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A PROJECT ON A REPORT ON INTEGRETED MARKETING COMMUNICATION WITH SPECIAL REFRENCE TO MARKETING. An In-Depth Study
PROJECT BY:MOHAMMED ATIQUE IDRISITYBMS (SEM V), 2010- 2011
Project Co-ordinator:PROF. MAZHAR THAKUR
DATE OF SUBMISSION: ____/_____/_20
AKBAR PEERBHOY COLLEGE
OF COMMERCE AND ECONOMICS
A REPORT ON INTEGRETED
MARKETING COMMUNICATION WITH
SPECIAL REFRENCE TO MARKETING.
Submitted by:
MOHAMMED ATIQUE IDRISI
TYBMS [Semester V]
AKBAR PEERBHOY College of
Commerce and Economics.
Project Co-ordinator:
PROF; MAJHAR THAKUR
Submitted on : ____/____/20
Integrated Marketing Communications 2
Declaration
I MOHAMMED ATIQUE IDRISI student of AKBAR PEERBHOY COLLEGE OF COMMERCE AND ECONOMICS, MUMBAI – 400008, T.Y.B.M.S SEM V, here by declared that I have completed Project on A REPORT ON INTEGRETED MARKETING COMMUNICATION WITH SPECIAL REFRENCE TO MARKETING. in the academic year 20010-11 .The information submitted is true and original to the best of my knowledge.
Place: Mumbai.Date:
Signature of the students.
Integrated Marketing Communications 3
Certificate
This is to certify that the project entitled A PROJECT ON INTEGRETED MARKETING COMMUNICATION WITH SPECIAL REFRENCE TO MARKETING. by MOHAMMED ATIQUE IDRISI student of AKBAR PEERBHOY COLLEGE OF COMMERCE AND ECONOMICS MUMBAI – 400008, T.Y.B.M.S SEM V, during the year 2010-11, in partial fulfillment of degree of bachelor of management studies (B.M.S.) and that the dissertation has not formed on the basis for previous degree, diploma or any other similar title.
Integrated Marketing Communications 4
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank Prof; Mazhar Thakur,The university of Mumbai and Akbar Peerbhoy College of commerce and economics and the project guide and my big brother who cooperate me to make this project without their cooperation I could not make the
Project Co-ordinator
PROF; MAJHAR THAKUR
MOHAMMED ATIQUE IDRISIROLL NO.23 T.Y.BMS SEM V
Integrated Marketing Communications 5
A ROADMAP TO THE REPORT
TOPIC Page
no.
PART I
Introduction…………………………………………………………………… 09
What Is Integrated Marketing Communication ………………………. 11
An Analogy – The Symphony Orchestra ……………………………….. 15
Components of IMC……………………….………………………………… 17
Factors contributing to IMC's rising prominence ……………………. 19
Heart Of IMC – 5 Power Concepts ……………………….………………. 22
Levels of Integration …………………….…………………….…………….. 24
Consumer Psyche and Information Processing ……………………….. 27
CASE I
How the Entertainment Industry Capitalizes on IMC ……… 30
Success Factors and Advantages of IMC ……………………………….. 43
PART II - PROCESS OF IMC
Characteristics of an IMC approach 46
Communications Mix Hierarchy 48
The Actual Process: 50
Model for Planning Integrated Marketing Communication 52
CASE II
Godrej Consumer Products Ltd. 55
Issues In Co-Ordination Of An IMC Campaign 67
PART III - REINVENTING THE AGENCY
Reinventing the Agency 73
PART IV - EVALUATION AND BARRIERS
Evaluation – IMC Audit 78
Barriers To Implementation 85
Necessary Conditions for IMC Success 93
Conclusion 94
ANNEXURE A
IMC AUDIT FORM
The Integrated Marketing Audit
ANNEXURE B
IMC IN GLOBAL ARENA
ANNEXURE C
QUESTIONNAIRE
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Integrated Marketing Communications 2
PART I
I M C
AN INTRODUCTION
Integrated Marketing Communications 3
Integrated Marketing Communications 4
Introduction
Pepsi, announced some time back that it was scrapping its familiar red,
white, and blue design and switching to a radical new electric blue
package and logo design, the reason being that Pepsi's image,
particularly in international markets, had been losing something in
translation.
As The Wall Street Journal observed in reporting on the Project Blue
launch, "Pepsi’s image is all over the map." The story explains that a
grocery store in Hamburg uses red stripes, a bodega in Guatemala uses
'70s-era lettering, a Shanghai restaurant displays a mainly white Pepsi
sign, and a hodgepodge of commercials feature a variety of
spokespeople, ranging from cartoons and babies to doddering butlers.
It's not just Pepsi's marketing communication that sends different
messages to different people. Consumers say the cola tastes different
in different countries, so PepsiCo's plans also call for revamping
manufacturing and distribution to get a consistent-tasting drink
marketed throughout the globe. And some of its European marketing
communication partners were mixed in their support of the plan
because they felt they weren't consulted about how it was to be
implemented, so there's work to be done there, too.
Everything Sends a Message: What happened to Pepsi dramatizes
the point that message consistency is a systemic problem, as well as
strategic. It has to be approached from the viewpoint of the whole
company and its total business operations, not just from how the
company executes its marketing communication or corporate image
programs.
Integrated Marketing Communications 5
As Nicolas Hayek, CEO of Swatch, says, "Everything we do, and the way
we do everything, sends a message." And that’s where Integrated
Marketing Communications comes in. Integrated marketing
communications is a process that manages all of a company or brand's
interactions with customers and other key stakeholders. Its premise is
that everything a company does, and sometimes what it doesn't do,
sends a message.
In the marketplace of the 21st century ... the driving force is not a
company with products to sell but customers controlling what, where,
and how they want to buy. Thanks to the Internet, 24-hour toll-free
phone numbers, credit cards, and express delivery services, consumers
are accessing information on demand and seeking out the products and
services that interest them.
Gone are the days when a company determined where, when, and how
it sells its product. This new approach not only changes the way we
make our purchasing decisions, it also revolutionizes how companies
market to their customers. For most companies to win, they must
replace outdated mass-marketing tactics with a targeted, customer-
focused approach.
Integrated marketing communications (IMC) is one such customer-
centric, data-driven method of communicating with consumers. Nestle,
IBM, Sprint, Microsoft, Apple computers, Nike and many other
companies have adopted the IMC approach.
Integrated Marketing Communications 6
What is Integrated Marketing ?
Integrated marketing is a comprehensive approach to internal and
external organizational communication.
Definition of IMC:
As per American Association of Advertising Agencies
'The concept of marketing communications planning that recognizes
the added value of a comprehensive plan that evaluates the strategic
role 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'.
According to Don Schultz, Integrated marketing Communications is a
new way of looking at the whole, where once we only saw parts such as
advertising, public relations, sales promotion, purchasing, employee
communications, and so forth. It is realigning communications to look at
it the way the customer sees it - as a flow of information from
indistinguishable sources.
A successful IMC campaign requires that the firm find a right
combination of promotion tools and techniques, defines their roles and
the extent to which they can or should be used, and coordinate their
use.
In the words of Duncan and Everett, Integrated Marketing
Communications may be defined as “The strategic coordination of all
the messages and media used by an organization to influence the
perceived brand value”
The focus here is on two aspects:
Integrated Marketing Communications 7
1) Being present at all the contact points
2) Managing the communications well that your brand speaks one
language. As Nowak and Phelps say - your brand should have ‘One
voice’ reaching to your customers, may it be by any number of
channels.
If this does not happen:
a) You may miss out on some of the contact points where your
customer awaits your communications but he does not find you and
he abnegates the brand.
b) You may reach different contact points but different communications
(including the intangibles) speak differently, your customer gets
confused as to what he should associate with your brand.
Thus the first aspect creates awareness and the second aspect creates
and maintains loyalty.
Other views on what Integrated Marketing Communication is:
“Integrated marketing is a cross-functional process to create, maintain
and grow profitable relationships with customers and other
stakeholders, with the intended result being a gain in brand value for
the company, as well as it's products/services.”
“IMC is the management of all organizational communications to build
positive relationships with customers and other stakeholders -- stresses
marketing to the individual by understanding needs, motivations,
attitudes, and behaviors.”
“Integrated marketing unifies the core purpose, key goals and
strategies and company-wide processes to create congruent messages
and sufficient dialog with all stakeholder groups.”
Integrated Marketing Communications 8
Necessary conditions for an Effective IMC program:
Today, IMC definitions are broader in application, as a brand is
developed in stakeholders' minds as a result of all interactions they
have with a company, and not just as a result of a campaign they are
exposed to. The premise is virtually the same — synergies are achieved
when all brand contacts work in concert.
While definitions differ, the practice of IMC involves the same success
factors and helps organizations build and deepen relationships with
their many stakeholders. The following conditions should be considered
"necessary," but not sufficient conditions of IMC practice:
1. It must speak to all stakeholders with a "single," consistent voice.
2. It must assume the consumers' point of view.
3. Its strategic communications disciplines must be internally
integrated.
4. It must have a clear and consistent message that is more efficient
and effective than competing messages.
5. Its messages must cut through the increasingly cluttered
commercial landscape.
6. It must foster a two-way dialogue between consumers and itself.
7. It must build bonds that lead to long-term, consumer-to-brand
relationships.
8. It must not place excellent marketing ahead of corporate
reputation.
Thus in the IMC approach, the different communications are in the form
of arcs making up a 360-degree circle, at the center of which lies the
customer. With too much communication surrounding the customer he
gets confused, he being a center of many brand communications circles
and still more if the communications from a single brand are not
integrated. Thus the communications need to be spread and integrated
on a holistic basis what forms the basis of IMC.
Integrated Marketing Communications 9
An Analogy – A Symphony Orchestra
'Integrated communications' are like a band. The different
communications instruments-advertising, public relations, database
marketing, media specialists, sponsorship, interactive, event marketing
and the rest - are just like different musical instruments: piano,
trumpet, trombone, violin, clarinet, percussion and the rest. This
analogy is neither as silly nor as simple as it sounds.
The first thing to note is that although all the instruments normally play
the same tune, they are not interchangeable; they make different
noises. When each plays alone, the melody will be recognizable. But if
you think a piano playing Rule Britannia is the same as a trumpet
playing Rule Britannia, you are tone deaf. Very few consumers are tone
deaf. They will recognize that the underlying messages being conveyed,
say, by public relations and sponsorship, are identical, but the tone will
be entirely different. The form in which a message (or melody) is
conveyed is nearly as important as its content, sometimes more
important.
Second, all the different disciplines must play in harmony.
But, third, it does not always mean they must play exactly the same
tune. There are many occasions when they should be playing in
counterpoint. On their own, it may not be apparent they are playing the
same melody at all. Each may be exploiting its own virtuosity, instead
of echoing the others.
Badly done integrated marketing campaigns squeeze different
communications media into straitjackets which minimize their individual
Integrated Marketing Communications 10
vitality. To force all types of communications to use the same message,
instead of allowing them to deploy their own strengths and complement
each other is direly inefficient.
The Analogy leaves several questions unanswered:
Who is to be bandleader, and how is the band to be led?
Would the traditional jazz formula be best, in which all the musicians
go through the harmonies beforehand, and then more or less do
their own thing?
Or is the discipline of a powerful conductor needed, to control the
tendency to wander and restrain the egos of the players?
A company that wants to make maximum use of the synergy of
integrated marketing communication has to do more than simply
initiate advertising, direct marketing, public relations and data base
management. It requires total management commitment to a multi-
faceted program of operations and marketing.
Integrated Marketing Communications 11
The Components of IMC
Integrated Marketing will require strategic combination of two or more
of the following basic marketing elements/instruments used in concert
to multiply the effectiveness of a campaign:
Advertising (Print/ Television/Radio) - used to inform and entice a
prospect about a company's product or service, draw attention to
the company Web site and stimulate trial use.
Public Relations - also used to inform, but adds credibility by use
of a third party endorsement.
Web Site/ Internet - used by both existing customers and
prospects to obtain product and service information and, with the
implementation of eCommerce, conveniently purchase online.
Sales Promotion - provides short-term incentives to buy. Best
used when offered to prospects who are already familiar with the
product or service.
Direct Marketing - used today mostly to establish an ongoing
relationship with a current customer or prospect in order to
stimulate repurchase and build loyalty.
Special events
Video and audio presentations
Multimedia presentations
Integrated Marketing Communications 12
There are TWO CRITICAL FACTORS that have the most influence on the
effectiveness of an Integrated Marketing campaign.
