Effective Integrated Marketing Communication Programs - Essay Example

Purpose of this assignment The purpose of this assignment is to develop the Understanding how to develop and implement effective integrated marketing communications programs is one of the major challenges facing companies of all sizes across all industries. Don't miss this opportunity to learn about the wildly successful integrated marketing programs behind these award winning campaigns as well as how to make your own integrated marketing program more effective. Abstract By bringing together the various facets of marketing communications in a mutually supportive and enhancing way then the resulting 'whole' is more then the simple sum of its parts." (Pickton and Broderick 2001). This can be seen when looking at a television advertisement and the images and messages carried through it. Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) brings about synergy and better use of communication funds and Balancing the 'push' and 'pull' strategies Improves the company's ability to reach the right consumer at the right place at the right time with the right message. There is also a lot more to developing and implementing a successful Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) program. This assignment will focus on the rapidly evolving field of integrated marketing communications. The assignment will examine the evolving role of IMC, how it differs from traditional advertising and promotion, and provide insights into how to measure the effectiveness of IMC programs. IMC's role in the Market place IMC has an increasingly central role to play in today's market place, because if offers companies a way to strategically coordinate messages and establish a meaningful dialogue with customers. In short, IMC provides organisations with a strategic method for both establishing and maintaining relationships with key stakeholders. And this is essential for marketing success in the twenty-first century The Drivers of IMC The marketplace is changing. What was once a single audience has fragmented and companies have to establish and maintain brand relationships with a variety of groups of people-customers, as well as other stakeholders, such as employees, investors, suppliers and distributors, local communities, and the media. Organisations now have to communicate with these groups using a wide variety of media. Consequently there are more kinds of messages than ever before and inconsistency can become a company-wide problem. That is why IMC is also needed to coordinate communication consistency Because the mass media now have considerably less importance than they have had in the past, dialogue is becoming increasingly critical in this marketplace. That means that companies can no longer rely only on one-way communication targeted to large groups of customers. To be successful now, organizations must not only be able to target messages to individual customers, but also to listen and respond to all their stakeholders. That means they must know who these people are, and the key to that is database-driven communication. IMC is critical to brand relationship programs, because it provides the skills and new ways of thinking that are necessary if organizations are to create and successfully manage dialogue with customers and other key stakeholders. Integrated Marketing communication frame work Integrated Marketing Communications provides a framework for managing brand contacts. We all know the importance of branding out product or service, we also know the importance of maintaining a dialogue with our stakeholder relationship marketing, one-to-one, the voice of the customer, and most of us believe in communication consistency. However, these are only techniques that often fail to when practised without clear philosophy, or if not supported by integrated process. At a minimum, IMC provides and underlying model by: Identifying your Stakeholders Identifying your Brand contacts Analysing Communications amongst Customers At Each Brand Contact Encouraging Dialogue At Each Brand Contact Aligning Brand Contact Communications Market Research and the Internal Auditing IMC In order to maximise its value, market research should integrate the auditing of internal communication on several levels: Is there an agreement across the functional areas regarding the mission of the organisation Its values Its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT analysis) Are the various functional areas communicating with each other regarding marketing messages Are there clear policies for handling suggestions, complaints, inquiries and other forms of customer communication What are the actual messages being sent via marketing, advertising, signage and promotion (Content analysis Market Research as Communication Alignment If one accepts the view that there are many customers, many brand contacts, and that there is communication of some type at every customer-brand contact point, then the role of market research within the framework of Integrated Marketing Communication is clear - market research should be the centrepiece of an IMC effort. Effective market research should provide your management team with the data necessary to align your organisations communications across all brand contacts, thereby strengthening your brand Why Use Integrated Marketing Communication To be effective, marketing has to be part of a larger whole - it is not enough these days to print a corporate brochure and expect significant results. To design an integrated marketing communications, you need to collaborate with the management team to ensure every part of the operation is brought together to build your brand. IMC will help you to: Assess your markets and set your objectives Hone your communication messages and target key stakeholders Leverage your resources Build you internal databases and marketing resources Tie together the tone and style of all your corporate communications, collateral and advertising Examples of integrated marketing communication integrated marketing confusion and mixed messages are not difficult to find; they plague