European Journal of Marketing

IMC education and digital disruption

Gayle Kerr, Louise Kelly,
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Kerr, G., & Kelly, L. (2017). IMC education and digital disruption. European Journal of
Marketing, 51(3), 406-420.
EJM
51,3
406
Received 31 August 2015
Revised 31 August 2015
12 November 2015
Accepted 26 November 2015
Downloaded by Queensland University of Technology At 20:06 04 March 2019 (PT)
European Journal of Marketing
Vol. 51 No. 3, 2017
pp. 406-420
© Emerald Publishing Limited
0309-0566
DOI 10.1108/EJM-08-2015-0603
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0309-0566.htm
IMC education
and digital disruption
Gayle Kerr and Louise Kelly
Department of Advertising, Marketing and Public Relations,
Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to benchmark the progress of integrated marketing communication
(IMC) education, by replicating and extending a study on IMC education by Kerr (2009). It documents
progress, examines the impact of digital disruption and concludes with an agenda for change.
Design/methodology/approach – Using the Delphi technique, this study recruited leading IMC
educators and thought leaders internationally to find consensus on an important range of IMC issues,
including its place within the university, the IMC brand, curriculum, impact on practice, the incorporation of
digital and future challenges.
Findings – IMC has strengthened its place within the university and also within the minds and
understanding of academics, students and industry. Digital disruption provides many challenges including
updating curriculum and up skilling staff. It is vital, however, that IMC thinking be positioned as the
integrator and digital as the facilitator, providing platforms to actualise IMC strategy such as content,
customer service and cross-functional planning.
Practical implications – This study shows what IMC education has achieved since Kerr’s (2009) study.
Further, it outlines what needs to be achieved in the future by providing a “To do” list for IMC educators.
Originality/value – It is vital that the development and progress of this important new area of study is
tracked to ensure industry challenges are met, such as digital disruption, and the right education for IMC
managers of the future is provided.
Keywords Delphi method, Education, Integrated marketing communications
Paper type Research paper
In 2004, when Kitchen et al. (2004) stated, “Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC)
is perfectly poised at the transition from an industrial to an information-driven society”,
practitioners and academics could only have dreamed about the advances in technology
and the impact on marketing communication over the following decade. It is interesting
therefore to reflect back on what change has occurred and chart the impact of this digital
disruption on IMC education.
Digital disruption has seen a shift in how organisations conduct business on every
level (Clift, 2014). The convergence of the internet, mobile devices and traditional media
channels has changed the dialogic way that marketers communicate and engage with,
and understand their customers (Belch et al., 2014). Advances in analytics allow
marketers to track the customer journey, driving insights and building relationships
and reputation (Leeflang et al., 2014). As a consequence of this digital disruption, many
now see integration as more important than ever before (Kliatchko and Schultz, 2014).
As educators, we would like to feel we played some small part in this seismic shift
towards a more integrated mindset. Has, for example, the lack of top management
support, reported as one of the earliest obstacles to IMC, been addressed through
educational efforts across the past two decades? Are industry practitioners and
 academics more aligned in their efforts towards strategic integration, and is research IMC education
now informing practice? Has IMC education been a lever of transformation? Or are we and digital
still fighting over whether IMC should be in arts or business? disruption
The purpose of this paper is to provide a state-of-the-art assessment of IMC
education. In doing so, it replicates and extends Kerr’s 2009 study of IMC education. By
involving the world’s leaders in IMC education, some of whom comprised the original
2009 panel, this research explores the same questions about IMC’s place in the 407
university, its branding, its curriculum, its challenges, its impact on practice and its
future. It also seeks to include Kitchen et al.’s (2004) notion of a transformation to an
information-driven society, more recently manifest as digital disruption, by examining
the inclusion of digital and its impact on IMC education.
This study is important because if IMC is to thrive in this digital disruption, we need
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the right education for the managers of the future. Furthermore, it is important to track
the changes in IMC education across time, to identify and share innovation and also to
precipitate remedial action. This study is equally important because education is a large
and growing international industry, which is predicted to be nearly worth US$66bn by
2019 (Tiwari, 2014).

