Promotion Mix Unit 1

(Marketing Mix and promotion Mix: Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) Concept Developing an IMC plan based
on promotional mix of a firm.)

Promotion Mix Meaning

Promotion mix is an essential component of marketing communications. That is why we sometimes
call it marketing communications mix.

Marketing communications aim to reach the target audience and influence the customer purchase
journey. Its main tasks include differentiating the product and brand from the
competitors, reinforcing the brand's presence and message, informing customers about the product's
benefits & features, and persuading them to buy. This process is known as the DRIP model.

The DRIP framework stands for: differentiate, reinforce, inform, and persuade.
Marketers use various promotional techniques to achieve these goals, giving rise to the promotion
mix.

Promotion mix is a combination of promotional tools marketers use to communicate with their
target audience.
Marketers can use more than one channel to communicate brand value. Here are six key
components of a communications mix:

1. Advertising,
2. Personal selling,
3. Sales promotions,
4. Direct marketing,
5. Public relations (PR),
6. Branding.

Nike uses a combination of promotional tools. They offer a variety of seasonal sales promotions,
advertise their products using traditional (print) and digital (social) media, and run various public
relations campaigns.

Promotion Mix Marketing

The promotion mix plays a significant role in marketing. Before we look at the promotion mix in
more detail, let's examine the steps in developing effective marketing communications.

Overall, there are three stages in marketing communications:

1. Identify the target audience,

2. Determine communications objectives,
 3. Select the appropriate communications channel and media.

The main goal of marketing communications is to guide customers through the buyer-readiness
stages.

Buyer-readiness stages are the stages a customer passes through before making a purchase.

Promotion Mix Elements

Promotion mix is made up of three key elements: promotion mix budget, tools, and strategy. An
integrated marketing campaign would require marketers to combine all these three elements.

Promotion mix budget

The first step to developing a promotion mix is to calculate promotion budget. It is a crucial task as
marketers do not want to waste precious dollars.

Let's look at four methods to determine a promotion budget:

1. Percentage-of-sales method: this is a relatively simple method of calculating the promotion

budget. Managers simply determine a percentage of sales or forecasted sales the company
will spend on promotion. For example, 20% of forecasted sales. The disadvantage of this
method is that it is entirely dependent on sales. At times, increased spending on promotion is
needed to boost sales, which this method ignores.
2. Affordable method: another simple method of calculating a promotion budget, often used by
small businesses. The business simply determines how much it can spend on promotion -
how much can we afford to spend? After subtracting total costs from revenues or forecasted
revenues, managers determine how much of the remainder to allocate to promotion.
3. Objective-task method: a more complex but effective method of determining the
communications budget. To use this method, marketers have to define the objective of the
promotion and figure out how the company should allocate resources to achieve set goals.
The process is as follows: determine the promotional objectives, decide which tasks must be
conducted to achieve the objectives, and estimate the costs of performing said tasks. This
method helps management understand the relationship between advertising spending and
performance.
4. Competitive parity method: other companies decide to spend the same amount on
promotion as their competitors. This method involves setting the promotion budget to match
industry averages. However, it fails to consider the qualitative aspects of promotion - each
company has different advertising needs - and thus, only the company itself knows how much
it should spend on promotion.

Types of promotion mix

We have outlined the different promotion mix elements but let's look at them in more detail. The
types of promotion mix elements are as follows (see Figure 2 below):

 Advertising: one of the most popular forms of marketing communications. Brands can use a
variety of traditional and digital advertisements to create awareness and engagement.
Advertising may also benefit from mass-market exposure and is a relatively low cost per
exposure technique. Marketers can also use advertising to capture the target audience's
attention creatively and use a variety of advertising appeals.
 Sales promotions: an effective tool for encouraging purchases and increasing sales in the
short term. Marketers can use a variety of discounts, offers, coupons, contests, etc., to attract
consumer attention. Although sales promotions are effective in the short term, they are
ineffective for building long-term customer relationships.
 Public relations (PR): can reach segments that do not respond to advertisements. Public
relations include press releases, features, events, press conferences, addressing any
controversies about the brand, etc. This is known as media relationship management. Rather
than directly addressing consumers through ads or sales promotions, this form of
communication creates a more subtle 'buzz' around a product or brand.
 Personal selling: is especially important in the B2B context. Personal selling often involves
numerous parties communicating with one another and plays a significant role in the buying
process. It is an effective communication method as it can quickly address the buyer's wants
and needs - the sales team can quickly respond to problems and questions - thus influencing
the buying process. Personal selling is also effective at building long-term relationships with
customers.
 Direct marketing: involves communicating with customers directly, in other words, without
using any intermediaries. Direct marketing includes e-mail, catalogues, mail, SMS,
telemarketing, etc. Direct marketing is effective at reaching a specific target group or
demographic. Marketers have a lot of freedom in customising messages to suit the target
segment's needs, and direct marketing may also encourage two-way communication.
However, customers may feel uncomfortable when bombarded with frequent direct
communications.
 Branding: may also be considered a promotional tool. It includes the different packaging,
logos, designs, catchphrases, etc., marketers use to attract customer attention.

For example, Red Bull hosted a New Moon Party to increase publicity for its brand, during which
skydivers jumped out of helicopters in wingsuits above the city of Los Angeles. The skydivers' suits
were equipped with LED lights and pyrotechnics, making it look like something supernatural was
flying down the city.1 Now, you may wonder whether this is an appropriate promotion for an energy
drink brand. Well, Red Bull is known for its involvement in racing, diving, motorsports, and
numerous other extreme sports. As a result, promotional events like the New Moon Party fit well into
Red Bull's integrated marketing communications mix.

Promotion mix strategies

Another important step in promotion mix creation is developing a promotion strategy.
There are two main strategies to consider here: pull and push strategies.

A push strategy involves 'pushing' the product to the customer. Push strategies start with the
product's producer, who pushes their marketing communications through various channels to
intermediaries who eventually promote the product to the final consumer. The producer's goal is to
encourage these intermediaries to take on the product. They may use various promotional techniques
like personal selling or sales promotions to convince channel members to carry the product and
promote it to the end user.

On the other hand, a pull strategy involves directing communications efforts to the final customer.
The producer may use traditional (e.g. print or outdoor) or digital (e.g. social or search) media to
directly address end users and trigger action. Thus, creating demand for the product. As a result,
consumer demand ends up 'pulling' the product through various channels. This process is known as
a demand vacuum.

Importance of Promotion Mix

Let's now examine the importance of the promotion mix.

Why do marketers spend so much time and resources constructing the promotion mix? Well, the
ultimate goal is to integrate marketing communications.

After setting a promotional budget, marketers have to choose effective tools and strategies to promote
their products. Both of these must work together to deliver a cohesive message across all channels.
This is essential to maintaining a consistent brand image and position.

However, promotion must match customers' needs. Customers' wants and needs should always be the
starting point for all communications efforts. Marketers must address these needs thoroughly in
marketing

messages while conveying unique selling points. To avoid confusing customers, marketers must
ensure cohesive marketing messages across channels.

Finally, an integrated marketing communications strategy will allow the company to evaluate its
marketing performance and generate actionable insights for future campaigns.

Promotion Mix - Key takeaways

 The promotion mix is a combination of promotional tools marketers use to communicate with
their target audience.
 The six key promotional tools used in the communications mix are advertising, personal
selling, sales promotions, direct marketing, public relations, and branding.
  The buyer-readiness stages are the stages a customer passes through before making a
purchase.
 Percentage of sales, affordable, objective-task, and competitive parity are some of the
methods marketers may use to set a promotion budget.
 There are two main promotion mix strategies: push and pull strategies.
 The ultimate goal of a promotion mix strategy is to integrate marketing communications.

Promotion: Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC)

LEARNING OUTCOMES
 Explain integrated marketing communication (IMC)
 Explain the promotion mix
 Describe common marketing communication methods, including their advantages and
disadvantages
 Explain how organizations use IMC to support their marketing strategies
Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) Definition
IMC: Making an Impact with Marketing Communication
Having a great product available to your customers at a great price does absolutely nothing for
you if your customers don’t know about it. That’s where promotion enters the picture: it does the
job of connecting with your target audiences and communicating what you can offer them.
In today’s marketing environment, promotion involves integrated marketing
communication (IMC). In a nutshell, IMC involves bringing together a variety of different
communication tools to deliver a common message and make a desired impact on customers’
perceptions and behavior. As an experienced consumer in the English-speaking world, you have
almost certainly been the target of IMC activities. (Practically every time you “like” a TV show,
article, or a meme on Facebook, you are participating in an IMC effort!)

