IMC is a strategic business process
used to plan, develop, execute and
evaluate coordinated, measurable,
persuasive brand communication
programs
with
consumers,
customers, prospects employees and
other relevant external and internal
audiences.
The goal of IMC Is to build short
term financial returns and build long
term brand value.
Recognized as a business process
– rather than just tactical integration
of various communication activities.
Importance of relevant audiences –
externally these include customers,
prospects,
suppliers,
investors,
interest groups, and the general
public. Employees are an example of
an internal audience.
Demand for accountability –
increased emphasis on the outcomes
of
marketing
communication
programs.
Strategic integration of
communications functions:
-Avoids duplication
-Synergy among promotional tools
-More efficient and effective
marketing
Brand identity is a combination
of name, logo, symbols, design,
packaging, performance and image
or associations.
The basic tools used to accomplish
an organization’s communication
objectives are often referred to as the
promotional mix. These tools
include:
Advertising – any paid form of non
personal communication about an
organization, product, service, or idea
by an identified sponsor
Direct marketing – communication
directly with target customers to
generate a response and/or
transaction
Interactive/Internet marketing –
communication through interactive
media such as the Internet, CDROMS and kiosks.
Sales promotion – marketing
activities that provide extra value or
incentives to sales force, distributors,
or consumers to stimulate immediate
sales
Publicity/Public Relations –
Publicity is a form of non-personal
communication not directly paid for or
run under identified sponsorship.
Public relations is a management
function which executes programs of
action to earn public understanding
and acceptance an enhance the
image of the company.
-Systematically planning and
distributing information in an attempt
to control and manage image and the
nature of the publicity received.
Publicity can be generated through
the use of:
Feature articles
News releases
Press conferences
Special events
Interviews
Personal Selling – person-to-person
communication between a seller and
buyer.
The nature and purpose of
advertising differs from one industry
to another and/or across situations.
Advertising can be targeted toward
consumer and/or business markets.
Consumer advertising is classified as:
National advertising – done by large
companies on a nationwide basis.
Ads for well-known brands and
companies shown on television are
an example.
Retail/Local advertising – done by
retail and local merchants
encouraging consumers to shop at a
specific store, use a local service, or
patronize a particular establishment.
Primary versus selective demand
advertising – primary demand
advertising is designed to stimulate
demand for the general product class
or industry. Selective-demand
focuses on creating demand for a
specific company and/or its brands.
Advertising to business and
professional markets includes:
Business to business advertising –
advertising that targets individuals
who buy or influence the purchase of
industrial goods or services for their
companies.
Professional advertising –
advertising targeted to professionals
such doctors, lawyers, engineers,
and the like.
Trade advertising – targeted to
marketing channel members such as
wholesalers, distributors, and
retailers.
Marketing plan-is a written
document that describes the overall
marketing strategy and programs
developed for an organization,
product line, or brand.
Developing an integrated marketing
communications plan requires:
-Planning
-Executing
-Evaluating
-Controlling
Basic Elements of a Marketing
Plan
1. Detailed situation Analysis
2. Specific marketing objectives
3. Marketing strategy and program
4.Program for implementing the
strategy
5. Process for monitoring and
evaluating performance
Keys to Under Armour’s success

Niche markets

Strong product positioning

Unique brand identity

Strong brand reputation
The Target Marketing Process
The process by which marketers
develop different marketing strategies
to satisfy different customer needs is
called target marketing. The basic
steps of this process are:
Identify markets with unfulfilled
needs – this isolates consumers with
similar lifestyles, needs, and wants
Determine market segmentation –
dividing a market into distinct groups
that have common needs and will
respond similarly to a marketing
action.
Select a market to target –
determining how many segments to
enter, and which segments offer the
most potential.
Position through marketing
strategies – the art and science of
fitting the product or service to one or
more segments of the broad market
in such a way as to set it meaningful
apart from competition.
