Meaning of IMC

Integrated marketing communication is integration of all marketing tools,

approaches, and resources within a company which maximizes impact on
consumer mind and which results into maximum profit at minimum cost.
Generally marketing starts from “Marketing Mix”. Promotion is one element
of Marketing Mix. Promotional activities include Advertising (by using
different medium), sales promotion (sales and trades promotion), and
personal selling activities. It also includes internet marketing, sponsorship
marketing, direct marketing, database marketing and public relations. And
integration of all these promotional tools along with other components of
marketing mix to gain edge over competitor is called Integrated Marketing
Communication.
According to American Marketing Association Integrated marketing
communication is a concept of marketing communication’s planning that
recognizes the added value of a comprehensive plan that evaluates the strategic
roles of a variety of communication disciplines; for example, general
advertising, direct response, sales promotion and public relations, and
combines these disciplines to provide clarity, consistency and maximum
communications impact.

Integrated marketing communication calls for a ‘big picture’ approach to

planning marketing and promotion programs and coordinating the various
communication functions. It requires firms to develop a total marketing
communication strategy’ that recognizes how all of a firm’s marketing
activities not just promotion, communicate with its customers.
Features of IMC

Greater Accountability Asked from the Advertising Agencies:

The producers are demanding greater accountability from advertising agencies
by asking them to give instant results. The marketers are also giving an
incentive to the advertising agencies for increasing their profitability.
Organizations are looking beyond their traditional advertising agencies and
turning to other marketing communication firms to work on development of
their integrated marketing programs.

Market Place Power with Retail Industry:

There has been a major shift in market place power from manufactures to
retailers. The small and middle-sized local retailers have been replaced by
regional, national and international chain e.g., Reliance, More, Walmart etc.
These retailers demand promotional fees from the manufacturers, which often
siphons money away from advertising.
Growth of Database Marketing:
Companies in the modern times have extensive databases which contain the
names, geographic profiles, demographic profiles, and psychographic profiles
of customers. Information about purchasing patterns, financial resources and
media preferences of customers is also available in the data bases of companies.

Usage of Internet and Social Media to Communicate:

We are into the age of Internet revolution where every moment there are
millions of consumers surfing on the Web. Internet has given rise to
development and growth of social media which people use to share experiences,
content, information and suggestions about products they have used. Today,
marketing communication is characterized by usage of social media where there
is regular and close interaction with consumers.
Shift in Promotional Expenditure

Traditional media is more expensive and not as target oriented as the new tools
of promotion. Consumers are less responsive to traditional media advertising
and they may even avoid it by fast forwarding the recorded shows or by
changing the channels at the time of commercial breaks. The best way to
communicate with target audience is to integrate the brand with movies, shows
or events. This is the characteristic which is far away from the traditional
marketing tools.
Evolution of IMC

During the 1980s, many companies came to see the need for more of a strategic
integration of their promotional tools. These firms began moving toward the
process of integrated marketing communications (IMC), which involves
coordinating the various promotional elements and other marketing activities
that communicate with a firm's customers.9 As marketers embraced the concept
of integrated marketing communications, they began asking their ad agencies to
coordinate the use of a variety of promotional tools rather than relying primarily
on media advertising. A number of companies also began to look beyond
traditional advertising agencies and use other types of promotional specialists to
develop and implement various components of their promotional plans.
The 4As' definition focuses on the process of using all forms of promotion to
achieve maximum communication impact. However, advocates of the IMC
concept, such as Don Schultz of Northwestern University, argue for an even
broader perspective that considers all sources of brand or company contact that
a customer or prospect has with a product or service.13 Schultz and others note
that the process of integrated marketing communications calls for a "big-
picture" approach to planning marketing and promotion programs and
coordinating the various communication functions. It requires that firms
develop a total marketing communications strategy that recognizes how all of a
firm's marketing activities, not just promotion, communicate with its customers.
Reasons for the Growth of IMC

1. From media advertising to multiple forms of communication.

2. From mass media to more specialized (niche) media, which are centered
around specific target audiences.
3. From a manufacturer-dominated market to a retailer-dominated,
consumer-controlled market.
4. From general-focus advertising and marketing to data-based marketing.
5. From low agency accountability to greater agency accountability,
particularly in advertising.
6. From traditional compensation to performance-based compensation
(increased sales or benefits to the company).
7. From limited Internet access to 24/7 Internet availability and access to
goods and services.
Promotional Tools for IMC

1. Advertising: It is any paid form of non-personal communication about an

organization, Product, Services, or Idea by an identified sponsor. Like: TV,
Radio, Magazine, News Paper Advertisement.

