Dr. Close
INTEGRATED MARKETING
COMMUNICATIONS (IMC):
ADVERTISING, PROMOTION, PR,
AND DIRECT MKTG
"Doing business without advertising is
like winking at a girl in the dark. You
know what you are doing, but nobody
else does."
-- Steuart Henderson Britt
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Strategic Goals of Mkt Comm
 Create awareness
 Build positive images
 Identify prospects
 Build channel relationships
 Retain customers
V
S
IMC
 Integrated marketing communications
 Disjointed campaigns are horrible
 Use SYNERGISTIC combination of your tools
 Message should be complementary/ consistent (VW
Bug as retro-hip)
 Experts who specialize must work together
 Don’t have to choose between sales promo,
personal selling, & ads (use some of each to reach
more of your target market)
IMC Tool: Advertising
 Promotion Methods a.k.a. The Promotion Mix
 Advertising: paid, impersonal promotions by
identified sponsor(s)
 Traditional big markets, but
adaptable to smaller
 Low cost/contact (LA Times:
2 cents/per)
 Difficult to measure impact
 Not adaptable, inflexible
IMC Tool: Sales Promos
 Promotion Methods (cont…)
 Sales promotion (coupons, POP, samples, tradeshow)
 Added value or incentive in regard to a particular
product
 May complement personal and mass selling (bonus)
 Targets
 Final consumers: coupons, freq. shopper
 Middleman: gifts, price breaks
 Company sales force: bonuses, training
 $3 SP for $1 ads
IMC Tool: Publicity and PR
 Promotion Methods (cont…)
 Publicity; unpaid, impersonal promotions (talk
show, movie premiere, charity, cars, etc; Rosanne)
 Do not pay media costs (magazine article)
 Perceived credibility; negativity
Publicity has far more value
than advertising, but you must
give reporters a reason to
write about you. Photo: Michel O’Sullivan
IMC Tool: WOM/eWOM
 Promotion Methods (cont…)
 Word of mouth: “WOM is the most important
marketing element that exists” Gordon Weaver,
Paramount Pictures. Do you agree?
 Unpaid, personal promotions (after ads – PLC)
 Very high credibility (friends, business
acquaintances, employees)
 Try for opinion leaders (may pay to stimulate; teens;
movies; fashions)
 Usually negative (respond to complaints)
IMC Tool: Personal Selling
 Promotion Methods (cont…)
 Personal selling; paid, personal promotions; direct
spoken communication




Adaptable to each target
Immediate feedback
Very expensive ($200/contact)
More spending on p.s. than ads
Integrated Marketing Approach
How Various Promotion Tools Might Contribute to the Purchase of
a Hypothetical Product
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©2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved
Some Differences between Traditional Marketing
Communication Efforts and Integrated Marketing
Communications
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©2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved
Advertising: Planning and Strategy
 Objectives
 Generalist viewpoint – Concerned with sales, profits, and
return on investment
 Middle viewpoint – Sees advertising as a competitive
weapon
 Specialist viewpoint – Concerned with the effects of
specific ads or campaigns
 In the long run and often in the short run, advertising is
justified on the basis of the revenue it produces
 Approach that aids intelligent decision making is needed
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©2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved
Developing Advertising Objectives:
Nine Questions
 Does the advertising aim at immediate sales?
 Does the advertising aim at near-term sales?
 Does the advertising aim at building a long-range
consumer franchise?
 Does the advertising aim at helping increase sales?
 Does the advertising aim at some specific step that
leads to a sale?
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©2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved
Developing Advertising Objectives:
Nine Questions
 How important are supplementary benefits of
advertising?
 Should the advertising impart information needed to
consummate sales and build customer satisfaction?
 Should advertising build confidence and goodwill for the
corporation?
 What kind of images does the company wish to build?
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©2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved
Advertising Decisions
 Key decisions to be made include
 Determining the size of the advertising budget
 Allocation of the advertising budget
 Important to remember that brand equity and consumer
preference for brands drive market share
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©2009 The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved