, digital media brings out the increased consumer engagement. The concept of engagement is developed once advertisement activates consumer response. Increase in contextual relevance between advertisement and its surrounding, the higher the level of consumer engagement to a brand given the high level of individualism and interactivity provided (Payne & Frow, 2013, p. 154). Consequently, digital marketing results to improved customer relationships since businesses manage to create one-on-one connection with their customers. In addition, digital marketing makes firms competitive especially if competitors are doing it and because customers expect it and want firms to understand track changes in their behavior. Bibliography Chitty, W., Barker, N., Valos, M. & Shimp, T. A., 2011. Integrated marketing communication. 3rd Asia Pacific Edition ed. South Melbourne, Vic: Cengage Learning. Choi, M., 2013. A Study of Characteristics and Futue of Digital Signage as New Media Advertising. Journal of Convergency Information Technology , 8(14), pp. 559-566. Gupta, O., 2005. Advertising in India : trends and impact. Eds ed. Delhi: Kalpaz Publications. Payne, A. & Frow, P., 2013. Strategic customer management : integrating relationship marketing and CRM. eds ed. Cambridge : Cambridge Univ. Press,. Stafford, M. & Faber, R. J., 2005. Advertising, promotion, and new media. Eds ed. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe. 3. Question Six: debate major ethical concerns related to IMC and their impact on practitioners when designing campaigns As a professional body, integrated marketing communication in any nation operates under particular rules and standards known as ethics. Like all other professional associations and professional body, advertisement has to operate within corporate morality given that the costs incurred for not following such morality do not offer any alternative to ethical organizational conduct. Mathenge (2013, p. 9) reveals that advertising is at times linked to betrayal by misrepresenting and withholding relevant facts. As a result, serious issues arise from attempts to move people to act irrationally towards brand loyalty, fashion, status, and sex appeal instead of acting from understanding the differences in price and product quality. Ethic issues in public relations result from misrepresentation and information withholding arises from the fact that businesses are under pressure from competition, to attract enormous audiences thereby falling into temptations to neglect high moral and artistic standards and delve into superficiality (Shimp & Andrews, 2013, p. 101). Besides misrepresentation and withholding information, advertisers are at times tempted to ignore social and educational needs of some market segments. The commonly ignored audiences include the elderly, the poor, and the children. Some reasons for being ignored are mismatched demographic patterns like income buying and consuming behavior, age, and education compared to those of the intended consumers. Additionally, advertisers have taken up the aspect of exploiting women in advertisement representing them as undervalued mothers and wives or contributing to the reasons for ridicule in the workplace business and professional life (Mathenge, 2013). For some advertisements, particularly in the apparel industry, women in advertisements bring out the aspects of lust, envy, and status seeking as advertisers seems to exploit content of pornographic form while promoting stereotyping of women (Ogechukwu, et al., 2011, p. 53). Additionally, advertisements have sought to increase accessibility to violence and pornography to both the young and the old thereby failing to draw clear lines on absurd contents to the young and children (Percy, 2014, p. 151). This is particularly the case in developed countries thereby corrupting morals in those nations and developing nations. Shimp & Andrews (2013, p. 102), ethical issue in packaging and Branding involves four aspects that include label information, packaging graphics, implications to the environment, and packaging safety. Other ethical issues include consumer privacy when using online media and falsification of positive consumer feedback. During the design of IMC campaigns, practitioners must ensure that their campaigns do not yield negative publicity by observing the needs of different targeted market segments. Additionally, practitioners have to acknowledge arising ethical issues instead of covering them up (Shimp & Andrews, 2013, p. 102). In addition, consumers should use ethical issues arising from branding and packages to manage information labels such that they are not misleading consumers ensure that the graphics on products represent their true picture and that packaging is tamperproof to avoid misuse (Drumwright, 2013). In addition, practitioners must ensure that their brand name and graphics are unique and not borrowed or stolen from well-defined brands (Crow & Baack, 2007, p. 2). Bibliography Crow, K. & Baack, D., 2007. Integrated Advertising: Promotion, and marketing communications. 3rd Edition ed. New York: Pearson Education. Drumwright, M., 2013. Ethical Issues in Communication Professions: New Agendas in Communication. Eds ed. United States: Routledge. Mathenge, G. D., 2013. Ethical Issues in Advertising and Marketing: An Emphirical analysis of the Hindrances to efficient Marketing and Product Communication Management in Kenya. European Journal of Business , 1(4), pp. 9-19. Ogechukwu, A. D., Ndubueze, A. K. & Uche, A. V., 2011. Ethical Issues Involved in Integrated Marketing Communication in Nigeria. Business Management Dynamics, 1(4), pp. 50-62. OGuinn, T., Richard, C. A., Angeline, S. & Scheinbaum, A. C., 2914. Advertising and Integrated Brand Promotion. eds ed. United States: Cengage Learning. Percy, L., 2014. Strategic Integrated Marketing Communications. Eds ed. London: Routledge. Shimp, T. & Andrews, C., 2013. Advertising Promotion and Other Aspects of Integrated Marketing Communications. Eds ed. United States: Cengage Learning. Read More