2. Direct Marketing: Here organization communicates directly with the target

customer & generate response or transaction. One of the fastest growing sector.
Direct marketing involves database management, direct selling, telemarketing
ad & direct response ads.

3. Interactive Media: It allows for a back and forth flow of information. Here
user can participate & modify the form & content of the information they
received. Internet is the most advance & sophisticated tools of this interactive
marketing. CD, Kiosks, Digital Phone are some other form. Online search
engine like Google, Yahoo are the giant online ad company
4. Sales Promotion: Those marketing activities that provides extra value or
incentives to the sales force, distributers or the ultimate customer & generate
immediate response & increase sales is known as sales promotion. It divided
into two parts Consumer oriented activities. Trade oriented activities

5. Public Relation: The management function which evaluates public attitudes,

& define all the positive & negative point of the company to public. Currently
all firm now using PR as integral part of the company. Growth rate of PR in
India is about 20% .

6. Personal selling: It is a form of person to person communication in which

seller attempts to assist or persuade prospective buyers to purchase the
company’s product or services or idea. It is good tools for immediate approval or
disapproval.
Steps in IMC Planning Process:

Step 1- Identify the Target Audience

Step 2- Determine the Communication Objective

Step 3- Designing a Message

Step 4- Choose the Media through which to Send the Message

Step 5- Selecting the message source

Step 6- Collecting feedback

1. Review of the Marketing Plan

• The first step in the IMC planning process is to review the marketing
plan and objectives.

• Before developing a promotional plan, marketers must understand-

– Where the company (or the brand) has been,

– Its current position in the market,

– Where it intends to go, and

– How it plans to get there.

2. Promotional program situation analysis

• After the overall marketing plan is reviewed, the next step in developing a
promotional plan is to conduct the situation analysis.

• In the IMC program, the situation analysis focuses on the factors that
influence the development of a promotional strategy.

• Like the overall marketing situation analysis, the promotional program

situation analysis includes-

– Internal analysis.
– External analysis.
Internal analysis

• The internal analysis assesses relevant areas involving the firm

itself.

• Internal analysis involves-

– Assessment of Firm’s Promotional Organization and Capabilities

– Review of Firm’s Previous Promotional Programs and Results

– Assessment of Firm or Brand Image and Implications for

Promotion

– Assessment of Relative Strengths and Weaknesses of Product or

Service
External analysis

• The external analysis involves-

– Customer Analysis

– Competitive Analysis

– Environmental Analysis
3. Analysis of the Communications Process

• The promotional planner must think about the process consumers

will go through in responding to marketing communications.

• The response process for products or services for which consumer

decision making is characterized by a high level of interest is often
different from that for low-involvement or routine purchase
decisions.

• These differences will influence the promotional strategy.

4. Budget Determination

• Two basic questions are asked while determining the budget: –

What will the promotional program cost?

How will the money be allocated?

• Determining the budget could be done in five manners such as

Historical Method, Objective-Task Method, Percentage-of-Sales
Method, Competitive Budgets, or All You Can Afford.
5. Developing the Integrated Marketing Communications
Program

The most involved and detailed part of the promotional planning process
occurs at this stage as decisions have to be made regarding the role and
importance of each IMC tool and their coordination with one another. Each
IMC tool has its own set of objectives, budget, message, and media strategy.
These include:

• Advertising message and media strategy and tactics

• Direct marketing message and media strategy and tactics
• Interactive/Internet Marketing message and media strategy and tactics
• Sales promotion message and media strategy and tactics
• Public relations/publicity strategy and tactics
• Personal selling – sales strategy and tactics
6. Integrating and Implementing Marketing Communications
Strategies

The various IMC tools must be integrated and steps must be taken to
implement them. Most large companies hire external agencies to plan and
develop their creative messages and media strategies as well as to implement
them.

7. Monitoring, Evaluation, and Control

The final stage of the IMC planning process involve monitoring, evaluating
and controlling the promotional program. At this stage, the marketing should
be gathering feedback concerning how well the IMC program is working and
whether it is meeting its objectives. It is important to note that information
regarding the results achieved by the IMC program is used in subsequent IMC
planning and strategy development.
The Role of IMC in the Marketing

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.

