INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATION: REASEARCH PAPER

STUDY OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF ONLINE MARKETING ON INTEGRATEDMARKETING

COMMUNICATION
NAME: NIKITA SINGH
NAME OF INSTITUTE: INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
DEVELOPMENT, PUNE
PROGRAM: MBA(G)
ROLL NO: 143
E-MAIL ADDRESS: [email protected]

Abstract
Integrated marketing communication (IMC) is being practiced worldwide at very large scale. The
purpose of this review paper is to enhance the understanding of what is IMC, its impact and the
difference between IMC and traditional marketing communication. Integrated marketing
communication is consumer-oriented approach rather than organizational oriented that focuses on
organizational needs. IMC is performed in a manner of synergy rather than in isolation. IMC is
associated with some positive results like brand awareness, customer satisfaction, brand loyalty,
positive brand image, unique brand association, greater profitability, increased sales and cost
savings. IMC has major impact on organizational performance and brand equity. There are some
barriers to successful implementation of IMC program.

keywords: Integrated Marketing Communication, Social Media, Digital Media, Modern Integrated
Marketing Communication.

Introduction:
Communication is the process of conveying thoughts and sharing the meanings among individuals or
organizations. Communication which can be described as the paste that keeps combined a channel
of distribution. The function of communication within channel of marketing is an important issue
from both a theoretical and managerial point of view. Communication in marketing channel can
function as the process by which influential information is transmitted (Frazier and Summers, 1984).
Though the Marketing literature admits that communication plays a vigorous role in channel
functioning (Grabner and Rosenberg, 1969; Stern and El-Ansary, 1988), it provides no integrated
theory for channel communication. Communication has been connected conceptually to both
behavioural issues (e.g., power and climate) and structural issues (e. g. the pattern of exchange
relationship) in the channel, yet empirical research on channel communication is scanty.
Communication is a need which is being used to create network, spread ideas and promote the
products or services. Effective communications done through well-known channel that transmits
simply and exactly. Marketing communications represent the accumulation of all components in a
brand ‘s marketing mix that promote exchanges by building shared meanings with the stakeholders
of brand. Businesses use different tools to promote their company, product or services. Tools can be
brochures, telemarketing, websites etc. Objectives of the marketing communication are to provide
information to target audience and to boost the sales. Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) is
a term that emerged in the late 20th century regarding application of consistent brand messaging
across myriad marketing channels was developed mainly to address the need for businesses to offer
clients more than just standard advertising. The concept of Integrated Marketing Communications
(IMC) makes definite sense – so much so that trainee in the field may get amaze what all the
confusion is about. IMC recommends that marketers focus at the customer first – his or her
preferences, buying patterns, media exposure, and other factors – and then customer is exposed to
the products that fits its need through mix of communication methods which the customer find
more attractive and credible. According to Jones (2008) it is revolutionary step because of a whole
culture of agencies, in-house departments, and consultants had grown up around the notion of
separation for advertising, direct marketing, sales promotion, and public relations efforts, rather
than the harmonious, customer-centered planning process that IMC requires. Integration has
become an essential concept in marketing because technological advances have changed how
business stakeholders interact. Marketing theory that was established during the discipline ‘s
formative years has been overtaken by the complexities of real-time, multimodal, multi directional
communication

What is Integrated Marketing Communications? Schultz (1993) defined IMC as concept of marketing
communication planning that combine and evaluate strategic role of different communication
discipline to get the clarity, consistency and greater impact. According to Percy et al. (2001) planning
and execution of all marketing communications are required in a same way to meet the objective.
Process of producing and applying the different communication programs and the probability to
have impact in future over time, overall IMC process starts with the customer and work to
determine and define the methods and forms to develop the influential communications programs
(Schultz, 1993).IMC is also considered as a strategic business process which is used to plan, develop,
execute and evaluate the coordinated and assessable influential marketing communication
programs relevant to external and internal audience over time (researchandmarkets.com). Raman
and Naik (2005) defined the IMC in following words, ―an IMC program plans and executes various
marketing activities with consistency so that its total impact exceeds the sum of each activity‖. It is a
strategy in which different communication tools like advertising, public relations, sales promotion,
direct marketing and personal selling work together to maximize the communication impact on
target consumers (en.wikipedia.org). IMC is also defined as a management concept which is
designed to make unified force of different aspects of marketing communication such as sales
promotion, public relations, advertising and direct marketing rather than to work in isolation.