What Is Marketing Communication?

Defining marketing communication is tricky because, in a real sense, everything an organization
does has communication potential. The price placed on a product communicates something very
specific about the product. A company that chooses to distribute its products strictly through
discount stores sends a distinct message to the market. Marketing communication refers to
activities deliberately focused on promoting an offering among target audiences. The following
definition helps to clarify this term:
Marketing communication includes all the messages, media, and activities used by an organization
to communicate with the market and help persuade target audiences to accept its messages and
take action accordingly.
Integrated marketing communication is the process of coordinating all this activity across
different communication methods. Note that a central theme of this definition is persuasion:
persuading people to believe something, to desire something, and/or to do something. Effective
marketing communication is goal directed, and it is aligned with an organization’s marketing
strategy. It aims to deliver a particular message to a specific audience with a targeted purpose of
altering perceptions and/or behavior. Integrated marketing communication (IMC) makes this
marketing activity more efficient and effective because it relies on multiple communication
methods and customer touch points to deliver a consistent message in more ways and in more
compelling ways.

The Promotion Mix: Marketing Communication Methods

The promotion mix refers to how marketers combine a range of marketing
communication methods to execute their marketing activities. Different methods of marketing
communication have distinct advantages and complexities, and it requires skill and experience to
deploy them effectively. Not surprisingly, marketing communication methods evolve over time as
new communication tools and capabilities become available to marketers and the people they
target.
Seven common methods of marketing communication are described below:
 Advertising: Any paid form of presenting ideas, goods, or services by an identified
sponsor. Historically, advertising messages have been tailored to a group and employ mass
media such as radio, television, newspaper, and magazines. Advertising may also target
individuals according to their profile characteristics or behavior; examples are the weekly
ads mailed by supermarkets to local residents or online banner ads targeted to individuals
based on the sites they visit or their Internet search terms.
 Public relations (PR): The purpose of public relations is to create goodwill between an
organization (or the things it promotes) and the “public” or target segments it is trying to
reach. This happens through unpaid or earned promotional opportunities: articles, press
and media coverage, winning awards, giving presentations at conferences and events, and
otherwise getting favourable attention through vehicles not paid for by the sponsor.
Although organizations earn rather than pay for the PR attention they receive, they may
spend significant resources on the activities, events, and people who generate this
attention.
 Personal selling: Personal selling uses people to develop relationships with target
audiences for the purpose of selling products and services. Personal selling puts an
emphasis on face-to-face interaction, understanding the customer’s needs, and
demonstrating how the product or service provides value.
 Sales promotion: Sales promotions are marketing activities that aim to temporarily boost
sales of a product or service by adding to the basic value offered, such as “buy one get one
free” offers to consumers or “buy twelve cases and get a 10 percent discount” to
wholesalers, retailers, or distributors.
 Direct marketing: This method aims to sell products or services directly to consumers
rather than going through retailer. Catalogues, telemarketing, mailed brochures, or
 promotional materials and television home shopping channels are all common traditional
direct marketing tools. Email and mobile marketing are two next-generation direct
marketing channels.
 Digital marketing: Digital marketing covers a lot of ground, from Web sites to search-
engine, content, and social media marketing. Digital marketing tools and techniques
evolve rapidly with technological advances, but this umbrella term covers all of the ways
in which digital technologies are used to market and sell organizations, products, services,
ideas, and experiences.
 Guerrilla marketing: This newer category of marketing communication involves
unconventional, innovative, and usually low-cost marketing tactics to engage consumers in
the marketing activity, generate attention and achieve maximum exposure for an
organization, its products, and/or services. Generally, guerrilla marketing is experiential: it
creates a novel situation or memorable experience consumers connect to a product or
brand.
Most marketing initiatives today incorporate multiple methods: hence the need for IMC. Each of
these marketing communication methods will be discussed in further detail later in this chapter.

