Integration: Going beyond advertising and PR
July 14, 2003 | 12:00am
Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) can have as many interpretations as the number of marketing practitioners who try to explain it. At some point, a working definition cannot be distilled in one statement. It can yield, as Schultz, Tannenbaum and Lauterborn relate, "varying answers reminiscent of the old blind-man-feeling-parts-of-an-elephant story.
One very large advertiser thinks IMC is just making sure that the message is the same in all the media we use. This may be the elephant’s ear. David Ogilvy thinks IMC means providing "one-stop shopping" – setting up the agency to deliver all the functions a client might want to buy, and learning to manage them together. Maybe this is the tail. Ogilvy also says that IMC may be the key to getting away from the "disease" of "talking about creativity all the time," and getting back to a focus on sale. This is at least a leg. Keith Reinhard, chair and CEO of DDB Needham, sees IMC, as a way to unleash the creative potential of everyone in the organization, not just writers, and art directors. A balancing opinion, and at least another leg.
In the Grey Worldwide operations, IMC is working together as one central "communication idea" and providing the most effective and efficient way to reach the consumer. It is not just a TV commercial, a print ad, or a long menu of possibilities, but a most effective and efficient communications mix. The main idea can come from advertising, interactive, PR, direct marketing or any other vehicle we put in the mix.
IMC is not just sales promotion. Leveraging the combined power of the brand and the retail brand, and combining brand message with call to action is the job of sales promotion. It helps provide customized solutions to key retail accounts, and reinforces that point-of-sale is often the point-of-decision, too. It also closes the deal at point-of-gathering (concerts, theme parties, fashion galas and other special events); point-of-enjoyment (bar hops, movie premieres, sports tournaments and the like); and point-of consumption (poetry readings at bookstore cafes, food sampling in new eating places).
IMC is not just PR. Managing, creating and changing perceptions is a PR function. It theoretically "diffuses" information, where consumers and stakeholders become advocates. It is seen as "free" advertising that often drives all other communications.
IMC is not just direct marketing. Telling the product story in detail is direct marketing’s foremost strength. It gives the marketer permission to talk to us repeatedly. Usually built upon how we act or respond, it encourages us to act quickly through mail, telephone or television. Direct marketing is the most testable medium in the mix, offering long-term relationships.
IMC is not just co-branding. It is an activity done by brands with similar fit and need that stretches limited budget, and provides terrific local impact.
IMC is not just advertising. Today, TV and radio commercials, print ads and out of home media are not the only vehicles that can effectively and efficiently allow us to talk to current and prospective customers. In fact, as Dr. Jerry Kliatchko states in his book Understanding Integrated Marketing Communications, "The phenomenal growth and notable pervasiveness of IMC has brought about much ambivalence on the future of the advertising industry." The new realities confronting the industry, Kliatchko asserts, "are rooted mainly in the advent of new technologies, resulting in media and market fragmentation, and the rise of the empowered consumer."
Changes in marketing make integration critical. Our lives as consumers are changing. We have less time, more choices, and more information. New types of households are emerging – single parent homes, same-sex couples, broken families. There are more opportunities to buy directly from the source, more delivery routes, on and off-line.
There are more channels for distribution that stimulate changes in brand relationships. More products proliferate, but a lot of them offer less and less differentiation. We are intolerant with products that don’t deliver, and we give reduced attention to selling messages especially those disadvantaged by weak strategies, poor executions, and generic claims.
Reaching consumers is also evolving. Everyday, we are assaulted by various media forms and vehicles – from all sorts of women’s magazines to monthly "glossies; from tarpaulin billboards to direct response mailers. From floor ads to tire covers."
Women, 18 to 45, continue to change. They are very different from even just five years ago. The percentage of working women managing single households, for example, has increased. Women’s media patterns have been altered, and their exposure to technology has likewise been revved-up. In fact, women as a target group have been segmented in smaller clusters, where marked differences among 18 to 24, 24 to 30, 30 to 42, and 42 to 49 can be spotted.
Changes in the business environment are aplenty – the consumer, the competition, the product, and the market are rapidly changing. How does integration work in this milieu? Change is our starting point. Think "communications" not just "television." We need to understand the demands of business vis-à-vis the available communications options.