IMC is defined as customer centric, data driven method of communicating

with the customers. IMC is the coordination and integration of all marketing
communication tools, avenues, functions and sources within a company into
a seamless program that maximizes the impact on consumers and other end
users at a minimal cost. Integrated Marketing Communications is a simple
concept. It ensures that all forms of communications and messages are
carefully linked together.
1. Conducting Opportunity analysis: A careful analysis of the marketplace
should lead to alternative market opportunities for existing product lines in
current or new markets, new products for current markets, or new products for
new markets. 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.

2. Understand 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.
3. Decide on Promotion tools: 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.

4. Appropriate Pricing 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. A
firm must consider a number of factors in determining the price it charges for its
product or service, including costs, demand factors, competition, and perceived
value.
5. Understand the Target market: 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.

6. Deciding on distribution channel: Marketing channels, the place element of the

marketing mix, are “sets of interdependent organizations involved in the process of
making a product or service available for use or consumption.

7. Developing Customer Relationship: A relationship is an enduring link between a

brand and its customers. It can be argued, in fact, that relationship building is the key
to modern marketing and that IMC is one of the keys to relationship building.
Successful relationships between customers and brands lead to repeat purchasing and
perhaps even to loyalty toward a brand. The importance of relationship building has
spawned the growth of an entire industry of consultants and software suppliers who are
involved in the practice of customer relationship management, or CRM.
 Introduction…
• The term communication is derived from the
latin word communis, meaning common.
• In general, communication refers to the
reciprocal exchange of information, ideas,
facts, opinions, beliefs, feelings & attitudes
through verbal or nonverbal meansbetween
two people or within a group ofpeople.
 Definition of communication

 Communication is a process by which information is exchanged between individuals through a

common system of symbols & signs of behavior.
 - Webster’s Dictionary
 Communication is interchange of thoughts, opinions or information by speech, writingor signs.
 - RobertAnderson
 Meaning of Communication
Communication as
• Aprocess through which individuals mutually exchange their ideas,
values, thoughts, feeling& actions with one or morepeople.
• The transfer of information from the sender to the receiver so that it is
understood in the right context.
• Theprocess of initiating, transmitting & receiving information.
• The means of making the transfer ofinformation productive & goal
oriented.
• The process of sharing information, ideas& attitudes
betweenindividual.
The Communications Process
1. Sender: The sender or the communicator is the person who initiates the
conversation and has conceptualized the idea that he intends to convey it to
others.

2. Encoding: The sender begins with the encoding process wherein he uses
certain words or non-verbal methods such as symbols, signs, body gestures,
etc. to translate the information into a message. The sender’s knowledge,
skills, perception, background, competencies, etc. has a great impact on the
success of the message.

3. Message: Once the encoding is finished, the sender gets the message that he
intends to convey. The message can be written, oral, symbolic or non-verbal
such as body gestures, silence, sighs, sounds, etc. or any other signal that
triggers the response of a receiver.
4. Communication Channel: The Sender chooses the medium through
which he wants to convey his message to the recipient. It must be selected
carefully in order to make the message effective and correctly interpreted
by the recipient. The choice of medium depends on the interpersonal
relationships between the sender and the receiver and also on the urgency
of the message being sent. Oral, virtual, written, sound, gesture, etc. are
some of the commonly used communication mediums.

5. Receiver: The receiver is the person for whom the message is intended
or targeted. He tries to comprehend it in the best possible manner such that
the communication objective is attained. The degree to which the receiver
decodes the message depends on his knowledge of the subject matter,
experience, trust and relationship with the sender.
6. Decoding: Here, the receiver interprets the sender’s message and tries to
understand it in the best possible manner. An effective communication occurs
only if the receiver understands the message in exactly the same way as it was
intended by the sender.

7. Feedback: The Feedback is the final step of the process that ensures the
receiver has received the message and interpreted it correctly as it was
intended by the sender. It increases the effectiveness of the communication as
it permits the sender to know the efficacy of his message. The response of the
receiver can be verbal or non-verbal.

Note: The Noise shows the barriers in communications. There are chances
when the message sent by the sender is not received by the recipient.
Models of the Response Process
1. AIDA MODEL

If you’ve ever been motivated to take action due to an advertisement, you’ve

likely been influenced by a technique called “AIDA.” AIDA stands for
“Attention, Interest, Desire, Action” and it’s a tried-and-true process is used by
marketers to entice prospects to make a purchase or take a desired action. The
technique is commonly used in advertising vehicles such as television
commercials, website copy and direct mail pieces.

