MARKETING COMMUNICATION AND ADVERTISING MANAGEMENT UNIT-1

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❖ Marketing Communication: Objective of Marketing Communication

The Marketing Communication refers to the means adopted by the companies to convey
messages about the products and the brands they sell, either directly or indirectly to the
customers with the intention to persuade them to purchase.

In other words, the different medium that company adopts to exchange the information about
their goods and services to the customers is termed as Marketing Communication.

The marketer uses the tools of marketing communication to create the brand awareness
among the potential customers, which means some image of the brand gets created in their
minds that help them to make the purchase decision.

Marketing communication (MarCom) is the process of combining different marketing messages

and media in order to communicate with the market. If the promotional campaign is good, then
it creates a good response in the audience. However, marketing communication often deals
with the problems of the target audience like immediate awareness, image, and preferences.

Marketing communication is a mix of advertising, public relations, mass media, social media,
branding, packaging and other print material that can help you to convey your message with
the market.

➢ Marketing communication offer solutions to the following questions:

• Why shall the product be used?

• How can the product be used?

• Who can use the product?

• Where can the product be used? And

• When can the product be used?

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Marketing communication includes Advertising, Sales Promotion, Events and Experiences

(sponsorship), Public Relations and Publicity, Direct Marketing, Interactive Marketing, Word-of-
Mouth Marketing, Personal Selling. These tools of communication are collectively called as
Marketing Communication Mix.

➢ Objective of Marketing Communication

Marketing communication objectives are long-term goals where marketing campaigns are
intended to drive up the value of your brand over time. In contrast to sales promotions, which
are short-term inducements to buy, communication goals succeed when you persuade
customers through consistent reinforcement that your brand has benefits they want or nee

(i) To Increase Awareness

Increased brand awareness is not only one of the most common marketing communication
objectives; it is also typically the first for a new company. When you initially enter the market,
you have to let people know your company and products or services exist.

This might include broadcast commercials or print ads that depict the image of your company
and constant repetition of your brand name, slogans and jingles. The whole objective is to
become known and memorable.

Established companies often use a closely related goal of building or maintaining top- of-mind
awareness, which means customers think of you first when considering your product category.

(ii) To Change Attitudes

Changing company or brand perceptions is another common communication objective.

Sometimes, misconceptions develop in the market about your company, products or services.

Advertising is a way to address them directly. In other cases, negative publicity results because
your company is involved in a business scandal or unsettling activities.
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BP invested millions of rupees in advertising to explain the company’s clean up efforts to the
public following its infamous Gulf of Mexico oil in mid-2010. Local businesses normally don’t
have that kind of budget but local radio or print ads can do the trick.

(iii) To Influence Purchase Intent

A key communication objective is to motivate customers to buy. This is normally done through
persuasive advertising, which involves emphasis of your superior benefits to the user, usually
relative to competitors. It is critical to strike a chord with the underlying need or want that
triggers a customer to act.

Sports drink commercials showing athletes competing, getting hot and sweaty and then taking
a drink afterward are a common approach to drive purchase intent. The ads normally include
benefits of the drink related to taste or nutrients.

(iv) To stimulate Trial Purchase

Two separate but closely related communication objectives are to stimulate trial use and drive
repeat purchases. Free trials or product samples are common techniques to persuade
customers to try your product for the first time. The goal is to take away the risk and get the
customer to experience your brand.

Once you get them on the first purchase, you have to figure out how to convert that into a
follow-up purchase. Discounts on the next purchase or frequency programs are ways to turn
one-time users into repeat buyers and, ultimately, loyal customers.

(v) To Drive Brand Switching

Another objective closely tied to stimulating trial use is driving brand switching. This is a specific
objective of getting customers who buy competing products to switch to your brand. Tide
detergent is normally pitted against “other leading brands” in comparative ads intended to
motivate brand switching.
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The advantage with this goal is that customers already buy within your product category. This
means need is established. You just need to persuade them that your product or service is
superior and induce them to try it out.