The evolution of integrated marketing communication

IMC theory was conceptualised in the mid-1990s by authors such as Schultz (1996), Kitchen
(1999) and Duncan and Everett (1993) who saw IMC as a new direction in marketing,
providing practitioners with a more strategic integrated management approach. Some
suggested that IMC was a new phrase for something that had been around for some time WHEN
(Spotts et al., 1998), while others recognised that it was the process of IMC that made it unique START IMC!
and valuable to business (Duncan, 2002; Kliatchko, 2005).
Schultz (2004) describes IMC as “a strategic business process” that involves message
integration, strategic integration and organisational integration. Message integration offers
verbal and visual consistency of image, personality, tone, themes and messages across all
marketing communications. While one-voice is nothing particularly unique to IMC, strategic
integration is the key construct that separates IMC from marketing communication (Duncan,
2002; Kerr, 2009). Kerr and Patti (2015) developed a strategic integration tool designed to
maximise efficiency, align strategy and promote corporate mission. It is founded on key Integration
dimensions of strategic IMC such as strategic alignment, customer focus, organisational TOOL
structure, culture and communication and IMC capabilities. Strategic integration should
Key strategic
integrate the organisation as well, delivering cross-functional planning, interactivity and
profitable long-term relationships (Porcu et al., 2012). dimensions:
Interestingly, digital disruption has provided new platforms for integration and + Strategic
interactivity. For example, customer service has joined the conversation with customers on Alignment.
social media platforms to solve problems and build long-term relationships. Data-sharing + Customer
platforms have spanned silos and facilitated cross-functional planning. Data-driven Focus.
communications use technology to engage and target (and retarget) messages between + Org. Structure.
T
brands and consumers (Mulhern, 2009). In particular, Mulhern (2009) identifies digital’s + Culture.
impact on important elements of IMC such as consumer insight, data-driven behaviour,
cross-media integration and communications with multiple stakeholders.
Over the past 20 years, IMC has evolved to incorporate the benefits of new technologies to
connect with more empowered consumers and to integrate the organisation using digital
platforms. Yet, as recently as 2014, IMC was still described as “a developing and evolving
field” (Schultz et al., 2014, p. 459), leading us to imagine what the future might hold in the next
decade.
 EJM Integrated marketing communication education
51,3 As IMC was introduced into practice, academics recognised the importance of its inclusion in
curriculum, and the debate began as to how and where it should be implemented. Early
studies into IMC education outlined obstacles such as organisational structure, leadership
and its place within the curriculum (Caywood and Ewing, 1991; Duncan et al., 1993; Rose and
Miller, 1993; Griffin and Pasadeos, 1998).
408 The inclusion of IMC into academic programmes was considered both a threat and
opportunity. Some predicted an erosion of in-depth instruction in more discipline-specific
areas such as public relations (Griffin and Pasadeos, 1998), while others saw IMC as a way of
providing additional value to their courses by attracting a new stream of student enrolments
(Griffin and Pasadeos, 1998).
Across disciplines, the enthusiasm for IMC was similarly divided. Griffin and Pasadeos
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(1998) found that even though the majority of public relations and advertising academics
agreed that employers were demanding an understanding of skills outside traditional
discipline areas, the public relations academics responded very negatively towards the
inclusion of IMC in their programme. Advertising academics were more open to the idea with
the majority reporting an interest in IMC. Kerr and Drennan (2010) investigated these
differences further. They found that despite both advertising and public relations (PR)
practitioners holding similar views with each other and with the literature on key IMC issues,
they still believed that advertising and public relations practitioners thought totally
differently about IMC.
Industry support for the inclusion of IMC within the curriculum was studied by
Roznowski et al. (2004) who found that almost all (96 per cent) marketing professionals from
Fortune 500 companies felt that IMC should be included in both undergraduate and
postgraduate programmes. Kerr et al. (2007) reported that advertising practitioners place
value on the strategy and planning, consumer behaviour and creative components of IMC
Advertasin
education, where public relations practitioners saw its application to planning, agency
g VS PR. management and crisis communication as being most valuable. These findings were also
Dif. supported by Battle et al. (2008) who reported that students with a broader understanding of
Prespective IMC were sought by advertising practitioners, who believed it minimised the need for
of IMC extensive in-house education.
In 2005, in a special IMC edition of the Journal of Advertising, Patti highlighted three
challenges for IMC educators. The first was to provide an integrated and interdisciplinary
approach to IMC education. The second was the need for IMC-specific learning materials.
Third, Patti called for a commitment from academics to champion IMC development.
These three challenges were among the issues examined by Kerr (2009). Using a Delphi
study, a panel of leading IMC academics achieved consensus on important teaching, research
and curriculum issues. The study identified many challenges for curriculum development,
Study including the lack of faculty experience and enthusiasm to embrace or lead IMC. The study
findings also found a disparity of views as to where IMC sat within the various disciplines and a need
for the IMC brand to be understood by both industry and students. The need for IMC
champions and the role of emerging technologies and the changing digital landscape were
flagged as the greatest challenges for IMC education (Kerr, 2009).
It is interesting to observe that the main barriers to implementing IMC in the workplace,
such as organisational structure and leadership, also seem to apply to IMC education. The
organisational structure of universities is generally not conducive to integration. Similarly,
turf battles and egos are disruptive to cross-functional teamwork. Therefore, leadership from
the Head of Department is vital to integrate IMC within the organisation (Belch et al., 2014)
 and ensure funding and support to develop IMC programmes with relevant content for those IMC education
who will practice IMC in the future. and digital
With this prevailing parallel between IMC practice and education, and knowing that
digital has disrupted IMC practice, it is likely that digital disruption has also impacted IMC
disruption
education, since the last landmark study in 2009. Therefore, the research question is:
RQ1. Is the digital world changing IMC education in terms of its place in the university,
its branding, its curriculum, its impact on practice, the role of digital and its future? 409