The first is the strategic combination or "mix" of the basic
elements. Achieving the most effective mix is usually the result of
experience.
The second critical factor is the consistency of the theme across
all elements in the campaign. Logically, consistency is best achieved
through the use of a single source responsible for defining the role of
each element, creating the theme, and coordinating the timely
implementation of the campaign. However, consistency is where
most companies who believe they are already integrating their
marketing efforts usually fall short.
The following Research compiled from the U.S. Department of
Commerce, the American Management Association, and the Direct
Marketing Association reiterates the fact that strategically combining
the basic marketing elements with a consistent theme will impact
results:
Average stand-alone direct mail campaign generates 3.3% response
rate.
One basic marketing element added to stand-alone direct mail
campaign, response rate increases to 5.4%.
Two basic marketing elements added to stand-alone direct mail
campaign, response rate increases to 6.7%.
Three basic marketing elements added to stand-alone direct mail
campaign, response rate increases to 6.9%.
Integrated Marketing Communications 13
Factors contributing to IMC's rising prominence
1. Fragmentation of media - both the print and the Television media
have proliferated dramatically in the past decade which has resulted
in less reliance on mass media and more emphasis on the other
promotional options, such as direct mail and event sponsorship.
2. Better audience assessment - More sophisticated research methods
have enabled more accurate and specific targeting, leading the
marketer away from the mass media to promotional tools that reach
only the segment that has been targeted.
3. Consumer empowerment - empowered consumers are more
skeptical of commercial messages and demand information tailored
to their needs.
4. Increased advertising clutter has diluted the effectiveness of any
single message. There seems to be no end in sight to this 'media'
proliferation.
5. Many marketers feel that traditional advertising is too expensive and
is not cost effective. Hence there is a trend of shifting of budgets from
media advertising to other forms of promotions.
6. Database technology can be used to create accurate customer and
non-customer profiles for developing highly targeted direct response
& telemarketing programs can be implemented.
7. Channel Power - Retail channels are developing power and hence
are able to demand promotional fees and allowances from
manufacturers, which diverts funds away from advertising and into
special events or other promotions.
8. Increased Accountability have led the firms to reallocate marketing
resources from advertising to more short-term and more easily
measurable methods such as direct marketing and sales promotion.
Integrated Marketing Communications 14
4P’s versus the 4 C’s
The current revolution in the market has brought about several
‘Differents’. This has led to the replacement of 4 P's of marketing by the
4 C's of marketing. The 4P’s v/s the 4C’s:
Not PRODUCT, but CONSUMER : Understand what the consumer
wants and needs. Times have changed and you can no longer sell
whatever you can make. The product characteristics must now match
what someone specifically wants to buy. And part of what the consumer
is buying is the personal "buying experience."
Not PRICE, but COST : Understand the consumer's cost to satisfy the
want or need. The product price may be only one part of the
consumer's cost structure. Often it's the cost of time to drive
somewhere, the cost of conscience of what you eat, and the cost of
guilt for not treating the kids.
Not PLACE, but CONVENIENCE : As above, turn the standard logic
around. Think convenience of the buying experience and then relate
that to a delivery mechanism. Consider all possible definitions of
"convenience" as it relates to satisfying the consumer's wants and
needs. Convenience may include aspects of the physical or virtual
location, access ease, transaction service time and hours of availability.
Integrated Marketing Communications 15
Not PROMOTION, but COMMUNICATION : Communicate,
communicate, communicate. Many mediums working together to
present a unified message with a feedback mechanism to make the
communication two-way. And be sure to include an understanding of
non-traditional mediums, such as word of mouth and how it can
influence your position in the consumer's mind. How many ways can a
customer hear (or see) the same message through the course of the
day, each message reinforcing the earlier images?
Integrated Marketing Communications 16
The Heart of IMC
In keeping with the above trends, there are Five power concepts that
go in IMC and make the communications efficient and effective.
1. Customer Focus i.e. Your message must be appealing, relevant and
accurately timed and must be based on the understanding and
anticipation of what the customer expects and wants, when he wants
it, and how he wants it to be delivered to him.
2. Customer Empowerment i.e. you empower your customer to define
the relevance, you do not define it for him and do not force the
content as per your convenience. You allow him to decide how
deeply he wants to be involved in the communications. This concept
extends beyond the permission from customer. Her you are asking
your customer to take the lead.
3. i.e. you need to be consistent at all the contact points and need to
have continuity such that all the roads of different media lead down
the same path to the brand. The beauty of your communications lies
in that the consumer gets the option only to decide how far to go
and not what different objective to go for.
4. Brand Resonance i.e. your communication while creating relationship
must stand for something that the customers think is worthy of a
relationship with them.
5. Emotional bonding i.e. your brand develops a relationship with your
Customer based on the insights about the customer. He is not only
loyal to your brand but he treats the brand as a friend, a trustee, a
Integrated Marketing Communications 17
close relative, or as an inseparable part of his life. In this case he
becomes an advocate for your brand and propagates your message
himself. In other sense he becomes a contact point for the other
consumers. Thus the communications become vital to be managed
so well that even this newly created contact point speaks the same
voice.
Correctly implemented, the IMC program is a continuous cycle of
gathering data and implementing response-generating marketing
communications, which are based on previously, gathered data.
Marketing communications derived from consumer need can build
perceived value into your product or service, and separate it from the
competition in the minds of your customers and prospects.
Integrated Marketing Communications 18
Levels Of Integration
Integration of communication goes beyond the definition of one
message, one voice to which so many marketers ascribe. Integrated
marketing communications is not just merely a piece of advertising, a
piece of public relations and a piece of direct mail that all look the
same. Rather, IMC is the management of all brand contact points
through an integrated, consumer-driven strategy. It means realigning
your communications from your customer’s perspective so that your
public relations is indistinguishable from your advertising, your direct
marketing is indistinguishable from your promotions and so on.
There exist various levels at which such integration can take place. The
following table details each of such stages.
Stages of Integration of Marketing
Communication
LEVEL I
Tactical Co-ordination To create ‘one sight, one sound’ by
consolidating communications
planning. Often leads to attempts at
cross-functionality, where teams of
specialists from different areas of
expertise are formed to increase
synergy.
LEVEL II
Redefining the Scope of Marketing Rather than considering
Integrated Marketing Communications 19
Communications communications as an outbound
activity, the firm looks at all points
at which the consumer and the
brand are in contact. Most
important result of this level of
integration is inclusion of
Employees as both target for and
proliferators of Marketing
communications.
LEVEL III
Application of IT The key ingredient here is the use
of databases to capture individual
transactions. This enables the firm
to market to groups of individuals
rather than the average customer at
the middle of the segment.
LEVEL IV
Strategic and Financial Integration In this level two issues are
paramount:
a. The ability to measure the return
on customer investment
b. Ability to use the marketing
communication to drive
organizational and strategic
directions.
Rather than measuring say, extra
sales resulting from an advertising
campaign, the firm would now
measure the returns from a specific
Integrated Marketing Communications 20
group of customers against costs
associated with that group.
Integrated Marketing Communications 21
Consumer Psyche & Information Processing
Key to effective communication is understanding how consumers
process the vast amount of information that comes their way each and
every day. To cope, we select only that information that we perceive to
be important and ignore the rest. Thus, we limit our span of perception
as a way of coping. If the marketing message is to be selected and
processed, it must:
Consist of sensory and life experiences that can easily be identified
and transformed into a unified concept,
Have mental relationships to other categorized ideas, and
Fit into the categories and mental linkages that people have already
created for themselves.
Marketing communication messages that are not recognizable, are not
related to each other, conflict with what has already been stored, or are
simply unrelated or unimportant to the person will simply not be
processed, but ignored. Communication only occurs when the consumer
accepts, transforms, and categorizes the message. Two models of
information processing have been proposed are as follows:
Models of Information Processing
1. assumes that it is possible for the marketer to "replace"
previously The Replacement Model stored information chunks
with new ideas. What is said does not matter as much as how
often and how loud the message has been transmitted. With
enough exposure, the new will replace the old.
Integrated Marketing Communications 22
2. The Accumulation Model of information processing assumes that
message consistency is critical since the consumer accepts,
processes, and stores information about the product or service
relative to what has already been mentally accepted.
The storage and retrieval system works on the basis of matching
incoming information with what has already been stored in
memory. If the information matches or enhances what is
already there, then the new information will likely be added to
the existing concepts and categories. If it doesn't match, the
consumer has to make a choice, either the new information can
replace what is already there or the new information can be
rejected. If rejected, the consumer would continue to use existing
concepts and categories and ignore the new. This is called a
"judgment system" - in that consumers match or test new
information against what they already have and then make a
judgment to add to, adapt, or reject the new material. The
judgment system (perceptual consistency) prevents consumers
from having multiple concepts or categories for the same
message.
When consumers reject the information or do not add or attach it
to what they already have, there is a failure to communicate. In
many cases, the failure to communicate is the result of the
marketer being unable to match his or her messages or fields of
experience with those of the prospect or customer.
Consumers use the same information processing approach whether the
new data comes from advertising, sales promotions, a salesperson, an
article in a newspaper or magazine or from what their neighbor is telling
Integrated Marketing Communications 23
them. The marketer who presents non-integrated messages risks not
having any of his or her messages processed because of the conflict
that occurs in the consumer's information processing system. If for no
other reason that the risk of confusion, marketers must integrate their
messages or consumers will simply ignore them.
As we shall see in the case of the Entertainment industry, Rugrats uses
this model of Consumer Information Processing. Via communication
across media like computer games, CDs, magazines, books, comic
strips, toys, an amusement park, live stage shows, Nickledeon
attaches newer information with the prior information and leads to the
creation of a Whole Big Picture. Coupled with a good quality product,
Rugrats became such a success that a sequel to it is already on its way
to premier.
Integrated Marketing Communications 24
Case I
How The Entertainment Industry Capitalizes On IMC
As the entertainment industry is forced to become more creative in
reaching its audiences, the opportunities for marketing communications
are endless. As Hollywood creates more and more ways to
communicate with its audiences, the need for integration is paramount.
With burgeoning franchises, entertainment companies have begun to
delve deeper into marketing strategies that enable them to connect
with their customers across their whole range of properties and
communication divisions. The hype about integration has created a
"buzz" in Hollywood that has the industry turning out some of the best
marketing strategies and campaigns in years.
Entertainment companies are defining their success with well-thought-
out, consumer-driven strategies and are using an array of marketing
tools to connect with audiences in more relevant and creative ways. In
the process, integrated marketing communications (IMC) is beginning to
take center stage as the entertainment industry’s shining star.
IMC Takes Center Stage
IMC has taken center stage in the entertainment industry as a result of
several factors and trends. Two of the greatest of these factors driving
IMC principles are:
The proliferation of media choices
The proliferation of media has fragmented audiences, making it
harder and harder to reach them through traditional means. Long
gone are the days when a single 30-second television commercial
could capture the attention of an entire target audience. Today’s
Integrated Marketing Communications 25
media competitive frame includes 12 networks, 213 cable channels,
hundreds of radio stations and even more magazines
(www.ultimatetv.com). At the same time, consider the number of
movies and home videos released each month. Even still, we must
add the thousands of websites available on the Internet to this
media mix.
The changes in consumer media consumption.
As the number of media options has increased, audiences have
become more diversified. Viewers are now able to make choices in
their media consumption that match their specific interests.
Television for the masses is passe. As the number of media outlets is
rising, ratings are decreasing. For example, the last episode of
Seinfeld drew fewer viewers than a regular episode of the Beverly
Hillbillies. It is clear that advertisers must become more
sophisticated in their media targeting if they are going to reap the
benefits that these changes in media consumption can offer.
However, as an industry that is dependent on media for advertising,
as well as for the delivery of its product, these facts are even more
striking.
Hollywood has responded to the situation by flexing its marketing
muscle to leverage communication across all of its customers’ brand
contacts, not just advertising. This strategy has led the industry to focus
on aligning its marketing efforts for a property around all of its company
divisions, rather than limiting its marketing power to the division
responsible for the main product, such as theatrical or home video.
Integrated Marketing Communications 26
Using creativity and marketing savvy, the entertainment industry has
successfully capitalized on aligning communication vehicles through the
following four principles:
Principle I - Focus on the consumer
The industry is increasingly becoming more consumer-focused,
using media outlets to find out what their consumers want and
then deliver it to them through well-defined, specific formats and
programming.
Entertainment companies are proving that they know this tenet
better than most others.
The business is using integrated marketing principles to connect
with its customers not only through its advertising messages, but
also through the entertainment product it offers.
