Integrated marketing communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Integrated marketing communication - Essay Example There is a much used clich sentence in marketing circles that goes - "If you build a better mousetrap, the world will beat a path to your door." (Crilley 2009). But according to management experts this no longer holds good today. Hence "the reality is that when you build the world's best mousetrap, customers don't naturally come knocking at the door." A product or service whether it is provided by a private or public service organization needs to market it and marketing needs marketing communication for it to succeed. According to Ms Linda Hall and Dr. Mark Wickham of the University of Tasmania, there is a lot of homogeneity in products, services and price, the concept of integrated marketing communication has become the 'new frontier' to enable organizations to differentiate themselves, their products and services from other. (Hall and Wickam). IMC is the transformation of business messages to the consumer group on an integrated basis "IMC is defined as a management concept that is designed to make all aspects of marketing communication such as advertising, sales promotion, public relations, and direct marketing work together as a unified force rather than permitting each to work in isolation." (Lake 2009).There are several primary reasons why organizations need to change their isolated marketing communication approach to an integrated one. They are changes in the society, changes in the economy, and changes in technology. (Varey 2001, p.254). Changes in society: The behaviour and pattern of buying among consumers have undergone a sea change when compared to a few decades back. The concept of a brand loyal market has changed to a repertoire market. An article titled 'Mistakes Marketers Make' that appeared in eh Wall Street Journal states that marketers focus on building brand loyal customers, while in reality, this concept is fast disappearing. This is truer in the case of consumer goods. "Most frequently purchased consumer goods are in repertoire markets, though many consumers don't realize it." (Corkindale 2008). The feature of a repertoire market is that customers will have a basket of goods of the same type of product which he or she will alternatively buy. "In a repertoire market, the customer will buy from a repertoire of brands (more than one brand)." (Marketing Wisdom for 2004: 99 Marketers and Agencies Share Real Life Tips). The Wall Street Journal Article mentioned earlier states that in such a case marketers need to reach a larger audience and hence resorting to an integrated marketing approach will be more practical. . Changes in the economy: The cost of media advertising is increasing as time goes by. Organizations can no longer rely on a single expensive media like the television to promote their products and services. They have to be more cost conscious and at the same time be effective. An IMC strategy uses all types of promotional media and hence a marketing mix can be developed integrating less costly media with the more expensive ones. Changes in technology: Fifty years ago, the choice of advertising media would have been limited to the print and radio and television is certain markets. A little later few televisions channels appeared which later boomed with the introduction of cable TV and direct to home services. The internet as an advertising medium also became very popular. The huge increase in choice has also necessitated in an integrated marketing strategy for effectiveness. Global business scenario: Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) is considered as essential part of the business operations in the global business environment .Both public and private sector organisation are required to run their business in the global competitive environment. Expansion and diversification of business operations on global basis requires integrated marketing communication. Integrated communication improves business productivity and performance on a greater extend.