big, sophisticated marketers as well as small ones. Pepsi, for example, announced last year that it was scrapping its familiar red, white, and blue design and switching to a radical new electric blue package and logo design, the reason being that Pepsi's image, particularly in international markets, had been losing something in translation. It's not just Pepsi's marketing communication that sends different messages to different people. Consumers say the cola tastes different in different countries, so PepsiCo's plans also call for revamping manufacturing and distribution to get a consistent-tasting drink marketed throughout the globe. And some of its European marketing communication partners were mixed in their support of the plan because they felt they weren't consulted about how it was to be implemented, so there's work to be done there, too. What happened to Pepsi dramatizes the point that message consistency is a systemic problem, as well as strategic. It has to be approached from the viewpoint of the whole company and its total business operations, not just from how the company executes its marketing communication or corporate image programs marketing managers has made a lot of money Integrated marketing is a process that manages all of a company or brand's interactions with customers and other key stakeholders. Its premise is that everything a company does, and sometimes what it doesn't do, sends a message. But before such a program can be developed, organizations must first identify where messages originate, particularly the ones that are off strategy and undercut the brand's image or the corporate reputation. In other words, who or what departments, products, services, programs, or people are the sources of the messages An analysis of the way customers and other stakeholders come in contact with an organization shows four major sources of brand or corporate messages: planned, product, service, and unplanned. Planned messages are the traditional marketing communication and PR messages. Product messages are inferred from the product itself-e.g. performance, design, durability, as well as its pricing and distribution. Service messages originate from interactions with an organization's representatives-customer service, receptionists, secretaries, delivery people, drivers-i.e. the live, real-time interface between a brand and its customers. Unplanned messages include brand or company-related news stories, employee gossip, actions of special interest groups, comments by the trade and competitors, findings by government agencies or research institutions, and the proverbial word-of-mouth that one hopes will be positive. ford example An example of how expectations can go awry comes from Europe where Ford-Europe used a photo of employees in an ad scheduled to run in Poland. The employee picture had been taken originally to celebrate ethnic and cultural diversity. The company was "saying" to its employees and customers that it respects diversity. The photo was then manipulated to change all the black and Asian faces to white for the Polish ad, where there are few dark skinned people. Although some argued the change was a good marketing decision, the retouching alienated employees and other stakeholders who found the ad to be a negative message of exploitation and insensitivity. This mixed message situation was intensified when it became an international news story reaching many more stakeholders than just the employees involved. In this case, Ford-Europe was clearly not delivering on its diversity message and that failure was confirmed by all the press coverage. To better understand the difference in message impact, we need to compare image and reputation. An image is, for the most part, the product of the "say" or marketing communication messages. Reputation, however, is based more on personal experiences and word-of-mouth, confirmatory statements. The difference between an image and a reputation is that an image can be created, while a reputation must be earned. A reputation has more depth than an image, which is like a facade. Often, the difference between image and reputation lies in who says it. A company can create an image by what it says, but it must earn a reputation by what it does and what others say about it. . Integrated marketing and organization's resource . Integrated marketing is the alignment of an organization's resources and activities to acquire and retain customers, and it captures the essence of a successful organization's ability to: align the entire organization (product development, marketing, sales, service, operations) to execute effectively; allocate sufficient resources to areas of high return and cut non-effective activities; focus on customers and how to serve them with competitive advantage; execute marketing programs across multiple media in a cohesive manner; learn from feedback loops and continuously improve the effectiveness of programs. Integrated marketing communication and critically discussion 1. Focus on market segments where you can win Two elements are critical to this practice: Organize planning around market segments NOT around products. Beginning a key planning process from a market segment perspective enhances an organization's ability to understand what it takes to win new customers and satisfy existing ones. Focus where you can win. A company must make a choice about where to optimize its efforts. For example, focusing on a high-growth new buyer market or on repeat-buyer businesses will bring different end-results. 2. Define and continuously improve your value proposition The most critical component of winning customers in your targeted segments is a clear and compelling value proposition. Customers are constantly evaluating you relative to your competitors based on either an intuitive or literal assessment of your value proposition. There has been a great deal of research on determining value, but it essentially comes down to what customers get for what they pay (Value = Perceived benefit/cost). Since competitors frequently match short-term advantages, it is difficult to maintain an advantaged value proposition. As products commoditize, differentiation increasingly comes from superior economics, better packaging/bundling or better customer services. 