The markets segmentation process
involves five distinct steps:
1. Find ways to group customers
according to their needs
2. Find ways to group the marketing
actions – usually the products offered
3.Develop a market/product grid to
relate the market segments to the
firm’s products and actions
4.Select the product segments
toward which the firm directs its
marketing actions
5.Take marketing actions to reach
target segments.
There are a number of methods that
are available for segmenting
markets. These methods can be
broken into two broad categories
based on customer characteristics
and aspects of the buying situation.
Segmentation based on customer
characteristics includes:
Demographic segmentation divides
markets based on demographic
variables such as gender, age,
education, race, and life stage.
Socioeconomic segmentation
divides markets based on
socioeconomic variables such as
income, education, and occupation
Psychographic segmentation
divides markets based on personality
values or lifestyle. SRI’s VALS 2 is a
popular approach to lifestyle
segmentation.
Segmentation based on the buying
situation includes:
Behavioral segmentation divides a
market into groups according to their
level of involvement with and
purchase behavior toward a product
or service.
Outlet types segments a market
based on the type of store where a
product is sold, such as convenience,
supermarket, mass merchandiser,
specialty
Benefit segmentation divides
markets on the basis of the specific
benefits or outcomes consumers
want from a product or service.
Awareness segmentation is based
on the product knowledge of the
consumer.
Usage segmentation classifies
customers based on their level of use
of a product or service.
When selecting a target market:
-Determine how many segments to
enter.
-Determine which segments
have the greatest potential
Three market coverage options are
available:
Undifferentiated marketing ignores
segment differences and offers just
one product or service to the entire
market.
Differentiated marketing involves
marketing in a number of segments,
but developing separate marketing
strategies for each.
Concentrated marketing involves
selecting, and trying to capture a
large share of, a single segment.
Market positioning Fitting the
product or service to one or more
segments of the broad market in such
a way as to set it apart from the
competition.
A number of positioning strategies
might be used by marketers,
including the following:
Attributes/Benefits – setting the
brand apart from competition using
specific characteristics or benefits
offered. Marketers attempt to identify
salient benefits which are those that
are important to customers in their
purchase decisions
Price/Quality – using price as
characteristic of the brand. High
quality/image pricing can be used as
well as value pricing which reflects a
very competitive price.
Use/Application – associate the
brand with a specific use. This
approach can also be effective way to
expand usage of a product.
Product Class – competition can
come from outside the product class
whereby a product is positioned
against another product category
Product User – associating a brand
with a type of person or group that
uses a product or service.
Competitor – positioning a company
or brand against a competitor. Often
another form of positioning is used as
well to differentiate the brand.
Cultural Symbols – use symbols
that have acquired cultural meaning
and associating a brand with these
symbols to differentiate it from
competitors (e.g. Marlboro and the
cowboy)
Another positioning strategy (not
shown on this slide) is repositioning.
It involves altering or changing the
position of a product or brand, and
usually occurs because of stagnant
or declining sales.
six steps involved in the development
of a positioning platform:
Identify the Competitors – requires
broad thinking and considering all
likely competitors. Competitors can
be from other product classes.
Assess Perceptions of
Competitors – Once competitors are
defined, it must be decided how they
are perceived by consumers. Market
research is used to assess which
attributes are important in the
decision process.
Determine Their Positions – what
are our competitors’ positions, as well
as ours, in relation to important
product or service attributes
Analyze Consumer Preferences –
what are consumers’ purchase
motives and what attributes are
important to them? Determining a
consumer’s ideal brand or product is
one way to assess this.
Make Positioning Decision – going
through the first four steps should
lead to a decision regarding which
position to assume in the
marketplace.
Monitor the Position – assessing
how well the position is being
maintained in the marketplace
Two important elements of product
decisions - branding and
packaging. Branding and packaging
are very important in creating an
image for a product and must be
coordinated to present an image or
position that extends beyond a
product’s physical attributes.
A brand name identifies a product or
service and often communicates
attributes and meaning.