As explained earlier, the proliferation of media today has resulted
in extreme audience segmentation. For example, the WB network
reaches ethnic viewers, FOX offers specific children programming,
Lifetime TV’s format targets women, and ESPN attracts sports
fans. The rise of such specific television formats indicates that the
industry is moving toward segmentation strategies. The effects of
audience segmentation in the entertainment industry have led to
marketing strategies shaped by the consumer. Consumers shape
brands based upon their individual perceptions and judgments,
and marketers must measure the significance these brands hold
in relation to their targets and build identities around these
meanings. Franchises are demonstrating that consumers own the
brand through the branding strategies and promotional partners
they utilize. For example, networks and shows are starting to
brand themselves in consumer-specific ways. As a result, we have
Integrated Marketing Communications 27
seen the emergence of networks defining their brand identity
according to their audience’s perspective.
"Everything we do, every contest we run, is from a kid’s point of
view," says Cyma Zarghami, general manager and executive vice
president of Nickelodeon. "It permeates the way we work and
what we do." Such networks are branding themselves through
their consumers’ voice with such slogans as Lifetime TV’s
"Television for Women." Slogans such as this reinforce that
networks are talking to specific customers with specific interests,
instead of a mass audience.
Case in Point: The Rugrats on Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon demonstrates this principle in its explicit
commitment to its consumers — kids. Nickelodeon is the creator
of the first television network for kids. The network became the
24-hour cable ratings leader for the first time in 1995 and
continues to hold the title today. Kids are at the very core of this
network. As its website touts, kids are the creators, drawers,
thinkers and writers for everything that takes place on
Nickelodeon. In fact, the grown-ups behind the scenes display all
of the pictures that kids send them and post them on refrigerators
throughout the company as a constant reminder of their
audience.
As a result of this cable channel’s philosophy, much of its
programming follows the same lead. For example, The Rugrats, is
an animated series about life from a toddler’s point of view and is
written completely from a child’s perspective. Debuting in 1991,
this hit series has won several awards including the Emmy, Cable
Ace and Parent’s Choice. It began as a Sunday morning cartoon
Integrated Marketing Communications 28
and now airs 13 times each week with more than 23 million
viewers. The growing success of this animated series could be
trumpeted as the result of the audience perspective upon which it
is based.
Principle II - Aligning marketing communications vehicles
Another essential communication principle appearing in
entertainment marketing strategies involves the various
communication tools employed in delivering messages to
consumers. The spotlight on the entertainment industry’s
marketing strategies is most evident through the creative
executions that the various marketing mix elements offer the
entertainment industry.
With all of the competition, Hollywood can no longer create
something and expect people to come see it. Instead, it has to
promote it and promote it right. This means communicating with
its audiences at every point that they interact with the brand.
Chris Moseley, senior vice president of marketing and
communications at Discovery Networks, reinforces the
importance of alignment of all customer contact points: "I think all
four parts of the equation — programming, marketing or
promotions (and I use them interchangeably), sales and research
— are key factors in how well anything performs." The result is an
integrated marketing experience that builds relationships
between the company and its consumers.
Case in Point: The Rugrats Movie
Integrated Marketing Communications 29
The marketing campaign for the release of Nickelodeon’s The
Rugrats Movie demonstrates how a successful entertainment
marketer builds this experience across all brand contacts. The
movie was scheduled to open November 25, 1998. The integrated
marketing strategy for this animated film based on the TV
series already includes computer games,
CDs, magazines, books, a comic strip, toys,
an amusement park and a live stage show.
The official buildup of the movie began with on-channel
promotion, including new TV episodes, leading to one that sets
up the movie by revealing that the main character’s mom is
pregnant.
Other Rugrats promotional support includes a partnership with
Burger King for a Kids Club promotion.
Also in the marketing mix is the release of two computer
programs in the month preceding the movie release, one of
which is based on the movie itself.
Broderbund Software and Nickelodeon plan to launch
numerous cross-promotions with the release of the game,
including print advertising, contests and in-theater promotions
beginning in September.
Furthermore, the Rugrats marketing blitz includes:
(a)A newspaper comic strip
(b)A guest appearance at Paramount’s King Island where
kids will have an opportunity to meet their favorite
Rugrats characters during a "Rugrats Weekend’
(c) A live musical tour
(d)A Simon & Schuster book series to coincide with the U.K.
release of the movie
Integrated Marketing Communications 30
(e)Rugrats merchandise and hundreds of licenses for
Rugrats items (including dolls, board games, clothing,
bedding, videos, fruit snacks, school supplies, greeting
cards and party goods)
Through this comprehensive marketing strategy, Nickelodeon has
brought ‘The Rugrats’ and the movie into the lives of its audience in all
ways that it interacts with the brand.
Principle III - Internal corporate synergy
Entertainment companies are building alliances across their entire
franchises in order to bring their entertainment properties to life
across as many mediums as possible.
Andrew Capone, senior vice president of marketing for NBC
explains, "I want to find a way we can combine a number of our
properties, including cable and our stations, to help clients in
integrated marketing solutions." In order to heighten the success
of their products, as well as those of their advertisers,
entertainment companies are realizing that they must build
alliances across all the divisions of their brands. The opportunity
to tap into their sister companies is certainly an advantage for
this industry in capitalizing on this idea of synergy.
Twentieth Century Fox boldly executed this IMC principle to
successfully market the studio’s first self-produced animated
feature. The marketing strategy behind News Corporation’s
recent release of Twentieth Century Fox’s Anastasia positioned
each division to contribute to the success of the animated feature
in the following manner:
Integrated Marketing Communications 31
Harper Collins published a series of Anastasia-based children’s
books
The Fox network interspersed Anastasia minutes (behind-the-
scenes looks at how the movie was made) into its prime
schedule
News America offered the cover of its weekly FSI
Leveraging the entertainment properties within its own company
proved to contribute significantly to the overall success of the
film, giving Fox a platform to continue making animated movies
in the future.
Steven M. Ross, executive vice president of worldwide promotions
and product placement at Twentieth Century Fox, further
supports, "It’s a huge advantage having such resources available
through sister companies." Many marketers in the industry are
aware of this fact, and as a result, are making great efforts to
build alliances with their other divisions in their companies.
Principle IV - Measurement and feedback loop
As the entertainment industry has moved toward more consumer-
focused strategies, it has integrated the customer into the
feedback loop in order to find out exactly what its specific target
is seeking.
The Internet is one of the most recent ways that Hollywood
franchises are working to close the loop in communicating with
their audiences. The Internet allows the entertainment industry to
receive first-hand feedback about products from its audiences,
Integrated Marketing Communications 32
while building relationships in the process. The traditional forms
of relying solely on Nielsen ratings and box office sales, the
industry traditionally only has been able to measure its success
according to number of viewers, but never has had the ability to
learn much about their audiences beyond the surface level. The
primary interaction it has had with fans has been limited to focus
groups.
The Internet changes all of that. The interactivity available
through this medium enables entertainment franchises to
communicate directly with audiences about their likes and
dislikes, plot ideas, etc. As a result, the Internet not only builds
relationships between these franchises and their audiences, but
also provides entertainment companies with valuable information
about their audiences that they can utilize in the creative
development process and in their marketing communications.
Case in Point: Disney.com
Entertainment franchises are quickly learning how to take
advantage of this new opportunity called the Internet. Disney has
long set the standard for marketing success, utilizing several
integrated marketing principles such as corporate synergy.
Recently the marketing franchise has expanded its ability to
connect with its audience through its corporate home page.
According to a survey, Disney’s website was recently ranked
number nine on a list ranking several websites’ ability to build
relationships. Disney.com incorporates several vehicles to
connect with its audience:
(a)One method Disney utilizes to accomplish this task is through
live chat events where kids can talk to their favorite Disney
Integrated Marketing Communications 33
stars online. The use of such tactics is building relationships
with their viewers that were never possible before.
(b)Another way that Disney.com builds relationships is by
expanding the entertainment experience online. Its website
features opportunities such as Club Disney, real play areas in
two locations, where they can plan their trips, tours and
birthday parties online before they visit.
(c) Another part of the website features Disney Blast, a new online
service offered to kids featuring games, stories and other
interactive opportunities.
(d)In addition, the website provides kids and their families direct
access to all aspects of the Walt Disney franchise including its
movies, the amusement parks, the Disney Channel, Radio
Disney, its TV shows, the company’s cruise line, the Disney
Vacation Club, the Disney Magazine, and all of the other
various company divisions spanning computer software to
home video.
In this way, Disney is always accessible to kids and their parents. Also,
the way in which Disney.com provides audience contact with all
divisions of the company helps to reinforce all that Disney has to offer
its customers. Kids and parents can click on any one of the departments
and send a message to them. Disney.com serves as a model of how
companies can expand their audience’s experience with the franchise
while helping to strengthen the relationships built through those
experiences in the process.
The outstanding performances that the entertainment industry has
executed certainly suggest that integrated marketing communications
deserves a star on Hollywood’s famous "Walk of Fame." However, the
industry would be amiss if it did not recognize the ways in which it
could further its alignment with IMC practices and principles.
Integrated Marketing Communications 34
The industry’s application of the aforementioned principles is leading
marketers to believe that successful entertainment properties are all
about good marketing. The industry’s ability to capitalize on such
principles appears to be a formula for success for networks such as
Nickelodeon and studios such as Twentieth Century Fox and Disney.
Integrated Marketing Communications 35
Words of caution:
While the entertainment industry has demonstrated its ability to
integrate a consumer message across all marketing communications
vehicles and company divisions, it still has not mastered the ability to
align itself internally.
In several of the entertainment franchises, the synergy across
divisions is siloed. Dealing with a sister company may make it easier
to start the negotiating process, but in many entertainment
conglomerates no formal internal structure exists to make marketing
alliances a natural, synchronized process. Having demonstrated the
benefits that synergy has to offer, the entertainment industry should
work toward fleshing out the internal structures that make this
alignment possible.
Companies also have room to grow in their focus on the consumer.
While entertainment has made great strides in communicating with
children’s markets through new tools like the Internet, many other
strategies are still not consumer-driven.
A significant number of networks and studios do not have feedback
mechanisms in place, or if they do, they are not using them to their
full potential in order to deliver on their audiences’ wants and needs.
Entertainment companies cannot rely solely on ratings and box
office grosses to learn about and connect with their customers. With
the technology available through the Internet, entertainment
companies should actively work toward aligning their strategies with
this principle. As companies such as Nickelodeon and Disney
demonstrate, the benefits of consumer focus are multifaceted and
advantageous for both the company and its advertisers.
Last, entertainment franchises must use an element of caution when
applying integrated marketing principles. Implementing a strategy
Integrated Marketing Communications 36
that utilizes all parts of the marketing mix, such as advertising,
public relations, direct marketing and sales promotion, does not
necessarily constitute integration.
A complete commitment is essential to achieve this level of
comprehensive communication; simply applying all of the independent
tools is not enough. This means aligning the entire company with the
same goals, missions, objectives, standards and accountability — the
company’s culture, the employees hired, the company’s promotional
partners, the types of programming and products produced, and the
types of marketing strategies executed.
Everything about the company must create the same experience for,
and give the same message to, its consumers. It is the application of
these marketing principles that demonstrates the entertainment
industry as a stellar case study in the field of integrated marketing
communications
-----------********------------
Integrated Marketing Communications 37
Success Factors
The Entertainment Industry’s use of IMC, highlights some success
factors for effectiveness and these include:
Segmenting valuable customers.
Analyzing profitability.
Examining customer, brand & stakeholder contact points with the
company.
Marketing based on consumer differences, not similarities.
Using databases for behavioral segmentation and lead
management.
Creating strategic, effective communications-based initiatives.
Driving communications to a new level of customer and
stakeholder fulfillment retention.
Achieving consumer satisfaction and bottom-line profitability.
1. The customer becomes the primary focus of everyone.
2. There is no needless duplication of services. PR messages
combine with advertising, marketing and internal communications
—everything is congruent and clearer to customers.
3. There is almost no likelihood of "the left hand not knowing what
the right hand is doing."
4. It fosters intra-departmental cooperation in your company.
Workers experience more harmonious working relationships with
their peers and senior management.
5. Studies verify increased productivity, which positively impacts the
bottom line.
6. Executive "oneness of focus" on mission and results; one mission
—one vision with all the "parts" aligned with it.
Integrated Marketing Communications 38
7. The core processes of the organization become much clearer and
people start pulling together rather than in several directions at
once.
8. It takes fewer people, energized around a fewer number of central
themes to get more work done than before because human
potential and energy is not wasted.
