INTRODUCTION Over the last decade, product marketing and ways through which communication takes place between manufacturers and consumers has changed tremendously (Belch & Belch 2004). Due to the technological revolutions and the rise of innovations such as the mobile phones and the internet, control over information has shifted apparently from the manufacturer's hands to the hands of consumers (Belch & Belch 2004). The market environment has also changed due to globalization of marketing strategies, loss of confidence in media advertising, increased reliance on targeted communication methods, and media fragmentation and so on (Belch & Belch 2004). Given the changing market environment, the need for more efficient and cost effective marketing strategies has induced changes to the way marketers conduct their marketing activities and led to the adoption of more integrated approaches (Dewhirst & Davis, 2005). The consequence has been the adoption of a more holistic customer oriented approach to conducting marketing communication activities, a process often known as Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) (Dewhirst & Davis, 2005). IMC CONCEPT A vast number of studies have made attempts to define the term Integrated Marketing Communications. One of the most succinct and widely accepted definitions of the IMC concept is that defined by the American Association of Advertising agencies. That is, "a concept of marketing communications planning that recognizes the added value of a comprehensive plan that evaluates the strategic roles of variety of communications disciplines (for example, general advertising, direct response, sales promotion, and public relations) and combines these disciplines to provide clarity, consistency a... ... middle of paper ... ...of brand equity in an organizational-buying context. Journal of Product & Brand Management, Vol. 6(6), pp. 428-437. Kitchen, P. J., & D.E. Schultz, 1998. IMC – a UK ad’ agency perspective. Journal of Marketing Management, Vol. 14, pp. 465-485. Low & S. George, 2000. Correlates of Integrated Marketing Communications. Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. 40, pp. 27-39. Peltier, et al., 1992. Direct Response Versus Image Advertising. Journal of Direct Marketing, Vol. 6 (1), pp.49-66. Reilly & C. James, 1991. The Role of Integrated Marketing Communications in Brand Management, The Advertiser, Vol.1 (Fall), pp.32-35. Schultz, D. E., 1996. The inevitability of integrated communications. Journal of Business Research, Vol. 37, pp. 139-146. Schultz, D.E., et al., 1994. The new marketing paradigm: integrated marketing communications. NTC Business Books, pp. 105-156.
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The marketing idea is tied in with accomplishing corporate objectives by meeting and surpassing client needs superior to the opposition. The best approach to do this is for organizations to consider what value they are proposing to offer to their clients and once this choice is made, choose how to impart this message to their clients/commercial center (Fahy and Jobber, 2012). It is viewed as that there are 3 principle components to the marketing communication mix: tools, media and messages (Baines and Fill, 2014). This essay focuses on the diagram and critique of the initial two of these, tools and media.
Marketing is a process of determining a consumer’s needs, devising a product or service to satisfy those needs, and trying to focus customers on the goods and services you are offering. Marketing is extremely important, and a fundamental building block for business growth. A marketing team is given the task of creating customer awareness through a variety of different marketing techniques. If a business does not pay close attention to their consumer demographic and needs, they will eventually fail over time. Two important aspects of marketing include acquiring new customers, and the preservation and growth of relationships with current customers. Marketing has always been viewed as a creative outlet, which encompassed advertising, distribution, and the selling of goods and services. Marketing staff will also try to anticipate what customers will want in the future, often being accomplished with market research. In summation, a good marketing plan should be able to create a favorable proposition or series of benefits that a customer can value through goods or services. The marketing mix is normally described as the strategic positioning of a product or service in the marketplace, using the specification of the four Ps. During the early 1960’s, Professor E. Jerome McCarthy of Harvard Business School stated that a marketing mix contains four elements. The four key points are product, pricing, promotion, and placement. It is recognized that all these aspects must be present to ensure a successful business model within a given industry. We will now take a thorough look at the four marketing mix points.
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Several facts are changing in today’s marketing communications. More companies adopt the new concept of integrated marketing communications (IMC) to convey a consistent message about their brand and products. Hence, IMC has played a powerful role and developed into a useful strategy for company to reach more customers and build good customer relationships. According to Herstein et al. (2008), IMC is one of a successful strategy that coordinates and integrates all of marketing communication tools to efficiently and economically influence between an organization and its existing and potential customers. Moreover, marketers can combine IMC tools (advertising, sale promotion, personal selling, direct marketing and public relations) rather than separate practices to create values and avoid potential conflicts (Duncan & Everett, 1993). In fast food industry, fast food chains integrate advertising, sale promotion, sponsorship, packaging and Internet to promote their products as well as build brand image (Sperber, 2003; Story & French, 2004; Morrison, 2010). Advertising is most used form of communication and the most frequently utilized medium due to it easily contact the target market, especially on television advertising (Story & French, 2004; Case, 2007). In addition, simple toys and products are typically used by fast food chains in children’s meal to attract children and adolescents.
Smith, P. R. and Taylor, J., 2004. Marketing communications: An Integrated Approach. 4th ed. London: Kogan Page.
“Integrated marketing communication simply recognises the need to plan and build up all relevant marketing communications so that they work together in harmony to the greatest effect with greatest efficiency” (Pickton and Broderick, 2001: 47)
A good definition of marketing is the process of the intermediary function between product development and sales. (Reddy ) The field of marketing entails taking a generic product or generic service (the product or services do not have to be “generic” they may be actually unique to the marketplace) and associating the generic product with a brand name (Petty 2001). Under this generic concept are the activities of advertising, public relations, media planning, sales strategy and so on.
Several facts are changing in today’s marketing communications. Owing to the growing numbers of alternative communication media and promotion, marketing communication does not just primarily focus on advertising and promotion. Organizations and entrepreneurs begin moving toward the process of integrated marketing communication (IMC), which has emerged as a new concept and the major communication development in marketing in the 21th century. More and more companies adopt IMC to convey a consistent message about their brand and products to derive competitive advantage and brand value. In addition, IMC has developed into a beneficial strategy for companies to reach more customers as well as build good customer relationships. Smith et al. (1999) and Holm (2006) point out that IMC is one of a successful strategy that coordinates and integrates multiple marketing communication tools to efficiently and economically influence between a company and its existing and potential customers. Thus, IMC is perceived as a useful concept. It offers companies a competitive edge in attracting customers a...
Raising awareness about the product a company has at hand is where business begins and it is a great teller of how successful the product will be in the competitive market. The art of communication has become a vital aspect and this is attributed to the fact that there are a wide variety of channels of communication that a company can employ. It is therefore advisable that as a company you be able to come up with a marketing strategy that will make your products stand out from the rest of the crowd. The company should be able to create a message that will be used in giving the product a position in the market. In the current world internet has changed the way business is being conducted and issues of targeting and segmentation are being handled differently (Milkman, 2008).
Many new marketing communication options are today available to marketers due to rapid growth and new development of new technologies. In 1993 a new concept called integrated marketing communication was introduced by Schultz, Tannenbaum and Lauterborn. As Keller (2001) said that there is no area in marketing industry has seen more changes affected than marketing communication in the pass years.
Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) can be explained as the coordination and combination of the marketing communication tools and marketing techniques and