The AIDA Model identifies cognitive stages an individual goes through

during the buying process for a product or service. It’s a purchasing funnel
where buyers go to and fro at each stage, to support them in making the final
purchase.
Attention/Awareness
The attention portion of the marketing message occurs at the beginning and is
designed to give the prospects a reason to take notice. Presenting a shocking
fact or statistic that identifies a problem which can be solved by the product or
service is one common method of gaining attention. Other methods can
include asking a thought-provoking question or using the element of surprise.
Visual elements, like an unexpectedly elegant design, loud colors or sudden
motion, can also be good attention-grabbers.

Interest
Initial attention-grabbers work for a moment or two, but your potential
customer needs a reason to stay engaged. Once you’ve gained the prospects’
attention, the next step is to maintain interest in your product or service.
Explain to the recipients how the problem you’ve identified in the attention
step is adversely affecting their lives. A demonstration or illustration can help
the recipients to further identify with the problem and want to actively seek
possible solutions.
Desire
In the desire stage, your objective is to show the prospects how your product or
service can solve their problem. Explain the features of the product or service and
the related benefits and demonstrate how the benefits fulfill the need. A common
advertising process is the “before and after” technique, such as when a cleaning
product makes a soiled item look brand new. Advertisers often use the suggestion
of a better life (better health, better wealth, better romance) as a means of keeping
would-be clients engaged.

Action
Now that you’ve created the desire to make a purchase, the final step is to persuade
the prospects to take immediate action. In a one-on-one sales process, this is the
time to ask for the sale. In the advertising world, techniques involve creating sense
of urgency by extending an offer for a limited time or including a bonus of special
gift to those who act within a specific time frame. Providing a phone number to
call, a website to visit, or a digital button to click on gives prospective customers a
clear and easy next step towards making a purchase. Without a specific call to
action, the prospect may simply forget about your offer and move on.
2. Hierarchy effects Model

The concept of hierarchy of effects is quite simple the consumer is initially

unaware of the brand over time they gain some awareness of the brand, which may
then build into an understanding of the brand (attitudes and beliefs), and then may
finally result in some sort of purchase behavior.
It is referred to as a hierarchy because it is a ladder system starting at the bottom
with awareness and building towards becoming a loyal customer at the top.

The Kotler approach to hierarchy of effects

One of the more common textbooks in the marketing field is by Philip Kotler, and
his approach to the hierarchy of effects model is as follows:
Awareness
Knowledge
Liking
Preference
Conviction
Purchase
The first stage is simple awareness: Where the consumer has now heard of the
brand, but still has very limited understanding of the brand.

The second stage is knowledge: Where the consumer is generally aware of what
the brand is/does – e.g. the consumer may know that the brand that it is a type of
laundry detergent suitable for tough stains.

This is followed by the liking stage: The word ‘liking’ should NOT be confused
with an emotional attachment in this case, liking refers to the consumer seeing
some positive benefits associated with the brand. For example, “it is convenient”,
“it seems like a good product”, “it’s a healthy product” and so on.

Preference is the fourth stage of the hierarchy of effect model. This occurs when
the consumer sees the overall brand/product as a suitable option for a future
purchase. That is, the product enters the consumer’s evoked (consideration) set of
brands.
The next stage is conviction. In this stage the consumer’s attitude
further forms from preference to a ‘decision’ to purchase the brand in
the future. As an example, the consumer may think, “I will try that
brand next time”.

The final stop on the hierarchy of effects is purchase. Obviously this is

where the consumer buys the brand/product for the first time (which is
usually referred to as a ‘trial purchase’.
3.Innovation-Adoption Model

Innovation-Adoption Model was developed by Rogers in 1995. He postulated

various stages in which a target customer sails through from the stage of
incognizance to purchase. The 5 stages of the Innovation-Adoption Model are
Awareness, Interest, Evaluation, Trial, and Adoption.

AWARENESS
This is the primary stage of Innovation-Adoption Model. takes action is the
awareness stage of the model where the consumer becomes aware of a brand or a
product mostly through advertisements.