Literature Review
Literature on Integrated Marketing Communication

Integrated marketing communication can produce stronger message consistency and greater sales
impact. It forces management to think about every way the customer comes in contact with the
company, how the company communicates its positioning the relative importance of each vehicle
and timing issues. It gives some responsibility to unify the company’s brand image and messages as
they come through thousands of company activities. IMC should improve the company’s ability to
reach right customers, with the right message, at right time in the right place. Thus personal and
non-personal communication channels should be combined to achieve maximum impact.
The idea of integrated marketing communication (IMC) is to create consistency and synergy by
combining marketing communication elements so that they support and enhance each other, to
promote potential communication understandings (Duncan and Everett, 1993)

Tools of IMC As stated earlier, more and more resources are allocated away from the traditional
mass media advertising and used on other communication tools. This allocation of communication
budgets is deeply connected to the appearance of, and is the major part of IMC. (Holm, 2006) The
classic tools – It is very seldom that companies use one tool of marketing communication.
Companies have used a mix of tools for a long time but that does not mean that they are practicing
IMC. The difference when using IMC is the strategy behind the use and how the mix is coordinated.
Duccan (2002) lists the different tools or functions as advertising, public relations, sales promotion,
the personal connection 30 (direct response & personal sales) and experimental contacts (events &
sponsorships). Advertising Mass media advertising, or the awareness builder, consists of “non-
personal, one way, planned messages paid for by an identified sponsor and disseminated to a broad
audience in order to influence their attitudes and behaviour.” (Duncan, 2002, p. 506). Advertising is
the most common of all the IMC tools and this is equal to marketing for many people. It is a very
broad tool and primary objective is to create awareness. Personal selling Personal selling is defined
as “Two way communication in which a seller interprets brand features in terms of buyer benefits.”
(Duncan, 2002, p. 617). Also called the face-to face function, it involves one-to-one marketing using
face to face communication. Before, personal selling was focused primarily on sales, but now has to
focus on salving problems and adding value. Public relations Also called as credibility builder, public
relations seek to affect the public opinion as well as company stakeholder. It can be a concept, a
profession, and a management as well as a practice. Public relation can create a goodwill and a
positive understanding between an organization and its stakeholders. Marketing PR is defines as
non-paid media to deliver positive brand information designed to positively influence costumers &
prospects.” (Duncan, 2002, p. 543) 31 Sales promotion Sales promotion [SP] and the value added
communication, is a communication tool that encourages people to action by adding value. It is “a
short term, added- value offer designed to encourage and accelerate a response” (Duncan, 2002, p.
569). SP can be coupons, price reductions, rebates to name a few and is used to persuade the
customers to buy or motivate in other stages of the decision process. Important to know is that it
works in the short term. Events & sponsorship Event marketing & sponsorship are not the same but
they overlap and have many things in common. They are designed to create involvement and are
effective to bond customers to a brand or company. Event marketing a used to involve, increase
awareness, reach audience and gain publicity. Sponsorships have increased over the year and both
differentiate and add value. The definition is the “the financial support of an organization, person or
an activity in exchange of brand publicity and association.” (Duncan, 2002, p. 640)

Literature on Online Marketing

Online services will drive marketing to the opposite end of the spectrum from “mass” marketing to
customized “one-to-one” marketing. Online marketers communicate instantly and directly with the
prospective customers and can provide instant fulfilment as well. Marketers with carefully designed
World Wide Web sites are already interacting computer to computer, with prospective customers or
an individual basis, much as ATM does in very primitive fashion. Online one to one approaches while
innovative and still glamorous in their pioneering aspects, offer significant new challenges. The
significant aspect is the access with the customers. Communication and information technology
development has encouraged the emergence of new communication channels that have increased
the options available to organizations for building relationships with clients.
Online marketing is today seen by many practitioners as the new arena for market communication
and on top of the list of users of the different mediums is Facebook, Blogs, Twitter, YouTube and
LinkedIn

Traditional marketing efforts have focused on determining exactly what channel to advertise
through, in order to properly segment the potential audience, but users of online social networks
have often times segmented themselves. Users of Joga, for instance, are soccer fans, users of the
Communities are interested in Adobe, and users of Myspace have the option to supply whatever
information about themselves that they wish. Marketers can spend more effort focusing on the
messages that they will use, and less time on proper audience segmentation. Another benefit to
marketing in a virtual community is that once the audience enters the network, they may be able to
ignore advertising messages, but they cannot avoid them (immersion). Consider the Adobe
Communities, for instance, which uses no outside advertisements or popup ads (that the typical user
can avoid easily), but rather advertise through immersion in that the entire network is the respective
marketing effort.

Research Objectives

The guiding objectives of the study is derived from the overall or guiding research question. As such,
this research aim at examining the extent online marketing impacts and improves the effectiveness
of integrated marketing communication in reaching the targeted audience. The research will aim at
achieving the following specific objectives:

 To determine the extent online marketing can be effective in achieving organisation

marketing strategy.
 To examine the extent integrated marketing communication can be effective in achieving
organisation marketing strategy.
 To ascertain the effectiveness of online marketing in achieving effective and efficient
integrated marketing communication in the organisation.
 To examine the key indicators used in measuring online marketing communication
performance.
 To examine the trending online marketing tools employed by organisation to reach more
targeted audience and accomplish more result

Research Methodology

Scope of the research

The study aims to understand the massive contribution of Online marketing as a part of Integrated
Marketing Communication and to know its splendid efforts towards promotion in practice and also
to find out some challenges in using online marketing as a tool of integrated marketing
communication. The recommendations of this research can be used to frame an appropriate
Integrated Marketing Communication strategy in which companies can give special consideration to
online marketing along with the other traditional tools of IMC.