The Objectives of Marketing Communication

The basic objectives of all marketing communication methods are (1) to communicate, (2) to
compete, and (3) to convince. In order to be effective, organizations should ensure that whatever
information they communicate is clear, accurate, truthful, and useful to the stakeholders involved.
In fact, being truthful and accurate in marketing communications is more than a matter of
integrity; it’s also a matter of legality, since fraudulent marketing communications can end in
lawsuits and even the criminal justice system.
Marketing communication is key to competing effectively, particularly in markets where
competitors sell essentially the same product at the same price in the same outlets. Only through
marketing communications may an organization find ways to appeal to certain segments,
differentiate its product, and create enduring brand loyalty. Remaining more appealing or
convincing than competitors’ messages is an ongoing challenge.
Ideally, marketing communication is convincing: it should present ideas, products, or services in
such a compelling way that target segments are led to take a desired action. The ability to persuade
and convince is essential to winning new business, but it may also be necessary to reconvince and
retain many consumers and customers. Just because a customer buys a particular brand once or a
dozen times, or even for a dozen years, there is no guarantee that the person will stick with the
original product. That is why marketers want to make sure he or she is constantly reminded of the
product’s unique benefits.
Marketing Campaigns and IMC
The Marketing Campaign

Determining which marketing communication methods and tools to use and how best to combine
them is a challenge for any marketer planning a promotional strategy. To aid the planning process,
marketing managers often use a campaign approach. A campaign is a planned, coordinated series
of marketing communication efforts built around a single theme or idea and designed to reach a
particular goal. For years, the term “campaign” has been used in connection with advertising, and
this term applies equally well to the entire IMC program.
Organizations may conduct many types of IMC campaigns, and several may be run concurrently.
Geographically, a firm may have a local, regional, or national campaign, depending upon the
available funds, objectives, and market scope. One campaign may be aimed at consumers and
another at wholesalers and retailers. Different marketing campaigns might target different
segments simultaneously, delivering messages and using communication tools tailored to each
segment. Marketers use a marketing plan (sometimes called an IMC plan) to track and execute a
set of campaigns over a given period of time.
A campaign revolves around a theme, a central idea, focal point, or purpose. This theme permeates
all IMC efforts and works to unify the campaign. The theme may refer to the campaign’s goals—
for example, KCRW “Capital Campaign” launched by the popular Los Angeles-based public radio
station KCRW to raise $48 million to build a new state-of-the-art media facility for its operations.
The theme may also refer to the shift in customer attitudes or behaviour that a campaign focuses
on—such as new-member campaigns launched by numerous member organizations, from
professional associations to school parent-teacher organizations. A theme might take the form of a
slogan, such as Coca-Cola’s “Taste the Feeling” campaign or DeBeers’ “A diamond is forever.
Features of IMC
Shift in Promotional Expenditure from Traditional Media to Non-Traditional Media:
Traditional media is more expensive and not as target oriented as the new tools of
promotion. Consumers are less responsive to traditional media advertising and they may even
avoid it. The best way to communicate with target audience is to integrate the brand with
movies, shows or events.
Usage of Internet and social media to Communicate: In this age of Internet revolution,
where at any moment there are millions of consumers surfing on the Web, marketing
communication is characterized by usage of social media where there is regular and close
interaction with consumers. Internet has given rise to development and growth of social
media which people use to share experiences, content, information and suggestions about
products they have used.
Growth of Database Marketing: Companies in the modern times have extensive databases
which contain the names, geographic profiles, demographic profiles, and psychographic
profiles of customers. Information about purchasing patterns, financial resources and media
preferences of customers is also available in the data bases of companies. This enables them to
target customers through a variety of direct marketing methods – e-mails, direct mail, and
telemarketing and other direct response methods – rather than traditional tools. Customer
Relationship Management (CRM) programs involve regular and systematic tracking of
customer’s preferences and behaviours and modifying product or services to meet their needs.
Market Place Power with Retail Industry: There has been a major shift in market place
power from manufactures to retailers. The small and middle-sized local retailers have been
replaced by regional, national and international chain. These retailers demand promotional fees
from the manufacturers, which often siphons money away from advertising. Technologies such
as check-out scanners provide retailers with all the information about the effectiveness of
manufacturer’s promotional programs. This had led to the marketers spending more on
promotional tools than before.
Greater Accountability asked from the Advertising Agencies: The producers are demanding
greater accountability from advertising agencies by asking them to give instant results. The
marketers are also giving an incentive to the advertising agencies for increasing their
profitability. Organizations are looking beyond their traditional advertising agencies and are
turning to other marketing communication firms to work on development of their integrated
marketing programs. Agencies which specialize in internet marketing, direct marketing, media
planning, sales promotion and public relations are being used more now.