Method
In replicating and extending the Kerr (2009) study, the Delphi technique was used to deliver
a collective judgement on the state of IMC education and forecast its future
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(Dickinson-Delaporte and Kerr, 2014; Kelley, 2007; Kerr, 2009; Larreche and Montgomery,
1977). Defined as, “a method for structuring a group communication process so that the
process is effective in allowing a groups of individuals, as whole, to deal with a complex
problem” (Linstone and Turoff, 1975, p. 3), the Delphi method has been used as a planning,
forecasting, decision-making and problem-solving tool in applications such as marketing
research, information technology, tourism and sales and advertising research (Gupta and
Clarke, 1996; Kelley, 2007; Linstone and Turoff, 2011; Richards and Curran, 2002).
The key benefit of the Delphi method is that it, “obtains the most reliable consensus of
opinion from a group of experts” (Dalkey and Helmer, 1963, p. 458) and precipitates learning
among panel members (Mullen, 2003). Conducted by email, it brings international experts
together anonymously and instantaneously, yet avoids potential group conflict or the
dominance of face-to-face research (Gupta and Clarke, 1996; Linstone and Turoff, 2011).
The Delphi process begins with broad open-ended questions in the first wave, before
moving towards a calibrated response in its second or third iteration. Each wave brings the
anonymous panel closer to consensus, which is suggested to be the true or correct answer to
solve the problem (Best, 1974; Larreche and Montgomery, 1977; Okoli and Pawlowski, 2004;
Taylor and Judd, 1994). However, the quality of the judgement is heavily dependent upon the
selection of the experts on the panel (Kelley, 2007; Linstone and Turoff, 1975).

Procedure for selecting experts

To ensure the leading educators in the field formed the Delphi panel, Delbecq et al.’s (1975)
five-step procedure for selecting experts in a Delphi study was followed. In Step 1, a
knowledge-resource nomination worksheet categorised ideal experts for recruitment in
terms of strength and length of IMC teaching, textbook authorship, research in IMC and
geography.
Step 2 was to then populate this list with names. A list of potential panel members was
constructed from membership of advertising academies, faculty lists from leading IMC
schools, participation in conferences, publishers of IMC texts and authors of IMC research in
the top three journals (European Journal of Marketing, Journal of Advertising and Journal of
Advertising Research). Previous panel members from the 2009 study, who still achieved these
criteria, were also included.
Because this list was exhaustive, we did not conduct Step 3 and asked these experts to
nominate other experts. Instead, we went to Step 4, ranking the experts in accordance with
their expertise in teaching, IMC research and textbook authorship. To ensure an
international representation, three geographic regions (the USA, UK/Europe/Africa and
Asia-Pacific) were equally populated. In the final step, the experts were invited to participate
in the Delphi panel.
 EJM From a starting list of almost 30 IMC academics, 15 advertising professionals (five each
51,3 from the USA, UK/Europe/Africa and Asia-Pacific) agreed to participate in the study. Of
these, six had participated in the 2009 study. All the panel members had taught for more than
10 years, with most having more than 20 years teaching experience. In addition, all had
researched and published in IMC in leading journals, with half being authors of top-selling
IMC education textbooks.
410 The sample size of 15 meets Delphi standards, where 10 to 15 (Kelley, 2007; Taylor and
Judd, 1994) or 10 to 18 (Okoli and Pawlowski, 2004) is deemed an appropriate size for a
homogenous panel. Linstone (1978) suggests as few as 7 as a suitable minimum size, while
others propose an optimum size of 7 to 12 (Phillips, 2000) or 8 to 12 (Cavilli-Sforza and
Ortolano, 1984). The recruited size of 15 is also larger than the original sample of 11 in the
2009 study.
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Administrating the Delphi study

In designing the study, four essential prerequisites were observed (Linstone and Turoff,
1975; Rowe and Wright, 1999). First, all panel responses were anonymous. Second, controlled
feedback, in the form of these anonymous panel responses, was given to all contributors at
the completion of every wave. Third, in the light of this feedback, panel members were able
to consider the expert opinions of others and revise their judgement (typically through
iteration) if required. Finally, group judgement was assessed as a statistical aggregation of
group response (Rowe and Wright, 1999). Additionally, this study incorporates both
Schmidt’s (1977) three-step process of brainstorming, narrowing down and ranking and
Linstone and Turoff’s (1975) four phases in its design.