Research problem

This study focuses on following problems –

 Should companies integrate various marketing tools to communicate about its brand?
 How do consumers get awareness about different brands?
 How online marketing plays important role in companies’ marketing strategy?
  What are the reasons for growing popularity of online marketing among consumers?
 How is online marketing advantageous over traditional marketing?
 What are the loopholes in online marketing?

Research objectives :

Based on the above research problems, the research objectives are as follows,

i. To understand the importance of Integrated Marketing Communication.

ii. To understand the importance of Online advertising in changing market scenario.
iii. To understand the reasons for growing popularity of online marketing.
iv. To analyse the effectiveness of online marketing as compared to traditional marketing
tools.
v. To identify the limitations of online marketing as IMC tool.

Research Methodology

The first step is to formulate a research design. This means planning a strategy of conducting
research. It is a detailed plan of how the goals of research will be achieved. Research design is
exploratory, descriptive and/or experimental in nature. It is helping the investigator in providing
answers to various kinds of social/economic questions. After collecting and analysis of the data,
the researcher has to accomplish the task of drawing inferences. Only through interpretation
researcher can expose relations and processes that underlie his findings and ultimately
conclusions. Interpretation refers to the task of drawing inferences from the collected facts after
an analytical study. It is a search for broader meaning and research findings. It is the device
through which factors that seem to explain what has been observed by researcher in the course
can be better understood and provides theoretical conception which serve as a guide for further
researches. It is essential because it will lead towards findings of the study and proper effective
conclusions of the study.

Survey Method: The survey method is the technique of gathering data by asking questions from
people who are thought to have the desired information. Every effort should be made to state
the objectives in specific terms.

Surveys are conducted in case of descriptive research studies with the help of questionnaire
techniques in most appropriate manner. Survey type of research studies usually have larger
sample. It is concerned with conditions or relationships that exists, opinion that are held,
processes that are going on effects that are evident or trends that are developing. Thus in
surveys variables that exist or have already occurred are selected and observed. It is the
example of field research.

Data Collection:

Data collection means to a purposive gathering of information relevant to the subject matter of
the study from the units under research. Primary data are empirical observations gathered by
the researcher or his associates for the first time for any research and used by them in statistical
analysis. There are several methods of collecting primary data particularly in descriptive
researches.

Questionnaire: The questionnaire has a list of questions to be asked and spaces in which the
respondents record the answer. It is either printed or typed in definite order on a form or set of
 forms. Each question is worded exactly as it is to be asked; also the questions are listed in an
established sequence.

Secondary data is the data collected by others in the past and used by others. It may be either
being published or unpublished data. It includes the following: 1. Various publications of central,
state and local governments. 2. Various publications of foreign governments or international
bodies. 3. Technical and trade journals 4. Books, magazines, and new paper. 5. Reports prepared
by research scholars, university economists etc. 6. Reports publications of various associations
connected with business and industry, bank, university, economists etc. Sources of unpublished
data are mainly diaries, letters, unpublished biographies; autobiographies etc. before using
secondary sources the researcher must ensure reliability sustainability and adequacy of data.

7 DATA ANALYSIS

Introduction:

The term analysis refers to the computation of certain measures along with searching for
patterns of relationship that exist among data groups. The data after collection has to be
processed and analysed in accordance with the outline laid down in research plan or
research design. This is essential for a scientific study and for ensuring that we have all
relevant data for making comparisons and analysis. Technically processing of data implies
editing, coding, classification and tabulation of collected data so that they are available for
analysis. Analysis particularly in case of surveys involves estimating the values of unknown
parameters of the population and testing of hypothesis for drawing inferences. “Thus in the
process of analysis, relationships or differences supporting or conflicting with original or
new hypothesis should subject to statistical tests of significance in order to determine with
what validity data can be said to indicate any conclusions.” Analysis therefore may be
categories as descriptive analysis and inferential analysis which is often known as statistical
analysis.

