INTEGRATED MARKETING

COMMUNICATION
• SYLLABUS :

• UNIT 1- INTRODUCTION
• UNIT 2-ADVERTISING AND SALES PROMOTION
• UNIT 3- PERSONAL SELLING,DIRECT MARKETING AND
INTERNET MARKETING
• UNIT 4- PUBLIC RELATION AND PUBLICITY
• UNIT 5- MONITORING,EVALUATION AND CONTROL
UNIT -1
INTRODUCTION:

UNDERSTANDING MARKETING COMMUNICATION

INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATION;EVOLUTION OF

IMC;GROWTH OF IMC;IMC MIX,ROLE OF IMC IN THE
MARKETING PROCESS
IMC –INTEGRATED MARKETING
COMMUNICATION
• IMC makes use of such Promotion Elements as
• (1) Advertising,
• (2) Sales Promotion,
• (3) Public Relations,
• (4) Publicity,
• (5) Direct Marketing,
• (6) Networking,
• (7) Personal Selling, and other non-conventional elements like
• (8) On-line communications to develop and deliver clear, consistent,
and impact-full communications capable of informing, convincing,
and persuading customers to buy.
 CONTI..
• IMC is the development of an Integrated
Comprehensive Marketing Communication
(Promotion) Plan that links the marketing
function with the communication function to
deliver Effective Marketing .Messages
capable of
• (1) informing,
• (2) convincing and
• (3) persuading people to buy.
CONTI..
• A strategy of coordinating a company’s
marketing efforts as well as its promotion
communication to convey a consistent, unified
message and image.
• IMC works to ensure that an advertiser speaks
with a single voice in the mist consistent and
cost effective manner.
• IMC is the process of developing and
implementing various forms of persuasive
communications programs with customers and
prospects over time. 
THE ROLE OF PROMOTION
• Promotion is: To communicate with individuals,
groups or to organisations directly or indirectly
facilitate exchanges by informing and persuading
one or more audiences to accept an organization's
products.
This involves considering:
• What to communicate?
• When to communicate?
• How to communicate?
• What cost would be involved?
• What resources are required? 
CONTI..
• The marketer who will succeed in the new
environment will be the one who coordinates
the communications mix so tightly that you
can look:
• from medium to medium,
• from program event to program event and
• instantly see that the brand is speaking from
one voice. 
 THE IMC PROCESS MODEL
SIMPLE IMC PROCESS MODEL

• SENDER MESSAGE - MEDIA – RECEIVER

WHO? – SAY’WHAT? BY WHICH MEANS? TO WHOM ?, WITH WHAT EFFECT

Benefits of Integrated Marketing Communications
• 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.
CONTI……
• 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.
CONTI…
• 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.
AIDA Model
The AIDA model is an approach used by advertisers to describe the different
phases of consumer engagement with an advertisement.

• LEARNING OBJECTIVES
• Define the AIDA model and how the system is used to guide integrated
marketing communications

• Key Points

• AIDA stands for attention, interest, desire, and action.

• The AIDA model can be used by organizations to guide marketers to target a

market effectively.

• American advertising and sales pioneer, Elias St. Elmo Lewis, is credited for
developing the AIDA model.
 History Of the AIDA Model:
• American advertising and sales pioneer, Elias St. Elmo Lewis, is largely
credited for developing the AIDA model. In one of his publications on
advertising, Lewis identified at least three principles that should be present
in an advertisement:

• The mission of an advertisement is to attract a reader, so that he will look at

the advertisement and start to read it.

• The advertisement must then interest him, so that he will continue to read
it.

• Finally, the advertisement must convince him, so that when reads it, he will
believe it.

• Lewis believed that if an advertisement contained these three qualities,

then it was an effective advertisement.
AIDA Model
• AIDA stands for attention, interest, desire, and action.
• It is an acronym used in marketing and advertising, which helps marketing
managers develop effective communication strategies and communicate
with customers in a way that better responds to their needs and desires.

• AIDA describes a common list of events that occur when a consumer views
an advertisement. Each letter in the acronym stands for the following:

• The “A” represents attention or awareness, and the ability to attract the
attention of the consumers.

• The “I” is interest and points to the ability to raise the interest of consumers
by focusing on and demonstrating advantages and benefits (instead of
focusing on features, as in traditional advertising).
CONTI..
• The “D” represents desire. The advertisement convinces consumers that
they want and desire the product or service because it will satisfy their
needs.
• The “A” is action, which leads consumers toward taking action by
purchasing the product or service.
• The system is used to guide marketers to target a market effectively.
Naturally, as organizations move through each step of the AIDA model, a
percentage of initial prospects are lost throughout the sales cycle.
Improvements to the AIDA Model:

• New phases such as satisfaction (AIDAS)  and confidence (AIDCAS) have

been added to the original AIDA model.