Phase 1: exploration of the subject

Akin to Schmidt’s (1977) brainstorming, this phase involves the panel generating statements
about the research questions. In this case, the stimulus was a revised question guide from
Kerr’s (2009) study. This included the original questions, but extended it to ask two
additional questions about the role of digital in IMC education. The resulting questionnaire
was pretested on a small group of IMC academics and then emailed to the Delphi panel.
The Delphi panel’s responses to Wave 1 were collated and independently checked by the
principal researchers for meaning and appropriateness. Inter-coder reliability, calculated by
Hosti’s formula (Davis, 1997), was 91.45. With reliability scores of 0.80 to 0.89 considered to
represent excellent agreement (Altman, 1991), the inter-coder reliability is acceptable. The
resulting list of 83 statements formed the Wave 2 questionnaire.

Phase 2: reaching a group judgement

On the path to consensus, in “Narrowing down” or Phase 2 of Linstone and Turoff, all
members of the Delphi panel were emailed a transcript of the panel’s anonymous responses
to the eight initial questions. This was meant to ignite free-thinking among the panel, where
new points of view from other experts could possibly facilitate a change of mind or even
reinforce their existing position. Either way would drive consensus and confirm the panel’s
position on the issue (Linstone and Turoff, 1975).
The panel then received the Wave 2 Questionnaire. Following Delphi protocol
(Dickinson-Delaporte and Kerr, 2014; Kelley, 2007; Kerr, 2009), the panel was asked to
indicate their agreement with each of the statements using a scale anchored at 0 (no
agreement) and 100 (total agreement). This methodological choice is in keeping with the
many ways of scoring group judgement, including rating on a three-, five-, seven- or
nine-point scale, asking respondents to choose the ten most important, ranking factors or
 indicating strength of agreement as a percentage (Kelley, 2007; Linstone and Turoff, 1975; IMC education
Mullen, 2003; Okoli and Pawlowski, 2004; Schmidt, 1977). and digital
Phase 3: exploration of differences disruption
This phase is only undertaken if there is significant disagreement among the expert panel, as
identified through mean responses to Wave 2 (Linstone and Turoff, 1975). In this instance,
there was clear consensus, and no further iterations were deemed necessary.
411
Phase 4: final evaluation
Group judgement is considered to be the statistical average (mean/median) of the experts’
percentage of agreement in the final iteration (Rowe and Wright, 1999). This aggregated
group response is investigated in terms of frequency distributions to identify patterns of
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agreement, as well as bimodal distributions and extreme outliers (Mullen, 2003; Rowe and
Wright, 1999). In addition, frequency distributions will also be considered by geographical
region to see if there are any regional differences.
Observing the Delphi decision rule, any agreement over 70 per cent was considered to
represent the consensus of the panel, and statements of less than 70 per cent agreement were
removed from the analysis (Dickinson-Delaporte and Kerr, 2014; Kelley et al., 1998; Kelley,
2007; Kerr, 2009). The results are discussed in the next section.

Results
The consensus of the Delphi panel is summarised in Table I and discussed in relation to the
advertising question in the following section. This shows the panel’s percentage of
agreement (or consensus) with the statements, from strongest to weakest, highlighting both
the average agreement and the mode in the distribution. Generally, the distribution was
skewed closely to the average percentage of agreement, showing clear consensus. There
were no bi-modal distributions.
The findings are then presented in relation to the research question: Research Q.
RQ2. Is the digital world changing IMC education in terms of its place in the university,
its branding, its curriculum, its impact on practice, the role of digital and its future?
Its six parts – place in the university, IMC brand, curriculum, impact on practice, role of
digital and future of IMC education – provide the structure for the results. These findings are
discussed in terms of the panel consensus, as well as differences amongst the panel by their
location (the USA, UK/Europe/Africa and Asia-Pacific). The results are then compared with
the 2009 study to document the changes in IMC education.

