Integrated marketing communications

Promotion represents the fourth element of the marketing mix and consists of:
1) advertising; 2) personal selling; 3) sales promotion; 4) public relations;
and 5) direct marketing.

The promotional mix is the combination of one or more of the communication
Tools to: 1) inform prospective buyers about the benefits of the product; 2) persuade them to try it; and 3) remind them later about the benefits they enjoyed by
Using the product.

Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) is the concept of designing marketing
Communications programs that coordinate all promotional activities.

I The Communications Process
Communication is the process of conveying a message to others
and requires six elements: a source, a message, a channel of communication, a receiver and the processes of encoding and decoding.

• Source is a company or person who has information to convey
• A message is the information sent by the source
• A channel of communication is the means (salesperson,

advertisement, article in newspaper

• Receivers are consumers who read, hear, or see the message

sent by the source.

• Encoding - the sender transforms an idea into a set of

symbols.

• Decoding - the receiver takes a set of symbols, the message,

and transforms them back to an idea according to a frame of
reference. (attitudes, values, and beliefs)

• Feedback - is the sender’s interpretation of the response

and indicates whether the message was decoded and
understood as intended.

• Noise or clutter - factors that distort a message, get in the

way of a message being received.

II Promotional Elements
Advertising, sales promotion, and public relations use mass selling
because they are used with groups of prospective buyers.

Personal selling, telemarketing, direct marketing and interactive
marketing are considered customized selling because they are
customized for specific customers.

A. Advertising - a paid, nonpersonal communication from an
identified sponsor using mass media to persuade or influence
an audience.
1. Space for advertising must be bought
2. Advertising involves mass media, hence nonpersonal
Advantages:
Can reach a mass audience, introduce new products,
can remind/reinforce, advertiser can control what is
said, when it is said, and to whom it is targeted.
Disadvantages:
Costs to produce and place a message are expensive
The lack of direct feedback makes is difficult to know
if and how well the message was received.
B. Personal Selling - is the two-way flow of communication between a buyer and seller designed to influence a person’s or group’s purchase decision.
Personal selling is usually face to face.
Advantages:
A salesperson can control to whom a presentation is made
so wasted coverage, those outside of the target audience,
can be reduced.
The seller can see or hear the potential buyer’s reaction
to the message and if the feedback is unfavorable, the
salesperson can modify the message.
Disadvantages:
Flexibility - different salespeople can change the
message so no consistent communication is given
to all customers.
On a cost-per-contact basis, it is generally the most
expensive promotional element.
C. Public Relations - a form of communication management that
seeks to influence the feelings, opinions, or beliefs held by customers,
prospective customers, stockholders, suppliers, employees, and
other publics about a company and its products or services.
Public Relations includes: 1) special events; 2) lobbying efforts;
3) annual reports; 4) press conferences; 5) image management;
6) publicity

• Publicity - is the nonpersonal, indirectly paid presentation

of an organization, good or service and can take the form
of a news story, editorial or product announcement.
Advantages:
Credibility - people tend to believe media reports
Cost - can cost considerably less than paid advertising
Disadvantages:
Sender’s lack of control over what is said, to whom or when
can get dropped at the last minute because a bigger story
comes into the media.
D. Sales Promotion - is a short term inducement of value offered to
arouse interest in buying a good or service. Sales promotions are
offered to intermediaries as well as to ultimate consumers.
Advantages:
The short term nature of the program, such as a coupon or
sweepstakes with an expiration date, often increases sales
during the time the program is in effect.
Disadvantages:
Sales gains are often temporary and drop off after it ends
Used continuously sales promotions lose their effectiveness.
customers delay their purchase until a coupon is offered.
E. Direct Marketing - uses direct communication to generate a response
in the form of an order, a request for further information, or a visit to
a retail outlet.  The communication can take many forms: direct mail,
Catalogs, telemarketing, direct response advertising, and online marketing.
Advantages:

• Great targeting
• Measurability

Disadvantages:

• Requires a comprehensive and up to date database, which is

expensive acquire and time consuming to maintain.
III Developing the Promotional Mix
Different promotional tools are used depending on 1) The target audience;
2) The objectives; 3) budget; 4) Timing; 5) Stage in the product life cycle
and 6) channel strategy.

A. Channel Strategies
Controlling the marketing channel is often difficult for manufacturers,
Promotional strategies can assist in moving a product through it
Based on two types of strategies.
1. Push - directs the promotional mix to channel members to
Gain their cooperation in ordering and stocking the product.
The goal is to get channel members to push the product to
Their customers.
2. Pull - directs promotional mix at ultimate consumers to
Encourage them to ask the retailer for a product.
IV Developing an IMC Program
Promotion decisions must be made carefully using a systematic
Approach.
A. The first decision is to identify your target audience/s -
the group of prospective buyers toward which your
promotion program will be directed.
B. After the target audience is identified, a decision must
be reached on what the promotion should accomplish.

• Consumers respond in terms of a hierarchy of effects,

which is a sequence of stages a prospective buyer goes
through from initial awareness to action.
1. Awareness - recognize and remember a brand
2. Interest - A consumer’s desire to learn more
3. Trial - consumer’s first actual purchase
4. Adoption - consumer’s repeated purchase
C. Setting the Promotional Budget
Different methods are used:
1. Percentage of Sales - a percentage of past or
anticipated sales
2. Competitive - budget matches a competitors
3. All you can afford
4. Objective and Task
D. Selecting the Right Tools
The promotion mix can vary from a simple program
Using a single tool to a comprehensive program
Using all tools.
E. Designing the Promotion
F. Scheduling the Promotion
V Executing and Evaluating the Promotional Program
* Pretesting
* Posttesting

IV Direct marketing
Direct Marketing is a promotional element that uses
Direct communication with consumers to encourage them
To place an order, request more information, or visit a store.

• Direct marketing includes: direct mail, catalogs, direct

response ads, telemarketing, and interactive marketing.
A. The Value of Direct Marketing
* Consumers can order goods or services by phone,
Mail, and online from anywhere and at anytime

• Sellers can measure if their offer worked, can

Continuously make new offers, can generate leads,
Drive traffic to their stores
B. Technological, Global, and Ethical Issues in Direct
Marketing

• Databases are the result of organizations’ efforts to collect

Demographic, media, and consumption profiles of
Customers so that direct marketing tools can be directed at
Specific customers

• Technology deregulation and improved payment systems

May help the global growth of direct marketing.
Ethical Issues
1. How much information should a company have about
An individual
2. Spam  - Can Spam - opt out options
3 Telemarketing guidelines - do not call registry, minors,
Must state who you are, etc.