Role of IMC

The role of the integrated marketing communication mix is to help the organisation achieve
the objectives of marketing communications by:
Creating a Consistent Message – A consistent message will help consumers identify with the
organization and its products without creating any confusion in their minds.
Clarity – Integrated communications will not conflict with each other when spread across
various media as they are integrated and come from the same source. This will bring clarity in
the message being sent across to customers.
Building Loyalty – A consistent & clear message also works as an assurance to the
consumers and builds greater Brand Loyalty.
Meeting all the Marketing Objectives – Increase in brand loyalty and a larger customer
base achieved through integrated marketing communications will help the organisation to
achieve its marketing objectives.

IMC and Marketing Program

A marketing program is a coordinated, thoughtfully designed set of activities that help
businesses achieve their marketing objectives. Marketing objectives are strategic sales goals
that fit an organization. In order to build strong customer relationships and maximize sales, a
business needs to put every possible marketing tool to work for it. Marketing is a broad field,
encompassing elements as diverse as advertising, brand and logo design, sales calls, web sites,
brochures, packaging, shows, conferences and other events, and so on. The variety and
complexity of choices makes getting organized and focused hard.
Integrated marketing communication plan allows the business the leverage of the multiple
components in the marketing universe to work smarter to address its customer’s needs. An
integrated marketing communications plan or IMC plan incorporates market research, strategic
planning, audience segmentation, marketing channel selection, creative briefs and campaign
messaging, budgeting, ROI analysis and a system for metrics and evaluation, to achieve
maximum impact of marketing objectives.

Concept and Evolution of IMC

Organizations often send out different messages through different media of communication.
Communications often comes from different departments of the organization. For example,
advertising messages are planned and implemented by the advertising department, personal
selling communications are developed by the sales management department, and similarly
public relations communications are developed by the Public Relations Office and so on.
However, the consumers look at these as a part of a single message about the organization.
Conflicting messages from different sources create confusion in the consumer’s mind. This is
where the need for integrating all marketing communications comes into the picture.
The concept of integrated marketing communication (IMC) was introduced in the 1980s by
Prof. Don E. Schultz (Schultz and Schultz, p. 19) and has since changed the way
communicators and marketers interact and conduct business. The perspective towards
marketing communication has changed from being specific variable oriented to being more
integrated. All promotional tools are given strategic importance at the same time. This
was the beginning of the phase where marketing communications planning, which recognized
the added value of a comprehensive promotional plan with all ingredients of promotion, was
accepted as a norm of effective communication with the customers. A combination of general
advertising, direct selling, sales promotion and public relations was being recommended to
provide clarity, consistency and maximum communication impact.
Schultz, referred to as the ‘father of integrated marketing communications’, was of the view
that IMC deals with all the sources of brand and company contact that a customer or prospect
has with a product or service. It takes ‘Big Picture’ approach to planning marketing and
promotion programs and coordinating the various communication functions. It requires that a
company develop a total marketing communication strategy that recognizes how all of a firm’s
marketing activities, not just promotion, communicate with its customers. IMC builds the most
effective platform to promote a product or service through its integrated usage of
communication tools.

Before integrated marketing communication emerged, mass communication—the practice of

relaying information to large segments of the population through television, radio, and other
media—dominated marketing. Marketing was a one-way feed. Advertisers broadcasted their
offerings and value propositions with little regard for the diverse needs, tastes, and values
of consumers. This “one size fits all” approach was costly and uninformative due to the
lack of tools for measuring results in terms of sales. As methods for collecting and analyzing
consumer data through single-source technology such as store scanners improved, marketers
were increasingly able to correlate promotional activities with consumer purchasing patterns.

Previously, people in the Public Relations (PR) department of any organization wrote press
releases and distributed them. Now, PR teams frame the message strategy and analyze how a
message will be construed. The terms, “public relations” and “strategic communications,” are
now frequently interchanged. In many organizations today, public relations, corporate
communications, advertising, marketing, promotions and publicity function collaboratively as
part of “the IMC mix.” What this means for organizations is consistency and unification of
messaging, brand promotion and audience engagement.
IMC ensures that all forms of communications and messages from an organization are
carefully linked together. At its most basic level IMC means integrating all the promotional
tools, so that they work together in harmony. Promotion is a single term used to group together
all communication activities intended to increase the sales of a product. The promotional mix
include: Advertising, Sales Promotion, Public Relations & Publicity, Direct Marketing &
Personal Selling. All of these communications tools work better if they work together in
harmony rather than in isolation. Their sum is greater than their parts – providing they speak
consistently with one voice all the time, every time.