(VI) To Communicate

The primary objective of marketing communication is to share ideas, thoughts, and views with
the target audience. Companies do it through public relations, sales promotion, personal
selling, and advertising. However, the goal of effective communication is to get things done.

While developing the marketing messages, make sure that it’s truthful, accurate, and useful to
all the parties. It’s because of the persistence of the market communication, it should maintain
integrity.

(VII) To Compete

The second objective of marketing communication is to compete in the market, and it offers
many marketing opportunities. It’s possible that the competitors are offering the same product
at a similar price, and in the same store. However, marketing communication allows you to
differentiate your product/service in order to appeal to the target customer, and it helps to
develop brand loyalty. If a company is not following the MC strategy, then it would appear
unattractive to the customers.

(VIII) To Convince

Convincing the customers is also the main objective of marketing communication. If you
convince them well, then it would lead them to take the desired action whatever you want.
Therefore, marketers should communicate in a convincing manner. Sometimes, you have to
reconvince the same customers, because a customer won’t buy your product/service over and
over again.
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➢ Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC): Concepts and Process

Integrated marketing communications (IMC) is an approach used by organizations to brand

and coordinate their communication efforts. The American Association of Advertising Agencies
defines IMC as “a comprehensive plan that evaluates the strategic roles of a variety of
communication disciplines and combines these disciplines to provide clarity, consistency and
maximum communication impact.” The primary idea behind an IMC strategy is to create a
seamless experience for consumers across different aspects of the marketing mix. The brand’s
core image and messaging are reinforced as each marketing communication channel works
together as parts of a unified whole rather than in isolation.

Integrated marketing communication is a planning process to assure that all brand contacts for
a specific product, service or organization apply to the customer over a long period. It focuses
on cohesive branding by aligning marketing activities across various media to ensure a constant
flow of information to connect a consumer to the brand. Integrated marketing is an
interconnected approach to marketing to create a central message for a brand.

➢ Benefits of IMC

Before investing valuable time, effort and resources into a marketing strategy, it’s essential to
review the benefits, which include:

1.Building relationships

IMC is customer-centered and lends authenticity and validity to the buying experience. The
plan validates the customer’s feelings, and it creates a reputation in the consumer's mind,
resulting in better brand positioning.

2.Being effective and cost-effective

IMC is an effective strategy that reduces cost by creating and implementing multi-use materials
for a campaign. The ensured consistency embedded in this method organically creates trust for
your brand and improves brand recognition.
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3.Being ubiquitous

By being ever-present, IMC creates a familiarity with consumers. As exposure to a brand

becomes more consistent, the likelihood a consumer chooses it increases exponentially.

With so many products and services to choose from, consumers are often overwhelmed by the
vast number of advertisements flooding both online and offline communication channels.
Marketing messages run the risk of being overlooked and ignored if they are not relevant to
consumers’ needs and wants.

One of the major benefits of integrated marketing communications is that marketers can
clearly and effectively communicate their brand’s story and messaging across several
communication channels to create brand awareness. IMC is also more cost-effective than mass
media since consumers are likely to interact with brands across various forums and digital
interfaces. As consumers spend more time on computers and mobile devices, marketers seek
to weave together multiple exposures to their brands using different touch points. Companies
can then view the performance of their communication tactics as a whole instead of as
fragmented pieces.

The other benefit of integrated marketing communications is that it creates a competitive

advantage for companies looking to boost their sales and profits. This is especially useful for
small- or mid-sized firms with limited staff and marketing budgets. IMC immerses customers in
communications and helps them move through the various stages of the buying process. The
organization simultaneously consolidates its image, develops a dialogue, and nurtures its
relationship with customers throughout the exchange. IMC can be instrumental in creating a
seamless purchasing experience that spurs customers to become loyal, lifelong customers.

➢ IMC Tools

The eight major Integrated Marketing Communication tools are as follows:-

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1.Advertising

Advertising refers to any paid form of non-personal promotion of products or services by an

identified sponsor. The various media used are print (newspapers and magazines), broadcast
(radio and television), network (satellite, wireless and telephone), electronic (web page, audio
and videotape) and display (billboards, signs and posters).

