Chapter 01 – An Introduction to Integrated Marketing Communications
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CHAPTER 1
AN INTRODUCTION TO INTEGRATED MARKETING
COMMUNICATIONS
Chapter Overview
The purpose of this opening chapter is to provide the student with an overview of the field of advertising
and promotion and its role in the marketing process. We introduce the concept of integrated marketing
communications (IMC), its evolution, and examine how various marketing and promotional elements
must be coordinated to communicate effectively. We also discuss the reasons for the increasing
importance of the IMC perspective in planning and executing advertising and promotional programs.
Marketers understand the value of strategically integrating the various communication functions rather
than having them operate autonomously. The move to integrated marketing communications also reflects
Learning Objectives
1. To examine the marketing communication function and the growing importance advertising and
other promotional elements play in the marketing programs of domestic and foreign companies.
2. To introduce the concept of integrated marketing communications (IMC) and consider how it has
evolved.
6. To examine how various marketing and promotional elements must be coordinated to communicate
effectively.
7. To introduce a model of the IMC planning process and examine the steps in developing a
marketing communications program.
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Chapter and Lecture Outline
I. INTRODUCTION TO ADVERTISING AND PROMOTION
The chapter begins with a brief discussion of the changing roles of advertising and promotional strategy
in modern marketing. Instructors should note the role and importance of an organization’s promotional
II. THE GROWTH OF ADVERTISING AND PROMOTION
Advertising and promotion are integral parts of our social and economic systems. Advertising has evolved
into a vital communication system for both consumers and businesses. In market-based economies,
consumers rely on advertising and other forms of promotion to provide them with information they can
use in making purchase decisions. Corporations rely on advertising and promotion to help them market
their products and services.
Professor Notes
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III. WHAT IS MARKETING?
A. Many students may already have had a marketing course; however, it is still helpful to define
marketing and stress that it involves more than just selling or other promotion functions. For more
than two decades, the American Marketing Association, the association that represents marketing
professionals in the United States and Canada, defined marketing as:
the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution
of ideas, goods, and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational
objectives.
B. Revised Definition of Marketing — In 2007 the AMA adopted a revised definition of marketing:
Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, and
delivering exchange offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners and society at
large.
disposing of it.
C. The Marketing Mix—The four elements of the marketing mix (product, price, place, and
promotion) can be introduced and the task of combining these elements into an effective
marketing program for facilitating exchange with a target audience should be noted. The
instructor should point out that while this course focuses on the promotion element of the
Professor Notes:
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IV. INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS
A. The Evolution of IMC—In the past, many marketers built strong barriers around the various
marketing and promotional functions, planning and managing them separately with different
budgets, different views of the market and different goals and objectives. In the 1990s, however,
many companies began moving toward the concept of integrated marketing communications
A concept of marketing communications planning that recognizes the added value of a
comprehensive plan that evaluates the strategic roles of a variety of communication
disciplines—for example, general advertising, direct response, sales promotion, and public
relations- and combines these disciplines to provide clarity, consistency, and maximum
communications impact.
B. A Contemporary Perspective of IMC—As IMC evolves and becomes marketers develop a better
understanding of the concept, they are recognizing that it involves more than just coordinating the
various elements of the marketing and communications program to reflect “one look, one voice.”
IMC is being recognized as a business process that helps companies identify the most appropriate
and effective methods for communicating and building relationships with customers and other
stakeholders. Don Schultz of Northwestern University, who has been one of the major
proponents and thought leaders in the area, developed a new definition of IMC which is as
follows:
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This definition views IMC as an ongoing strategic business process rather than just tactical
integration of various communication activities. It also recognizes that there are a number of
relevant audiences that are an important part of this process beyond just customers.
C. Reasons for the Growing Importance of IMC—There are a number of reasons why marketers are
adopting the concept of IMC. A very fundamental reason is that they recognize the value of
• A shifting of marketing dollars from traditional media advertising to other forms of
promotion as well as nontraditional media.
• The rapid growth of the Internet and social media which is changing the nature of how
companies do business and the ways they communicate with consumers.
V. The Role of IMC in Branding – one of the major reasons for the growing importance of integrated
marketing communications over the past decade is that it plays a major role in the process of
developing and sustaining brand identity and equity. Brand identity is a combination of many factors
including the name, logo, symbols, design, packaging, and performance of a product or service as
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VI. THE PROMOTIONAL MIX: THE TOOLS FOR IMC
The Role of Promotion – Promotion is defined as the coordination of all seller-initiated efforts to set up
channels of information and persuasion to sell goods and services or promote an idea. It should be noted
that promotion is best viewed as the communication function of marketing. The discussion of integrated
marketing communications should point how other marketing elements such as brand name, package
A. Advertising—any paid form of nonpersonal communication about an organization, product,
service, or idea by an identified sponsor.
Advantages
• cost-effective way for communicating, particularly with large audiences
• ability to create images and symbolic appeals and for differentiating similar products and services
Disadvantages:
• the cost of producing and placing ads can be very high, particularly television commercials
• it can be difficult to determine the effectiveness of advertising
Professor Notes
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B. Direct Marketing—a system of marketing by which organizations communicate directly with
target customers to generate a response and/or a transaction. Direct marketing has not
traditionally been considered an element of the promotional mix. However, because it has
become such an integral part of the integrated marketing communications program of many
organizations, this text views it as a component of the promotional mix.
