Marketing communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Marketing communication - Essay Example Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) is a simple and modern concept used by organisations to ensure careful and effective linkage of all forms of communication. The concept of IMC enables organisation to effectively co-ordinate and integrate all of its marketing communication tools and functions. This management tool has been developed to ensure the integrated working of all aspects of promotion including advertisements, direct marketing, sales promotion techniques, and public relations. Promotion is one of the Ps in the marketing mix and it has a distinct set of communications tools. Since the tool of promotion plays a pivotal role in determining the sales volume of a business, IMC concept can significantly affect business profitability. This paper will discuss different aspects of integrated market communications and will provide reasons for licensing the importance of IMC perspective. Simply, IMC is a management process of maintaining customer relationships by way of communic ation efforts in order to promote brand value. Such efforts may include cross functional processes which are strategically designed to maintain profitable relationship with different stakeholder groups by effectively controlling all messages sent to them with the application of different communication tactics. The IMC techniques promote integration of different marketing operations and this process in turn affects the firm’s business to business, customer oriented, and internally directed interactions. Advertising tools, promotional tools, and integration tools are some of the major components of the IMC. Advertising tools add value to brand and firm image; and they include advertising designs, selection of advertising channels, execution strategies, and advertising management. Promotional tools comprise of direct sales, trade promotions, customer oriented promotions, public relations, and sponsorship projects whereas integrations tools mainly include online promotion techniq ues and other integrated marketing programmes. The internet has changed products/services promotion strategies and the way marketers and customers interact with each other. Researchers argue that a comprehensive IMC plan would enhance harmony between marketers and customers. According to Kenneth (2007, p. 31), all IMC strategies are centred on a master marketing plan, which consists of six well defined phases such as situation analysis, marketing objectives, marketing budget, marketing strategies, marketing tactics, and evaluation of performance. IMC ensures uninterrupted flow of messages and effective use of media through the application of online and offline marketing channels. Online marketing channels embrace e-mail, pay per click, blog, podcast, and internet TV whereas offline marketing channels include newspapers, magazines, flex boards, industry relations, and television. In modern days, use of IMC has become essential for organisations to ensure success; and companies consid er all the elements of the marketing mix while designing an integrated marketing communication programme. Some professionals claim that IMC is a critical thinking approach that can accurately identify consumer insights and effectively responds to them. It must be noted that selection of right communication tools is an important aspect of an IMC plan as every communication tool would not fit the size and nature of every business. Even though the scope of an IMC plan is broader than an advertising campaign, the lion’s part of the marketing budget is spent on the design and circulation of advertisements. Evidently, personal selling is the most common type of integrated marketing communication technique. Generally, personal selli