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LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. What is the role of marketing communications?
2. What is the marketing communications mix?
3. How do marketing communications work?
4. What are the major steps in developing effective communications?
5. How should the communications mix be set and evaluated?
6. What is an integrated marketing communications program?
CHAPTER SUMMARY
1. Modern marketing calls for more than developing a good product, pricing it
2. The marketing communications mix consists of eight major modes of
3. The communications process consists of nine elements: sender, receiver, message,
media, encoding, decoding, response, feedback, and noise. To get their messages through,
4. Developing effective communications requires eight steps: (1) identify the target
audience, (2) choose the communications objectives, (3) design the communications, (4)
5. In identifying the target audience, the marketer needs to close any gap that exists
6. Designing the communication requires answering three questions: what to say
C H A P T E R
19
DESIGNING AND
MANAGING
INTEGRATED
MARKETING
COMMUNICATIONS
7. Although other methods exist, the objective-and-task method of setting the
8. In choosing the marketing communications mix, marketers must examine the
distinct advantages and costs of each communication tool and the company’s market
9. Measuring the effectiveness of the marketing communications mix requires
asking members of the target audience whether they recognize or recall the
10. Managing and coordinating the entire communications process calls for integrated
marketing communications (IMC): marketing communications planning that recognizes
the added value of a comprehensive plan to evaluate the strategic roles of a variety of
communications disciplines and that combines these disciplines to provide clarity,
consistency, and maximum impact through the seamless integration of discrete messages.
OPENING THOUGHT
Perhaps, the most challenging aspect of this chapter is the section on the nine elements of
the communications process: sender, receiver, message, media, encoding, decoding,
response, feedback, and noise. Students not previously exposed to these concepts in other
marketing or communications’ courses will find these concepts somewhat difficult to
fully understand and perceive without good use of examples and trial. The instructor is
encouraged to use examples gleaned from advertisers Web sites, advertisers, television or
print commercials to demonstrate via dissection these concepts, especially encoding and
decoding.
TEACHING STRATEGY AND CLASS ORGANIZATION
PROJECTS
1. At this point in the semester-long marketing plan project, students should have agreed
upon their integrated marketing communications matrix. The instructor is encouraged
2. With the instructor’s guidance and attendance, set up a field trip to a local advertising
agency in the community to gather from the agency’s management, their (ad agency)
views on the topic of integrated marketing communications. Especially, what services
have their clients’ requested that the ad agency performs to build an integrated
marketing communications program? Today, many progressive ad agencies are
3. Sonic PDA Marketing Plan: Every marketing plan must include a section showing
how the company will use marketing communications. The question is not whether to
communicate, but rather what to say, to whom, how to say it, how often, and which
promotional tools to use. You are responsible for planning integrated marketing
communications for Sonic’s new PDA. Review the strategies you previously
documented in the marketing plan for the targeting, positioning, branding, product
management, pricing, and distribution of the Sonic 1000. Now use your knowledge of
communications to answer these questions:
• What audience(s) should Sonic target in its integrated marketing communications
plan?
• What image should Sonic seek to create for its first PDA product?
• What objectives are appropriate for Sonic’s initial communications campaign?
• What message design and communication channels are likely to be most effective
for the target audience?
• Which promotional tools would be most effective in Sonic’s promotional mix?
Why?
• How should Sonic decide the amount to allocate to its marketing communications
budget?
Summarize your answers in a written marketing plan or type them into the Marketing
Mix section of Marketing Plan Pro.
ASSIGNMENTS
The opening vignette of this chapter is about Oreo, including its real-time marketing
efforts. Have the students read the following articles: Tim Nudd, “Inside Oreo’s
The starting point in planning marketing communications is an audit of all the potential
interactions that customers in the target market may have with the brand and the
company. Students should select a brand of their choosing and in their papers “map” out
or create an audit of all the potential interactions that customers in the target market have
with the brand and company. Students should, for the purpose of this assignment, assume
that they are a member of the target market.
September 7, 2013. After reading these articles, ask the students to take a position: For or
against using tricks to build a brand.
END-OF-CHAPTER SUPPORT
MARKETING DEBATE—Has TV Advertising Lost Power?
Long deemed the most successful advertising medium, television advertising has received
increased criticism as being too expensive and, even worse, no longer as effective as it once
was.
Critics maintain that consumers tune out too many ads by zipping and zapping and that it’s
difficult to make a strong impression. The future, claim some, is with online advertising.
Supporters of TV advertising disagree, contending that the multisensory impact of TV is
unsurpassed and that no other media option offers the same potential impact.
Take a position: TV advertising has faded in importance versus TV advertising is still the most
powerful advertising medium.