The primary advantage of advertising is that it reaches geographically dispersed consumers.

Consumers generally tend to believe that a heavily advertised brand must offer some ‘good
value’ but at the same time, advertising proves to be an expensive form of promotion.

2.Sales promotion

It is a variety of short-term incentives to encourage the trial or purchase of a product or service.

It may include consumer promotions – focused on the consumer – such as a distribution of free
samples, coupons, offers on purchase of higher quantity, discounts and premiums or trade
promotions – focused on retailers – such as display and merchandising allowances, volume
discounts, pay for performance incentives and incentives to salespeople.

Sales promotion helps to draw the attention of the consumers and offers an invitation to
engage in a transaction by giving various types of incentives.

3.Personal Selling

Face-To-Face interaction with one or more buyers for the purpose of making presentations,
answering questions and taking orders. This proves to be the most effective tool in the later
stages of the buying process.

The advantage is that the message can be customized to the needs of the buyer and is focused
on building a long-term relationship with the buyer.
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4.Public Relations

A variety of programs directed toward improving the relationship between the organisation and
the public. Advertising is a one-way communication whereas public relations is a two-way
communication which can monitor feedback and adjust its message for providing maximum
benefit. A common tool used here is publicity which capitalizes on the news value of the
product or service so that the information can be disseminated to the news media.

Articles in the media prove to be more objective than advertisements and enjoy high credibility.
Also, it has the ability to reach the hard-to-find consumers who avoid targeted
communications.

5.Direct Marketing

Direct Marketing involves the use of mail, telephone, fax, e-mail, or internet to communicate
directly with or solicit response or dialogue from specific customers or prospects. Shoppers
have started relying on credit cards and online purchasing more than ever which makes it
essential for marketers to approach the consumers directly thus helping them in the purchase
process.

Companies have a database of contact details of consumers through which they send
catalogues and other marketing material making it easier for the consumer to purchase online.
The relevance of direct marketing has increased in recent years.

6.Events and Experiences

These are company sponsored activities and programs designed to create brand-related
interactions with customers. Sponsorships improve the visibility of the company. Companies
provide customers with an experience of using the product which ends up leading to a
higher brand recall than competitors. These events prove to be engaging with the audience.
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7.Social Media Marketing

The concept of social media marketing basically refers to the process of promoting business or
websites through social media channels. Companies manage to get massive attention on such
channels and can interact with consumers as and when they are browsing the internet.

New and modern ways of communications are developing on these social media platforms and
are proving to be the future of promotions. They have the ability to be highly interactive and up
to date with the customers.

8.Mobile Marketing

Mobile marketing involves communicating with the consumer via a mobile device, either to
send a simple marketing message, to introduce them to a new participation-based campaign or
to allow them to visit a mobile website.

Cheaper than traditional means for both the consumer and the marketer, mobile marketing
really is a streamlined version of online marketing the use of which is increasing as time
progresses. Examples are advertisements that we see on mobile applications.

Process of Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC)

1. Get organizational buy-in

Integrated marketing requires co-ordination between various functional silos within marketing
— media planning, buying, marcom, PR, sales, advertising agencies, PPC & SEO agencies and so
on. Ensure the organization recognizes the need for integrated marketing and impresses this
need upon all involved parties for smooth execution. Get ideas from different functional teams
on their ideas and how they can contribute to an integrated marketing program. Set up clear
collaboration processes and zero in on tools to help you do the same.
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2.Do a SWOT analysis of your brand

A soul searching process that will tell you exactly where you stand in terms of your brands
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities that can be explored and competitive and market forces
that pose a threat to your brands growth. Identify your products key features that give it an
edge over competition and how you can leverage the same to gain market share.

3. Choose the Best Communication Tools

Based on what you intend to achieve with your communication and what kind of media
consumption habits your target audience displays, pick the right type of communication tools
to reach out to your audience. This means choose between advertising, PR, direct marketing,
sales promotion and personal selling. Whatever options you zero in on, need to work in tandem
and complement each other. This synergy between promotion tools is what gives integrated
marketing its edge over regular marketing.

