Chap-1

INTRODUCTION TO PROMOTION MANAGEMENT & IMC

Chap-1 IMC 1
 Overview of IMC

Learning Objectives
After completing this chapter the student will be able
 Define IMC
 Describe the marketing communication context
 Explain Why a shift from standard advertising
approach to the IMC approach?
 Explain potential barriers for implementing IMC
 Address the complexity of a communication problem.

Chap-1 IMC 2
 What is Marketing Communication?
• In the past, you have probably come across
marketing communications under some other
commonly used names such as ‘advertising’ or
‘promotions’.
• Over recent years ‘marketing communications’
has become the favoured term among
academics and some practitioners to describe:
all the promotional elements of the marketing mix which involve
the communications between an organisation and its target
audiences on all matters that affect marketing performance.
Chap-1 IMC 3
 Definition of Promotion Management

 Promotion Management is a marketing function

concerned with persuasively communicating to target
audiences the component of the marketing program in
order to facilitate exchange between the marketer and
the consumer and to help satisfy the objectives of both.

 Promotion is defined as a, “planned, coordinated

series of promotional efforts built around a single
theme or idea and designed to reach a predetermined
goal.”

4
 Components of The Definition

1.Promotion is primarily concerned with persuasive

communication.

 Promotion involves an attempt to persuade the

target audience to embrace a new attitude or to
engage in a new behavior

2.The second concept is target audiences.

 For example, the target market for Diet Coke consists

of all consumers who are diet conscious.

5
 Components of The Definition
3.The third component of the definition is that promotion is
goal directed.

 to create brand awareness,

 to deliver information,
 to educate, and
 to advance a positive image

6
 what is marketing communications mix ?

 Marketing communications mix is the range of

activities/tools available to an organization to communicate
with its target audiences on all matters that affect marketing
performance.

 The challenge of marketing communications is to

communicate the right message, in the right way, to
the right people, in the right place, at the right time!

Chap-1 IMC 7
 What is IMC?

We might briefly define IMC as the planning and

execution of all types of advertising-like and promotion-
like messages selected for a brand, service, or company,
in order to meet a common set of communication
objectives, or more particularly, to support a single ‘
positioning’.

 We believe strongly that the key to IMC is

planning , and the ability is to deliver a
consistent message.
Chap-1 IMC 8
 The 4Es and 4Cs of IMCs

 Integration is not easy to achieve but when it is

achieved, the 4Es and 4Cs of IMC create the synergistic
benefits of integration.
 The 4Es of integrated marketing communications are:
 Enhancing – improve; augment; intensify.
 Economical – least cost in the use of financial and
other resources; not wasteful.
 Efficient – doing things right; competent; not
wasteful.
 Effective – doing the right things; producing the
outcome required; not wasteful.

Chap-1 IMC 9
 The 4Es and 4Cs of IMCs

 Confusion is caused between the use of ‘efficiency’ and

‘effectiveness’ but distinguishing between them is
important.
 Like ‘economical’, they are both to do with not being wasteful, but it
is possible to be very efficient in terms of doing things right, but
unless you are being ‘effective’ you may not be doing the right things
– the task may be wrongly defined.
 It is, therefore, possible to be efficient without being effective and
vice versa.
 The issue is one of managing integrated marketing communications
efficiently and economically but also ensuring that the right
marketing communications tasks are selected in the first place.

Chap-1 IMC 10
 Cont’d…

The 4Cs of integrated marketing communications are:

 Coherence – logically connected; firmly stuck
together.
 Consistency – not self-contradictory; in
agreement, harmony, accord.
 Continuity – connected and consistent over
time.
 Complementary communications – producing
a balanced whole; supportive communications.

Chap-1 IMC 11
 cont’d….

 Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) is the

application of consistent brand messaging across both
traditional and non-traditional marketing channels and
using different promotional methods to reinforce each
other.

 Kotler et al., 1999 defined IMC as ‘ the concept under which a

company carefully integrates and coordinates its many
communications channels to deliver a clear, consistent and
compelling message about the organization and its products ’.