INTEREST
This is the second phase of the Innovation-Adoption Model. This is a stage in
which the information about the brand or a product multiplies in the market and
triggers the interest of the potential buyers of the product to gain more
knowledge and information about the product.
EVALUATION
Evaluation is the third stage of the Innovation-Adoption Model that
supplements the necessary information regarding the product to the consumers.
In this stage, the consumers evaluate and try to gain a deeper understanding of
the product that stimulated interest in them.

TRIAL
In this stage, the customers try the product before making the final choice to
purchase the product.

ADOPTION
Adoption is the final stage of the Innovation-Evaluation Model. In this stage,
the customer accepts the product, makes a purchase decision and finally
purchases the product.
4. Information Processing Model
The Information-Processing Model is a structure used by cognitive
psychologists to define the mental processes. This model links the human
thought process to the computer functions. It signifies that the human mind, like
the computer takes in information, organizes, and stores the information to be
repossessed later. It claims that just like the computer possesses an input device,
a processing unit, a storage unit, and an output device, the human mind also has
a parallel framework. The Information-Processing Model comprises of 6 stages
namely the Presentation, Attention, Comprehension, Yielding, Retention and the
Behavioral stage.

PRESENTATION
The presentation is the fundamental stage in the Information-Processing Model.
This is the awareness phase where the consumer becomes aware of his needs
and seeks a product to satiate his needs.
ATTENTION
This is the second stage of the Information-Processing Model, where the
product seizes the attention of the potential customers.

COMPREHENSION
In this stage of the Information-Processing Model, the consumer compares
and evaluates various products of different brands accessible in the market
to ascertain the product that actually meets his requirement.

YIELDING
This is a stage in which the customer figures out what exactly he wants and
the brand and its product that balances his needs to its specifications.
RETENTION
This is the fifth stage in the Information-Processing Model. This is the stage in
which the customer remembers the key features and attributes, the benefits and
all the positive aspects of the products that he is seeking to purchase.

BEHAVIOR
This is the last stage of the Information-Processing Model in which the purchase
action of a product of a particular band takes place.
 Traditional Hierarchy Models are useful
because:
• They outline the series of steps potential
purchasers must take to move from
unawareness of a product or service to
readiness to purchase.
• Potential buyers can be identified as present
at different stages in the hierarchy.
• Advertiser can identify different
communication problems based on each stage
of the hierarchy.
• They can be used as intermediate measures
of communication effectiveness to guide
future communication decisions.
Alternative Response Hierarchies
Topical Involvement
High Low
Learning Model Low Involvement
Model

Perceived product

High
Cognitive
differentiation
Cognitive
Affective
Conative

Dissonance/ Conative
Attribution Model
Low

Conative
Affective Affective
Cognitive
1. STANDARD LEARNING HIERARCHY
In many purchase situations, consumers go through the response process in the
manner depicted by the traditional communications models or sequence or
hierarchy.
“Learn -> Feel -> Do”
The receiver is viewed as an active participant in the communications process
who actively seeks or gathers information through “active learning.”

2. DISSONANCE/ATTRIBUTION HIERARCHY
In some situations, consumers may behave first then develop attitudes or
feelings as a result of that behavior and learn or process information that
supports their attitudes and behavior.
The dissonance or attributional hierarchy consists of the following sequence.
“Do -> Feel -> Learn”
This hierarchy usually occurs when consumers are trying to reduce post-
purchase dissonance or apprehension that results from doubt or concern over a
purchase.
3.Low-Involvement Hierarchy
The low involvement hierarchy is thought to characterize situations of low
consumer involvement in the purchase process and consists of the
following sequence
“Learn -> Do -> Feel”
The receiver is viewed as engaging in “passive learning” and “random
information catching” rather than active information seeking.
Objectives of Advertising Budget

Objective setting and budgeting should not come in sequence, one after
another. They should be considered simultaneously because it is difficult to
establish a budget without specific objectives in mind, and setting objectives
without regard to how much money is available makes no sense.

The approach used by the objective and task method is buildup approach
consisting of three steps:

• Defining the communications objectives that are to be accomplished,

• Determining the specific strategies and tasks needed to attain them
• Estimating the costs associated with performance of these strategies and
tasks.

The total budget is based on the accumulation of these costs.