Properly designed and executed TV programs can improve brand equity by vividly
demonstrating product attributes and persuasively explaining consumer benefits, portraying
user and usage imagery, brand personality, and other brand intangibles. Critics of TV
advertising may be focusing on the “messenger” rather than on the “message.”
Con: Consumers have changed. We are now into the fourth generation of consumers using TV
as a marketing communications medium. The proliferation of new technologies has shifted the
“power” to the viewer rather than the “transmitter.” Current generations receive information
through numerous media channels: the Internet, cell phones, satellite, cable, radio, and others.
MARKETING DISCUSSION
Pick a brand and go to the Web site. Locate as many forms of communications as you can
find. Conduct an informal communications audit. What do you notice? How consistent are the
different communications?
Marketing Excellence: Red Bull
1. What are Red Bull’s greatest strengths and risks as more companies (like Coca-Cola,
Pepsi, and Monster) enter the energy drink category and gain market share? What are the
risks of competing against such powerhouses?
Suggested Answer: Red Bull’s greatest strength is its integrated marketing
communications mix and their ability to reach a select target market with success. It has
2. Discuss the pros and cons of Red Bull’s nontraditional marketing tactics. Should Red
Bull do more traditional advertising? Why or why not?
Suggested Answer: Student answers will vary but good students will note that as a
3. Discuss the effectiveness of Red Bull’s sponsorships. Where should the company
draw the line in terms of novelty and risk?
Marketing Excellence: Target
1. Describe Target’s marketing communications strategy. What has the company done
well over the years?
Suggested Answer: Short answer is that Target has done everything well in terms of an
integrated marketing communications strategy—its message is consistent, accessible to
2. How does Target compete against mammoth Walmart, which has four times the
revenue? What are the distinct differences in their marketing communications
strategies?
Suggested Answer: The differences between Walmart and Target lie in their target
market distinctions. Target’s target market’s income, education, and lifestyles differ from
3. What are the risks and challenges associated with Target’s marketing communications
mix? Have these changed over the years? Explain.
Suggested Answer: Student answers will vary, but good students will probably state that
Target changed its mix in response to the economic climate to focus more on value and less on
DETAILED CHAPTER OUTLINE
Modern marketing calls for more than developing a good product, pricing it attractively,
and making it accessible. Companies must also communicate with present and potential
stakeholders and the general public. For most marketers, therefore, the question is not
whether to communicate but rather what to say, how and when to say it, to whom, and
how often. Oreo has used various comunications in different markets to establish a strong
global positioning.
I. The Role of Marketing Communications
A. Marketing communications are the means by which firms attempt to inform,
persuade, and remind consumers—directly or indirectly—about the products
and brands they sell.
i. They represent the voice of the company and its brands; they are a
means by which the firm can establish a dialogue and build
relationships with consumers.
ii. By strengthening customer loyalty, they can contribute to customer
equity.
v. Marketing communications allow companies to link their brands to
other people, places, events, brands, experiences, feelings, and things.
vi. They can contribute to brand equity—by establishing the brand in
memory and creating a brand image—as well as drive sales and even
affect shareholder value.
B. The Changing Marketing Communications Environment
i. Technology and other factors have changed the way consumers
process communications, and even whether they choose to process
II. Marketing Communications Mix
A. Advertising is often a central element of a marketing communications
program, but it is usually not the only one—or even the most important one—
for sales and building brand and customer equity.
B. Marketing communications mix consists of eight major modes of
communication:
i. Advertising—Any paid form of nonpersonal presentation and
promotion of ideas, goods, or services by an identified sponsor via
ii. Sales promotion—A variety of short-term incentives to encourage trial
or purchase of a product or service including consumer promotions
(such as samples, coupons, and premiums), trade promotions (such as
advertising and display allowances), and business and sales force
promotions (contests for sales reps).
iii. Events and experiences—Company-sponsored activities and programs
designed to create daily or special brand-related interactions with
consumers, including sports, arts, entertainment, and cause events as
well as less formal activities.
vi. Mobile marketing—A special form of online marketing that places
communications on consumer’s cell phones, smart phones, or tablets.
vii. Direct and database marketing—Use of mail, telephone, fax, e-mail, or
Internet to communicate directly with or solicit response or dialogue
from specific customers and prospects.
viii. Personal selling—Face-to-face interaction with one or more
prospective purchasers for the purpose of making presentations,
answering questions, and procuring orders.
ix. The product’s styling and price, the shape and color of the package,
the salesperson’s manner and dress, the store décor, and the company’s
stationery all communicate something to buyers.