Integrated marketing communication’s place within the university

The panel felt that IMC education was not outdated, but an important way of thinking. It was
thought to be a study area in its own right (75 per cent agreement) with the strongest
agreement coming from Asia-Pacific (95 per cent) and the USA (73 per cent) compared to the
UK/Europe/Africa (62 per cent). It was thought that IMC was best taught in Marketing or
Business or a school that specialises in advertising or promotion related areas (80 per cent
agreement). Only the UK/Europe/Africa panellists felt that students or advertising
managers did not know what IMC was (70 per cent agreement). There was an overall
agreement (71 per cent) that IMC would not be replacing other marketing courses, although
the US panel members were not so convinced (49 per cent agreement).
It was felt that “it is this holistic, interdisciplinary, networked system that makes up IMC
today […] is what makes IMC education different and unique”. However, this was also
thought to be one of the primary challenges for IMC, bringing together a host of established
 EJM Statement generated in Wave 1 Mean Mode
51,3
Metrics have become important and must feature as must the proper planning and
integration of IMC focusing on staff, customer, competitors and stakeholders 86 100
IMC must integrate digital just as we did PR and advertising and direct
marketing. Digital is not going to integrate IMC 86 100
412 Attempting to teach IMC without updating and understanding the role of digital is
not teaching IMC. Could you teach IMC without advertising? 86 100
I agree with all of that but I would add digital technologies (digital media, social
platforms and Internet of Things) as well as analytics 84 100
IMC should be a blending and continuing adaptation to changing technologies,
consumers and marketplaces. We cannot hold IMC still and study it. It is ever
changing, ever developing and ever different. Unfortunately, the silo-ed structures
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and formats found in the education process make this very difficult 83 100
IMC clearly developed out of advertising and promotion management. But, with
the commercial introduction of the internet in the mid-1990s, the concept and
practice has changed dramatically. Unfortunately, the change has not been
consistent, coordinated or even linearly aligned 83 90
I think we’re tilting at semantic windmills. Integration is here no matter what the
form or format. Consumers demand it 83 100
Digital is just another tool in the IMC tool box. It is not the savior 82 100
Why is digital thought about as something separate from IMC? IMC as a way of
thinking . . . digital as a set of tools that promotes targeting, offers opportunities
for understanding customer search strategies and buying behaviour, etc. 81 100
My belief is that it is best taught in a marketing/business department or in a
school that specialises in advertising and promotion related areas 80 90
The reality is the theorists are out of touch with current practice. Industry
originally adopted IMC as it solved many problems. There is a desperate need for
hard objective empirical evidence as to what companies and agencies do.
Leadership should come from industry and academia working together 79 90
There is still a tendency by many, including industry bodies, to think of IMC as
the integration of marketing communication tools and techniques and not see it at
a more strategic level 78 80
Business people clearly understand the need for an IMC approach from a media
implementation standpoint. They don’t necessarily understand it from a
theoretical perspective. At the same time, industry leaders we have worked with
clearly appreciate that IMC is relevant, useful and necessary for success 78 70
IMC is inevitable. Whether the title IMC gains the credence it deserves is open to
discussion, but one can’t be successful in business these days without taking an
IMC approach 78 80
If IMC is perceived as a strategic process, then digital marketing is simply another
tactic to support the process 78 100
Digital definitely changes IMC education in terms of content and form of teaching:
empowerment of consumers theorised with powerful and fresh approaches,
changing media landscape in paid, owned, earned, and sold media and that we
need a new understanding of communication effectivity (outcome) and efficiency
(outflow) 78 70
A major obstacle will be academics who are not very strong on digital concepts
and uses, and we will have to assume that the new breed of young academics will
be the ones that will take digital further in future 77 90
Table I. IMC is a study area in its own right 75 90
Consensus of Delphi It is this holistic, interdisciplinary, networked system which makes up IMC. That,
panel on IMC in my experience, is what makes IMC education different and unique 75 90
education (continued)
 Statement generated in Wave 1 Mean Mode
IMC education
and digital
As the new, experienced digital natives enter the workforce and at some point, disruption
revert back to the academic community, many of the problems will resolve
themselves. Thus, I see the issues of the next few years as being a transition stage
from limited to full integration. That will occur. There is no way to stop it 75 100
Specialists (i.e. in advertising or PR) are still needed, but we also need generalists
who can reach across all disciplines. That said, training in IMC, advertising or PR 413
is not of great value unless students (eventual practitioners) are also taught about
marketing 74 100
I think it is important for IMC to “take the high road” in continuing to provide the
integrating mechanism for the many new IMC elements that are likely to emerge
in the future 73 90
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I cannot see IMC replacing other marketing courses, save for those in promotion. It
is my view that there is still a need for specialist courses in advertising, MPR,
direct and digital marketing, etc. 71 80
The primary challenge of IMC education, at both the academic and professional
levels, is that it is an interdisciplinary subject which draws on a host of
established fields of study and practice which include but are not limited to
psychology, sociology, economics, computer science, mathematics,
communication, media and now engineering, medicine, music and others 70 90
There are no brand or marketing communication activities at present that can be
considered not integrated and isolated from the others 70 100 Table I.

fields of practice and study (70 per cent agreement). It was felt that “while specialists (i.e.
advertising or PR) are still needed, we also need generalists who can reach across all
disciplines” (74 per cent agreement). This agreement was the strongest among UK/Europe/
Africa panellists (90 per cent) compared to Asia-Pacific (72 per cent) and USA (62 per cent).