• These later models acknowledge the need to satisfy the customer so as to

encourage repeat purchases and generate product referrals. Other
modifications include the model’s reduction to the three steps known as the
CAB model. The steps include cognition (awareness or learning), affect
(feeling, interest, or desire) and behavior (action).
Reasons for the Growing Importance of IMC
• Several shifts in the advertising and media industry have caused IMC to develop into a
primary strategy for marketers:

• From media advertising to multiple forms of communication.

• From mass media to more specialized (niche) media, which are centered around specific
target audiences.

• From a manufacturer-dominated market to a retailer-dominated, consumer-controlled

market.

• From general-focus advertising and marketing to data-based marketing.

• From low agency accountability to greater agency accountability,

particularly in advertising.

• From traditional compensation to performance-based compensation

(increased sales or benefits to the company).

• From limited Internet access to 24/7 Internet availability and access to goods and services.
IMC MIX
• IMC COMMUNICATION TOOLS

ADVERTISING DIRECT MARKETING

INTERACTIVE/INTERNET MARKETING

SALES PROMOTION PERSONAL SELLING PUBLICITY/PUBLIC

RELATIONS
1.ADVERTISNG
.ADVERTISING
• Any paid form of nonpersonal communication about an organization,
product, service, idea or cause by an identified sponsor.    
ADVANTAGES :
• Advertiser controls the message.
• Cost effective way to communicate with the large audiences.
• Effective way to create brand images and symbolic appeals.
• Often can be effective way to strike responsive chord with consumers.
DISADVANTAGES:
• High cost of producing and running ads.
• Credibility problem and consumer skepticism(a general feeling of doubt
about something).
• Clutter
• Difficulty in determining effectiveness.
2.DIRECT MARKETING
2.DIRECT MARKETING
• A system of marketing by which organizations communicate directly with
target customers to generate a response and/or a transaction.

ADVANTAGES:
• Changes in society have made consumers more receptive to direct-
marketing.
• Allows marketers to be very selective and target specific segments of
customers
• Messages can be customized for specific customers.
• Effectiveness easier to measure 

DISADVANTAGES:
• Lack of customer receptivity and very low response rates
• Clutter (too many messages)
• Image problems – particularly with telemarketing 
3.INTERACTIVE/ INTERENT MARKETING
3.INTERACTIVE /INTERNET MARKETING
 Form of marketing communication through interactive media which allow for
a two-way flow of information whereby users can participate in and modify
the content of the information they receive in real time. 

Advantages :
• Can be used for a variety of IMC functions
• Messages can be tailored to specific interests and needs of customers
• Interactive nature of the Internet leads to higher level of involvement
• Can provide large amounts of information to customers. 
Disadvantages :
•  Internet is not yet a mass medium as many consumers lack access
• Attention to Internet ads is very low
• Great deal of clutter on the Internet
• Audience measurement is a problem on the Internet
Use of the Internet as an IMC Tool
• As an advertising medium to inform, educate and persuade customers
• As a direct sales tool
• To obtain customer database information
• To communicate and interact with buyers
• To provide customer service and support
• To build and maintain customer relationships
• As a tool for implementing sales promotion
• As a tool for implementing publicity/public relations programs
4.SALES PROMOTION
4.SALES PROMOTION
• Marketing activities that provide extra value or incentives to the sales force, distributors, or ultimate
consumers and can stimulate immediate sales.

Sales Promotion types:

1..Trade-oriented – Targeted toward marketing intermediaries such as retailers, wholesalers, or

distributors
• Promotion allowances
• Merchandise allowances
• Price deals
• Sales contests
• Trade shows

2.Consumer-oriented –Targeted to the ultimate users of a product or service

• Coupons
• Sampling
• Premiums
• Rebates
• Contests
• Sweepstakes
• POP materials
Sales Promotion Uses
• Introduce new products
• Get existing customers to buy more
• Attract new customers
• Combat competition
• Maintain sales in off season
• Increase retail inventories
• Tie in advertising & personal selling Enhance personal selling efforts
5.PERSONAL SELLING
5.PERSONAL SELLING
• Direct person-to-person communication whereby a seller attempts to
assist and/or persuade perspective buyers to purchase a product or
service.
Disadvantages of personal selling –
• High costs per contact –
• Expensive way to reach large audiences –
• Difficult to have consistent and uniform message delivered to all
customers
Advantages of personal selling –
• Direct contact between buyer and seller allows for more flexibility –
• Can tailor sales message to specific needs of customers –
• Allows for more direct and immediate feedback –
• Sales efforts can be targeted to specific markets and customers who are
best prospects.
6.PUBLICITY
6.PUBLICITY
• Nonpersonal communication regarding an organization, product, service, or
idea not directly paid for or run under identified sponsorship