IMC is an approach used by organizations to brand and coordinate their communication efforts.
It has a centralized messaging function which focuses on a common goal and positioning. It is
an approach to creating a unified and seamless brand experience for consumers across channels
and across different aspects of the marketing mix. The brand’s core image and messaging are
reinforced as each marketing communication channel works together as parts of a unified
whole rather than in isolation.

Today, corporate marketing budgets are allocated toward trade promotions, consumer
promotions, branding, public relations, and advertising. The allocation of communication
budgets away from mass media and traditional advertising has raised the importance of IMC
for effective marketing. Now, marketing is viewed more as a two-way conversation between
marketers and consumers. This transition in the advertising and media industries can be
summarized by the following market trends:
 a shift from mass media advertising to multiple forms of communication
 the growing popularity of more specialized (niche) media, which considers
individualized patterns of consumption and increased segmentation of consumer tastes
and preferences
 the move from a manufacturer-dominated market to a retailer-dominated, consumer-
 controlled market
 the growing use of data-based marketing as opposed to general-focus advertising and
marketing
 greater business accountability, particularly in advertising
 performance-based compensation within organizations, which helps increase sales and
benefits in companies
 unlimited Internet access and greater online availability of goods and services
 a larger focus on developing marketing communications activities that produce value
for target audiences while increasing benefits and reducing costs.

Factors Affecting the Growth of IMC

1. Cluttered Media Environment: Due to a greater number of commercial messages, media

environment is now more cluttered. This leaves lesser scope for any single message to have
some significant effect on prospective customers. Marketers are therefore increasingly
adopting several other non-advertising routes to reach their customers.

2. Fragmentation of Media: More number of television channels, more AM/FM channels on

radio, more magazines, and more newspapers with more supplementary editions is what is
meant by media fragmentation. The result of fragmented media is lesser scope for having
customer attention. This in turn requires more focus in communication in terms of targeted
audience.

3. Media Cost: The absolute media cost has increased manifold over the last few years
particularly in the case of television. Due to its higher cost, marketers many times use other
less costly promotion tools to justify their promotion spend.

4. Technological Advancements: With the advancements in computers and software

technology, data management has become greatly possible and even much simpler.
Companies either collect the data themselves or get the job done from outside sources. With
good data management companies can better segment their audiences. So, there is now the
possibility of more focus in the selection of target audience. In all, marketers achieve more
effectiveness in reaching their target markets.
5. Rapid Growth of Internet: Internet, an interactive medium, is assuming greater relevance in
companies’ promotion planning. The digital media offer various advantages like precision
targeting, measurable ROI, low entry-level fee and global reach.

6. Client Expertise’s: Clients are now better equipped with the understanding of various
nuances of communication planning. They expect better returns on their investment and
accountability from the agencies they hire for advertising purpose. Many companies are even
doing away with commission-based remuneration and instead the remuneration is based on
some objective measure such as sales, or market share as an incentive. Agencies also, now
consider a variety of promotion tools as a less expensive alternative to mass-media
advertising.

7. Increasing Number of ‘Me-too-Products’: Manufacturers are now better able to offer the
products which are similar to the existing successful competitive products. As products do not
have many differences, communication becomes a real challenge for the marketer. Marketing
 communication needs to create a strong pull factor for the product either through building a
strong brand image or an intense commercial message delivery to gain enough attention and
sales over the short period of time.

8. Increasing Power of Retailers: The trend towards organized retailing is on rise. There are
now large retailers having retail chains. The sheer size and the capacity to address large
number of needs have given more power to large retailers and they are using this to have
better negotiations with the manufactures. They seek better services and also better
allowances from the manufacturer, which usually has an adverse effect on advertising, spend.

9. Increasing Global Marketing: Global marketing adds intensity to the competition for every
company whether or not selling in other country. Companies, therefore, seek more
efficiency in their operations including communication.

