Designing and Managing Integrated

Marketing Communication
 Learning Outcomes
• Explain the role of marketing communications

• Discuss the process of marketing communications

• Elaborate the major steps in developing effective

communications
• Evaluate the elements in communications mix and
how should it be set
• Explain the process of integrated marketing
communications
What is Marketing Communication?
Marketing communications are the means
by which firms attempt to inform, persuade,
and remind consumers, directly or indirectly,
about the products and brands they sell.
 The Communication Process

Encoding Message Decoding

Media
Sender Receiver

Noise

Feedback Response
 Designing the Communication
Program
(Steps in Developing Effective Communication Program)
Identify target audience

Determine objectives

Design communications

Decide on media mix

Establish budget

Measure results/ manage IMC

 Step 1 : Identify Target Audience
• A marketing communicator must start with a clear
target audience in mind
Potential buyers or Current users
– What will be said
– How it will be said
– When it will be said
– Where it will be said
– Who will say it
Step 2 : Determine Communication
Objectives
The marketing communicator need to know;
– Where the target audience now stands
in
– Which stage they need to be moved
Buyer Readiness Stages

Awareness Knowledge Liking

Preference Conviction Purchase

• Increase product awareness
• Increase product knowledge
• Stimulate interest
• Differentiate the product
• Establish product image/Create desire
• Encourage product trial/ stimulate demand
• Develop repeat purchase behavior
• Increase sales volume
• Establish market share/Fight competition
• Modify/reinforce consumer attitudes
 Step 3 : Designing the Message
• Message strategy
• Creative strategy
• Message source
• Global adaptation
 Creative Strategy
• Informational and transformational appeals
• Positive and negative appeals
– Fear, Guilt, Shame, Humor, Love, Pride, Joy
Message Source
Celebrity Characteristics
– Expertise
– Trustworthiness
– Likeability
 Issues Facing Global Adaptations
• Is the product restricted in some countries?
• Are there restrictions on advertising the
product to a specific target market?
• Can comparative ads be used?
• Can the same advertising be used in all
country markets?
 Step 4: Selecting Channels/ Choosing
Media
• There are two broad types of communication channels ;
- Personal Communication Channels
Channels through which two or more people communicate
directly with each other, including face-to-face, on the phone, or
internet chat.
- Non – personal Communication Channels
Media that carry messages without personal contact or
feedback, including print media, broadcast media,
display media (Posters/billboards)
Marketing Communications Mix

• Advertising
• Personal Selling
• Sales Promotion
• Direct Marketing
• Public Relation & Publicity
• Events Marketing &
Sponsorship
• Word of Mouth
 Marketing Communications Mix:
Advertising
Any paid form of non-personal presentation and
promotion of ideas, goods, or services by an
identified sponsor.

– Print and broadcast ads

– Billboards
– Posters
– POP displays
– Motion pictures
Marketing Communications Mix:
Advertising
– Effective at reaching a wide audience
– Low cost per exposure
– Flexibility in designing & placing the ad
– Allows high message repetition
– Good for building awareness
– Amplified effect (convey your message
with sight,
sound and motion)
Marketing Communications Mix:
Advertising

– Costly - impersonal - one-way

– You may be paying to send your message
to a lot of people who will probably never
be in the market to buy from you. 
– may require multiple exposure for the ad
to rise above the clutter 
– Not good at getting customers to make a
final purchasing decision
 Marketing Communications Mix:
Personal Selling

Personal presentation by a firm’s sales force

for the purpose of making sales and building
customer relationships.
– Sales presentations
– Sales Meetings
– Fairs & Trade Shows
Marketing Communications Mix:
Personal Selling
– Build buyers’ preference - conviction -
action
– Can observe mutual needs and quickly
adjust (Highly interactive)
– Assists in developing relationships
– Buyer more likely to listen and respond

– The most expensive promotion tool

– Time consuming
– Not suitable if there are thousands of
buyers
 Marketing Communications Mix:
Sales Promotion

Short-term incentives to encourage the purchase

or sale of a product or service
Final Customers or Distribution Channel Members
– Contests, games, sweepstakes
– Buy one get one free
– Premiums
– Sampling
– Discount Coupons
– Rebates
– Incentive Programs
Marketing Communications Mix:
Sales Promotion

– Attract consumer attention

– Can stimulate quick increases in
sales by targeting promotional
incentives on particular products