Advantages of publicity –
• Credibility –
• Low cost (although not totally free)
• Often results in word-of-mouth

Disadvantages of publicity
• Not always under control of organization
• Can be negative.
 Publicity Vehicles
• News Releases: –Single-page news stories sent to media who might
print or broadcast the content.

• Feature Articles: –Larger manuscripts composed and edited for a

particular medium.

• Press Conferences: –Meetings and presentations to invited reporters

and editors.

• Special Events: –Sponsorship of events, teams, or programs of public

value.
7.PUBLIC RELATIONS
7. PUBLIC RELATIONS
• The management function which evaluates public attitudes, identifies the
policies and procedures of an individual or organization with the public
interest, and executes a program of action to earn public understanding
and acceptance.
Tools used by Public Relations:

* Publicity
* Special publications
*Community activity participation
*Fund-raising
*Special event sponsorship
ROLE OF IMC IN THE MARKETING PROCESS

The advent of 21st century has marked a sharp change in almost all fields of
life, including business strategies.

The old strategies, beliefs and tactics of marketing and selling a product are
no longer valid in today’s world. New techniques and technologies have
emerged on the surface of the business arena and have become eminent for
effective marketing strategies.
 1.Marketing Strategy and Analysis
• Any organization that wants to exchange its products or services in the
marketplace successfully should have a strategic marketing plan to guide
the allocation of its resources. A strategic marketing plan usually evolves
from an organization’s overall corporate strategy and serves as a guide for
specific marketing programs and policies.
i).Opportunity Analysis
• Market opportunities are areas where there are favorable demand trends,
where the company believes customer needs and opportunities are not
being satisfied, and where it can compete effectively. 
• Athletic-shoe companies such as Nike, Reebok, and others see the shoe
market as an opportunity to broaden their customer base both
domestically and internationally.
ii)Competitive Analysis
• In developing the firm’s marketing strategies and plans for its products and
services, the manager must carefully analyze the competition to be faced in
the marketplace.
• For example, recently the U.S. market has seen significant growth in the
high-end luxury market, with more consumers spending more of their
money on luxury goods than ever before.
• High-end products from Coach, Tiffany’s, and Ralph Lauren are all
benefiting from this change in consumer spending habits. Interestingly, it is
not just the wealthy that are purchasing these very expensive products, but
the middle class is doing so as well. Leading marketers apply labels such as
the “massification of luxury,” “luxflation,” or the “new luxury” segments
 iii).Target Market Selection
• After evaluating the opportunities presented by various market segments,
including a detailed competitive analysis, the company may select one, or
more, as a target market.
• This target market becomes the focus of the firm’s marketing effort, and
goals and objectives are set according to where the company wants to be
and what it hopes to accomplish in this market.
• Marketers rarely go after the entire market with one product, brand, or
service offering. Rather, they pursue a number of different strategies,
breaking the market into segments and targeting one or more of these
segments or marketing and promotional efforts.
• This means different objectives may be established, different budgets may
be used, and the promotional-mix strategies may vary, depending on the
market approach used.
 2.The Target Marketing Process
• Because few, if any, products can satisfy the needs of all consumers,
companies often develop different marketing strategies to satisfy different
consumer needs.
• The process by which marketers do this is referred to as target marketing
and involves four basic steps: identifying markets with unfulfilled needs,
segmenting the market, targeting specific segments, and positioning one’s
product or service through marketing strategies.
 i)Identifying Markets
• Target market identification isolates consumers with similar lifestyles,
needs, and the like, and increases our knowledge of their specific
requirements. The more marketers can establish this common ground with
consumers, the more effective they will be in addressing these
requirements in their communications programs and informing and/or
persuading potential consumers that the product or service offering will
meet their needs.
 ii).Market Segmentation
• The segmentation process involves five distinct steps:

Finding ways to group consumers according to their needs

• Finding ways to group the marketing actions—usually the products offered
• Developing a market-product grid to relate the market segments to the
firm’s products or actions
• Selecting the target segments toward which the firm directs its marketing
actions
• Taking marketing actions to reach target segments
• Segmentation can be done on the basis of:

Geographic location
• Demographic attributes
• Psychographic attributes
• Behavioral attributes
iii)Selecting a target market

• The next objective is to select the segment of the consumers which you
want to target. Three market coverage alternatives are available.
Undifferentiated marketing involves ignoring segment differences and
offering just one product or service to the entire market. Differentiated
marketing involves marketing in a number of segments, developing separate
marketing strategies for each. Concentrated marketing is used when the
firm selects one segment and attempts to capture a large share of this
market.
 iv)Market Positioning
• Positioning has been defined as “the art and science of fitting the product
or service to one or more segments of the broad market in such a way as to
set it meaningfully apart from competition.” Positioning strategies generally
focus on either the consumer or the competition.

• Developing a Positioning Strategy: To create a position for a product or

service, managers must ask themselves six basic questions:
• What position, if any, do we already have in the prospect’s mind?
• What position do we want to own?
•  What companies must be outgunned if we are to establish that position?
•   Do we have enough marketing money to occupy and hold the position?
•   Do we have the guts to stick with one consistent positioning strategy?
•   Does our creative approach match our positioning strategy?
 3.Developing the marketing planning
program
• The development of the marketing strategy and selection of a target
market(s) tell the marketing department which customers to focus on and
what needs to attempt to satisfy.
• The next stage of the marketing process involves combining the various
elements of the marketing mix into a cohesive, effective marketing program.
Each marketing-mix element is multidimensional and includes a number of
decision areas. Likewise, each must consider and contribute to the overall
IMC program.
 i)Product decisions

• An organization exists because it has some product, service, or idea to offer

consumers, generally in exchange for money.
• This offering may come in the form of a physical product (such as a soft
drink, pair of jeans, or car), a service (banking, airlines, or legal assistance),
a cause (United Way), or even a person (a political candidate).

• The product is anything that can be marketed and that, when used or
supported, gives satisfaction to the individual. The term product symbolism
refers to what a product or brand means to consumers and what they
experience in purchasing and using it.
 ii)Price Decisions

• The price variable refers to what the consumer must give up to purchase a
product or service.
• While price is discussed in terms of the dollar amount exchanged for an
item, the cost of a product to the consumer includes time, mental activity,
and behavioral effort.
• From an IMC perspective, the price must be consistent with the
perceptions of the product, as well as the communications strategy. Higher
prices, of course, will communicate a higher product quality, while lower
prices reflect bargain or “value” perceptions.
 iii)Distribution Channel Decisions
• One of a marketer’s most important marketing decisions involves the way it
makes its products and services available for purchase.
• A firm can have an excellent product at a great price, but it will be of little
value unless it is available where the customer wants it, when the customer
wants it, and with the proper support and service.
• Channel decisions involve selecting, managing, and motivating
intermediaries such as wholesalers, distributors, brokers, and retailers that
help a firm make a product or service available to customers.
• The distribution strategy should also take into consideration the
communication objectives and the impact that the channel strategy will
have on the IMC program.
 Developing Promotional Strategies: Push
or Pull?
• Promotion to the trade includes all the elements of the promotional mix. Company sales
representatives call on resellers to explain the product, discuss the firm’s plans for building demand
among ultimate consumers, and describe special programs being offered to the trade, such as
introductory discounts, promotional allowances, and cooperative ad programs.
• The company may use trade advertising to interest wholesalers and retailers and motivate them to
purchase its products for resale to their customers. Trade advertising usually appears in publications
that serve the particular industry.
• A push strategy tries to convince resellers they can make a profit on a manufacturer’s product and
to encourage them to order the merchandise and push it through to their customers. Sometimes
manufacturers face resistance from channel members who do not want to take on an additional
product line or brand.

• In these cases, companies may turn to a promotional pull strategy, spending money on advertising
and sales promotion efforts directed toward the ultimate consumer. The goal of a pull strategy is to
create demand among consumers and encourage them to request the product from the retailer.
Seeing the consumer demand, retailers will order the product from wholesalers which in turn will
request it from the manufacturer. Thus, stimulating demand at the end-user level pulls the product
through the channels of distribution.
Role of Advertising and Promotion
• Marketers use the various promotional-mix elements—advertising, sales
promotion, direct marketing, publicity/public relations, and personal selling
—to inform consumers about their products, their prices, and places where
the products are available.

• Each promotional mix variable helps marketers achieve their promotional

objectives, and all variables must work together to achieve an integrated
marketing communications program.

• The development and implementation of an IMC program is based on a

strong foundation that includes market analysis, target marketing and
positioning, and coordination of the various marketing-mix elements.