Descriptive Analysis:

Descriptive statistics is the term given to the analysis of data that helps describe, show or
summarize data in a meaningful way such that, for example, patterns might emerge from
the data. Descriptive statistics are simply a way to describe our data. “Descriptive analysis is
largely the study of distribution of one variable. This study provides us with profiles of
companies, work groups, persons and other subjects on any of a multiple characteristic such
as size, compositions, efficiency, preferences etc.” Descriptive analysis is more specific in
that they direct attention to particular aspects or dimensions of research target. Such
studies reveal potential relationship between variables, thus setting the stage for more
elaborate investigation later. It is a search for broader meaning and research findings. It is
the device through which the factors that seem to explain what has been observed by
researcher in the course can be better understood and provides theoretical conception
which serve as a guide for further researches. It is essential because it will lead towards
findings of the study and proper effective conclusions of the study. Descriptive approach is
one of the most popular approaches in these days. In this approach, a problem is described
by the researcher using questionnaire or schedule. This approach enables a researcher to
expose new ideas or areas of investigation. Direct contact between respondents and
researcher is brought through this descriptive approach

Inferential Analysis:

Inferential analysis is used to generalize the results obtained from a random (probability)
sample back to the population from which the sample was drawn. This analysis is only
required when: a sample is drawn by a random procedure; and the response rate is very
high. The methods of inferential statistics are (1) the estimation of parameter(s) and (2)
testing of statistical hypotheses. In the present study researcher used descriptive statistical
tools. Primary data is used while analysing and drawing inferences.

Descriptive Analysis of Primary Data:

This part of study is mainly focused on verifying main objectives of study. Researcher used
statistical tools like mean, standard deviation and graphs for analysis of primary data.

Profile of Respondents

Survey for research work was conducted in the city of Mumbai keeping in mind that online
marketing is still a metropolitan phenomenon in the developing country like India. Sample
of 103 respondents was selected for survey. The questionnaire included a segment on
customer’s profile as a classification of their demographic factors such as gender, age &
occupation. During data collection phase, due care was taken in order to make sure that the
given questionnaire is completely filled by the respondents. The detailed respondent profile
is as follows:

1. Background:
The following section presents analysis made on the data collected from the questionnaire.
The set of questions were sent to individuals who are currently living in Pune, India. Since
the survey was sent to 103 individuals, and the number of participants was 97, therefore the
total percentage of responses was 96 (%). In total the questionnaire contains 13 questions.
In the upcoming sections analysis and findings are presented.

1.1 Age Distribution:

The following pie chart shows the age distribution of people into 3 different age groups
who filled out questionnaires.

Out of 103 respondents - 100 are students out of which 86.4% are between the age 18 to 25
years & 11.7% are between the age 25 to 35 years. Also there are total 12 respondents who
are self-employed out of which 3 are between the 25 to 35 years & 9 are between the age
35 to 45 years. As far as gender wise segmentation is concerned, there are total 98 males
out of which 38 are between the age 18 to 25 years, 31 are between the age 25 to 35 years
& 29 are between the age 35 to 45 years. And there are total 102 males out of which 43 are
between the age 18 to 25 year.
1.2 Gender:
The following pie chart shows the gender distribution of the respondents
1.3 Knowledge about any brand.

Interpretation:
It is observed that when respondents were asked if they rely on just one medium to get
knowledge about any brand;
I. 37.9% have given negative response.
ii. 34% respondents have given complete positive response while only,
iii. 28.2% responded that they rely partially. It means major percentage is with negative
response. This reveals that consumers reckon upon more than one medium to get
knowledge of any brand. Due to unlimited brand choices & price sensitivity, they undertake
a detailed evaluation of various brands by referring more number of sources of information.
So they may be using combination of various mediums such print ads, television
commercials, in-store promotion to know about different aspects of the brand.

1.4 Source do you refer the most to get awareness of various brands

Excessive competition, globalization, fluctuating wants of consumers and advent of
technology are the major factors that encourage advertisers to make use of various sources
available to reach their TA. These sources can be print media (through newspapers &
magazines), electronic medium (like Television commercials, radio spots, Mobile marketing
and online advertising), Outdoor media (like hoardings, banners, neon signs) and Point of
Purchase (like in-store promotion, standees, merchandising racks & cases etc.) Many a times
consumers may also rely on various sources to get product related information. Using IMC
may help advertisers to convey this information to the customers wherever they go. So
while reading newspapers or magazine, watching Television, halting at railway 117 station
or on traffic junctions or while surfing internet; everywhere advertisers can drag the
attention of their prospects towards their brand.