3. Refine your business model to enhance your value proposition Building your value proposition around saving customers money is a risky proposition. It requires a superior cost structure to consistently deliver lower prices and still make money. Here, Wal-Mart and Best Buy have succeeded in retailing, as has Southwest Airlines in air transportation.. 4. Align the entire organization to profitably deliver your value proposition to distinct market segments While it's one thing to acknowledge that FORTUNE 500 companies and consumers are very different, it's another to align the entire organization around the differences. When a company organizes its primary business units around segments that define specific needs/desires of customer groups, there is financial accountability for building distinct capabilities to serve these segments. For example, product platforms are engineered to distinct segments, manufacturing and logistics capabilities are built to meet the demands of each segment and marketing programs are created to the acquisition and retention needs of each segment 6.Build your brand through every interaction Building a strong brand is important in improving consideration rates for your products. Your brand reputation is being impacted every day in ways you may not fully appreciate. To name a few, did the product live up to its expected level of quality did it arrive when promised does it work well with the other products with which it must operate Were the invoices accurate and easy to read were callers able to reach a customer service agent without delay Focusing on every interaction to satisfy customers to built your business and your brand reputation will follow. 7 Create feedback loops to learn and improve It's not possible to execute practices 1-9 perfectly the first time. The key to effective integrated marketing execution is feedback. By trying various approaches, by learning from what works, and by modifying your programs to incorporate what you learned, you can build a high-performance organization. Building a learning organization requires a close examination of what gets reported and what gets rewarded. But if your goal is to effectively align your organization's resources and activities to acquire and retain customers, and be financially successful in that process, the effort will be rewarded. The brand capability value of integrated marketing communication Integrated marketing communication (IMC) is particularly amenable to such a valuation approach, as by its very nature, it seeks to integrate tangible and intangible asset and expense combinations to increase the strategic capabilities of an organization. organizations do not integrate marketing for its own sake; they do so to have an effect in the marketplace--to grow sales and strengthen brands. IMC combines and converts tangible and intangible inputs into outputs. However, measuring the commercial success (or otherwise) of IMC has proved difficult (Eagle and Kitchen 2000). Benefits of Integrated Marketing Communications Benefits of Integrated Marketing Communications to Organizations Integration of PR and Marketing The main benefits to using integrated marketing communications or IMC is that it is essential and cost effective to an organization. In addition, IMC addresses the issue of the four different messages that an organization needs to be aware of so it can control or at least influence. Also, there are six steps that if followed will effectively integrate public relations and marketing in order to meet an organizations goals. Public relations practitioners are often asked to do many other duties in coordination with marketing and advertising in order to achieve the organizations goals. If public relations is integrated with the total communication program, it will save time and money, but also improve the organization's ability to protect the integrity of the product or service . Designed integrated marketing program A well-designed integrated marketing program helps the members of your marketing, development and communications departments understand the importance of their respective roles in creating consistent, satisfying relationships with your donors Careful analysis Excellence in integrated marketing begins with a careful analysis of the felt needs and desires of your target audience. Once understood, specific marketing and communications programs (direct mail, radio, television, PR, Internet, outdoor, etc.) can then address those needs and priorities. The ideal integrated marketing model will vary according to your goals and organizational objectives well-planned, integrated marketing strategy A well-planned, integrated marketing strategy enables your organization to identify and involve prospective donors, enhance relationships with current supporters, and move you more quickly toward your development goals. An integrated marketing plan keeps you from putting all your communication eggs in one basket. As you create a "pie chart" of all your communication vehicles-and begin to determine the value of each (direct mail, television, radio, Internet, etc.)