Chapter Case Study: How Integrated is Volvo’s IMC Strategy?
Learning Objectives
LO1 Identify the components of the communication process.
LO2 Explain the four steps in the AIDA model.
LO3 Describe the various integrative communication channels.
LO4 Explain the methods used to allocate the integrated marketing communications (IMC) budget.
LO5 Identify marketing metrics used to measure IMC success.
Chapter Overview (“Summing Up”)
LO1 Identify the components of the communication process.
The communication process begins with a sender, which provides the message to a transmitter that
develops or encodes the message for transmission through a communication channel. When a recipient
receives the message, it may have been altered by noise in the environment. To find out, the sender
needs to receive some form of feedback from the recipient.
LO2 Explain the four steps in the AIDA model.
Awareness is the first “thinking” step, during which the consumer simply recognizes a brand or
product. During the interest step, the consumer starts to “feel” and become intrigued enough to explore
the product or brand. This interest then leads to another feeling, namely, desire for the marketed item.
Finally, to be successful, marketing communication must prompt an action: a purchase, a commitment,
a recommendation, or whatever else the company is trying to get consumers to do.
LO3 Describe the various integrative communication channels.
Advertising has long been the primary channel for marketing communication and is still a constant
presence, but other media channels have become more and more prominent. For example, direct
marketing media options, particularly online options, have increased in recent years. Outbound direct
marketing telephone calls have declined, but Internet-based technologies like e-mail and m-commerce
have increased. Public relations also has become increasingly important as other media forms become
more expensive and as consumers grow more skeptical of commercial messages. With regard to new
and electronic media, the wealth of recent options include websites, corporate blogs, and social media