9. Marketing programs become more effective because they are
focused and more efficient. They are more powerful in delivering
the key message without waste and overlap to no effect.
10. Sales programs become more dynamic because the objectives
become much clearer to the existing sales force. The job of the
salespeople is made more effective because the "home office" is
supporting their steps and making them look much better in the
eyes of your customers.
Integrated Marketing Communications 39
PART II
PROCESS OF IMC
Integrated Marketing Communications 40
Characteristics of an IMC approach
Planning for an Integrated Communications program goes beyond
merely using the right tool under the right conditions. Strategic
planning for IMC is distinguished from the traditional use of multi-
dimensional promotions by the following four factors:
An Outside-In approach is used to plan communications – That
essentially means that a firm, designing communications, starts with
the customer or prospect and looks backward, identifying what the
customer deems as important information. This approach helps to
deliver the information that the customer wants rather than in the
form at a time that the firm deems appropriate.
Similarly Tom Duncan suggests the use of Zero-based
communication planning – it involves determining what tasks need
to be done and which marketing communications function should be
used and to what extent.
IMC planning requires comprehensive and detailed knowledge about
the customers, prospects and other stakeholders.
An IMC plan is built around brand contacts like packaging, employee
contacts, in-store displays etc. Each contact must lbe evauated
for clarity and consistency with the overall IMC program.
Control of the IMC plan is highly centralized. The effectiveness
of the program is highly increased by appointing a single person or
team to control and evaluate all contacts with targeted customers.
Integrated Marketing Communications 41
Communications Mix Hierarchy
In the process of implementation of IMC, the marketer assumes a major
responsibility for developing the marketing program and making the
final decisions regarding the advertising and promotional program to be
employed. The marketer typically brings to the process a marketing
plan, goals, objectives, and perhaps a database that will identify current
and potential customers.
The agency on the other hand will help research the market, suggest
creative strategies, and produce IMC materials. Quite a few times the
agency does not have all the internal expertise necessary to develop
and manage every marketing tool. Often the agency is an expert with
the development & Placement of mass media advertising, and hence is
often criticized for their tendency to push mass media as the best form
of communication. When the marketers want other communication
options, they often hence turn to External facilitators to get the
expertise they are looking for. The hierarchy in this case is as shown on
the next page.
Once the specialist agencies come into the picture, co-ordination and
integration of a marketing communications program becomes much
more complex. These various agencies view each other as competitors
for the client’s dollars and will most likely champion their particular
specialty. Thus instead of ending up in coordination and integration, it
created a situation characterized by conflict and disintegration.
Realizing these challenges, many advertising agencies attempted at
redesign to add more internal expertise to foster the goals of IMC.
Integrated Marketing Communications 42
Integrated Marketing Communications 43
The Communication Hierarchy
Integrated Marketing Communications 44
Marketing OrganizationMarketing planGoals and objectivesCustomer/ prospect databases
Advertising AgencyResearch Creative strategiesProductionMessage placement
Specialized marketing communications organizationsMedia organizationsEvent management firmsWeb site designersSales promotion agenciesDirect marketing agenciesPublic relations firms
Mass- media
Advertising
Event participation
Internet advertising
Sales promotion
Direct marketing Publicity
Customer
eThe Actual Procss
Integrated Marketing Communications is a process and it involves the
companies, the communication design/creative agencies and the
execution agencies. The first step in this process is consumer research
and planning followed by creative and Implementation.
The planning is at the strategic level. Generally it relates to the entire
strategic framework as to what does the product stand for, its
attributes, the differentiation and then segments which it wants to
enter. As mentioned earlier, IMC is centered around the customer and
has its essence of understanding him to the fullest degree is a must.
Thus the plans need to be based which must answer:
What contact opportunities do I have (taking into consideration
the costs and the benefits)?
What depth do I want to gain in any media?
What is my media strategy i.e. whether I want to just ensure my
presence in the medium or I want to dominate that particular
medium?
The marketing manager needs to provide the agency with information
about the consumer segments, product, positioning ideas, competition
etc. This is the basic framework, based on which all the
communications are designed. This plan is briefed to the creative and
the execution agency and discussed
The promotional planner after reviewing all the information should see
how IMC fits into the marketing program and what are the
objectives set for IMC to achieve. (Thus the objective could either be
Integrated Marketing Communications 45
only to communicate to the customer about the product or service to
achieve a certain market share or growth in sales)
The next step is to set objectives in terms of specific
communications goals/ tasks for each tool.
The next step following is the designing of the creative which rests
on the creative / advertising agency. Nowadays increasingly most of the
advertising agencies handle the entire account of a brand single
handedly (even including the consumer researches for media and
advertising).
The creative here is designed for all the communications whether the
tangibles or the intangibles e.g. packaging, print ads, TV ads, interstitial
etc. This also includes the coordination of the events and PR based on a
one-voice platform.
The final step in the process is the Implementation. This includes the
actual communication and the different activities communicating about
the brand like promotions and events etc.
ANALOGY with the orchestra
Thus…Back to our analogy of the Orchestra - The score (written by
ORCHESTR the company) is interpreted by the maestro (the agency),
who directs the a (the functional communications tools). Consistent
communication of key product and corporate messages, combined with
visual continuity in art design and direction, are critical factors in
generating market awareness and building a strong brand image.
Integrated Marketing Communications 46
Model for Planning IMC
Tension, Stress, creativity, deadlines, collaboration, synergy, conflict,
misunderstandings, expertise, complexity, details, details, details….are
all things that characterize the process of preparing to launch an IMC
campaign.
There are many different models that guide the process of planning an
IMC campaign. One such
model being discussed is the
‘Strategic Planning
Triangle’ –
proposed by advertising
researchers Esther Thorson
and Jeri Moore in their book
‘Integrated Communication:
Synergy of Persuasive
Voices’.
As shown alongside, the apexes of the planning triangle entail the
segment(s) selected as targets for the IMC campaign, the brand’s value
proposition, and the array of persuasion tools that might be deployed to
achieve campaign objectives.
(a)The firm starts with customer, prospect, stakeholder definition, as
identification and specification of the target segment as a paramount
apex of the triangle. Building a consensus between the client and the
agency about which customers will be targeted is essential to the
Integrated Marketing Communications 47
Prospect Definition
Brand’s Value Proposition
Persuasion Tools evaluation
Strategic Planning Triangle
campaign’s effectiveness. Complex IMC campaigns may end up
targeting multiple segment. In such a case it is critical to analyze if
and how different target segments will interact to support or
disparage the campaign. The description of the target hence has to
be both Personal and Precise.
(b)The second important apex in the Planning triangle entails a
specification of the Brand’s Value Proposition. A brand’s value
proposition is a statement of the functional, emotional, and self-
expressive benefits delivered by the brand that provide value to the
customers in the target segment. Factors like what the brand has
stood for in the past, as well as what new types of value or benefits
one wants to claim for going forward need to be considered here.
(c) The final apex of the planning triangle considers the various
persuasion tools that may be deployed in executing the campaign.
The mix of the various tools should depend on the objectives that
are set for the IMC campaign.
Collaboration between the agency and the client is the key to ensure
that the approval process proceeds in a timely fashion.
The Process of an Integrated Marketing
Program thus:
Encourages the establishment of a marketing-team approach to
discuss strengths and weaknesses, mission and vision, and niche
and quality, and to reach a consensus on the primary messages to
be delivered to priority audiences.
Integrated Marketing Communications 48
Involves working in teams, typically with members from other
campus offices, to reach prospective students, parents, donors, and
community and government officials with maximum impact.
Uses quantitative and qualitative research techniques, including
focus groups and survey research, to determine constituent attitudes
and opinions, and effectiveness of various communications
messages and techniques.
Calls for a communications analysis to determine what messages are
being sent to key audiences, including the sequence and flow of
these messages.
Calls for the examination of your existing message vehicles for
clarity, consistency, and effectiveness. Combines this assessment
with the results of your research to provide your key audiences with
the information they need, in the ways they have asked to receive it.
Focuses on long-term advantages and incorporates interactive
communication to develop more personal relationships. May include
the use of technology like email and the World Wide Web to get
feedback from key audiences.
Integrated Marketing Communications 49
Case II
Godrej Consumer Products Ltd .
The Godrej Group - Corporate profile
Everyday, every Indian encounters the ‘Godrej’ name sometime
somewhere. A person may begin the day bathing with Godrej soap,
shaving with a Godrej shaving cream, storing clothes in a Godrej
Storewell cupboard, cooking food in a Godrej cooking oil and preserving
it in a Godrej refrigerator. Money and valuables are kept in a Godrej
safe, work is done on a Godrej computer or typewriter while sitting on a
Godrej chair and drinking a Godrej fruit drink.
Innovation has been the key to the growth of the Godrej group. It is this
spirit that has built Godrej and carried it for over a hundred years.
Existing in diverse industries ranging from cupboards to soaps, hair
dyes to edible oils, and packaged foods to refrigerators, the group in
recent years has forged several partnerships with international giants
like General Electric, Pillsbury, Fiskars and Sara Lee, bringing Godrej
membership in the Global village that will carry it forward into the 21st
century.
Godrej has always been a crusader for a better world with programs
that benefit endangered forests, wild life and mangroves. Every year
the Pirojsha Godrej Foundation dedicates funds towards promoting
education, housing, social upliftment, conservation, population
management and relief of natural calamities.
Integrated Marketing Communications 50
GCPL – An Overview
Godrej Consumer Products Limited (GCPL), has started
operations w.e.f. 1st April 2001. This new company is the result of the
demerger of Godrej Soaps Limited, the flagship company of the Rs. 34
billion Godrej Group.
GCPL is a true FMCG business with focus on four key markets:
Personal care with brands like All Care, Fair Glow, Cinthol,
Nikhar, No.1, Godrej Shaving Creams etc.
Hair care – Godrej Shikakai. Crowning Glory, Color Soft, Color
Gloss, Anoop Hair Oil etc.
Fabric care and – Ezee and Trilo
Household care – Godrej Liquid Cleaner
With a turnover of Rs. 470 crore, the company employs 950 persons
and has two modern manufacturing facilities at Malanpur (M.P.), and
Silvassa (U.T.). GCPL is India's largest marketer of Hair Colourants and
Liquid Detergents and the third largest marketer of toilet soaps.
GCPL is committed to providing world-class products and services and
its efforts are aimed at fulfilling the daily needs of consumers through
innovative, value for money, products that improve their quality of life.
GCPL is a high growth, highly profitable FMCG operation. It will own all
its brands among which are the high profile Cinthol, Fair Glow, Ezee and
Godrej Hair Dye.
GCPL is expected to have ROCE and RONW ratios comparable with the
best FMCG companies in India. It is a professionally managed company
Integrated Marketing Communications 51
under the leadership of Mr. Adi B. Godrej, as the Chairman and
Managing Director.
Associate Companies include Godrej Industries Ltd., Godrej Sara Lee
Ltd., Godrej Foods Ltd., Godrej Agrovet Ltd. and Godrej Properties and
Investments Ltd.
IMC and its importance at Godrej Consumer
Products Ltd.
Mr. Girish Korde, Brand manager, FairGlow, defines IMC as “ a multi-
dimensional, multi media communication system that is based on a pre-
designed strategy. It necessitates across the board implementation for
effectiveness”.
The Integrated marketing process is being implemented by Godrej
Consumer products for all its brands across product categories. This is
because with a slate of launches and relaunches, it is very essential for
the brands to not lose focus. Besides concentration of communication
on a central theme, with ‘one look, one voice’ enhances the recall and
Impact of communication on the consumers. Godrej also believes that
use of Integrated Marketing Communication helps the brands to get a
noticeable ‘Share of Voice’ and ‘Share of Mind’.
In today’s arena where the messages need to make an effort to stand
out of the immense Clutter and where the messages are prone to
different interpretations in different contexts, use of Integrated
Communications reduces the risks associated with such loses.
Integrated Marketing Communications 52
The use of Integrated Communications also leads to an emergence of a
sharper brand personality as the personality gets re-inforced over
usage and exposure to the audiences.
In fact Mr. Girish also specifies that only Integrated Communications is
often not enough to ensure all the benefits. The process of integration
of communication should be complemented and supported by the
Integration of the Product and Marketing functions too. This
essentially means that the product should live upto the expectations
created by the communication and all the extensions should also be
integrated with the overall brand. Hence the FairGlow brand was
extended to Fairness Creams and innovations like the sachets packs
etc. continued to deliver the brand promise in an integrated and True
manner.