Brand equity refers to the intangible
assets of added value or goodwill that
results from the favorable image,
impression, and consumer
attachment to a company, brand
name, or trademark.
Packaging is an important part of
brand’s identity. Traditionally, the
package provided functional benefits
such as economy, protection, and
storage. However, the role of
packaging has changed because of
self-service in many stores and more
buying decisions being made at the
point-of-purchase.
Distribution Channel
Intermediaries:
-Brokers
-Distributors
-Wholesalers
-Retailers
A company can use either a push or
pull marketing strategy. Programs
designed to motivate the channel
members, persuade them to stock
merchandise, and promote a
manufacturer’s products are part of a
push strategy. A push strategy
encourages resellers to order
merchandise and push it through to
their customers.
A pull strategy involves spending
money on advertising and sales
promotion efforts directed toward the
ultimate consumer. The goal of a pull
strategy is to create demand among
consumers and encourage them to
request the product from the retailer.
Consumer behavior. The process
and activities people engage in when
searching for, selecting, purchasing,
using, evaluating, and disposing of
products and services.
Consumer decision-making process
and the relevant internal
psychological processes that relate to
each stage. These stages include:
1. Problem recognition
2. Information Search
3. Alternative evaluation
4. Purchase decision
5. Postpurchase evaluation
Relevant internal psychological
processes that occur at each stage of
the decision process. These include:
1. Motivation
2. Perception
3. Attitude formation
4. Integration
5. Learning
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
1. Physiological
(hunger, thirst)
2. Safety
(security, protection)
3. Social
(sense of belonging, love)
4. Esteem
(self-esteem, recognition,
status)
5. Self-actualization needs (selfdevelopment, realization)
One approach to the study of human
motivation is psychoanalytic
theory, which was pioneered by
Sigmund Freud. This approach to
motivation focuses on the deeprooted motivations that underlie
behavior and often lie in the
subconscious. Some of the factors
associated with psychoanalytic theory
include:
1. Strong inhibitions
2. Symbolic meaning of
products and brands
3. Surrogate behaviors
4. Complex and unclear motives
these motives can only be
determined by probing the
subconscious. This type of approach
is called motivation research. Some
of the research methods used to
probe the consumers mind include:
In-depth interviews – unstructured
interviews where the participant is
encouraged to speak freely.
Designed to obtain insights into
motives, ideas, and opinions.
Projective techniques – projecting
internal states upon external
objects. Designed to gain insights
into values, motives, attitude, or
needs.
Association tests – participant is
asked to respond to the first thing
that comes to mind when they are
presented with a stimulus (picture,
word)
Focus groups – small groups brought
together to discuss particular
products, ideas, or issues.
The Perception Process
-Receive-Select-Organize-Interpret
Selectivity occurs at all stages of the
consumer’s perceptual process. It is
a filtering process in which internal
and external factors influence what is
received and how it is processed and
interpreted. The sheer volume and
complexity of the marketing stimuli a
person is exposed to in a day
requires that this filtering occur.
Selective perception occurs as:
Selective exposure – occurs as
consumers choose whether to make
themselves available to information
Selective attention – occurs when
the consumer chooses whether to
focus attention on certain stimuli
while excluding others.
Selective comprehension – occurs
when consumers interpret information
on the basis of their own attitudes,
beliefs, motives, and experiences.
Selective retention – occurs as
consumers cannot recall all of the
information they receive but may
choose to retain information of
particular relevance.
Evaluative criteria are the
dimensions or attributes of a product
or service that are used to compare
different alternatives. Two types of
criteria are:
Objective – based on concrete
attributes that are tangible and can
be directly judged or experienced by
the consumer, such as price or
warranty.
Subjective – based on abstract
attributes that are intangible and
more subjective in nature, such as
style, appearance, or product image.
An attitudeis considered a learned
response to an object, or an
individual’s overall feelings toward,
or evaluation of, an object.