Interpretation: it is observed that when respondents were asked about which source do
they refer the most to get awareness of various brands;
I. 17.5% have chosen print ads,
ii. 38.8% respondents have chosen Television commercial,
iii. 21.4% have chosen In-store promotion,
iv. 23.3% have chosen Outdoor media,
v. 79.6% respondents have chosen Online media, which is the higher of all. It means
consumers do refer various mediums to get awareness but highest preference is being given
to online media. Online media incorporates blogs, online, Window displays, banner ads etc.
And consumers today are more exposed to these forms of online advertising as compared
to advertising through other mediums.
1.5 Information to take purchase decision
Consumers may often get confused in making choice about which brand to purchase. In
such case, they may require detailed information to evaluate and differentiate among
various brands available. This information can be in the form of brand’s attributes, its
features, functional benefits etc. Sometimes just one medium cannot convey the maximum
possible information to the consumers due to certain limitation of each medium. So
advertisers can mix & match various 119 mediums by adopting IMC in order to spread
awareness, educate & inform them about the brand. Once they get the required
information, it becomes easier to take the purchase decision consequently saving their time
in evaluation at the last moment of purchase. For example, blending print ads or TVC with
in-store promotion may create positive impact of the brand and may increase confidence
level of consumer in making purchase decision. To analyse in detailed respondents were
asked to give their view on agreement scale considering two different attributes. The
responses were coded as below: 5. Strongly agree 4.Agree 3. No opinion 2. Disagree 1.
Strongly disagree

Interpretation: it is observed that when respondents were first asked whether they require
much information to take purchase decision;
i. 12.6% respondents shown strong disagreement
ii. 36.9% respondents were disagreeing
iii. 26.2% were no opinion
iv. 17.5% respondents were agreed
v. % respondents have shown strong agreement. Thus majority of consumers require more
information to take purchase decision but they do not like to spend much of their time for
purchasing any commodity. It reveals that consumers do require plenty of information to
take purchase decision. This information may increase their knowledge and assurance on
brands’ attributes & benefits consumers are likely to gain that will eliminate their confusion
in choosing any particular brand. Once they obtain the required information on various
brands, they take less time in the purchase of any commodity.
1.6 Time in purchase of any commodity.
Interpretation: it is observed that when respondents were first asked whether they require
much information to take purchase decision;
i. % respondents shown strong disagreement
ii. 29.1% respondents were disagreeing
iii. 27.2% were no opinion
iv. 38.9% respondents were agreed
v. % respondents have shown strong agreement. Thus majority of consumers require more
information to take purchase decision but they do not like to spend much of their time for
purchasing any commodity. It reveals that consumers do require plenty of information to
take purchase decision. This information may increase their knowledge and assurance on
brands’ attributes & benefits consumers are likely to gain that will eliminate their confusion
in choosing any particular brand. Once they obtain the required information on various
brands, they take less time in the purchase of any commodity.
1.7 Use of Internet
Today, Internet is one of the most important parts of our daily lives. There are large
numbers of activities that can be done using internet and so it is very important. Most of the
traditional communication media including telephone, music, film, and television are being
reshaped or redefined by the internet. It has enabled and accelerated new forms of human
interactions through instant messaging, internet forums, and social networking. Online
shopping has boomed both for major retail outlets, small artisans and traders. Prospects
from almost every age group right from teenagers to adults make use of internet for their
own respective purposes. Such uses can be social networking, media sharing (photo, songs
& video), online shopping, local search etc. It allows greater flexibility in working hours and
location, especially with the spread of unmetered high speed connections. To understand
whether respondents are convergent with the use of Internet; they were asked about their
knowledge about use if internet.

Interpretation: it is observed that when respondents were asked about their convergence
with internet;
i. % were not knowledgeable about internet.
ii. 15.5% were somewhat knowledgeable about internet.
iii. 31.1% were knowledgeable about internet.
iv. 48.5% were very well knowledgeable about internet. It means major percentage of
respondents is very well knowledgeable about internet. They are well convergent with
various usage, functions and benefits being offered by internet. While out of 103
respondents, only few i.e. 7% are not knowledgeable about internet. So it reveals that there
is high degree of literacy for internet usage.

1.8 Frequency of being online

The number of people using internet has really gone up due to technological advancements.
People use internet for a variety of reasons. However, major reasons why they use internet
is to get access to information, social networking, communication, transferring files,
entertainment, internet transactions, marketing, online education as well as to make
money. The internet allows greater flexibility in working hours and location, especially with
the spread of unmetered high-speed connections. The internet can be accessed almost
anywhere by numerous means, including through mobile internet devices. The low cost and
nearly instantaneous sharing of ideas, knowledge, and skills has made collaborative work
dramatically easier, with the help of collaborative software. Not only can a group cheaply
communicate and share ideas but the wide reach of the internet allows such groups more
easily to form.
Interpretation: it is observed that when respondents were asked about their frequency of
being online;
i. 7.6 % chosen very low frequency,
ii. less than 5%chosen low frequency,
iii. 52.4% chosen moderate frequency,
iv. 33% chosen high frequency,
v. % chosen very high frequency. It means majority of respondents i.e. 33% use internet
with high frequency followed by 52.4 % respondents with very high frequency of using
internet. So, due to its attribute of making life easier by allowing the users to have instant
access with every informational, educational, interactive & entertaining material; Internet is
heavily used medium today.
1.9 Using internet by ranking each purpose between the scale