III. How Do Marketing Communications Work?
A. Marketing communication activities in every medium contribute to brand
equity and drive sales by creating brand awareness, forging brand image in
consumers’ memories, eliciting positive brand judgments or feelings, and
strengthening consumer loyalty.
i. The way brand associations are formed does not matter.
ii. Marketing communications activities must be integrated to deliver a
consistent message and achieve the strategic positioning
iii. The starting point in planning them is a communication audit that
profiles all interactions customers in the target market may have with
the company and all its products and services.
1. To implement the right communications programs and allocate
2. Armed with these insights, they can judge marketing
communications according to their ability to affect experiences
iv. In building brand equity, marketers should be “media neutral” and
evaluate all communication options on effectiveness (how well does it
work?) and efficiency (how much does it cost?)
B. The Communications Process Models
i. Macromodel of the Communications Process
1. Two factors in effective communication represent the major
parties—sender and receiver.
a. Senders must know what audiences they want to reach
and what responses they want to get.
d. The more the sender’s field of experience overlaps that
of the receiver, the more effective the message is likely
to be.
2. Two factors represent the major tools—message and media.
messages that may interfere with the intended communication.
ii. Micromodel of Consumer Responses concentrate on consumers’
specific responses to communications
1. All these models assume the buyer passes through cognitive,
affective, and behavioral stages in that order.
a. This “learn-feel-do” sequence is appropriate when the
audience has high involvement with a product category
2. Awareness – Knowledge – Liking – Preference – Conviction –
Purchase may be objectives
a. Probability of each of the six steps being successfully
accomplished is 50 percent
b. Assuming independence, likelihood of all six steps
IV. Developing Effective Communications
A. Basics: identifying the target audience, setting the communication objectives,
designing the communications, selecting the communication channels, and
establishing the total marketing communications budget.
B. Identify the Target Audience
I. Start with a clear target audience in mind: potential buyers of the
company’s products, current users, deciders, or influencers, as well as
individuals, groups, particular publics, or the general public.
II. The target audience is a critical influence on the communicator’s
decisions about what to say, how, when, where, and to whom.
C. Set the Communications Objectives
i. Establish need for category
ii. Build brand awareness
D. Design the Communications
i. Formulating the communications to achieve the desired response
requires answering three questions: what to say (message strategy),
how to say it (creative strategy), and who should say it (message
source).
ii. In selecting message strategy, management searches for appeals,
themes, or ideas that will tie in to the brand positioning and help
establish points-of-parity or points-of-difference.
1. Some of these appeals or ideas may relate directly to product or
3. Buyers expect one of four types of reward from a product:
rational, sensory, social, or ego satisfaction.
4. They might visualize these rewards from results-of-use
experience, product-in-use experience, or incidental-to-use
experience.
iii. Communications effectiveness depends on how well a message is
expressed as well as on its content.
2. We can broadly classify creative strategies as either
informational or transformational appeals.
a. An informational appeal elaborates on product or
service attributes or benefits and assume strictly
rational processing of the communication; logic and
reason rule.
i. Two-sided informational messages may be more
appropriate than one-sided when negative
associations must be overcome
iv. For a two-sided message, if the audience is
initially opposed, start with the other side’s
argument and conclude with your strongest
argument.
b. A transformational appeal elaborates on a nonproduct-
related benefit or image and often attempts to stir up
emotions that will motivate purchase.
i. Communicators use negative appeals such as
involvement with an ad. These techniques are
thought necessary in the tough new media
environment of low-involvement processing and
competing messages.
iv. Research has shown that the source’s credibility is crucial to a
message’s acceptance.
1. The three most often identified sources of credibility are
expertise, trustworthiness, and likability
a. Expertise is the specialized knowledge the
communicator possesses to back the claim.
2. The most credible source will score high on all three
dimensions—expertise, trustworthiness, and likability.
E. Select the Communications Channels
i. Selecting an efficient means to carry the message becomes more
difficult as channels of communication become more fragmented and
cluttered.
ii. Communications channels may be personal and nonpersonal. Within
each are many subchannels.
iii. Personal communications channels let two or more persons
communicate face to face or person to audience through a phone,
surface mail, or e-mail.
1. They derive their effectiveness from individualized
2. Advocate channels consist of company salespeople contacting
buyers in the target market.
4. Social channels consist of neighbors, friends, family members,
and associates talking to target buyers.
5. Personal influence carries especially great weight when
7. It can be particularly effective for smaller businesses
iv. Nonpersonal channels are communications directed to more than one
1. Much recent growth has taken place through events and
experiences.