Consumers are often overwhelmed by the vast number of advertisements flooding both online
and offline communication channels. Marketing messages run the risk of being overlooked and
ignored if they are not relevant to consumers’ needs and wants. One of the major benefits of
integrated marketing communications is that marketers can clearly and effectively communicate
their brand’s story and messaging across several communication channels to create brand
awareness. IMC is also more cost-effective than mass media since consumers are likely to
interact with brands across various forums and digital interfaces. As consumers spend more time
on the internet, marketers seek to weave together multiple exposures to their brands using
different touch points. Companies can then view the performance of their communication tactics
as a whole instead of as fragmented pieces.
Another benefit of IMC is that it creates a competitive advantage for companies looking to boost
their sales and profits. This is especially useful for small/ mid-sized firms with limited staff and
budgets. IMC immerses customers in communications and helps them move through the various
stages of the buying process. The organization simultaneously consolidates its image, develops a
dialogue, and nurtures its relationship with customers throughout the exchange. IMC can be
instrumental in creating a seamless purchasing experience that spurs customers to become loyal,
lifelong customers.

IMC Planning Process

Integrated marketing communications management involves various decision areas such as:
 which promotional tools to use and how to combine them effectively
 determining the size of and distributing the advertising and promotional budget
 determining the influence of various factors on the promotional mix including the type of
product, target market, decision process of the buyer, stage of the product lifecycle, and
channels of distribution
This process is guided by the development of the integrated marketing communications plan
which provides the framework for developing, implementing, and controlling an organization’s
IMC program and activities. The steps in the Integrated Marketing Communications Planning
Model include:
1. Review of the Marketing Plan – A marketing plan is a document that describes the overall
marketing strategy and programs developed for an organization, a product/service line, or
an individual brand. Reviewing the marketing plan includes: Detailed situation analysis,
Specific marketing objectives, Marketing strategy and program, Program for implementing
the strategy, & Process for monitoring & evaluating the performance.
 2. Promotional Program Situation Analysis – The next important step is to carry out the
promotional program situation analysis. Both Internal Analysis and External Analysis are
carried out.

3. Analysis of the Communications Process – Determining how the company can effectively
communicate with customers in the target market. An important part of this stage of the
IMC planning process is developing communication objectives which refer to what the firm
seeks to accomplish with its promotional program.

4. Budget Determination – Two basic issues must be addressed with regard to the IMC
budget:
 How much money will be spent on marketing communication
 How the money will be allocated across the various IMC tools

5. Developing the Integrated Marketing Communications Program – The most involved

and detailed part of the promotional planning process occurs at this stage as decisions have
to be made regarding the role and importance of each IMC tool and their coordination with
one another. Each IMC tool has its own set of objectives, budget, message, and media
strategy. These include:
 Advertising message and media strategy and tactics
 Direct marketing message and media strategy and tactics
 Interactive/Internet Marketing message and media strategy and tactics
 Sales promotion message and media strategy and tactics
 Public relations/publicity strategy and tactics
 Personal selling – sales strategy and tactics

6. Integrating and Implementing Marketing Communications Strategies – The various

IMC tools must be integrated and steps must be taken to implement them. Most large
companies hire external agencies to plan and develop their creative messages and media
strategies as well as to implement them.

7. Monitoring, Evaluation, and Control – The final stage of the IMC planning process
involve monitoring, evaluating and controlling the promotional program. At this stage, the
marketer should be gathering feedback concerning how well the IMC program is working
and whether it is meeting its objectives. It is important to note that information regarding
the results achieved by the IMC program is used in subsequent IMC planning and strategy
development.

Steps to Developing an Integrated Marketing Communications

Strategy
IMC is a strategic, collaborative, and promotional marketing function where a targeted
audience receives consistent and persuasive brand messaging through various marketing
channels in an integrated way to move buyers through the decision-making process. At the
most basic level, integrated marketing communications helps to ensure that marketers are
using all of the channels available to them to amplify a marketing campaign and/or brand
messaging to reach their target audience. These four steps help create and implement a
cohesive and integrated marketing communications strategy.

1. Identify Different Marketing Communication Methods

 As part of the integrated marketing strategy, it's imperative to determine the various
marketing communication methods one wants to leverage as part of the plan. Consider
the target audience and how they like to receive information, gather facts, and perform
research on the problem they are trying to solve. From there, determine what channels are
most relevant for your specific campaign. Some examples include:
Content Marketing: Make your content available online through blog content, video
marketing, premium content, pop-ups, and dynamic website content to help your
potential buyers connect and learn more about you. Email Marketing: Use email to re-
engage your existing audience through unique and helpful content. Often, the most
impactful marketing efforts come from delivering the right content at the right time to the
existing subscribers.
Social Media Marketing: When combined with email marketing and content marketing,
digital marketing campaigns utilizing social media can truly bring exceptional results by
connecting with the target audience on a platform they are already spending time on
regularly.