Interpretation: it is observed that

i. Modal value for Social networks, Media sharing sites, online shopping is 1 indicates that
majority of respondents feels that these three are the most important purposes for using
internet.
ii. Modal value for Blogs, Podcasts & RSS, Collaborative websites and other content sharing
websites is 5 indicates that majority of respondents feels that these four are the least
important purposes for using internet.
iii. Median values and percentile values also support above interpretations. Hence,
respondents strongly feel that the most important activities to be done through internet are
social networking as it connects them with others, online shopping as it offers them
convenience of shopping and media sharing site as it allows them to download their
favourite enticing material such as songs, video, games etc.
It means that Social networking is the foremost purpose for which majority of respondents
use internet. Certain social networking sites such as Facebook, Orkut, LinkedIn etc. have
become popular in recent times, used to share the personal & professional views with
known and unknown people who can be found out through these sites. After Social
networking, second preference given to the online shopping. It allows flexibility to the
consumers to view a wide range of products & brands, evaluate them online by reading
their features and making an online purchase. Media sharing is at third place. It allows them
to share media material such as photos, music, video, news etc.

1.10 Companies should use online activities in their marketing efforts.

Since in recent days, consumers rely more on the information shared by internet, they use
this information for brand evaluation and for making purchase decision. This opportunity
must be grabbed by both small & large scale businesses by having their online presence. For
them online presence can be a tactic that involves use of internet as a medium to obtain
website traffic and to target & deliver advertising messages to the right customers. Online
advertising is geared towards defining markets through unique and useful applications.
Having an online presence will first bring their business to the potential customer’s
attention. If online presence is complete with positive reviews and a professionally updated
website; customers will see the reputation of the brand and will be more likely to choose
those brands. To analyse in detailed respondents were asked to give their view on
agreement scale considering two different attributes. The responses were coded as below:
5. Strongly agree 4. Agree 3. No opinion 2. Disagree 1. Strongly disagree

Interpretation: it is observed that when respondents were asked whether companies

should use online activities in marketing efforts;
i. 34% were strongly disagreed.
ii. 7% shown disagreement.
iii. 11% had no opinion on this question.
iv. 56.3% shown agreement and,
v. 3% were strongly agreed. It means majority of respondents are completely agreed that
companies should use online activities in their marketing efforts. Since online activities
facilitate good access and higher reach to the customers; companies must take this
advantage by incorporating online advertising in their marketing strategy

1.11 Factors are to motivate you to like the brand on internet

Interpretation: it is observed that when respondents asked about factors motivating to use
internet;
i. 24.4% respondents consider discount factor as most important and 20.5% respondents do
not consider it as important.
ii. 26% respondents consider other factor ‘to stay informed about company’s activities’ as
most important and 27% respondents do not consider it as important.
iii. 18% respondents consider other factor ‘to get updates on brands and its future
extension’ and 27% respondents do not consider it as important.
iv. 16.5% respondents consider other factor ‘Fun & entertainment’ and 33% respondents do
not consider it as important.
v. 26.5% respondents consider other factor ‘to get access to exclusive content’ as most
important and 23% respondents do not consider it as important.
vi. 24% respondents consider interaction factor as most important and 27.5% respondents
do not consider it as important. It means majority of respondents are motivated to use
internet as it offers them products at discounted rates, gives access to exclusive content
such as specific functional & emotional benefits of the brand and facilitates interaction
about the brand directly with the company.

1.12 The print ads or Television commercials much to get the brand awareness
Print ads are the advertisements which get published in print media such as newspapers,
bulletins & magazines, whereas television commercials [TVCs] get telecasted through
television. Both the forms incorporate the ad message and visuals but the major difference
is print ad has the static images whereas TVC includes motion pictures and has more
entertainment value than print ads. Print ads TVCs both have succeeded at a good extent in
reach the masses and conveying advertiser’s intent to the masses since longer time. But
with the advent of new & innovative forms of advertising, these two mediums are losing its
popularity.
Interpretation: it is observed that whether they don’t prefer the print ads or Television
commercials much to get the brand awareness,
i. 10.7% respondents have shown strong disagree,
ii. 35% respondents were disagreeing,
iii. 12.6% were neutral,
iv. 35.9% respondents were agreed whereas,
v. 8 % respondents have shown strong agreement. It means majority of respondents agreed
that they do not prefer Television commercials or print ads to get brand related awareness.
So these popular traditional mediums are no longer remained first preference for the
consumers to receive ad messages.