From there arrange and prioritize the options via a framework, which will guide us in developing the most efficient combination. In preparing the IMC Plan, it would be best to follow a step-by-step description that can allow a freer flow of strategic and executional ideas. Consider this roadmap:
Step 1: State the business objective. A listing of our sales goals for the brand, expressed in volume, shares and sales.
Step 2: Define the overall business strategy. Are we launching a new product that will offer very competitive features not currently available with existing brands in the category? Or are we re-staging an old brand with a new formulation to drive sales?
Step 3: Specify the marketing objective. A one-sentence statement that can inspire the marketing theme. Do we aim to make our targets fanatical about our brand? Do we want to be the ultimate choice?
Step 4: Describe the marketing strategy. One to three ways to achieve the marketing objectives relative to primary, secondary and tertiary target markets. Do we want to change perceptions or re-define consumer expectations?
Step 5: Portray the target brand champions. A short description of the consumers, whom we would like to convince – users, purchasers, and influencers – and turn into the brand "champions."
Step 6: Express the integrated core idea. A one- to two-sentence description of our main idea. It’s not the tagline. It’s how consumers will think about the brand – a BMW car is the ultimate driving experience, Coca-Cola is the "real" cola experience, Close-Up gives teens self-confidence.
Step 7: Declare the integrated brand world. A one- to two-sentence caricature of the brand’s character. Emphasize what makes it different and unique, and how it relates to the consumers and competitive brands. Volvo is safe, Swedish and intellectual. Pringles is fun, unusual and social. Pepsi is choice, youth and fun.
Step 8: Articulate the integrated communications strategy. Detail how all the elements in the communications mix will work. An example statement would be, "Use integrated communications to surround the consumer at all points and phases of contact."
Step 9: Expound on the roles of integrated communications. As important as objectives and strategies, this will help define what communications should do, the initial output of which is an extensive list of potential communications vehicles.
Step 10: Affirm the integrated communications budget. This should include the estimated expenditures not just for advertising, but also for all other vehicles in the mix.
The consumer is changing. The brands are evolving. It’s time that we, as brand custodians, started to re-invent ourselves. And as the Bob Dylan song goes –
Come gather around, people, wherever you roam,
And admit that the waters around you have grown…
Then you’d better start swimming or you’ll sink like a stone,
For the times, they’re a-changing.
E-mail bongo@vasia.com or bongo@campaignsandgrey.net for feedback.
One very large advertiser thinks IMC is just making sure that the message is the same in all the media we use. This may be the elephant’s ear. David Ogilvy thinks IMC means providing "one-stop shopping" – setting up the agency to deliver all the functions a client might want to buy, and learning to manage them together. Maybe this is the tail. Ogilvy also says that IMC may be the key to getting away from the "disease" of "talking about creativity all the time," and getting back to a focus on sale. This is at least a leg. Keith Reinhard, chair and CEO of DDB Needham, sees IMC, as a way to unleash the creative potential of everyone in the organization, not just writers, and art directors. A balancing opinion, and at least another leg.
In the Grey Worldwide operations, IMC is working together as one central "communication idea" and providing the most effective and efficient way to reach the consumer. It is not just a TV commercial, a print ad, or a long menu of possibilities, but a most effective and efficient communications mix. The main idea can come from advertising, interactive, PR, direct marketing or any other vehicle we put in the mix.
IMC is not just sales promotion. Leveraging the combined power of the brand and the retail brand, and combining brand message with call to action is the job of sales promotion. It helps provide customized solutions to key retail accounts, and reinforces that point-of-sale is often the point-of-decision, too. It also closes the deal at point-of-gathering (concerts, theme parties, fashion galas and other special events); point-of-enjoyment (bar hops, movie premieres, sports tournaments and the like); and point-of consumption (poetry readings at bookstore cafes, food sampling in new eating places).
IMC is not just PR. Managing, creating and changing perceptions is a PR function. It theoretically "diffuses" information, where consumers and stakeholders become advocates. It is seen as "free" advertising that often drives all other communications.
IMC is not just direct marketing. Telling the product story in detail is direct marketing’s foremost strength. It gives the marketer permission to talk to us repeatedly. Usually built upon how we act or respond, it encourages us to act quickly through mail, telephone or television. Direct marketing is the most testable medium in the mix, offering long-term relationships.