THE BRAND - FAIRGLOW
Launched in Jan 2000, the brand FAIRGLOW has captured 3.5% market
share, in some areas where it has been launched. There has been
overwhelming consumer response to this unique product from Godrej
Soaps. Letters are being received by the company which reveal that
consumers who used FAIRGLOW have become noticeably fairer in a
short period of usage.
The Objective of the brand – ‘Creating an entirely new category in
the stagnant toilet soaps market’.
The Mission for the FairGlow team - ‘To work towards ensuring that
the brand maintains it’s market creator and leader status’
The Product - FAIRGLOW is a high quality toilet soap with 76% TFM (total
fatty matter) and an excellent floral perfume. It is packaged in a
Integrated Marketing Communications 53
polyester wrapper with attractive graphics. FAIRGLOW is available all
across India and has an introductory price offer of Rs. 10.00 for a 75 gm
pack.
The Formula - FAIRGLOW has a unique Bio-extract ‘Natural Oxy-G’ that
is of vegetable origin and absolutely safe. Its natural action involves
reduction of the black melanin in the skin without changing the skin’s
natural balance. The Natural Oxy-G also helps remove blemishes to give
the user a smooth and glowing complexion. FAIRGLOW therefore,
provides fairness for the face and the whole body without any extra
effort. In sum, it gives the twin advantages of a clean and fresh bath
while also providing the fairness benefit.
Activities undertaken by FairGlow:
Television advertising on a large scale to ensure awareness
Magazine and News paper advertising
Press articles and other public relations
Outdoor advertising –Hoardings
FairGlow Express
Net advertising
Skin care section – advisor etc.
‘FairGlow Face of the Fortnight’ series
Radio advertising (FM)
Seminars on skin care
Events – friendship day, valentines party etc.
Direct advertising to members of SIBHA ( South Indian Beauty and
Hair associates)
Promotions – both trade and consumer
Integrated Marketing Communications 54
FairGlow Express
The Process Of Communication Generation
The component design – Factors :
In the process of designing the communications mix, there are various
factors that are taken into account at Godrej Consumer Products Ltd.
The mot important factors that have a bearing on the variables in the
mix are:
(a)The objective of the brand communication – a brand that seeks to gain
awareness will have greater proportion of mass media. Thus
maintaining the brand reputation and developing brand awareness
would see two different mix of target contact points.
Also the magnitude of the objective would also be a contributing
factor. For example ‘gaining a 5% share of the competitor’s market
would require a more aggressive strategy as compared to an
objective of gaining a 2% market share’
(b)The competitors’ activities – Selection of nuances between the
available options at times is also based on the actions of the
competitors. Thus if the competitor is making efforts through the
trade promotions to create ‘dealer push’, a brand like Cinthol would
splurge on mass media or create a consumer promotion, to create a
‘Consumer Pull’
(c) The stage of the Product Life Cycle in which the brand operates will also
be a factor in the formation of the communication mix.
(d)The Brand Philosophy, character – A brand that symbolizes and
associates itself to Safety, Care, Environment etc. would lend itself
easily to collaborative advertising which may not be the case with all
brands.
Integrated Marketing Communications 55
(e)Product Category is yet another actor. Some brands like Cinthol are
youthful in character and hence lend themselves to Events, Mass
media etc. but a personal care product like Condoms may not lend
themselves to Outdoor communication like the Trains, Hoardings etc.
(f) The Target group also plays an important role in the communication
mix definition. Thus a brand like FairGlow lends itself more to Events
promotion as compared to a family brand like ‘All Care’
(g)The Impact of Expenditure that a brand would earn also be of
consideration. Thus thanks to the novelty factor attached o the
FairGlow brand, the impact of the expenditure incurred was quite
higher as compared to the expenditures incurred by Cinthol.
(h)Qualitative parameters like the Brand Image, Brand
Personality also would be a decisive factor in the process of
strategizing for Communication.
(i) Geographical diversity of a brand and the regional preferences and
performances are another factor to be taken into account. Thus if
Direct marketing has always shown a poor response in the Southern
markets, which happen to a stronghold area for the brand, the
strategy would reduce the proportion spend on Direct even if it may
seem to a desirable alternative.
(j) One of the most important parameters in the decision making would
be the Budgets allocated to the brand for the communications
exercise. As these budgets would be based on a forecast of the
market’s purchasing ability and other factors, this actor is of
paramount importance to ensure the viability of the brand.
Integrated Marketing Communications 56
(k)And of course the Skill and the Experience of the Brand manager also
is important in the process of strategizing the communications mix
as that often happens to be a source of innovations and
experimentation.
The Agencies Involved:
Client – Brand Team of Godrej
Creatives and Strategy - All of the communication for most brands is
handled by Mudra excepting Cinthol, which is handled by Leo
Burnett.
Media Buying and Planning – This function is centralized with
Madison, the Agency Of Record for Godrej.
Specialists – Most of the times, Mudra proves to be self-sufficient
agency for functions like direct marketing etc. As and when required,
Mudra internally outsources specialists for tasks where it may not be
as competent (Net advertising)
Others – Besides these agencies at times there are Event
management outfits etc. who may be involved for specific events.
Factors that lead to smooth flow of the process:
‘Centralization of communication’ is an essential for ensuring that
the communication flows the way it is expected to. In fact for all the
regional sales zones, the communication is designed at the
corporate office by the marketing team keeping in mind the inputs
from the Regions. The communication plan along with the creative
is then passed on to the regional areas, where they are
implemented.
The existence of one central agency for all of its communication
facilitates coordination and effective implementation of various
communication strategies.
Integrated Marketing Communications 57
An effective Creative director would be a great benefit to the
communication process, as he would not only germinate the ‘Big
Idea’, but would also mobilize the various specialist aid required at
all points and time for communication implementation.
Integrated Marketing Communications 58
The methodology adopted at Godrej Consumer Products Ltd.:
1. The brand team identifies the objectives of the brand and the overall
strategy.
2. From the strategy develops the details of the consumer (target
group), short term and long term objectives etc.
3. The marketing brief is explained to both Madison and Mudra
executives.
4. The creative teams gets to work to crystallize the idea that would
communicate the message.
5. The plans for media are prepared through a series of meetings
between the three concerned parties (FairGlow brand team, Mudra
CS and Account Planner, Madison executives)
6. In keeping with the drafted media plan, creatives would be designed
for the various media.
7. In case of special events, promotions etc. too the execution plan is
coordinated with the agency, which designs the creatives for the
same.
The process of Implementation of IMC at Godrej Consumer Products Ltd.
Integrated Marketing Communications 59
Client’s Marketing Strategy
Creative agency - Mudra
Agency of Record - Madison
Specialists – Events etc.
Specialist outfits - Net advertising, Direct Marketing
etc.
Com
mu
nic
ati
on
S
trate
gy
Exe
cuti
on
(C
reati
ves)
Media Strategy Event
Strategy
Event Creatives
Outsourcing for Certain areas of
Strategy
The responsibility of coordination of all the brand building efforts rests
with the Brand Team, which is the Final authority on all components
and mixes adopted by the brand. While the Brand team has complete
freedom to execute strategies that are in keeping with their brand
philosophy, they also keep in mind the association of the brand with the
Corporate Brand – Godrej and the synergy between the two brands.
This ensures that no brand lends a negative rub-off to the corporate
brand and works within its purview, enhancing it at the same time.
The entire process of implementation of a communication program is
documented in a confidential “BRAND Book”. This book contains not
only the process adopted, but also contains update information of all
the communication activities conducted under the various brands.
The Corporate Brand GODREJ
According to Mr. Korde there exists a two-way relationship between the
corporate brand Godrej and each of the brands in the Godrej Stable.
The Godrej brand stands for TRUST, RELIABILITY and QUALITY and that
is an integral part of each brand that evolve with the Godrej Name. The
Godrej name also lends stability to the new brand, reducing the efforts
required to build a new brand.
Integrated Marketing Communications 60
TheGodrej Brand
Indivudual brands(FairGlow, Cinthol
etc.)
Two-way synergistic relationship
On the other hand, with newer brands emerging from Godrej, the
Godrej brand too earns a younger, vibrant and versatile image.
Each brand manager ensures that his brand philosophy lies well within
or is related to the overall Godrej philosophy of commitment to Quality
and well-being of the consumer. The senior management (Board of
directors et al) ensure that the vision of the company translates into
brands that are diverse and yet converge synergistically under the
Godrej Brand.
-----------********------------
Integrated Marketing Communications 61
Issues In Co-Ordination Of An IMC Campaign
Issue I - Stages of Integration of Marketing Communications
The IMC program can be integrated at several Stages. The company
needs to identify which level is it at currently, and what does it seek to
achieve in a specific campaign. The following table details the various
stages and explains them alongside.
Levels of Integration Explanation
Awareness Stage Those responsible for
communications realize that a
fragmented approach is not the
optimum one.
Planning Integration The co-ordination of activities.
There are TWO broad approaches:
1. Functional Integration - which
co-ordinates separate tools to
create a single message where
appropriate.
2. Instrumental Integration –
combines tools in a way that
they reinforce one another.
Integration of Content Ensuring that there are no
contradictions in the basic brand or
corporate messages, integrating
Integrated Marketing Communications 62
themes of communication to make
same basic messages.
Formal Integration Using same logo, corporate colours,
graphic approach and house style
for all communications
Integration between planning Basic content remains the same
periods from one campaign to next or the
same executional approach is used
in different projects.
Intra-organizational integration Integration of activities of all
involved in communication
functions.
Inter-organizational integration Integration of all outside agencies
involved in the firm’s
communication activities.
Geographical Integration Integration of campaigns in different
countries – strongest in large
multinationals operating globally.
Integration of publics All communication is targeted at a
segment are Integrated (Horizontal)
or All communication targeted to
different segments are attuned
(Vertical)
Integrated Marketing Communications 63
Issue II - How many Stakeholders should be taken into Account:
A well-managed IM program identifies all key stakeholder groups and
the impact, both positive and negative, that each can have on an
organization. As Tom Duncan and Sandra E. Morarity, point out in
Driving Brand Value, there are five reasons why all stakeholder groups
must be taken into consideration in integrated marketing:
1e. A value field of int ractions: A company exists within a value field
(rather than a linear value chain) of stakeholder interactions.
Companies communicate directly with customers and retailers at the
same time retailers are talking with customers and customers are
talking among themselves. The interactions among suppliers,
distributors, and even competitors can affect brand value.
2. Stakeholders overlap: An example of the integrated nature of
stakeholder relationships is the employee stakeholder group where a
person may also be a customer, an investor, and a voter in the local
community. These interacting and overlapping relationships demand
that a company be strategically consistent in its basic core values and
brand messages. A company can't say one thing to investors,
something else to employees, and still another message to customers.
3. Integrity builds trust: Integration means unity of effort or purpose.
When an organization becomes more integrated, its interactions
become more consistent, its reputation more distinct, and its
stakeholders more trustful. Integration produces integrity because an
organization seen as working together rather than as a collection of
fragmented, autonomous functions is perceived as being more sound
and trustworthy-prerequisites for sustaining relationships.
Integrated Marketing Communications 64
4. Brand equity equals support: Just as brand share is the result of a
brand's customer franchise, brand equity is the result of a company's
stakeholder franchise. All stakeholders, not just customers, choose to
what extent they support a brand or company. People have a choice
where they work; investors have a choice of investment opportunities;
and customers have an ever-increasing choice of what they buy. In
other words, people choose to be stakeholders. And when they do, this
gives them the right to understand and influence what a company does.
A brand exists in people's minds; it is owned by them, as much as by
the company.
5. Profitability is the relationship bottom-line: Profits can be improved
by increasing revenues and/or decreasing costs. Therefore, all
stakeholders can affect the bottom line as their actions can have an
impact on costs, as well as revenues. Both can increase or decrease
depending on the efforts, attitudes, ideas, and support of all
stakeholders. Actions of groups such as the financial community,
government regulators, and employees can often affect profits more
quickly and significantly than can changes in customer behavior.
Issue III - Importance of teams
Creativity in the preparation of an IMC campaign can be fostered by
trust and open communication that are hallmarks of effective teams.
The position of the creative director in an agency becomes special as
much like the maestro of the symphony orchestra, the creative director
must encourage personal excellence, but at the same time demand
team accountability.
Integrated Marketing Communications 65
Principles to be relied on in orchestrating the teams:
Take care in assigning individuals to a team in the first place. It is
important t be sensitive to existing wok loads and keep in mind the
proper mix of expertise required to do the job for the client.