-- you will soon discover which are most effective and why. An integrated marketing plan takes advantage of the best available qualitative and quantitative research techniques: this would include an expanded use of direct response testing, focus groups, benefits testing and survey research-all designed to determine which of your organizations' communication vehicles are more effective and for which target audience. Discipline organization When you discipline your organization to stay with an integrated marketing plan, you no longer will be caught up in using the "shotgun" approach to communications-where you just throw mud on the wall and hope some of it sticks. Now, you can be cost-efficient, enjoy the luxury of being knowledge-based, and finally target each medium to the right audience with the right message at just the right time. Many different aspects of your organization's activities will have an impact on an equally diverse number of your donors, supporters or friends. No single activity will speak to all your various publics. Your most powerful weapons, therefore, are to 1) determine who responds to what, 2), design one or more integrated marketing components to speak to that person, and 3) analyze the data-over time-to determine what changes there should be, if any. Developing a comprehensive strategy Over the years, markets and marketing have become increasingly complex, leading to fragmented and confusing marketing communication programs for many nonprofits. Solution: develop a comprehensive strategy that coordinates and integrates all your marketing efforts, as well as your promotional communications (through all your diverse channels of communication) to convey a consistent, unified message and image for your organization. IMC Leadership The question that provided the chief spotlight offered a number of choices for IMC leadership: "Who should occupy the leadership role in coordinating Integrated Marketing Communication activities" The answer choices were "* Top management * Marketing management * The marketing agency * The advertising agency * The public relations agency * The sales promotion agency * A committee with representation from all or some of the above * other" The responses to that question were compared and contrasted with responses to other questions concerning the status of IMC, the continuing dependence of IMC on marketing and on public relations, and with factors parsed from definitions of IMC in the literature of the field (Swain, 2004). Importance of Integrated Marketing The potential marketing mix for the Association Executive today holds more alternatives than ever for increasing association revenue. And associations must be sure they are getting the most from their marketing investment. An integrated marketing communications program ensures that every opportunity to send a message to a customer/member works hard and smart. Whether the purpose is building membership, increasing member retention, or boosting non-dues revenue, each exposure will build on prior ones if a consistent message, voice and look is used Putting market research to work Annually, most associations hold a membership drive, publish newsletters, promote their annual meeting and exhibition and announce new leadership. Each function (and region) may have its own committee, its own message, its own promotion and its own time line. Frequently the campaigns overlap, confuse the membership with different designs and messages, leave parts of the calendar with no communication whatsoever, and even have intra-association competition between events. IASA, the Insurance Accounting and Systems Association, is an excellent example of a volunteer-managed association that avoids these problems with integrated marketing. The marketing committee, chaired by ITT Hartford Assistant Vice President Gary Knoble, does an excellent job promoting the association's annual conference and business show. Until recently, all IASA advertising and promotion wrapped around its June event, and there was little exposure during the membership campaign. Knoble's team, with MRA's creative help, is formulating a year-round testimonial campaign/ PR plan to enhance IASA's image and volunteerism. The ad program will build on the momentum gained by the conference marketing. Conclusion In a one-voice, one-look strategy, which is the usual focus of integrated marketing communication (IMC), consistency is applied only to the marketing communication messages and is used to improve a brand's image. Strategic consistency, however, is the focus of integrated marketing, the term used on the marketing side, or integrated communication, the term used by public relations professionals, to refer to all of a brand or company's interactions with stakeholders. Integration at this level focuses on all points of contact between a brand or company and its stakeholders, and uses strategic consistency in all messages to strengthen the reputation, as well as the image. Strategic consistency is the coordination of all messages that create reputations, as well as images and positions, in the minds of customers and other stakeholders. Without consistency these critical identity cues will be unfocused, diffused, and fuzzy. Having executional consistency in marketing communication is important, but we are more concerned about creating strategic consistency in the fundamental areas of core values, business philosophy, and corporate mission. These are the areas that demonstrate corporate integrity and provide a platform for integrated communication. Strategic consistency, then, means making these fundamental business philosophies actionable by integrating them into all aspects of the organization's performance and communication. Understanding this level of strategic consistency is what has made companies like Hewlett-Packard, McDonald's, Nike, and Disney so successful. integrated communications is here to stay. It is a great way to send a consistent marketing message all across the globe. It takes careful planning and a thorough execution to pull it off successfully. Global brand building through advertising is a different matter - firstly the company and its marketing head should be able to think and act globally, secondly the brand message must be well matched with the company's offering Refernces 1. Amidon, D. M. (1997). Innovation Strategy for Knowledge Economy: The Ken Awakening, Butterworth-Heinemann. 2. Davies Langdon Consultancy, (2002). The Impact of E-business in UK Construction. Department of Trade and Industry. Great Britain. 3. Egbu, C. Bates, M. Botterill, K (2001).The Impact of Knowledge Management and Intellectual Capital on Innovations in Project-based Organisations. Leeds, Centre for Built Environment 4. Fahey, L. Srivasta, R. Sharon, J, S. Smith, D.E (2001). Linking e-business and operating processes: The vital role of knowledge management. IBM Systems Journal, Vol. 40, No. 4, 2001. 5. Kalakota, R. Macia, R. (2001). E-Business 2.0: Roadmap for Success. New Jersey, Addison- Wesley. Read More