1.13 Online marketing offer over the traditional marketing

Traditional marketing is a broad category that incorporates many forms of advertising and
marketing. It is the most recognizable type of marketing, encompassing the advertisements
that we see and hear every day. Most traditional marketing strategies fall under one of four
categories: print, broadcast, direct mail, and telephone.
a) Print: Includes advertisements in newspapers, newsletters, magazines, brochures, and
other printed material for distribution
b) Broadcast: Includes radio and television commercials, as well as specialized forms like on-
screen movie theatre advertising
c) Direct mail: Includes fliers, postcards, brochures, letters, catalogues, and other material
that is printed and mailed directly to consumers
d) Telemarketing: Includes requested calling and cold calling of consumers over the phone
Internet marketing is not a singular approach to raise interest and awareness in a product.
Because of the vast number of platforms, the Internet creates, the field encompasses
several disciplines. It involves everything from email, to Search Engine Optimization (SEO),
to website design, and much more to reach an ever evolving, ever-growing audience. It
offers certain advantages to consumers over traditional marketing. The Internet is pervasive
and ubiquitous. It has grown to encompass nearly every aspect of society, augmenting or
outright replacing older methods of communication. This means that any organization, from
the smallest non-profit, to the largest corporation, and even the individual, has an incentive
to create a strong online presence. It allows great flexibility to choose wide range of brands
demonstrated online without investing their efforts & time. When respondents were asked
about the benefits of online marketing over traditional marketing, respondents have given
following responses.

Interpretation: it is observed that

i. 25.2% of respondents find online marketing advantageous as it offers wide range of
information about the brand,
ii. 27.2% of respondents find online marketing advantageous as it offers ease of shopping,
iii. 35% of respondents find online marketing advantageous as it saves consumer’s time,
iv. 12% of respondents find online marketing advantageous as it involves low cost in
purchase,
v. 7% of respondents find online marketing advantageous as it is an interactive medium. It
means majority of respondents favour for interactive ability of online marketing which is not
applied in case of traditional mediums like print ads, television commercials or outdoor
media. Consumers like to exchange their views and share their feedback when it comes to
evaluating the brand or for taking purchase decision.
1.14 Online advertising
Interpretation: it is observed that when respondents were asked whether they find online
marketing safest to use;
i. 4% were strongly disagreed.
ii. 15.5% shown disagreement.
iii. 22.3% had no opinion on this question.
iv. 49.5% shown agreement and,
v. 7.8% were strongly agreed. It means majority of respondent feel online marketing is
not very safe. In order to know the reasons, respondents were being specifically
asked to identify limitations.
1.15 Online marketing carry over traditional marketing tools

Interpretation: it is observed that

i. 20.4 % of respondents find online marketing is not safe as it is more susceptible.
ii. 51.5% of respondents find online marketing is not safe as there is more scope of
fraudulent activities.
iii. 13.6% of respondents find online marketing is not safe as it lacks demonstrations.
iv. 42.7% of respondents find online marketing is not safe as it may result in some serious
privacy issues.
vi. 13.6% of respondents find online marketing is not safe as it is often interrupting. It
means majority of respondents feel that online marketing is not safe as there is
more scope of fraudulent activities followed by privacy issues. These may include
cheating customers by offering them faulty items, giving wrong demonstrations,
taking confidential information such as bank details, credit card details and misusing
the same.

FINDINGS

Understanding the direct or main effects provides valuable insight into possible components
of an IMC program. To be able to decide on exactly which communications to employ,
however, it is also necessary to understand the interaction effects that may arise. However,
very few academic articles have taken a macro, “big picture” perspective to examine such
interactions. Before presenting our two models to help with this goal, we first review some
relevant academic research on media interactions. Several different academic works have
provided useful insight into the nature of cross-media effects, typically focusing on just a
few communication options at a time. As a general rule, this research has contrasted cross-
media synergies with corresponding within-media effects to find the incremental value of
coordinating communication strategies across media in some fashion. Next, we next
highlight some representative cross-media research in three different areas. Traditional
media synergies. Some of the earliest research on IMC showed how traditional advertising
and promotions such as TV, radio, and print advertising; price promotions; and others
interacted with each other to lead to more favourable consumer response.

Sales force and personal selling interactions. Much research has shown that personal selling
efforts and the sales force are more productive when preceded by or combined with other
forms of marketing communications.
 Conclusion:
This is the review paper in which we tried to explore IMC from different
aspects that what IMC is and what is its impact on business. IMC is being
practiced at very large scale worldwide. IMC gives positive impact with
successful promotional integration if it is implemented with proper process. It
gives positive impact as brand equity, brand awareness, profitability and
changing attitude of consumer. But all the factors which are influencing the
IMC should be managed properly. IMC strategy should be made considering
different aspects which might leave negative impact. Expanding the concept of
IMC tells us about its impact, factors influencing it and what are barriers. To
get the effective impact barriers should be removed by managing the
influencing factors.