Chap-1 IMC 12
 Cont’…
 The first definition for integrated marketing communication came
from the American Association of Advertising Agencies (also 4A's) in
1989, defining IMC as "an approach to achieving the objectives of a 
marketing campaign through a well-coordinated use of different
promotional methods that are intended to reinforce each other. “
 The 4A's definition of IMC recognizes the strategic roles of
various communication disciplines (advertising, public relations,
sales promotions, etc.) to provide clarity, consistency, and
increased impact when combined within a comprehensive
communications plan.
 Basically, it is the application of consistent brand
messaging across both traditional and non-traditional
marketing channels.

Chap-1 IMC 13
 Cont’d…
 The Journal of Integrated Marketing Communication from the 
Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University refers to IMC
as "a strategic marketing process specifically designed to
ensure that all messaging and communication strategies are
unified across all channels and are centered around the
customer. “

 IMC is used practically to allow one medium's weakness

to be offset by another medium's strength, with elements
synergized to support each other and create greater
impact.

Chap-1 IMC 14
 cont’d…

 The American Marketing Association defines Integrated

Marketing Communications (IMC) as :
 “a planning process designed to assure that all brand
contacts received by a customer or prospect for a product,
service, or organization are relevant to that person and
consistent over time.”

 Gronstedt broadens the definition to include communications with

stakeholders, such as opinion leaders, government agencies, media,
financial community, and employees.

Chap-1 IMC 15
 cont’d…

 A more contemporary definition states, "True IMC is the

development of marketing strategies and creative
campaigns that weave together multiple marketing
disciplines (paid advertising, public relations, promotion,
owned assets, and social media) that are selected and
then executed to suit the particular goals of the brand. “

 Instead of simply using various media to help tell a brand's overall

story, with IMC the marketing leverages each
communication channel's intrinsic strengths to achieve a
greater impact together than each channel could achieve
individually.

Chap-1 IMC 16
 cont’d…

 It requires the marketer to understand each medium's limitation,

including the audience's ability/willingness to absorb messaging
from that medium.
 This understanding is integrated into a campaign's strategic plan
from the very beginning of planning - so that the brand no longer
simply speaks with consistency, but speaks with planned efficacy.
 This concept inherently provides added benefits that
include:
 A singular/synchronized brand voice and experience,
 Cost efficiencies generated through creativity and
production, and
 Opportunities for added value and bonus.

Chap-1 IMC 17
Elements of IMC/Promotion Mix

 Advertising-is any paid form of nonpersonal

communication and promotion of ideas, goods and
services by an identified sponsor.

 Most advertising messages are tailored to A

group and use mass media such as radio,
television, newspapers, magazines, and
outdoor.

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 Cont’d…

 Sales Promotion consists of marketing activities

that add to the basic value of the product or service
for a limited time and directly stimulate consumer
purchasing.
 For Example,
 Coupons and product sampling, stimulate the
distribution to carry the product and or to
promote the product or service
 Trade deals , Contests and meetings stimulate
the effort of the sales force .

19
 Cont’d…

 Public Relation is coordinated attempt to create a favorable

product image in the mind of the public by:

 Supporting certain activities or programs,

 Publishing commercially significant news in a widely circulated

medium, or

 Obtaining favorable publicity –that is ,favorable presentation on

radio, television, or stage that are not paid for the sponsor.

20
 Cont’d…

 Personal Selling: is interpersonal communication with one or

more prospective purchasers for the sake of making sales.

 Examples include
 Sales calls to a business by a field representatives (field
selling),
 Field marketing is a traditional discipline in direct marketing,
it involves people distributing, auditing, selling or sampling
promotions on the "field".
 Field marketing is historically thought of as a one-way
communication tool.

21
 Cont’d…

 In-store assistance of a sales clerk (retail selling),

 Retail involves the process of selling consumer goods or
services to customers through multiple channels of distribution
to earn a profit. 
 A representative calling at homes (door-to-door –selling).
 Door-to-door is a  sales technique in which a salesperson walks from the
door of one house to the door of another trying to sell a product or service
to the general public.
 People who use this sales approach are often called traveling salesmen, or
the archaic name drummer, to "drum up" business.
 A variant of this involves cold calling first, when another sales
representative attempts to gain agreement that a salesperson should visit .