Integrated marketing communication brand

The panel also discussed IMC as an education brand and showed support for retaining the
name. Negative statements about the brand did not achieve consensus from the panel. For
example, they did not agree that “people don’t know what IMC is” (39 per cent); or “there is no
clear understanding of IMC” (51 per cent); or that “we need a new name for IMC” (35 per cent).
In terms of student understanding, some UK/Europe/Africa panellists (85 per cent
agreement) supported the notion that “IMC means nothing for students”, with weaker
agreement from the Asia-Pacific (67 per cent) and the USA (55 per cent). Therefore, the panel
supported IMC as an education brand.

Curriculum
There was mixed experience as to whether IMC had been developed as a new course, with
about 40 per cent of panellists claiming this to be the case. IMC courses were believed to share
a heritage with advertising or promotions management courses, but had been dramatically
reshaped by the internet (83 per cent agreement). There was the notion that there would
always be constant change in IMC. There was a strong consensus that “IMC should be a
blending and continuing adaption to the changing technologies, consumers and
marketplaces” (83 per cent agreement).
The panellists agreed that IMC curriculum should be structured around the IMC concept,
its theoretical development, the strategic foundations of IMC, tools of IMC and an
examination of stakeholders and planning. In addition, they thought that digital
technologies (online and digital media and social platforms) and analytics should be added to
 EJM this list (84 per cent agreement). While Asia-Pacific (94 per cent agreement) and the USA (93
51,3 per cent agreement) showed strong support, UK/Europe/Africa panellists (62 per cent
agreement) were less convinced. To this, our experts added, “metrics must feature as must
the proper planning and integration of IMC with the focus on staff, customers, competitors
and stakeholders” (86 per cent agreement).

414 Impact on practice

In terms of whether IMC research was informing business practice, it was felt that business
people clearly understand the need, if not the theory, for an IMC approach. Practitioners see
IMC as relevant, useful and necessary for their success (78 per cent agreement). However,
they tend to think of IMC tactically, as the integration of marketing tools and techniques,
rather than see it on a more strategic level (78 per cent agreement). On the other hand, the
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panel also felt that many theorists were out of touch with current practice, and there was a
lack of hard evidence of the impact of IMC in practice. It was felt that “leadership should come
from industry and academia working together” (79 per cent agreement).

Role of digital
There was consensus that digital was an inherent part of IMC curriculum. “Attempting to
teach IMC without updating and understanding the role of digital is not teaching IMC. Can
you teach IMC without advertising?” (86 per cent agreement). Digital, however, does change
IMC education in terms of content and form of teaching, especially related to ideas such as
consumer empowerment, paid, owned and earned media and communication outcomes (78
per cent agreement).
The necessity to integrate digital into IMC raised concerns about staff proficiency and the
skills shortage in academic staff (74 per cent agreement). But it was felt that, “as the new,
experienced digital natives enter the workforce and at some point, revert back to the
academic community, many of the problems will likely resolve themselves” (74 per cent
agreement).
The panel considered whether digital would be the next integrator of marketing
communications or whether IMC would integrate digital. The panel felt that digital was just
another IMC tool, not its saviour (82 per cent agreement). “I don’t think digital is the
integrator – IMC thinking is the basis for integration, but digital may need to be considered
as the underlying foundation tool in a campaign and not the bolt on” (73 per cent agreement).
In fact, it was thought that IMC must integrate digital, just as it did advertising and public
relations and direct marketing. “Digital is not going to integrate IMC” (86 per cent
agreement). “If IMC is perceived as a strategic process, then digital marketing is simply
another tactic to support the process” (78 per cent agreement).