References

Journals and Research Papers:

1. Barnes, N., & Mattson, E., (2008), Social media in the Inc. 500: The first longitudinal study
[Electronic version]. University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Centre for Marketing Research.
Retrieved from: http://www.umassd.edu/cmr/studiesresearch/blogstudy5.pdf [Accessed on
11th March, 2014]

2. IAB Platform Status Report: User Generated Content, Social Media, and Advertising —An
Overview, April 2008. Available at: http://www.iab.net/media/file/2008_ugc_platform.pdf
[Accessed 14th March, 2014].

3. Kerr, G., Schultz, D., Patti, C. & Kim, I., 2008. An Inside-Out Approach to Integrated
Marketing Communication: An international analysis. International Journal of Advertising.
[Online], 27(4), pg. no. 511–548. Available
at:http://ristiuty.edublogs.org/files/2008/11/integrated-marketingcommunication.pdf
[Accessed on 11th March, 2014].

4. Lindberg, Nyman and Landin, 2010. How to Implement and Evaluate an Online Channel
Extension through Social Media. Available at: http://lnu.divaportal.org/smash/record.jsf?
pid=diva2:322517 [Accessed on 11th March, 2014]. 5.
http://www.wisdomportal.com/Books/OnlineMarketing.html [Accessed on 10th April, 2014]

6.http://www.techopedia.com/definition/26409/integrated-marketingcommunications-
imc[Accessed on 4th May, 2014]

7.https://www.boundless.com/marketing/integrated-marketingcommunication/
introduction-to-integrated-marketing-6communications/introduction-to-integrated-
marketing-communications. [Accessed on 4th May, 2014]

8.http://www.ukessays.co.uk/essays/marketing/integrated-marketingcommunication.php
[Accessed on 4th May, 2014]

9.http://alexandramimoun.wordpress.com/thesis-integrated-marketingcommunications
[Accessed on 4th May, 2014]

10.http://www.articlesbase.com/marketing-tips-articles/integrated-marketingmanagement-
imc-4029166.html[Accessed on 7th August, 2014]

11.http://www.scoop.it/t/imc-integrated
marketingcommunication/p/4001040025/2013/05/05/the-communication-mix [Accessed
on 7th August, 2014]

12.http://www.socialmediatoday.com/content/marketing-trends-2013-and-beyond
[Accessed on 8th August, 2014]

13.http://teamkuhner.com/2011/09/20/integrated-marketing-communication-imc/
[Accessed on 9th August, 2014]
14. http://www.get-free-web-traffic.com/benefits-of-online-marketing.html [Accessed on
9th August, 2014]

15. http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jerry_Ihejirika [Accessed on 9th August, 2014]

16. http://ezinearticles.com/?Benefits-of-Internet-Marketing&id=3068318 [Accessed on 9th

August, 2014]

17. www.proquest.com

18. www.emarald.com

19. www.wikipedia.com

20. www.techopedia.com

21. www.webopedia.com

QUESTIONAIRE:

NAME

Gender *
Male
Female

Occupation *
Student
Service
Self employed

Age *
Between 18 to 25
Between 25 to 35
Between 35 to 45
I rely on just one medium to get knowledge about any brand. *
Yes
Somewhat
No

Which source do you refer the most to get awareness of various brands? *
Print ads
Television commercials
In-store promotion
Outdoor media
Online media

I do not require much information to take purchase decision *

Strongly agree
Disagree
No opinion
Agree
Strongly Disagree

I do not prefer to spend much of my time in purchase of any commodity. *

Disagree
No opinion
Strongly disagree
Agree
Strongly agree

Are you knowledgeable about the use of Internet? *

Not knowledgeable about
Somewhat knowledgeable about
Knowledgeable about
Very well knowledgeable about

What is your frequency of being online? *

Very Low
Low
Moderate
High
Very High

Please indicate your purpose for using internet by ranking each purpose between the scale
of 1 to 5 (where, 1 is the most important and 5 is least important) *
Print media
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Social networks

Companies should use online activities in their marketing efforts. *

Strongly agree
Agree
No opinion
Disagree
Strongly disagree

How important following factors are to motivate you to like the brand on internet?  *
Most important
Important
Least important
Not important
To receive discount
To stay informed about activities of company
To get updates on brands and its future extensions
For fun, entertainments
To get excess to the exclusive content
To interact (share ideas, provide feedback)

I don’t prefer the print ads or Television commercials much to get the brand awareness.  *
Strongly disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly agree
No opinion

What benefits does online marketing offer over the traditional marketing?(Tick only one,
which is more prominent according to you) *
Wide range of information
Ease of shopping
Time saving
Low cost
Interactive medium

I prefer Online advertising as it is SAFEST to use. *

Strongly disagree
Disagree
Agree
No opinion
Strongly Agree

What loopholes does online marketing carry over traditional marketing tools?(Tick only
one, which is more prominent according to you) *
More Susceptible
Privacy Issue
More scope for fraudulent activities
Often interrupting
Lack demonstration