22
 Importance of communication/Promotion

 Firstly, greater need to persuade consumers who have

established product loyalties

 Consumers today are faced with so many product choices that

they often resort to less-than –optimal choices, settle on a
particular “satisfactory brand,” and purchase it repeatedly to
reduce the effort involved in choosing another product.

 Secondly, Wider Separation between Consumers and

Marketers:
 The widening of physical and emotional distance between producers
and consumers.

23
 cont’d…

 Thirdly, Increased Competition Within and

Among Industries:
 Intense competition within and between industries
has placed pressure on the promotional programs
of individual sellers.
 Fourthly, Greater Need to Maintain Market Share
 Consumers are beyond the need to fulfill their
basic physiological requirements and are moving
toward fulfilling their desires.

24
 Cont’d…

 Fifth, Greater Financial Risk for Marketers

 The promotional effort is usually the largest

part of the total marketing expense.

 Sixth, Consumers Increased Selectivity:

 During times of economic decline, product
planning, distribution channels, and pricing
structure change little.

25
cont’d….

26
cont’d…

27
 Features of integrated marketing
communications
● Clearly identified marketing communications
objectives which are consistent with other
organisational objectives.
● Planned approach which covers the full extent
of marketing communications activities in a
coherent and synergistic way.

Chap-1 IMC 28
 Cont’d…
• Range of target audiences – not confined just
to customers or prospects nor just to imply
end customers but include all selected target
audience groups. These may be any specified
‘public’ or group of ‘publics’ – stakeholders
(e.g. employees, shareholders, suppliers),
consumers, customers and influencers of
customers and consumers, both trade and
domestic.
Chap-1 IMC 29
 Cont’d..
• Management of all forms of contact which
may form the basis of marketing
communications activity. This involves any
relevant communication arising from contact
within the organisation and between the
organisation and its publics.
• Effective management and integration of all
promotional activities and people involved.

Chap-1 IMC 30
 Cont’d…
• Incorporate all product/brand (‘unitised’) and
‘corporate’ marketing communications efforts.
• Range of promotional tools – all elements of
the promotional mix including personal and
non-personal communications.

Chap-1 IMC 31
 Cont’d…
• Range of messages – brand (corporate and products)
propositions should be derived from a single consistent
strategy. This does not imply a single, standardised
message. The integrated marketing communications
effort should ensure that all messages are determined in
such a way as to work to each other’s mutual benefit or
at least minimise incongruity.
• Range of media – any ‘vehicle’ able to transmit
marketing communication messages and not just mass
media.

Chap-1 IMC 32
 Benefits of integrated marketing
communications
• Creative integrity
• Operational efficiency
• Consistent messages
• Cost savings
• Unbiased marketing recommendations
• High-calibre consistent service
• Better use of media
• Easier working relations
• Greater marketing precision
• Greater agency accountability
Chap-1 IMC 33
 Why a shift from standard advertising approach to the IMC approach?

Overall, an influx of new marketplace trends in the late 20th

century spurred organizations to shift from the standard
advertising approach to the IMC approach:

i) Decreasing message impact and credibility

 The growing number of commercial messaging made it

increasingly more difficult for a single message to have a
noteworthy effect.

Chap-1 IMC 34
 cont’d…

ii) Decreasing costs of databases

 The cost of storing and retrieving names,

addresses and information from databases
significantly declined.

 This decline allowed marketers to reach

consumers more effectively.

Chap-1 IMC 35
 cont’d…

iii) Increasing client expertise

 Clients of marketing and public relations
firms became more educated regarding
advertising policies, procedures and
tactics.
 Clients began to realize that television
advertising was not the only way to reach
consumers.