Take time to know the work style of each individual to ensure that
you create the most conducive environment.
Make teams responsible to the client – empower them!
Beware of adversarial relationships between individuals and teams.
Rotate teams to foster fresh thinking.
Issue IV - Problems of coordination
As per the research by Beard in 1993, one of the major hurdles to IMC
is the question of who should coordinate the programs- the client or the
agency? Who will handle the IMC programs – the client or the agency?
Who should be primarily responsible for it?
The answer is provided by the research studies done by George S Low
of Texas University combined with the earlier researches done in this
field. The results of their studies suggest that the clients should be
responsible for the strategic direction and planning which form a basis
for the IMC programs, while the agencies should be responsible for
message consistency and coordination of communications programs.
Further the studies suggest that the clients have more room for IMC
improvement in their strategic planning role than do the agencies in
their tactical implementation role. Nevertheless the key word in the role
of agencies is consistency.
As much lip service as advertisers give to pursuing the "one-voice" and
"seamless communication" that a well-designed IMC program can
provide, there seems to be one major roadblock to implementation: the
Integrated Marketing Communications 66
advertisers themselves! According to John McLaughlin, a marketing
consultant, the reasons lie in:
Clients often don't see a clear-cut cost advantage in dealing
exclusively with a primary agency rather than several suppliers.
Clients often don't have confidence in the ability of advertising
agencies to deliver specialized services.
Clients have strategic concerns about putting all their eggs in one
creative/ executional basket.
Due to these concerns at times the firms not only hesitate to use the
services of the newly developed capabilities but in fact also delay the
implementation of the IMC program itself.
Integrated Marketing Communications 67
PART III
REINVENTING THE AGENCY
Integrated Marketing Communications 68
ENREINVTING THE AGENCY
Thomas Eppes, president of Charlotte, N.C. based Price/McNabb sees a
change arriving, a trend that looks at a ‘New Avataar’ of an agency. He
says, "I think the change is going to be so dramatic that in the future
there won't be any such thing as an advertising agency. . . We have
begun to refer to ourselves as a communications company, and that
might change because we are getting involved with our clients'
business in ways that go beyond communications."
IMC is a specialized concept and while many agencies claim to deliver
on
this, there are truly very few agencies capable of integrated
communication. Agencies having separate cells/departments for
different functions e.g. LINTAS has Pathfinders (Research), LinOpinion
(PR), Linteractive (Net related communications), Advent(Events) and
Lintas Direct(for Direct Marketing); Similarly Ogilvy& Mather with Ogilvy
One, Ogilvy Rural, Ogilvy PR; HTA – with IPAN, FULCRUM, HTA Direct
etc. are some such agencies.
According to Mr. Ajay Kelkar, Sr. Marketing Manager, Shoppers Stop, “It
has been my experience that there are two stands one must consider
before identifying whether the brand should take a specialist route or a
one-stop shop route. These points are:
1. Can you afford to have specialist agencies, as these agencies would
mean splitting your marketing spends across various agencies.
2. The Creative approach generally is different for mainly three
components – Public relations, Direct Marketing and Advertising. Can
your agency handle the contradictions within, or do you have the
Integrated Marketing Communications 69
resources (time and expertise) to consolidate them at your end.
In case too many agencies are involved in the branding process, the
control generally resides with the brand team who provides guidelines
for implementation and where the agencies’ tasks are often only left to
the execution. And that’s not enough reason for the agency to exist.
Instead a route to a common agency who could provide specialist skills
under one roof, either from its internal processes or through Out-
sourcing could be ideal”.
Need for a One-Stop Shop Agency
Strategizing with the brand communication with several agencies,
leaves no meaning to the brand route as there tend to be too many
so-called ideas, conflict of interests etc.
Dealing with one-agency aids quicker implementation of the
strategies, due to less time involved in co-ordination.
Reduces the problems of coordination and duplication, as all the
concerned entities know well enough the objectives and the
directions.
The merging of ideas prove to be a ‘synergistic beauty’, as there are
rare clashes between the creatives for various media.
Besides after working for all communication with one agency, there
arrives a point where the brand team and the agency vibe well and
therefore there exists a comfort zone that allows free flow of ideas.
Pros and Cons of Integrated services:
Proponents of Integrated marketing and one-stop shop services agency
contend that maintaining entire control of the promotional process
Integrated Marketing Communications 70
achieves greater synergy among each of the communication program
elements. They also note that its is convenient for the client to
coordinate all of his marketing effort. An agency with integrated
marketing capabilities can create a single image for the product or
service and address everyone from the wholesaler tot he consumer with
one voice.
On the other hand opponents of such agencies say that the providers
get involved in political wrangling over budgets, do not communicate as
often and do not achieve synergy. They claim that the efforts by
agencies to control all aspects of the promotional program are nothing
more than an attempt to hold on to the business that might otherwise
be lost to competitors.
What Clients Seek from A One-stop Shop agency?
According to Mr. Korde, Brand manager, Fairglow, a one-stop agency
should be:
Self sufficient in the major areas of service like creative for mass
media, direct marketing, outdoor etc.
If instead the agency manages to obtain specialists in each field,
while delivering the quality insisted, that would be desirable too. In
such a case, the Client Servicing executive and the Account planner
would act as Gatekeepers to ensure only the Fittest fits into the
picture.
The agency needs to be Flexible, since plans and implementation
ideas are constantly evolving.
But the most important and major influencer in most cases is the
agencies ability to understand the Brand, the category and the other
players in the market, Its expertise at a cohesive Strategy
Development, and the ability of conversion of this strategy into a
beautiful blend of components.
Integrated Marketing Communications 71
Integrated Marketing Communications 72
PART IV
EVALUATION AND BARRIERS
Integrated Marketing Communications 73
Evaluation – IMC Audit
With today's marketplace conditions, emphasis must now be placed on
retaining and growing the value of existing customers, as much as on
acquiring new ones. Consequently, companies are setting up cross-
functional processes and making other structural changes to better
manage brand relationships. This means there is an increasing need to
audit these internal processes to make sure that they are, in fact,
integrated, and operating efficiently and effectively. Recognizing this,
Tom Duncan and Sandra M. designed the Integrated Marketing (IM)
Audit.
IM Audit findings should be used in conjunction with customer
satisfaction and other types of output controls. In other words, an audit
should not be used in place of, but in addition to, traditional output
controls.
Who should do it
An IM audit should be done by an outside, objective team and should be
a census (not just a sample) of the managers of all departments
impacting on brand relationships. At the audit orientation meeting with
top management, the audit instruments are reviewed and customized
to fit the organization's structure and needs.
Audit Tools
The audit tools include three basic interviewing instruments, as well as
a variety of optional tools depending on the type of business and how
in-depth the organization wants the audit to be.
1. Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices Questionnaire This
questionnaire determines the respondents' knowledge of the
Integrated Marketing Communications 74
marketing and marketing communication plans and targeted
audiences. Answers to these questions are then compared to what
employees are actually working to accomplish. Specifically, this
instrument evaluates the following areas and conditions:
Objectives. What are the target/stakeholder priorities? Which
stakeholders are most important? Is there agreement on
communication objectives and the brand's positioning among the
various marketing groups/departments/ functions? Does the
objective-setting process include everyone who contributes to
creating messages? What are the key messages for each of the
target audiences?
Organization. How much agreement exists among and within the
groups on the responsibilities of the various marketing
communication departments/functions? How is coordination
managed? Who is responsible for coordinating communication
efforts? To what extent is managing brand relationships a cross-
functional process?
Customer Databases. To what extent do customer databases
exist within the organization? How accessible are they, and how
often are they used? What are the procedures for capturing
customer dialogue and other interactions? Is there sharing of
databases, market research findings, and other types of planning
information?
Contact Points. Are these identified? What messages are being
sent? Are they consistent? Do they amount to a strategy? Are these
experiences measured and analyzed? Who controls them?
Integrated Marketing Communications 75
Integration. What's the brand's current level of integration? What
are the advantages and disadvantages of integration? What are the
major barriers to being more integrated?
Outside Agencies. To what extent are marketing
communication agencies involved in strategic planning? How much
communication/sharing of ideas is there among clients' agencies?
Interactivity. How far has the company moved into interactive,
two-way communication with customers?
Planning. Does the organization use zero-based planning,
especially for annual and short-term programs? To what extent are
objectives based on some kind of prioritized SWOT (Strengths,
Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis? To whom are testing
results distributed, and to what extent are they used in planning?
2. Communication Network Survey This is a matrix of closed-
ended questions to pinpoint the following information: Who talks to
whom, how often, and about what? Who drives planning and
decisions? Who influences them? How often are respondents
involved in MC planning (formal/informal)? What information sources
do they read? How much and what kind of information sharing is
there (research, other information)? What are the patterns of
internal communication among departments? Is one department
doing more talking than listening?
3. Content Analysis All marketing communication or planned
messages used by the company over at least a 12-month period are
Integrated Marketing Communications 76
contently analyzed to determine whether they are consistent with
marketing communication objectives? Whether key messages are
appropriate for key audiences; and whether there is consistent
portrayal of company/brand positioning and image; and the amount
of creative strategy and execution consistency.
Specifically, the analysis looks at the following elements: the objective
of the piece, the audience, key themes, the tone, brand/corporate
image/position cues, use of response devices (active and passive), and
mission/vision cues. Content analysis findings are then compared with
interview findings to determine the organization's actual level of
integration. The content analysis also helps identify gaps in
performance.
What Can Be Learned From an IM Audit?
The benefits of auditing the organization, and the processes that are
responsible for acquiring, retaining, and growing customer
relationships, can uncover major inefficiencies and integration gaps.
These may include:
Confusion about objectives. In one company, managers gave nine
different responses when asked what the corporate marketing
communication objectives were and ten different responses for the
brand marketing communication objectives. When people are working
against different message objectives, it is impossible to have message
consistency; a facts subsequently proven by a content analyses
undertaken as part of the Audit.
Lack of agreement on message themes. A retail chain had begun
advertising "Low Prices Every Day." However, there was no agreement
Integrated Marketing Communications 77
among managers on what this meant in the context of the chain's
pricing strategy. Interviewees offered a total of seven different
explanations of what this new strategy involved. None was given by
more than 15 percent of those interviewed.
Another example: In a national consumer goods company, one message
theme was used in 100 percent of television advertising, but only 22
percent of other advertising; another theme was used in 80 percent of
television advertising, but only 20 percent of sales promotion materials
and collateral materials (of which there were more than 100).
Messages not targeted to primary stakeholder
groups. In one company it was found that 24 percent of all printed
messages were not targeted to any of the high priority stakeholder
groups identified by management, and only 1 percent were specifically
directed to the target audience rated most important.
Not enough information available. In almost all the audits
conducted, the majority of marketing managers say that half the time
they do not receive enough information from other departments to do
their jobs effectively. The types of information frequently mentioned as
difficult to get were sales results, research results, and promotional and
other special marketing plans for specific events and programs.
Limited use of research results. One packaged-goods
company was spending approximately $150 million on marketing
communication. Yet 37 percent of the managers said they did not know
of any market analysis being done by the company, 33 percent said
some was being done but didn't know if it was being used, and 15
percent said very little was used.
Integrated Marketing Communications 78
Little knowledge of annual planning. In one company, 60 percent
of the managers did not know how the budget was allocated among
departments, and half of the managers did not know to what extent
each year's communication plan compared to the previous one.
Lack of agreement on which stakeholders are most important.
In a health care facility, patients/families received the third highest
rating when all responses were averaged, but were ranked eighth by
top management responses. Political leaders were ranked ninth, but
third by public affairs/public relations. This was in response to the
question: "What is the overall importance to the whole organization of
the organization's stakeholders?"
Limited use of computers for networking and consumer
databases. One company had a relatively small number of industrial
customer; yet it did not capture customer buying behavior information,
although there were many opportunities for doing so.
Unexamined Assumptions An audit can identify problems a company
doesn't even know it has. For example, while auditing a high-tech
manufacturer (annual sales over $300 million), the auditors were told
that the company was working hard to apply for the Baldridge Award
and also was getting ready for its ISO 9000 evaluation. Consequently,
the manager of marketing services was confident the company had
maximized the integration of its processes and was doing everything it
could to integrate its marketing communication. The audit discovered,
however, that the marketing communication department had little
knowledge of, and made little use of, the company's databases even
though the company had fewer than 200 customers. (Most of the
company's marketing communication messages were in the form of ads
in industry trade magazines.)