2. Companies are searching for better ways to quantify the
3. Events can create attention, though whether they have a lasting
effect on brand awareness, knowledge, or preference will vary
v. Although personal communication is often more effective than mass
communication, mass media might be the major means of stimulating
2. The influence of mass media on public opinion is not as direct,
powerful, and automatic as marketers have supposed; it is
3. The two-step flow challenges the notion that consumption
4. Nass communicators should direct messages specifically to
F. Establish the Total Marketing Communications Budget
i. Affordable Method—what they think they can
1. Ignores the role of marketing communications as an investment
and their immediate impact on sales volume
2. Uncertain annual budget, which makes long-range planning
difficult
ii. Percentage-of-Sales Method—specified percentage of current or
anticipated sales or of the sales price.
2. Leads to a budget set by the availability of funds rather than by
market opportunities.
4. Dependence on year-to-year sales fluctuations interferes with
long-range planning.
iii. Competitive-Parity Method—achieve share-of-voice parity with
competitors.
1. No grounds for believing competitors know better.
3. No evidence that budgets based on competitive parity
discourage communication wars.
iv. Objective-and-Task Method—budgets developed by defining specific
objectives, identifying the tasks that must be performed to achieve
these objectives, and estimating the costs of performing them.
V. Communications Budget Trade-offs: How much weight should
marketing communications receive compared to alternatives such as
product improvement, lower prices, or better service?
V. Selecting the Marketing Communications Mix
A. Companies must allocate their marketing communications budget over the
eight major modes of communication—advertising, sales promotion, events
B. Companies are always searching for ways to gain efficiency by substituting
one communications tool for others.
C. Characteristics of the Marketing Communications Mix
i. Advertising reaches geographically dispersed buyers.
1. It can build up a long-term image for a product (Coca-Cola
ads) or trigger quick sales (a Macy’s ad for a weekend sale).
3. The mere presence of advertising might have an effect on sales:
a. Pervasiveness—Advertising permits the seller to repeat
a message many times.
b. Amplified expressiveness—Advertising provides
ii. Companies use sales promotion tools—coupons, contests, premiums,
and the like—to draw a stronger and quicker buyer response, including
short-run effects such as highlighting product offers and boosting
sagging sales
1. Ability to be attention-getting—They draw attention and may
lead the consumer to the product.
3. Invitation—They include a distinct invitation to engage in the
transaction now.
iii. Events and experiences offer many advantages as long as they have
the following characteristics:
1. Relevant—A well-chosen event or experience can be seen as
2. Engaging—Given their live, real-time quality, events and
experiences are more actively engaging for consumers.
3. Implicit—Events are typically an indirect soft sell
iv. Public Relations and Publicity are underused, yet a well-thought-out
program coordinated with the other communications-mix elements can
be extremely effective, especially if a company needs to challenge
consumers’ misconceptions.
2. Ability to reach hard-to-find buyers—Public relations can
3. Dramatization—Public relations can tell the story behind a
company, brand, or product.
v. Online marketing and messages can take many forms to interact with
consumers when they are in active search mode or just browsing and
surfing online for something to do.
1. Rich—Much information or entertainment can be provided—as
much or as little as a consumer might want.
3. Up to date—A message can be prepared very quickly and
diffused through social media channels.
vi. Mobile marketing has three distinguishing characteristics:
1. Timely—Mobile communications can be very time-sensitive
and reflect when and where a consumer is.
2. Influential—Information received or obtained via a smart
3. Pervasive—Consumers typically carry their smart phones
everywhere, so mobile communications are at their fingertips.
vii. Direct and database marketing have three noteworthy characteristics:
1. Personal—Personal facts, opinions, and experiences can be
3. Complementary—Product information can be provided that
helps other marketing communications, especially in terms of
e-commerce.
viii. Personal selling is the most effective tool at later stages of the buying
process, particularly in building up buyer preference, conviction, and
action.
1. Customized—The message can be designed to appeal to any
individual.
2. Relationship-oriented—Personal selling relationships can range
3. Response-oriented—The buyer is often given personal choices
and encouraged to directly respond.
D. Factors in Setting the Marketing Communications Mix
i. Type of Product Market
ii. An effectively trained company sales force can make four important
contributions:
2. Build enthusiasm
4. Manage key accounts
iii. Buyer-Readiness Stage
iv. Product Life-Cycle Stage
E. Measuring Communication Results
i. Inputs and expenses: press clipping counts, numbers of ads placed, or
media costs.
VI. Managing the Integrated Marketing Communications Process: “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.”
A. Media coordination can occur across and within media types, but marketers
should combine personal and nonpersonal communications channels through
multiple-vehicle, multiple-stage campaigns to achieve maximum impact and
increase message reach and impact.
B. Integrated marketing communications can produce stronger message
consistency and help build brand equity and create greater sales impact
C. Six Cs criteria can determine whether communications are truly integrated.
i. Coverage: proportion of the audience reached by each communication
option employed as well as the amount of overlap among those
options.