Future of integrated marketing communication education

The future for IMC education is seen a little differently depending on geography. For
example, the US-centric view (87 per cent agreement) still strongly believes that “advertising
and promotions courses should be dissolved into IMC courses”. This is shared less strongly
among the Asia-Pacific (70 per cent agreement) and UK/Europe/Africa (41 per cent)
panellists. Similarly, the sentiment that:
We’re an IMC faculty and we are trying to develop a curriculum for the next five years. To us, it looks
like data and more data. Digital and more digital. Integration and coordination and more integration
and coordination.
This US-centric view (75 per cent agreement) was shared in the Asia-Pacific (71 per cent), but
not among European panellists (44 per cent). Further, “I think it is important for IMC to ‘take
 the high road’ in continuing to provide the integrating mechanism for the many new IMC IMC education
elements that are likely to emerge in the future” (73 per cent agreement) was the strongest and digital
among the USA (90 per cent) and Asia-Pacific (82 per cent) compared to UK/Europe/Africa
(43 per cent). Even, the feeling that “IMC is inevitable. One can’t be successful in business
disruption
these days without taking an IMC approach” was strongest in Asia-Pacific (83 per cent
agreement) and the USA (83 per cent) compared to UK/Europe/Africa (63 per cent).

Comparison with the 2009 study

415
This research replicates the Kerr (2009) study which benchmarked the state of IMC education
before the mainstream adoption of digital into marketing communication practice. The key
findings are compared in Table II.
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Discussion
The findings show maturity in IMC education between 2009 and 2015. Academics are
well-skilled and well-equipped in terms of texts to teach IMC. However, the next challenge

Kerr (2009) 2015

No agreement that IMC was a study area in its
own right or even a separate discipline
Taught by both journalism/communication
and business
PR and advertising degrees would likely be
replaced by IMC degrees
Few students or industry professionals knew
what IMC was
Strong consensus that IMC education had
emerged from existing courses in advertising
and promotions management
Main obstacle is faculty – lack IMC
knowledge, turf wars, willingness to move
outside their comfort zone
No dedicated IMC texts
Strong consensus that IMC research is not
informing practice
Industry ahead of academia
Challenges include funding, keeping up-to-
date, emerging technologies and measurement
Integration becomes inevitable and discipline
becomes accepted by industry and students
Academics and industry will find common
ground
IMC will change in name or blend in with a
more mainstream business concept. This
would put it at the forefront of business
education
Consensus that IMC is a separate area of study
Mainly taught by marketing/business or schools
that specialise in advertising
Some dedicated IMC programmes (especially the
USA) have replaced advertising, but specialist
advertising and PR degrees still considered
important
Students and industry generally thought to
understand IMC
Acknowledgement of not only
advertising/promotions heritage but also many
newly developed courses
Interdisciplinary nature is primary challenge.
Faculty understand IMC but lack digital knowledge
Consensus in USA and Asia-Pacific that dedicated
IMC texts exist
Industry do not see the theory or strategy behind
IMC; academics out of touch with IMC practice.
Need for collaboration
Consensus in the USA and Asia-Pacific that practice
is ahead of theory
Funding and staffing is a perennial challenge.
Integrating digital into IMC education is a key
challenge
Achieved
Still not happening
IMC name will live on
Table II.
Shift in IMC education
2009-2015
 EJM appears to be integrating digital into the IMC curriculum, requiring academic develop a new
51,3 skill set.

Changes in integrated marketing communication education 2009-2015

IMC education has addressed many of the challenges identified by Kerr (2009). In 2015, there
is a strong understanding of IMC’s place within the university. Experts agree that it is a
416 separate area of study, normally taught in marketing or business schools or a school that
specialises in advertising or promotion. Understanding of IMC has increased among
industry, students and even staff. This is supported by dedicated IMC texts. While the
experts in 2009 predicted that advertising and public relations degrees were likely to be IMC
degrees by now, this is not the case. Dedicated IMC degrees (typically USA) exist alongside
advertising, public relations and marketing degrees. Leading IMC educators acknowledge
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the need for both specialist and generalist degrees.

In 2009, it was thought that IMC might change its name. Six years on, leading educators
are still calling it IMC and see no impetus for change. Perhaps, this is a result of its broader
acceptance and understanding among industry and students. Or even because of the
investment by academics in IMC research and teaching resources and by universities in
naming IMC programmes and courses.
Lack of knowledge was flagged as one of the biggest obstacles to IMC education in 2009.
We see it raised again in 2015, although instead of a lack of IMC knowledge, staff are now
digital deficient. This is possibly the perennial challenge for education, keeping knowledge
and skills in pace with practice and not particularly unique to IMC education.
Similarly, many of the future expectations of IMC have been met. Integration is believed
to be inevitable and IMC accepted by industry and students. However, industry and
academics have still not found common ground. Even in more established disciplines such as
advertising or marketing, there is still a divide between academics and practitioners. Maybe
it is the divisive nature of the two different mindsets, academics and practitioners, rather
than anything particularly unique to IMC.