Implementing the objective and task approach is somewhat more involved. The
manager must monitor this process throughout and change strategies depending
Promotional Objectives

Promotional Objectives are goals of marketing communications such as

advertising. Market promotion is an integral part of marketing strategy. It is a
powerful weapon used excessively by today’s’ marketers to achieve
marketing goals in a competitive environment. Market promotion is
essentially a way to communicate with the target market. Since the modern
market is characterized by over-informed consumers, over-flooded products,
cut-throat competition, and rapid changes, the market promotion has a crucial
role to play.
Need for Promotional Objectives

• Communication
• Planning & Decision Making
• Measurement & Evaluation of Results
• Reinforce the brand
• Stimulate Demand
• Differentiate a product
Sales vs Communication objectives

Business’s communications objectives are the goals that you need to achieve through
all communications, such as public relations, advertising and social media. Your
sales objectives are the goals you need to achieve in sales, such as an incremental
increase in a particular product or an entire line. Your communications plan can help
you achieve that, but it also includes other aspects of your business other than sales,
such as communicating both inside and outside your organization. Objectives in both
areas should meet the “SMART” test: specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and
time-focused.

External Communications Objectives

External communications are what you use to communicate with audiences and
markets outside your business. This includes the media, current and prospective
customers, analysts, investors and any other stakeholders. In young businesses or for
new products, communications objectives may start out very broad, such as “create
media awareness about our company and products.”
Internal Communications Objectives
Your internal business communications include your employees, sales force
and distributors. These communications are important because you want
everyone in your business to be consistent in their communications with
everyone they meet. You also do not want external audiences to get
information before your employees receive it. Internal communications tools
may include company web portals, newsletters and weekly meetings.
Objectives may include “increase on-time attendance at weekly status
meetings,” or “improve communications between work groups.” You then
develop strategies and tactics to meet those objectives, such as providing
incentives or training in meeting facilitation.
Communications Objectives

A business communications team, or any type of work team with a

communications element, is likely to only have objectives that fall within its
area of expertise. For example, a public relations department may have an
objective of issuing press releases addressing lawsuits within 24 hours.
Likewise, a marketing department may be tasked with producing three new
ad campaigns for less than $1 million each that bring customer awareness of
a new product, as measured in surveys, to 75 percent.
Sales Objectives

Sales objectives rely on statistical data to set target sales levels over
time. Sales objectives don’t necessarily need to refer to the number of
goods a business sells. Instead they could refer to a revenue target, a
number of new customers or a particular number of sales for each
member of a sale staff. A computer manufacturer may set a sales
objective of 200,000 new laptops in the fiscal quarter. However, unless
this objective includes the stipulation that all 200,000 models are sold
for the full wholesale price, a sales team could reduce prices to increase
sales to retailers and meet the objective without benefiting the company.
DAGMAR, Problems in Setting objectives

The DAGMAR approach of advertising was devised by Mr Russell Colley who

was much appreciated for his work, as till date, DAGMAR is a concept used in
advertising to set advertising objectives and goals. DAGMAR is an abbreviation
for “Defining advertising goals to measure advertising results”.

Instead of giving a complicated explanation, I will give a simple one. Russell

Colley observed that although people were investing in advertising, they had to
invest a lot of time in other marketing activities to get the ROI of advertising.
This is because the ROI from advertising was unknown.

The 2 core things on which the DAGMAR Model:

Creation of a communication task to achieve goals
Defining the objective of the communication tasks in a manner that the results
can be measured.
A)The communication tasks involved in the DAGMAR approach

A marketing task is a combination of an advertising activity, a branding

activity and possibly a customer service activity. The work of marketing
is holistic and hence it has to look at the whole organization. The work of
Advertising is more individualistic and hence the organization is not
considered.

The goal of the communication tasks in DAGMAR was as follows

Awareness: Communication tasks involved making the consumer aware of
the brand or the product.
Comprehension: These tasks also helped the consumer in understanding the
attributes and the features of the product and what the product will do for the
consumer.
Conviction: The communication task convinced the customer that this
product was meant for them
Action: Ultimately, after conviction, the customer was to be enticed to take
action.
B) Defining objectives in the DAGMAR approach.

The second most important task of DAGMAR was defining the objectives of
advertising or of the communication tasks which were to be created. Once you
defined the objectives, then the measuring of advertising results was
comparatively easier.

The objectives of advertising in DAGMAR (which are used to create

communication tasks) are as follows
Concrete and measurable tasks: The tasks need to be a precise statement of
what the advertiser wants to achieve through the communication. Does he want
to strengthen the brand image, maximize the brand presence, penetrate
new markets or increase overall sales.