IMC is not just co-branding. It is an activity done by brands with similar fit and need that stretches limited budget, and provides terrific local impact.
IMC is not just advertising. Today, TV and radio commercials, print ads and out of home media are not the only vehicles that can effectively and efficiently allow us to talk to current and prospective customers. In fact, as Dr. Jerry Kliatchko states in his book Understanding Integrated Marketing Communications, "The phenomenal growth and notable pervasiveness of IMC has brought about much ambivalence on the future of the advertising industry." The new realities confronting the industry, Kliatchko asserts, "are rooted mainly in the advent of new technologies, resulting in media and market fragmentation, and the rise of the empowered consumer."
Changes in marketing make integration critical. Our lives as consumers are changing. We have less time, more choices, and more information. New types of households are emerging – single parent homes, same-sex couples, broken families. There are more opportunities to buy directly from the source, more delivery routes, on and off-line.
There are more channels for distribution that stimulate changes in brand relationships. More products proliferate, but a lot of them offer less and less differentiation. We are intolerant with products that don’t deliver, and we give reduced attention to selling messages especially those disadvantaged by weak strategies, poor executions, and generic claims.
Reaching consumers is also evolving. Everyday, we are assaulted by various media forms and vehicles – from all sorts of women’s magazines to monthly "glossies; from tarpaulin billboards to direct response mailers. From floor ads to tire covers."
Women, 18 to 45, continue to change. They are very different from even just five years ago. The percentage of working women managing single households, for example, has increased. Women’s media patterns have been altered, and their exposure to technology has likewise been revved-up. In fact, women as a target group have been segmented in smaller clusters, where marked differences among 18 to 24, 24 to 30, 30 to 42, and 42 to 49 can be spotted.
Changes in the business environment are aplenty – the consumer, the competition, the product, and the market are rapidly changing. How does integration work in this milieu? Change is our starting point. Think "communications" not just "television." We need to understand the demands of business vis-à-vis the available communications options.
From there arrange and prioritize the options via a framework, which will guide us in developing the most efficient combination. In preparing the IMC Plan, it would be best to follow a step-by-step description that can allow a freer flow of strategic and executional ideas. Consider this roadmap:
Step 1: State the business objective. A listing of our sales goals for the brand, expressed in volume, shares and sales.
Step 2: Define the overall business strategy. Are we launching a new product that will offer very competitive features not currently available with existing brands in the category? Or are we re-staging an old brand with a new formulation to drive sales?
Step 3: Specify the marketing objective. A one-sentence statement that can inspire the marketing theme. Do we aim to make our targets fanatical about our brand? Do we want to be the ultimate choice?
Step 4: Describe the marketing strategy. One to three ways to achieve the marketing objectives relative to primary, secondary and tertiary target markets. Do we want to change perceptions or re-define consumer expectations?
Step 5: Portray the target brand champions. A short description of the consumers, whom we would like to convince – users, purchasers, and influencers – and turn into the brand "champions."
Step 6: Express the integrated core idea. A one- to two-sentence description of our main idea. It’s not the tagline. It’s how consumers will think about the brand – a BMW car is the ultimate driving experience, Coca-Cola is the "real" cola experience, Close-Up gives teens self-confidence.
Step 7: Declare the integrated brand world. A one- to two-sentence caricature of the brand’s character. Emphasize what makes it different and unique, and how it relates to the consumers and competitive brands. Volvo is safe, Swedish and intellectual. Pringles is fun, unusual and social. Pepsi is choice, youth and fun.
Step 8: Articulate the integrated communications strategy. Detail how all the elements in the communications mix will work. An example statement would be, "Use integrated communications to surround the consumer at all points and phases of contact."
Step 9: Expound on the roles of integrated communications. As important as objectives and strategies, this will help define what communications should do, the initial output of which is an extensive list of potential communications vehicles.
Step 10: Affirm the integrated communications budget. This should include the estimated expenditures not just for advertising, but also for all other vehicles in the mix.
The consumer is changing. The brands are evolving. It’s time that we, as brand custodians, started to re-invent ourselves. And as the Bob Dylan song goes –
Come gather around, people, wherever you roam,
And admit that the waters around you have grown…
Then you’d better start swimming or you’ll sink like a stone,
For the times, they’re a-changing.
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