Differences in integrated marketing communication education globally

An important observation from the findings is the difference in mindset between IMC
academics in the USA and Asia-Pacific and those in UK/Europe/Africa. This difference is the
greatest when it comes to the role of digital in IMC, with those in the USA and Asia-Pacific
advocating for its immersion and those in UK/Europe/Africa less convinced of its
importance. For example, the UK/Europe/Africa academics do not share the consensus of the
other academics that IMC education should include digital technologies and analytics, that
digital has an integrating effect, that digital is another tool for IMC and that there is a need to
recruit staff with digital skills. This is an area for further investigation through an audit of
IMC courses or even further interviews with IMC academics to see whether this is
representative of IMC education.

Is integrated marketing communication or digital the integrator?

Extending the 2009 study, this research looked at digital disruption and IMC education. As
Kitchen et al. (2004) predicted, the technologies associated with the transition to an
information economy have shaped the nature of IMC and how it must be taught. Some
writers posit digital as the great integrator of marketing communication, customer service
and organisational systems. However, participants on the panel saw IMC thinking and
strategy as the integrator of digital. Digital should be positioned as the facilitator, not the
integrator, providing the necessary platforms for IMC to expand its core dimensions such as
interactivity and cross-functional planning.
 The “To do” list IMC education
The Kerr (2009) study compiled a “To do” list for IMC education. Based on this study, many and digital
of the items are ticked off (Figure 1).
It is important to note that some of these challenges such as territorial issues, up skilling
disruption
faculty and resources are a perennial challenge. However, on the basis of this study, a new
“To do” list emerges for IMC educators.
Position integrated marketing communication as the integrator and digital as the
facilitator. While digital has disrupted IMC and demonstrated its potential to integrate 417
messages, strategy and organisations across online platforms, it is important that IMC
thinking be positioned and valued as the integrator. Digital is the facilitator, whose online
and immersive digital platforms actualise integration within the organisation and with
stakeholders.
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Data, data and more data-minded faculty. To make digital the facilitator of IMC
integration requires staff with digital skills. Perhaps, there will be cross-faculty hires with a
professor in mathematics and IMC, or even interdisciplinary courses that combine
mathematics, analysis and IMC. This will not only provide expert knowledge in
interdisciplinary courses but also produce the new advertising skillset sought by industry.
Create an integrated marketing communication academic association. As integration is
key to IMC, it seems likely to be the way that an academic association might be formed. Some
special interest groups (SIG) in IMC exist already, such as the Academy of Marketing SIG run
by Kathy Mortimer. Other groups could be established in other academies across the world,
such as the American Academy of Advertising, the European Marketing Association and the
International Communication Association. By having an IMC champion create an SIG in
each of these associations, it would be easy to integrate, using an online platform such as a
LinkedIn group or even a Facebook group, into an international association of IMC
academics. Additionally, having the champions integral to an existing association means
that IMC special sessions could be included in conferences or even calls for special issues in
IMC in journals with which these associations are affiliated.

Limitations and conclusions

Assessment has always been an integral part of education. Therefore, it provides a useful
tool to scrutinise the progress of IMC education. Regular assessment of IMC education, such
as the framework introduced by Kerr (2009) and extended in this study, is an important way
of benchmarking the performance of IMC education. This helps us access what constitutes
success and identify the areas we need to improve upon.

To Do in 2009 Done in 2015

Challenge the culture Universi!es, academics, students and industry accept IMC.
of specializa!on That does not mean it has replaced specialist degrees, but
perhaps co-existence is the norm.
Grow the IMC brand Awareness and adop!on of the IMC brand has increased.
This is not unusual but a quantum leap in six years.
Improve Faculty There are many well-qualified IMC staff in universi!es
throughout the world. The next challenge is digital.
Improve Resources There are dedicated IMC texts, but few other resource
pools. Funding will always be an issue in educa!on.
Create a community IMC has some special interest groups such as but no formal Figure 1.
of IMC Champions academic associa!ons. It is s!ll a subset of adver!sing and
Ticking off the
marke!ng associa!ons and conferences. Luckily, there are
special issues of journals such as this. challenges from 2009
 EJM While this study sought the expert opinion of IMC educators internationally, perhaps this is
51,3 not the opinion of most educators. There could be a difference between those with 20-plus
years’ experience in IMC education and faculty with a newly minted PhD, teaching an IMC
unit for the first time. This would be interesting to explore in a wider study.
Similarly, this study highlighted differences in attitudes and practice of academics in the
USA and the Asia-Pacific and those in UK/Europe/Africa, especially in relation to the
418 integration of digital in IMC courses. It would be worthwhile to better understand this
difference through subsequent research.
Finally, it is hoped that this study is repeated and also extended (to whatever the new
challenge to IMC education might be) in another six years’ time. Or maybe sooner.

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Corresponding author
Gayle Kerr can be contacted at: gf.kerr@qut.edu.au

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