Assigment

Name: Joshua Kweikuma Quaye

Index number: BACJ2016067

1. What is Integrated Market Communications (IMCs)?

 

Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) ensures that all forms of communications and messages are carefully linked together.

Integrated Marketing Communications integrates all the promotional tools (advertising, publicity, sale campaign, personal selling) so that they work together in harmony.

All of these communications tools work better if they work together in harmony rather than in isolation. Their sum is greater than their parts - providing they speak consistently with one voice all the time, every time.

This is enhanced when integration goes beyond just the basic communications tools. There are other levels of integration such as Horizontal, Vertical, Internal, External and Data integration. Here is how they help to strengthen Integrated Communications.

Horizontal Integration occurs across the marketing mix and across business functions - for example, production, finance, distribution and communications should work together and be conscious that their decisions and actions send messages to customers.

While different departments such as sales, direct mail and advertising can help each other through Data Integration. This requires a marketing information system which collects and shares relevant data across different departments.

Vertical Integration means marketing and communications objectives must support the higher level corporate objectives and corporate missions.

Meanwhile Internal Integration requires internal marketing - keeping all staff informed and motivated about any new developments from new advertisements, to new corporate identities, new service standards, new strategic partners and so on.

External Integration, on the other hand, requires external partners such as advertising and public relation agencies to work closely together to deliver a single unified solution - a cohesive message - an integrated message.

Although Integrated Marketing Communications requires a lot of effort it delivers many benefits. It can create competitive advantage, boost sales and profits, while saving money, time and stress. 

2. A company’s marketing communication depends on the choice of variable in the promotion mix. Discuss

 

 Advertising sales

The advertising/sales ratio varies from industry to industry and averages about 2.5%.
One key distinction to make when studying advertising is between general advertising and direct response advertising (i.e., direct marketing).  General advertising does not attempt to achieve an immediate measurable response.  The advert might be for a soft drink, example, Coca Cola show people enjoying a can of the soft drink while having fun on the beach. 

The person seeing the advert does not have to do anything.  Of course, the ultimate goal of the advert is to get you to buy Coca Cola when you shop for a soft drink. However, an immediate response on the part of the person seeing the advert is not expected.  With a direct response advertisement, the goal of the advert is to elicit a direct response.  This is the reason the advert must have a device (usually a phone number to call) so that the prospect can do something after viewing the advert.

For example, a person seeing an advert for vielung cream, will hopefully, going to call the toll-free telephone number within 60 minutes after seeing the commercial. 

The advantage of direct marketing is that there is a way of knowing how effective the advert (and the advertising medium) was by simply counting how many people called after seeing it.  This is what is referred to as measurable response. We can use the measurable responses to compare different adverts for the product or different advertising media (radio vs. television) or even different vehicles within the same medium (e.g., two different television programs or two radio shows).  Also, once people call in, we can capture their names and addresses and use them to build a database of customers or prospective customers.

Public Relations/ Publicity

Firms have to communicate with their various publics (customers, employees, stockholders, potential investors, channel members, and government, and the general public). It is important for a firm to have a solid reputation and a positive image if it desires to attract employees, investors, and customers. A company that is thought of as unethical (e.g., one that pollutes and/or sells defective products) will not only have trouble finding employees, but might also attract unwelcome government interest.

Sometimes firms use public relations to deal with false rumors about the company (Procter and Gamble once had to deal with a false rumor that the company was owned by Satanists). If a product manufactured by a firm turns out to be defective or dangerous, the public relations department often has to act and find a way to convince the public that this was a sincere mistake and not due to corporate greed or inefficiency.

Point-of-Purchase

In the retail world, "POP" is used to refer to point-of-purchase advertising displays. POP displays can take various forms, including shelf-mounted signs, hanging posters, and more. Since an estimated 70% of purchase decisions are made within the retail store itself, effective POP displays can have a dramatic impact on sales for a particular product category or brand. Recently, static signs have begun to give way to electronic, dynamically updated point-of-purchase displays that present targeted product information, instant coupons, and more. The software used to control these dynamic POP displays typically allows for near-real time content updates, allowing brand managers to run instant marketing experiments, geographically targeted promotions campaigns, and more.

Personal Selling

Personal selling is where businesses use people (the “sales force”) to sell the product after meeting face-to-face with the customer. 

The sellers promote the product through their attitude, appearance and specialist product knowledge.  They aim to inform and encourage the customer to buy, or at least trial the product.

A good example of personal selling is found in department stores on the perfume and cosmetic counters. 

A customer can get advice on how to apply the product and can try different products.  Products with relatively high prices, or with complex features, are often sold using personal selling.  Great examples include cars, office equipment (e.g. photocopiers) and many products that are sold by businesses to other industrial customers.

Sponsorship

Sponsorship is a cash and/or in-kind fee paid to a property (typically in sports, arts, entertainment or causes) in return for access to the exploitable commercial potential associated with that property, according to independent Evaluation Group (IEG).

While the sponsoree (property being sponsored) may be non-profit, unlike philanthropy, sponsorship is done with the expectation of a commercial return.

While sponsorship can deliver increased awareness, brand building and propensity to purchase, it is different to advertising. Unlike advertising, sponsorship cannot communicate specific product attributes. Nor can it stand alone. Sponsorship requires support elements. And, while advertising messages are controlled by the advertiser, sponsors do not control the message that is communicated. Consumers decide what a sponsorship means.

REFERENCES

Beyond.com

Academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu

Promotional mix- By Jim Riley

Independent Evaluation Group (IEG)