Advantages:
• changes in society (two-income households, greater use of credit) have made consumers more
receptive to the convenience of direct-marketed products
Disadvantages:
• consumers and businesses are being bombarded with unsolicited mail and phone calls which
makes them less receptive to direct-marketing
C. Interactive/Internet Marketing – interactive media allow for a back-and-forth flow of
information whereby users can participate in and modify the content of the information they
receive in real time. The major interactive medium is the Internet, which is a global collection of
Advantages:
• the Internet can be used for a variety of integrated marketing communication functions including
advertising, direct marketing, sales promotion, public relations and selling. The Internet is also
the foundation for social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter which are becoming an
integral part of many marketers IMC programs.
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Disadvantages
• the Internet is not yet a complete mass medium as about a quarter of U.S. households do not
have access to the Internet and many do not have broadband access. In some countries this
percentage is much higher.
D. Sales Promotion—marketing activities that provide extra value or incentive to the sales force,
distributors, or the ultimate consumer and can stimulate immediate sales. Sales promotion is
generally broken into two major categories: consumer-oriented and trade-oriented activities.
Advantages:
• provides extra incentive to consumer or middlemen to purchase or stock and promote a brand
• way of appealing to price sensitive consumer
Disadvantages:
• many companies are becoming too reliant on sales promotion and focusing too much
attention on short-run marketing planning and performance
• many forms of sales promotion do not help establish or reinforce brand image and short-term
sales gains are often achieved at the expense of long-term brand equity
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It is important to address the potential terminology problem concerning the use of the terms
promotion and sales promotion. In this text the term promotion represents an element of the
E. Publicity/Public Relations
Publicity—nonpersonal communications about an organization, product, service, or idea that is
not directly paid for nor run under identified sponsorship.
Public Relations—a management function which evaluates public attitudes, identifies the public
policies and procedures of an individual or organization with the public interest, and executes a
program of action to earn public understanding and acceptance.
Advantages of Publicity:
• credibility of publicity is usually higher than other forms of marketing communication
Disadvantages of Publicity:
• lack of control over what is said, when, where and how it is said
• can be negative as well as positive
E. Personal Selling—direct person-to-person communication whereby a seller attempts to assist
and/or persuade prospective buyers to purchase a company’s product or service or act on an idea.
Advantages:
• direct contact between buyer and seller allows for more communication flexibility
Disadvantages:
• high cost per contact ($155 to $300, depending on the industry)
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Professor Notes
VI. IMC INVOLVES AUDIENCE CONTACTS
The various promotional mix elements are the major tools that marketers use to communicate with current
and/or prospective customers as well as other relevant audiences. Many companies are taking an
audience contact perspective in developing their IMC programs whereby they consider all of the potential
ways of reaching their target audience with their messages. The various ways that a customer can come
into contact with a company or brand is are shown in Figure 1-5. It is the responsibility of those involved
in the marketing communications planning process to determine how each of these contact tools can be
used to communicate with the target audience and how they can be combined to form an effective IMC
program. New to this edition is a discussion of four basic categories of contact or touch points which
include:
• Company created touch points which are planned marketing communication messages such as
advertisements, web sites, news/press releases, packaging, sales promotion offers and point-of–
purchase display.
VII. THE IMC PLANNING PROCESS
Integrated marketing communications management is defined as the process of planning, executing,
evaluating, and controlling the use of the various promotional-mix elements to effectively communicate
with target audiences. It involves coordinating the promotional mix elements to develop a controlled and
integrated program of effective marketing communication. It involves various decision areas such as:
• which promotional tools to use and how to combine them effectively
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The steps in the Integrated Marketing Communications Planning Model include:
1. Review of the Marketing Plan – the first step in the IMC planning process is to review the
marketing plan which is a document that describes the overall marketing strategy and programs
developed for an organization, a product/service line, or an individual brand.
4. Budget Determination – two basic issues must be addressed with regard to the IMC budget:
• How much money will be spent on marketing communication
• How the money will be allocated across the various IMC tools
5. Developing the Integrated Marketing Communications Program – the most involved and detailed
part of the promotional planning process occurs at this stage as decisions have to be made
regarding the role and importance of each IMC tool and their coordination with one another. Each
IMC tool has its own set of objectives, budget, messaging and media strategy. These include:
• Advertising message and media strategy and tactics
6. Integrating and Implementing Marketing Communications Strategies – the various IMC tools
must be integrated and steps must be taken to implement them. Most large companies hire
7. Monitoring, Evaluation and Control – the final stage of the IMC planning process involves
monitoring, evaluating and controlling the promotional program. At this stage, the marketing
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Professor Notes:
Teaching Suggestions
This initial chapter is designed to provide the student with an overview of the field of advertising and
promotion and a brief look at the role of IMC in the marketing process. The instructor should be careful
not to go into an in-depth discussion of marketing since this is covered in detail in chapter 2. You should
introduce the concept of integrated marketing communications discuss its evolution, and note how this
approach differs from more traditional perspectives of advertising and promotional planning. In this
You should also emphasize that there are a variety of ways by which customers come into contact with a
company and/or its brands. There is a discussion of IMC involving audience contacts and Figure 1-5 of
the text is an excellent way of showing the various contact tools. New to this edition is a discussion of
four major categories of contact points which have been noted by Tom Duncan. When discussing these
various types of contact points, you might use Figure 1-6 to explain how these four types of contact points
During an introductory lecture there is latitude to discuss various issues and aspects concerning each
promotional mix variable. For example, various perspectives regarding advertising such as its social and
economic effect might be noted along with common complaints and criticisms of advertising. We do not
suggest going into a detailed discussion of these charges at this early stage of the course. We feel that
students are best able to evaluate and appraise various arguments for and against advertising and other
promotional mix elements toward the end of the course. Thus, the final chapter of the text evaluates the
social and economic aspects of advertising.