Integrated Marketing Communications 79
Thus although the IM Audit was designed to be an evaluation tool, it
also provides a road map for showing how a company can become
more integrated. The audit provides an objective, well-documented list
of what must be changed in order to strengthen brand relationships.
Integrated Marketing Communications 80
BARRIERS TO IMPLEMENTATION
IMC is indeed enjoying a growth in awareness, particularly among larger
companies. Nearly three fourths of the companies surveyed report
using a database to better target their customers- an essential part of
implementing IMC; but only 30 percent say they are doing extensive
profiling and segmenting of customer buying habits using a database.
This suggests that many companies have not yet reached a full
implementation of IMC.
The widespread attention paid to IMC is largely a function of its strong
intuitive appeal - it makes good sense. Despite its appeal, more than a
decade has passed since the concept was first introduced, and most
major U.S. corporations have yet to fully implement the foundational
ideas contained in IMC. Proponents of IMC are left with a compelling
question, a variation of a rhetorical question: If IMC is so good, why isn't
it being fully implemented in corporate America?
Case in Point: Procter & Gamble - The World's Great Consumer
Products Company
Procter & Gamble is considered by business scholars to be a world-class
marketing company. Like the Nike brand, Procter & Gamble possesses
some of the most recognizable brands in the world including: Tide
detergent, Crest toothpaste, Jiff peanut butter, Cover Girl cosmetics,
and Duncan Hines cake mix. It also has dominant market share with
many of its premier brands. For some time now P&G has been lauded
for its efforts in implementing the Integrated Marketing
Communications. But is Procter & Gamble a perfect IMC exemplar? If
beginning with stakeholders and speaking to them with one voice
across all communications channels is an important criterion of IMC, the
answer must be "NO."
Integrated Marketing Communications 81
Despite Procter & Gamble's marketing preeminence, it has a history of
internal and external communication blunders:
Procter & Gamble publicly mishandled both the Rely Tampon crisis
and allegations that their packaging symbol documented the
company's satanic links.
Recently, Procter & Gamble lost face publicly and alienated
employees when it was revealed that the company had phone-
tapped three employees they suspected of leaking company
information.
This was followed by a botched job of dealing with some of the
physiological effects of its new fat substitute, Olestra. Without
considering public reaction, they allowed their scientists to term the
discharge of Olestra, "anal leakage" (Henkoff, 1996), raising another
wave of public controversy.
Lately Proctor & Gamble shot itself in the corporate reputational foot
again. The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) announced to the financial
media that Proctor & Gamble fully expected to meet its earnings
forecast for the end of the quarter. Two weeks later, new CEO Durk
Jager was forced to announce to the same media that they had
badly overestimated their quarterly earnings and that the company
would fall significantly short of its quarterly earnings forecast. Over
the following week, the company's stock fell precipitously as
shareholders and financial markets lost faith in the venerable
company. The Proctor & Gamble Board of Directors subsequently
fired Mr. Jager.
Despite characterizations to the contrary, these examples illustrate just
how far away Proctor & Gamble has been operating from the necessary
IMC condition of speaking to all stakeholders with one voice.
Integrated Marketing Communications 82
The Problem with Implementing IMC
Companies like Nike and Procter & Gamble do an excellent job with the
marketing side of marketing communications without integrating their
public and employee relations functions and hence their corporate
reputations have suffered. IMC theory has given short shift to the
organizational barriers that often prevent companies from
implementing IMC completely or effectively.
(a) Organizational Barriers
Companies like Procter and Gamble have comprehensively or
effectively integrated their many communications functions
seamlessly or spoken to their stakeholders with one voice. They are
very strong in marketing, but remain weak in public relations,
employee communications, or both. The question remains, how do
great companies like these miss the IMC mark?
The answer to this important question lies, to a great extent, in their
respective organizational structures. Procter & Gamble is marketing
organizations, organized around product marketing.
Procter & Gamble exemplifies a "brand management" organization
where both line and staff functions are situated within a company's
various products or brands. While Procter & Gamble's organizational
structure has evolved over the years, staff communication functions
such as public relations and employee communications are
organized around and directly support each brand or group of
brands. Brands receive the greatest resources and exert huge
internal influence.
Integrated Marketing Communications 83
(b) Structure, Function and Culture
Schultz, et. al. (1992) argue that there are three organizational
issues that must be resolved before IMC can be implemented:
marketing planning systems and basic marketing thinking,
organizational structure, and capabilities and control. They believe
that because functional specialists within an organization try to keep
the various communications programs separate, they are a major
hindrance to IMC implementation. One of the authors' programmatic
solutions is to establish a "communications czar" who has control of
all communication functions and presumably would ensure that all
communications programs are effectively integrated. What
promoters often fail to consider is how, structurally and functionally,
a communications czar could come into being in the modern
organization.
Also, since in companies like Proctor & Gamble i.e. in strong
marketing cultures, most communications heads are subordinate to
the chief marketing officer. So, an initiative establishing a
communications czar is very unlikely to come from any of the three
or more functional heads that risk losing authority and responsibility
in the process of integration. Perhaps the most logical and effective
way for the position of a communications czar to be established is by
the CEO of the company. Unfortunately, the power of the CEO
remains neglected as a barrier or enabler to implementing IMC.
(c) The Importance of CEO Control
The importance of the CEO in implementing IMC has been largely
ignored. There in fact are numerous ways CEOs can undermine IMC.
Without their active support or stewardship, IMC will likely never get
Integrated Marketing Communications 84
off the ground. But even when they support IMC, there are numerous
examples of CEOs acting against its principles. This is because many
CEOs have a great deal of power and control and egos that come
along with these forces. CEOs often act in self-interest or according
to their predilections, instead of advice from their communications
czar.
One of the more recent examples is the controversial series of full-
page ads for CrossWorlds, a Silicon Valley software company. These
ads appeared in leading business publications such as Fortune and
the Wall Street Journal and showed CEO Katrina Garnett in a
revealing black dress, despite public relations advice to the contrary.
While the ad garnered a great deal of publicity, it also spawned
critical articles like the one in Fortune titled: "Techno-Cleavage"
(Bass, 1998). This ad prompted a series of parodies by competitors
including one by arch-rival Active Software, where its CEO pulls a
CD-ROM from his pocket and says: "Software, not evening wear."
The fact is that CEOs have the power to market their companies any
way they want, with or without the guidance of IMC.
The fact is that many CEOs want commercials that get rave reviews
among their close circle of peers and notoriety from the public, no
matter what effect they have on consumers or the company's
bottom line. To minimize the influence of the CEO on company
marketing is naïve, but to exclude the CEO in any substantive
discussion of IMC adoption and implementation is simply deficient
theory building.
(d) Putting Organization and Culture into IMC Theory
If structure, function and CEO support are given short shrift in IMC
theory, culture is virtually ignored. There are several important
Integrated Marketing Communications 85
elements often missing from the IMC implnetatator’s treatment of
culture.
First, culture is treated as a determinant of
organizational behavior. While we know culture affects
behavior, it is also true that behavior has a reciprocal impact
on culture. This mutual influence has been established
between organizational culture and organizational
communication.
Second, some cultures are so strong and directed away
from centralized control of communication that
implementing IMC would be impossible. For example,
regulated monopolies like AT&T (before the 1996 divestiture)
and electrical utilities have developed cultures where
marketing has not been an important requirement while public
relations has been seen as critical. When AT&T was first
divested in 1983, the biggest challenge was overcoming the
"utility culture" and becoming a market-driven company.
Most of the communication power and resources rest with the
public relations department and its chief, who likely has the
ear and confidence of the CEO. Contrast these cultures with
those of Nike and Procter & Gamble, where public relations has
significantly less structural power and fewer resources than
marketing. Whether a company has a service or a marketing
culture will have a great impact on how and whether IMC gets
implemented.
Third, in some organizations there is so much competition
for resources that the amount of cooperation and
collaboration required by IMC is virtually impossible to achieve.
Integrated Marketing Communications 86
In the case of mergers and acquisitions, resources are scarce
and competition between departments great. The areas first to
suffer are employee communications and public relations.
Fourth, some cultures have very narrow views of the
communications function. For example, Microsoft, despite
its size and influence on capital markets, did very little public
relations or government relations until the federal government
indicted them for unfair trade practices. Most high technology
companies have a similarly narrow view toward
communications and are unlikely to spend much effort or
resources "experimenting" with IMC.
Finally, in companies where there is a strong or even
egomaniacal CEO, IMC may be either impossible or likely to be
circumvented at the whim of the CEO. For example,
Sunbeam Corporation, under the leadership of Al Dunlap was
unlikely to engage in the IMC process given his desire for
strong operational control.
Integrated Marketing Communications 87
Recommendations
The above explanation offers adequate rationale for the corporate
neglect of IMC. The recommendations that flow from the analysis are:
1. First, existing IMC theory gives considerably more emphasis to
implementation than adoption of IMC. For IMC to be a reality in a
corporation, adoption must precede implementation. This means the
IMC proponent must negotiate his/her way through the maze of
corporate politics, get CEO and other top-level management buy-in
before the first implementation step can be taken.
2. Second, once top-level buy-in has been achieved, an
implementation plan must be developed that can be reconciled with
the organization's existing structure and functional realities. In some
instances, a "communications czar" is out of the question, but a
team of structurally equal marketing and communications
executives might work.
3. Third, organizational culture must be dealt with in a substantive way
in future IMC adoption models. This means placing the
communication process itself alongside organizational culture. It also
means looking at organizations historically to see how they have
developed and evolved over time. Just as the IMC process must be
built around the customer, so to an IMC operation must reflect the
culture of the organization in which it is being implemented.
Integrated Marketing Communications 88
Necessary Conditions for IMC Success
There are series of necessary conditions that must be present for IMC to
be adopted effectively by a company. Based on these conditions, six
recommendations for optimal adoption of IMC are offered:
IMC is a concept that must be implemented systemically and simultaneously
at all levels and functions of a company. One program in which the public
relations and marketing functions are integrated does not qualify
the company as an IMC exemplar.
The CEO must voice direct support for adopting IMC, because without
this critical element, IMC efforts are doomed. Beware of
companies with strong marketing cultures, because issues like
corporate reputation will take a back seat to the provincialism of
brand management.
Structural and functional issues must become a critical
component of any effective IMC program. Of particular
importance is establishing a communications czar who will become
the evangelist and conscience of the IMC implementation effort.
Any IMC program must be adapted to the unique character of a particular
organizational culture. A "one-size-fits-all" IMC program does not exist.
For an IMC program to work effectively, it must reflect the unique
culture in which it must operate.
We must look beyond narrow IMC successes in traditional
businesses for exemplars. Many of America's most venerable
companies do a few aspects of IMC well, but fail to exemplify
Integrated Marketing Communications 89
company-wide integration. We would do well to look to e-
commerce and high technology companies and recognize that
attorneys, accountants, and economists can be as effective or
even more effective at promoting IMC than the traditional roles of
public relations and marketing.
Integrated Marketing Communications 90
Conclusion
The New Economy is Integrated Marketing's Time to
Shine!!
Ten years ago, the business world was not quite ready to embrace the
principles of IMC. But as the environment developed over the past
decade, IMC grew in stature because it makes good business sense,
especially in today's fast-moving economy. IMC and the four major new
economy mega trends - technology, intangibles, globalization, and the
war for talent - are made for each other.
Technology has opened up numerous doors in terms of knowledge of
the customer, speed to market and connectivity. Globalization has
increased the importance of a unified strategy while highlighting the
need to recognize and address cultural differences. The increasing
value assessed to intangibles such as brands, employees and
customer/supplier relationships is changing financial outlooks across
the board. The war for talent has turned the recruiting tables upside
down, because an information economy cannot exist without human
capital.
The corporate focus of integrated marketing must be on relationships
and on more audiences than just customers. Only in this way can an
organization have a unified brand image and eliminate the
fragmentation that can destroy its brand/corporate reputation.
In a business environment where all four mega trends effect the way we
go to market, following the IMC principles of knowing your customers,
Integrated Marketing Communications 91
building your brand and measuring effectiveness will put companies
one step ahead of the competition.
For companies that currently embrace IMC, the new economy mega
trends translate into opportunities. Placing the customer and other key
stakeholders at the center of your business strategy has never been
more important. The highly competitive marketplace has made
relationship building paramount in the quest for success. For companies
who do not see IMC as vital, it is time to reconsider.