Define the target audience: Before the communication task commences, the
target audience needs to be defined as precisely as possible. Are
you targeting youngsters, adults, elderly? Any of the various forms
of segmentation can be used to define the target audience.
Degree of change sought: What level of perception, attitude or awareness of
the customer do you want to change? If a customer is aware of the product, do
you want his negative attitude to change to positive? Or if the market is
completely unaware, do you want the whole market to be aware or only
partially the target group itself? These degrees of change which are going to
be the objective of the communication task need to be defined in advance.

Time period: To achieve the objectives of the communication tasks, how

much time are you ready to allot. If you think that in a month, the product can
create awareness in the complete market, then you are very wrong. That’s
why major advertisers try to introduce the product for 3 months, and then
communicate the features and benefits in the next 3 months so that the brand
recall is high and the brand acceptance is high as well. A defined time period
gives better measurability.
Setting objectives for the IMC Program

Setting Goals
Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) is an approach to brand
communications where the different modes work together to create a seamless
experience for the customer. Customers are presented with a similar tone and
style that reinforce the brand’s core message. The ultimate goal is to make all
aspects of marketing communication; advertising, sales promotion, public
relations, direct marketing, personal selling, online communications and social
media work together as a unified force, rather than in isolation. This synergy
between different marketing elements maximizes their cost effectiveness.
Common IMC Objectives
In addition to considering recent market, consumer and technological shifts,
brands must assess their marketing budget and target audience when setting
IMC goals. An IMC strategy with a budget of $2 million will be radically
different in size, scope and reach than a marketing budget of only $2,000.
Thus, smaller businesses with tiny IMC budgets may rely heavily on social
media advertising and word-of-mouth networks to increase brand presence and
generate new leads, rather than more expensive television and billboard
advertising.

• To develop brand awareness

• To increase consumer or business demand for a product category
• To change or influence customer beliefs or attitudes
• To enhance purchase actions
• To encourage repeat purchases
• To build customer traffic to physical stores, websites or other marketing
channels
• To enhance firm/brand image
Objective Setting
Setting specific objectives should be an integral part of the promotional planning
process. This section discusses the value of objectives and distinguishes among
marketing, behavioral, and communication objectives for optimal IMC planning.
Value of Objectives
Advertising and promotional objectives are needed for reasons such as
communication function. Planning and decision making, and measurement and
evaluation of results.

Communication Function
Many people are involved in the planning and development of an IMC program
including client personnel and contracted agencies.
The program must be coordinated within the company, inside the ad agency, and
between the two. Potential problems can be avoided if all parties have written
approved objectives to guide their actions and serve as a common base for
discussion.
Measurement and Evaluation of Results
Setting specific objective provides a benchmark against which the
performance of the promotional campaign can be measured.
One characteristic of good objectives is that they are measurable; they
specify a method and criteria for determining how well the promotional
program is working.

Marketing Objectives
Marketing objectives are generally stated in the firm’s marketing plan and
are statements of what is to be accomplished by the overall marketing
program within a given time period.
Marketing objectives are usually defined in terms of specific, measureable
outcomes such as sales volume, market share, profit, or return on
investment.
Measuring Success
The final stage of any marketing planning process is to establish targets or standards so that
progress can be monitored. Accordingly, it is important to put both quantities and timescales
into marketing objectives and corresponding strategies. for example, to capture 20 percent by
value of the market within two years.

The most important elements of marketing performance which are normally tracked include:
Sales Analysis: Sophisticated organizations track sales in terms of “sales variance” the
deviation from the target figures which allows an immediate picture of deviations to become
evident.

Market Share Analysis: Market share is an important metric to track. Though absolute sales
might grow in an expanding market, a firm’s share of the market can decrease, which bodes ill
for future sales when the market starts to drop. Market share is tracked through parameters
including overall market share, segment share, relative share, annual fluctuation rate of market
share, and the specific market sharing of customers.
Expense Analysis: The key ratio to watch in this area is usually the
“marketing expense to sales ratio.” This may be broken down into
elements including advertising to sales and sales administration to sales.

Financial Analysis: In theory, the “bottom line” of all marketing activities

should be net profit. Key ratios include gross contribution to net profit,
gross profit to return on investment, and net contribution to profit on sales.
There can be considerable benefit in comparing these figures with those
achieved by other organizations, especially those in the same industry.