Within each type of communication tool, drill down to the actual media vehicles that will carry
your message most effectively. So if you decided to go with advertising and direct marketing,
decide what media you will advertise on, whether you will go with brochures or fliers or email
campaigns to achieve your objectives.

Media mix decisions also depend on your budgets and the estimated ROI you hope to achieve
from each media vehicle. Create exact budgets for each media vehicle to guide media buying
decisions.

4. Test and Execute

Once you have decided on your messaging and media mix, its finally time to test your
communication and roll it out to your target audience.

Communication testing can be done in many ways, depending upon the platform being tested.
Website communication can be tested with multiple online tools, emails can be tested on the
email marketing software that you use before being sent out, TV commercials can be shown to
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test markets to test effectiveness, conduct group discussions with the sample groups to see if
your communication hits bulls eye.

Once testing is complete, fix any issues that you unearthed. Once the fixes are made, roll out
your campaign across all platforms. Or in Nikes immortal words, Just Do It.

5. Measure Results and Track Progress

There is no way to know how well a campaign performed without measuring the results
achieved against the objectives set out in the beginning. Obsessively track every step of your
marketing campaign to see if your marketing efforts have moved the needle and how
significant is the difference that the campaign has made to organizational goals.

Tracking and measurement against numeric objectives is even more important in the case of
marketing communication as sometimes, communication is well received and appreciated by
the target audience but it may or may not show concrete results.

The Promotion Mix: Marketing Communication Methods

The promotion mix refers to how marketers combine a range of marketing

communication methods to execute their marketing activities. Different methods of marketing
communication have distinct advantages and complexities, and it requires skill and experience
to deploy them effectively. Not surprisingly, marketing communication methods evolve over
time as new communication tools and capabilities become available to marketers and the
people they target.
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Seven common methods of marketing communication are described below:

• Advertising: Any paid form of presenting ideas, goods, or services by an identified

sponsor. Historically, advertising messages have been tailored to a group and employ
mass media such as radio, television, newspaper, and magazines. Advertising may also
target individuals according to their profile characteristics or behavior; examples are the
weekly ads mailed by supermarkets to local residents or online banner ads targeted to
individuals based on the sites they visit or their Internet search terms.

• Public relations (PR): The purpose of public relations is to create goodwill between an
organization (or the things it promotes) and the “public” or target segments it is trying
to reach. This happens through unpaid or earned promotional opportunities: articles,
press and media coverage, winning awards, giving presentations at conferences and
events, and otherwise getting favorable attention through vehicles not paid for by the
sponsor. Although organizations earn rather than pay for the PR attention they receive,
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they may spend significant resources on the activities, events, and people who generate
this attention.

• Personal selling: Personal selling uses people to develop relationships with target
audiences for the purpose of selling products and services. Personal selling puts an
emphasis on face-to-face interaction, understanding the customer’s needs, and
demonstrating how the product or service provides value.

• Sales promotion: Sales promotions are marketing activities that aim to temporarily
boost sales of a product or service by adding to the basic value offered, such as “buy
one get one free” offers to consumers or “buy twelve cases and get a 10 percent
discount” to wholesalers, retailers, or distributors.

• Direct marketing: This method aims to sell products or services directly to consumers
rather than going through retailer. Catalogs, telemarketing, mailed brochures, or
promotional materials and television home shopping channels are all common
traditional direct marketing tools. Email and mobile marketing are two next-generation
direct marketing channels.

• Digital marketing: Digital marketing covers a lot of ground, from Web sites to search-
engine, content, and social media marketing. Digital marketing tools and techniques
evolve rapidly with technological advances, but this umbrella term covers all of the ways
in which digital technologies are used to market and sell organizations, products,
services, ideas, and experiences.

• Guerrilla marketing: This newer category of marketing communication involves

unconventional, innovative, and usually low-cost marketing tactics to engage consumers
in the marketing activity, generate attention and achieve maximum exposure for an
organization, its products, and/or services. Generally guerrilla marketing is experiential:
it creates a novel situation or memorable experience consumers connect to a product or
brand.