2/8/2023

IMC COORDINATION

Developments of IMC
 Inside-out approach to IMC: integration of promotional
tools and media driven by the desire to restructure
internally, reduce costs and deliver consistent
messages.
 Introduction of management, strategy and brand
development into the IMC process.
 Outside-in approach to IMC: an audience- or customer
driven process, one that incorporates relationship
marketing.
 Refer to
Kliatchko, J.G. and Shultz, D.E. (2014) Twenty years of IMC,
International Journal of Advertising, 33(2), 373–90.

Definition of IMC
 No agreement about what IMC is, what it
encompasses or how it should be measured.
 Three key features of IMC practice:
 use of multiple media in planning and delivering
marketing communications messages;
 primacy of consumer understanding as the kernel of
marketing communications planning and execution;
 use of proprietary frameworks or processes for IMC
planning, including measurement tools, by both clients
and agencies.

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Reasons for developing interest in IMC

What is to be integrated?

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What is to be integrated?
 Communications tools: combination of
advertising, PR, direct marketing, sales
promotion... the messages conveyed by each of
the ‘promotional’ tools should be harmonized in order
that audiences perceive a consistent set of meanings
within the messages they receive.
 Messages:
 the theme and set of core messages used in any campaign
should first be determined and then deployed as an
integrated whole across the communications mix (sometimes
referred to as synergy).
 the gaps between the different messages (in content and
meaning) should be narrowed.

What is to be integrated?
 Marketing mix: The elements of the marketing mix need to
be integrated because they too communicate. 
coordinated to maximize impact and enable customers to
experience the brand through pre-, actual and post-product
use.
 Branding
 Brands are themselves a form of integration (organizations need
to be sufficiently coordinated internally so that a brand can be
perceived externally as consistent and uniform).
 Brands that appeal to diverse consumer groups require high
levels of integration, a need to develop a series of innovative/
refreshingly interesting messages based around a core brand
proposition.

 Strategy: At a strategic level, IMC has its roots in the overall business
strategy of an organization (e.g., messages depends on strategy such
as differentiation, focus or low-cost strategy).
 Employees: blend of internal and external messages so that there is
clarity, consistency and reinforcement of the organization's (or brand’s) core
proposition (especially for customer-facing employees)
 Technology: effective use (integration) of technology to develop effective
websites, extranets and intranets, customer contact centres, databases,
campaigns, fulfilment processes, CRM and sales force automation. 
maximize impact, improve customer service, measurement and evaluation
of IMC programmes
 Agencies: involvement of all those working on the supply side. Integrated
campaigns consist of several tools and media. The way in which these
elements of the communications mix are scheduled and the quality of the
transition through the length of a campaign will impact on the quality of
campaign integration.

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 IMC can represent both a strategic and tactical

approach to the planned management of an
organisation’s communications. IMC requires that
organisations coordinate their various strategies,
resources and messages in order that they enable
meaningful engagement with audiences. The main
purposes are to develop a clear positioning and
encourage stakeholder relationships that are of
mutual value.

Interpretations of IMC

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Interpretation 1: IMC as
harmonisation
 This involved communicating consistent messages
through all forms of relevant media to target
audiences.
 Harmonisation represented a largely visual
interpretation of IMC (Typically brand colours,
logos and straplines had to be placed and
presented in a consistent manner across all media
where the target audience encountered the brand.
This content view aimed to achieve a ‘one voice, one
look’ position.)

Interpretation 2: IMC as a plan

 The media-neutral planning (MNP) approach
 A more balanced mix of tools and media (not only
mass-media advertising) should be adopted in
order to be more effective and efficient.
 a coordinated approach to the selection and
implementation of the right tools and media
that will deliver messages that are of
significant value to the target audience.

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Interpretation 3: IMC as a perspective

 a ‘content’ and a ‘process’ perspective
 The content perspective assumes that message consistency is
the major goal in order to achieve the ‘one voice, one look’
position. (high levels of consistency are important when
building new or unfamiliar brands, whereas moderate levels
of consistency are suitable for established or familiar
brands.
 a process perspective puts emphasis on a structural
realignment of the communications disciplines within
organisations, even to the point of collapsing all
communications into a single department. Cross-functional
systems and processes are regarded as necessary to enable
IMC.

Interpretation 4: IMC as a portfolio

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Interpretation 4: IMC as a portfolio

Interpretation 5: Relational IMC

 IMC is an important process, one that seeks to
generate a response from customers, provoke
interaction and then dialogue, which is a key
characteristic of relationship marketing.

Structuring for IMC

 The likelihood of internal integration has been hampered by the structure
of the organisation and the way in which structural units have been
assembled.
 As organisations develop structurally, from international to multinational to
global and transnational status, so the need to coordinate internally and to
integrate internal communications becomes ever more vital to sustain IMC.
 Internal communications are becoming more popular with clients (and
agencies) as it is realised that employees are important contributors and
invaluable spokespersons for the products they market. Internal
communications can help not only to inform and remind/reassure, but also
to differentiate employees in the sense that they understand the
organisation’s direction and purpose, appreciate what the brand values are
and so identify closely with the organisation as a whole. This is a form of
integration from which marketing communications can benefit.

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Key points
•IMC is concerned with the development, coordination and implementation
of an organization's various strategies, resources and messages.
•The role of IMC is to enable coherent and meaningful engagement with

target audiences.
•The interest in IMC has resulted from three main drivers. These include

market-based drivers, those that arise from changing communications,

and those that are driven from opportunities arising from within the
organization itself.
•A wide range of elements needs to be integrated. These include the

communications tools, media and messages, plus the elements of the

marketing mix, brands, strategy, employees, agencies and technology.
•Definitions of IMC have evolved from a simple coordination of the

disciplines and messages perspective to one that incorporates the

development of relationships and mutual value.

Case study: Oreo