Chap-1 IMC 36
 cont’d…

iv) Increasing mergers and acquisitions of agencies

 Many top public relations firms and

advertising agencies became partners or
partnered with other communication firms.
 These mergers allowed for more creativity, and the
expansion of communication from only advertising, to
other disciplines such as event planning and
promotion.

Chap-1 IMC 37
 cont’d…

v) Increasing Global Marketing

 There was a rapid influx in advertising

competition from foreign countries.
 Companies quickly realized that even if
they did not conduct business outside
their own country, they were now
competing in global marketing.

Chap-1 IMC 38
 cont’d…

vi) Increasing media and audience fragmentation

 Media and audience Fragmentation, with the

exception of the decline of newspapers, media
outlets, such as magazines and television
stations, increased from 1980 to 1990.

 Additionally, companies could use new technologies and

computers to target specialized audiences based on
factors such as ethnic background or place of residence.

Chap-1 IMC 39
 cont’d…

vii) Increasing Number of Overall Products

 Manufacturers flooded retailers with a

plethora of new products, many of which were
identical to products that already existed.
 Therefore, a unique marketing and branding
approach was crucial to attract customer
attention and increase sales.

Chap-1 IMC 40
Factors discouraging integrated marketing communications

 Mind-set
 Taxonomy and language
 Structure of organizations
 Elitism
 Magnitude of task
 Adequacy of budgets
 Manager ability
 Agency remuneration systems
 Dimensions of integration

Chap-1 IMC 41
 cont’d…

Mind-set
 The mind-set built up over many years of practice
has rewarded specialization and overlooked the
need for, and benefits of, integration.

 Gonring (1994) has identified the fear of change

and loss of control felt by individuals associated
with the industry.

Chap-1 IMC 42
 cont’d…

Taxonomy and language

• The very taxonomy and language which is used to describe the

promotional (or marketing communications) mix has a
detrimental effect on the integrative process.
• The result is that we perceive and encourage the use
of promotional activities as discrete activities i.e.
advertising is separated from corporate identity which
is separated from merchandising which is separated
from personal selling, etc.

Chap-1 IMC 43
 cont’d…

Structure of organizations

 The structure of organizations may make it

difficult to co-ordinate and manage disparate
specialisms as one entity.
 Organizations have typically subdivided their
tasks into sub-units (departments) in order to
cope with the magnitude of operations.

Chap-1 IMC 44
 cont’d..

 Vertical communications: Internal communications between different

hierarchical levels of employees, e.g. between managers and their
subordinates.
 Turf battles: Discussions and disagreements between groups of
employees from different parts of an organization, each favoring
their own points of view. This is associated with power struggles
within organizations between individuals and sections.
 Functional silos: The barriers erected between functions and
departments that tend to cause separation between functional
groups.

Chap-1 IMC 45
 cont’d…

• Elitism: Not only do organizational structures encourage

separatism, there is a sense of perceived elitism exhibited by
individuals within each promotional mix specialism.
– PR specialists extol their superiority over
advertising specialists who likewise extol their
virtues over PR, direct mail and sales promotion,
etc.

• Magnitude of task: It is very difficult to conceptualize the

‘Big Picture’ and to muster all the organizational influences
needed to achieve integration.

Chap-1 IMC 46
 cont’d…

 Adequacy of budgets: Too frequently,

organizations fail to fully appreciate the more
strategic and longer-term values of marketing
communications.
 Expenditure on them is rarely considered an
investment, although with the growth in the
recognition of the value of brands (the brand
equity) this situation is slowly changing.

Chap-1 IMC 47
 cont’d..

 Manager ability: Cross-disciplinary skills create a

barrier to IMC.
 The skills required are wide with few
possessing the ability to master them.
 Agency remuneration systems: This particularly
applies to advertising agencies whose income has
traditionally come from media commission

Chap-1 IMC 48
 cont’d….

Dimensions of integration:
There are many dimensions of integration.

If integration of marketing communications is to

be achieved the problem must be addressed in
each dimension.
It is common to think of integration as being
almost exclusively about the integration of the
promotional mix elements.

Chap-1 IMC 49
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Chap-1 IMC 50