Integrated Marketing Communications 92
Annexure A
IMC Audit Form
The Company that can implement IMC
A concise, integrated marketing plan can be developed only after a
company identifies itself. Only when you know who you are and what
you have to offer can you tell others about it. Defining yourself and
staking out a clear position in the minds of your target audience is
crucial. Every savvy company knows it must stand for something in the
marketplace
Seek ways to set yourself apart from your competition. Why are you
different? Why should people come to you instead of going to someone
else offering the same service or product?
Corporate Images (An IMC Provider) has developed a process called
“The Integrated Marketing Audit” - adapted from Tom Duncan and
Sandra Moriarity in Driving Brand Value - to evaluate an organization's
internal and external processes for developing communication
strategies and programs.
Once you've defined who you are and have set your sights on where
you want to go in the marketplace, how do you get your message to
your market and project an image that fits your company? And how do
you say it to all of your publics in a consistent voice?
Integrated Marketing Communications 93
How integrated is your company?
Because all companies are integrated to some extent, this audit helps
determine which areas companies need to focus on to become more
integrated. Since the complete audit is quite complex and takes a
research team anywhere from six to eight weeks to complete, the
authors have developed an Integrated Marketing mini-audit which they
use in workshops and seminars. The 20 questions that follow provide
executives with a rough idea where their organizations stand on the
integration scale.
One of the most helpful applications of this Integrated Marketing mini-
audit is when a group of executives from the same company complete
it and then compare their answers. Seldom is there a consensus, which
prompts some interesting and useful discussions. To get a quick idea to
what extent your own company is practicing Integrated Marketing, take
this survey and find out how you rate. For each of the statements, click
the number in the mini-audit that best describes how your organization
operates (one is "Never do" and five is "Always do"). If a question does
not apply to your organization, leave it blank.
The Integrated Marketing Audit
Organizational Infrastructure
1. In our company, the process of managing brand/company
reputation and building stakeholder relationships is a cross-
functional responsibility which includes departments besides
Integrated Marketing Communications 94
marketing such as production, operations, finance, human
resources, etc.
Never 1 2 3 4 5 Always
2. The people managing our communication programs have a good
understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of all major
marketing communications tools such as direct response, PR,
sales promotion, advertising, and packaging.
Never 1 2 3 4 5 Always
3. We do a good job of internal marketing, informing all areas of the
organization about our objectives and marketing programs.
Never 1 2 3 4 5 Always
4. Our major communication agencies have (at least) monthly
contact with each other regarding our communication programs
and activities.
Never 1 2 3 4 5 Always
Interactivity
1. Our media plan is a strategic balance between mass media and
one-to-one media.
Never 1 2 3 4 5 Always
2. Special programs are in place to facilitate customer inquires and
complaints.
Integrated Marketing Communications 95
Never 1 2 3 4 5 Always
3. In our databases, we capture customer inquiries, complaints,
compliments, offers, and sales behavior (e.g., trial, repeat,
frequency of purchase).
Never 1 2 3 4 5 Always
4. Our customer databases are easily accessible (internally) and
user friendly.
Never 1 2 3 4 5 Always
Mission Marketing
9. Our organization's mission is a key consideration in our
communication planning.
Never 1 2 3 4 5 Always
10. Our mission provides an additional reason for customers and
other key stakeholders to believe our messages and support our
company.
Never 1 2 3 4 5 Always
11. Our corporate philanthropic efforts are concentrated in one
specific area or program.
Never 1 2 3 4 5 Always
Strategic Consistency
12. We periodically review all our planned messages (e.g.,
advertising, sales promotion, PR, packaging, direct marketing,
events) to determine the level of strategic positioning
consistency.
Integrated Marketing Communications 96
Never 1 2 3 4 5 Always
13. Our current big idea is conceptually broad enough to allow for
compatible sub campaigns aimed at all key stakeholder groups.
Never 1 2 3 4 5 Always
14. We think carefully about the messages being sent by our pricing,
distribution, product performance, service operations, and others
beyond the control of the company.
Never 1 2 3 4 5 Always
Planning and Evaluating
15. A SWOT analysis is used to determine the strengths and
opportunities we can leverage, and the weaknesses and threats
we need to address, in our marketing communication planning.
Never 1 2 3 4 5 Always
16. We use a zero-based approach in marketing communication.
Never 1 2 3 4 5 Always
17. When doing annual marketing communication planning, first
priority is given to fully utilizing intrinsic brand contact points
before investing in creating new brand contact points.
Never 1 2 3 4 5 Always
Integrated Marketing Communications 97
18. Our company uses some type of tracking study to evaluate the
strength of our relationships with customers and other key
stakeholder groups.
Never 1 2 3 4 5 Always
19. Our marketing strategies maximize the unique strengths of the
various marketing communications tools.
Never 1 2 3 4 5 Always
20. The overall objective of our marketing communication program is
to create and nourish profitable relationships with customers and
other stakeholders by strategically controlling or influencing all
messages sent to these groups and encouraging purposeful
dialogue with them.
Never 1 2 3 4 5 Always
Adapted from Tom Duncan and Sandra Moriarity in Driving Brand Value
(New York: McGraw-Hill 1997), p. 27-28.
Integrated Marketing Communications 98
Annexure B
IMC in Global Arena
In the international marketplace Cross-cultural business communication
is especially important. In order to gain a competitive advantage, global
marketers must have an understanding of the underlying motives of
buyer behavior, without regard to their geographic locations.
Organizations in the global arena must communicate their marketing
strategy both internally to their employees and externally to domestic
and international customers. This integrated marketing communications
requires a vast array of strategic and tactical tools. The ability to
proactively respond to what motivates consumer demands, regardless
of geographic allocation, is vital to organizational success.
In international marketing, although language translations may be
accurate, they are, after all translations and have their limitations. The
development of an IMC program in the international arena focuses on
long-term relationships with the consumer at the local level. This
strategy conflicts with the traditional product-driven, short-term focus
at the corporate level.
There are several characteristics that need to be considered in the
implementation of an integrated communication plan in an international
market. Some of these characteristics are discussed in brief below.
Establishment of long-term relationship
The most important aspect of internationalization is that it will require
long-term commitment on the part of the product or service provider,
the different nations involved in the business, and the consumer in the
Integrated Marketing Communications 99
domestic as well as the international market. The marketing
communication strategies should be developed based on the type of
product that the company is trying to introduce in the Market.
For example, pharmaceutical products such as ViagraÆ that has been
considered by many as a 'wonder drug,' may not perform as well in the
Asian Market. In the U.S., ViagraÆ is considered as a 'lifestyle drug',
which is used for treatment of a rarely deadly disease. Open discussion
regarding matters related to this product quite openly in the relatively
conservative societies, such as the Asian society, has the potential of
backfiring.
Awareness of Cultural and Language Barriers
Multinational corporations should thoroughly explore cultural, language,
and religious differences that exist in the host countries. One common
solution to manage the cultural difference is by hiring locals as
managers of the company to perform the local and day to day
operations. However, in order to maintain a close link of this remotely
located unit, as compared to the parent organization, the company
should train the individual at the organization's central location. Proper
awareness of local language, sign, symbols, gestures, and other similar
relatively minor but extremely critical local characteristics would help in
avoiding embarrassing situations during the marketing communication
process.
The Role of family
Multinational corporations should be aware of the significant roles that
the family relationship plays in many foreign, and particular in Asian
societies. At times, many decisions made by the employees and
customers in Asia are often determined by the closeness that they have
with their family members. Awareness and acceptance of this closeness
will benefit western companies in establishing effective communication
Integrated Marketing Communications 100
models in Asia. Most Asians would go to all lengths in order to take care
of their family and friends.
Language and Religious Sensitivity
Asia is a continent of many languages and religions. Despite the fact
that English is perhaps the most widely used language worldwide, in
order to succeed in Asia, companies should make sure that the
language used in communicating with the customer as well as with
employees in the company is not disrespectful based on their language
and religious beliefs. Even the product names should be carefully
analyzed to determine whether they are appropriate and are not
disrespecting to the customers. Discussion regarding certain topics
relating to certain products and services may not be as readily
accepted as they are in the United States. For example, news reports
relating to sexual problems and functions are acceptable by the general
consumer in the U.S. and in many western countries. However, this may
not be the case for many Asian countries. In many Asian countries,
talking about sex among family members is not common and
acceptable. Even sexual innuendoes in commercials are highly
disregarded among many Asians because television is usually watched
by the whole family together. A good way of reducing this potentially
harmful situation is by having local employees and advertising
agencies. Culturally sensitive studies should also be conducted to avoid
mishaps.
Culturally Sensitive Studies
Culturally sensitive strategies will have to be used by multinational
products and services providers, depending upon which country they
are in. Care must be taken not to be condescending on consumers.
Appropriate copy editing must be carried out so that local opinion-
leaders, particularly politicians, are not offended. Public relations efforts
Integrated Marketing Communications 101
to highlight significant involvement in social programs and support for
Asian cultural activities will help to build and foster a sense of
contribution to stakeholder welfare maximization.
Annexure C
Questions for Integrated Marketing Communication
1. How would you define the concept - Integrated Marketing
Communication?
2. Is your entire campaign designed by a one-stop agency or by
specialists in each field? What was the rationale in selecting the
specific approach?
3. What are the criteria adopted for selecting an agency to handle the
brand?
4. What level of integration is expected from the various agencies (e.g.
integration of concept with diverse content, integration of content,
logo and tag line co-ordination etc.)?
5. How is the process of integration carried out - through the brief
given to the agency, through common meetings across agencies or
some other method?
6. How is the responsibility of integration shared between the client
and the agencies?
7. Is the process of integration documented and followed as a guide?
Integrated Marketing Communications 102
8. Who are the target audiences for the various consumers - is it only
external customers or also the internal consumers? Who is
responsible for communication with the internal consumer in that
case?
9. Effects of IMC on the Consumer Psyche, if any.
10. What factors play an important role in developing the IMC strategy
(PLC stage, Target etc.) and what variables (components) would
they influence?
11. Would you please compare the IMC campaigns of Fairglow, Godrej
All Care, Cinthol on the following parameters:
(a)Objectives
(b)Budgets
(c) Components
(d)Proportions of the components and allocations made to each of them
(e)Consumer’s perception of the Brand Image
(f) Sales and other parameters of evaluation
(g)Any other effects on Consumer Psyche
(h)Any other
12. How is the synergy between the Corporate Brand ‘Godrej’ and all
the other consumer products brands achieved?
Integrated Marketing Communications 103
References
Online Resources
http://www.morse-balegno.com
http://www.tri-media.com
http://www.corporate-images.com
http://www.harcourtcollege.com
http://www.bi.no/users/fgl96053/imcmsc/imcplanning.htm
http://www.northernlight.com
http://spot.colorado.edu
http://www.medill.nwu.edu/imc
http://www.apqc.org
http://about.com
http://askjeeves.com
Books & Authors:
George Belch & Michael Belch - ________________
O’Guinn_____________________________________
Maketing Communications ______________________
Schultz, D.E., Tannenbaum, I &Lauterborn, - Integrated Marketing
Communication:Putting it together & making it work.
Weber, Barrett, Mandel, and Laderman1998
DeMooij and Keegan 1991
Clinton and Chandra 1996
Esther Thorson and Jeri Moore, Integrated Communication: Synergy of
Persuasive Voices)
Integrated Marketing Communications 104
Tom Duncan and Sandra Moriarity in Driving Brand Value
Loyd S. Pettegrew, Ph.D.
Argyris, Putnam & Smith, 1985; Van deVen, 1989
Weick, 1983)
Stephanie Baca
Kennedy & Deal, 1981
Daft & Weick, 1984
Pacanowsky & Trujillo, 1983
VanMaanen & Schein, 1979
Temin & Galambos, 1989
Caywood, 1992
McKenzie, 2000
Magazines & Journals:
Journal of integrated marketing communication
Advertising Age, October 1993: Don Schultz, “ Maybe we should start all
over with an IMC organization”, 1Source: Council for the Advancement and Support of Education
CURRENTS Magazine, 19982Source: “Sales & Marketing Management" September, 1996
Promotion Marketing Association - Publications, 1998.
Marketing News - Moriarty, Sandra (1997), "IMC needs PR's stakeholder
focus,"
Communication World - Reich, Ken (1998) "IMC: Through the looking
glass of the new millennium,"
Schultz, Don (1998), "Invest integration". Industry Week, 247:10, May
18, 20.
Schultz, Don E. & Kitchen, Philip J.1997. Integrated marketing
communications in U.S.
Journal of Advertising Research, 37:5, September/October, 7-18.
Integrated Marketing Communications 105
Sales & Marketing Management - Yarbrough, John F. 1996. Putting the
pieces together.
Integrated Marketing Communications 106