– Short - lived - weak at building

brand preference
– Too much promotion may damage
the brand image
 Marketing Communications Mix:
Direct Marketing

Direct communications with carefully targeted

individuals to obtain an immediate response.
– Direct Mails (Emails)
– Catalogues
– Flyers in newspapers
– Telemarketing
– TV shopping
– Blogs
– Voice Mail Messages
– Short Message Services (SMS)
Marketing Communications Mix:
Direct Marketing
• Ability to precisely target customers – Your
advertising message is targeted to those most likely to
buy your product or service
• Personalization - can address the customer personally
and be tailored to their needs (the best offer; the best
timing) thus, helping increase positive response
• Immediate (Telemarketing/ TV Shopping)
• Interactive (Telemarketing/ TV Shopping)
• Opportunities for developing relationships with
potential customers
Marketing Communications Mix:
Direct Marketing

– Large quantities of paper are thrown

away, without even opening the mail
(Direct Mailers)
– Most people oppose the uninvited
calls (Tele Marketing)
– Most of the emails are put into trash
and spam's
(Direct Mailers)
 Marketing Communications Mix:
Public Relation

The variety of activities and communications an organization

undertakes to monitor, evaluate, and influence the attitudes,
opinions and behaviors of groups or individuals who constitute
their publics.

– Media
– Government
– Citizen Action
– Local
– General
– Financial
– Internal
Marketing Communications Mix:
Public Relation/Publicity
• Press release
• Press conference
• Speeches
• Seminars
• Annual reports
• Charitable donations
• Publications e.g. Company magazine
• Community Relation Programs
• Lobbying
• Cause marketing
 Marketing Communications Mix:
Public Relation/Publicity
• Often seen as more "credible" - since the message seems to be
coming from a third party (Believable)
• Cheap way of reaching many customers - if it is applied in the
right way (Economical)
– Reach prospects who avoid other
approaches
– Enhance corporate image
– Risk of losing control - cannot always
control what other people write or say
about your product
 Marketing Communications Mix:
Events Marketing

Sponsor or organize various events;

• Sports
• Entertainment
• Festivals
• Arts
• Causes
• Factory tours
• Company museums
• Street activities
Advantages & Disadvantages of Event
Marketing & Sponsorship

• Target marketing capability

• Face to face access
• Public image enhancement

• Cost of organizing big events

• Effectiveness hard to measure
 Word-of-Mouth Marketing
• Person-to-person
• Chat rooms
• TV shows
e.g. Banks
 Decide on Media Mix
Each promotional tool has unique characteristics and
costs. Marketers must understand these characteristics
in shaping their promotion mix.
– The nature of each promotion tool
– The nature of the product
– The nature of the target customers (Media
habits)
– Push Vs Pull Strategy
– PLC Stage
– Buyer Readiness Stage
 The Nature of the Product
Consumer Goods Industrial Goods
Advertising Personal selling

Sales promotion Sales promotion

Personal selling Advertising

PR PR
 Push versus Pull Strategy
Producer Reseller
marketing activities marketing activities
Retailers and
Producer Consumers
Wholesalers

Push strategy
Demand Demand
Retailers and
Producer Consumers
Wholesalers

Producer marketing activities

Pull strategy
 Product Life Cycle Stage
• Introduction Stage: Advertising & Sales Promotion

• Growth Stage : Advertising & PR

• Maturity Stage : Sales Promotion

• Declining Stage : Low or no

promotion
Effectiveness of different promotional elements
varies during the stages of consumer’s purchase
decision ;

Slide 18-33
Integrated Marketing Communication

The concept under which a company carefully integrates and

coordinates its many communications channels to deliver a clear,
consistent, and compelling message about the organization and
its products.
– Connecting people
– Be Unforgettable
– Great way to fly

14-35
 The Need for Integrated Marketing Communications

– Conflicting messages from

different sources or promotional
approaches can confuse company
or brand images

– Each element has unique

strengths and weakness

14-36
Step 05 :Setting the Promotional Budget

Affordable Method

Percentage-of-Sales Method

Competitive Parity Method

Objective-and-Task Method
Step 6 : Measure Result

• Question target audience members

(Communication effect)
– Remember message?
– How many times?
– Specific points?
– How they feel?
– Attitudes changed?

• Measure behavior (sales effect)