2. Develop a Marketing Communication Plan

After determining the marketing channels that are going to resonate with the audience,
it's, now, time to develop a comprehensive plan to execute the marketing initiatives. To
do this, one needs to focus on three primary items:
Audience: Determine the buyer persona for each of the marketing methods. The persona
is going to define what channels you use to engage with them. For example, if one of the
personas is baby boomers, consider email marketing and Facebook. If another persona is
millennials, consider texting and Instagram.
Content: Define the content that will speak to the audience the most effectively. For
example, if you are trying to generate new contacts for your database, you may want to
have a top-of-the-funnel offer such as subscribing to a newsletter, or downloading a
checklist on your site. If you are trying to drive re-engagement in your database to
convert existing leads into opportunities, consider delivering case studies video
testimonials, and more to them. This will aid them in their decision-making process.
Cadence: It's important to understand how often people like to receive information. You
can get this data from a variety of marketing automation platforms. We can use that
information to ensure we are sending content frequently enough, but not too frequently
that it becomes overwhelming for the prospect.

3. Understand the Customer Decision-Making Process

Understand what makes customers decide to buy a product or service, and then discover
why they would decide to buy from you. The important thing here is to understand the
problem you are solving for them, and how to help them in that decision journey. Most
customer decisions follow a basic pattern while involved in a particular situation that
could result in a sale. This is called the Decision-Making Process, and prospects pass
through three distinct stages:
Awareness Stage: Prospect is experiencing & expressing concerns of a potential
problem. They are doing research to clearly understand and frame their problem &
determine how they are going to move to a potential resolution.
Consideration Stage: Prospect has determined they have a problem they want to solve
and are actively seeking solutions. They are researching to understand all available
approaches and methods for solving the defined problem.
Decision Stage: Prospect has now decided on their decision strategy, method and
approach. They are narrowing down their longer list of possible solutions to make a final
purchase decision which will help solve their problem.
 Companies that understand the complex nature of consumer behaviour and decision-
making can enhance the effectiveness of their marketing communications by tailoring
their message to the decision process of their audience.

The Communication Process

Organizations must keep in mind the internal and external factors that influence audience
perception during the communications process. The Integrated Marketing
Communication seeks to have all promotional and marketing activities of an organization
together, project a unified and consistent image of the organization to the target market. It
has a centralized messaging function which focuses on a common goal and positioning.
Integrated Marketing Communication enhances the image of the organization as it sends
all customers a consistent message about the company and its brands. The companies,
who adopt this integrated marketing program over the traditional method of promotion,
where all elements of promotion are treated separately, are more effective in
communicating everything about themselves and their brands in the market place.

What is the AIDA model?

The AIDA Model identifies cognitive stages an individual goes through during the buying
process for a product or service. It's a purchasing funnel where buyers go to and fro at each
stage, to support them in making the final purchase.
It's no longer a relationship purely between the buyer and the company since social media has
extended it to achieving the different goals of AIDA via information added by other customers
via social networks and communities.

What does AIDA stand for?

 Awareness: creating brand awareness or affiliation with your product or service.
 Interest: generating interest in the benefits of your product or service, and sufficient
interest to encourage the buyer to start to research further.
 Desire: for your product or service through an 'emotional connection', showing your
brand personality. Move the consumer from 'liking' it to 'wanting it'.
 Action: CTA - Move the buyer to interact with your company and taking the next step ie.
downloading a brochure, making the phone call, joining your newsletter, or engaging in
live chat, etc.
 Retention: We all know that this is key to upsell, cross-sell, referrals, Advocacy and the
list goes on as companies are also focussing on LTV.

Hierarchy-of-Effects Model
The hierarchy-of-effects theory is a model of how advertising influences a consumer's
decision to purchase or not purchase a product or service. The hierarchy represents the
progression of learning and decision-making consumer experiences as a result of
advertising. A hierarchy-of-effects model is used to set up a structured series of
 advertising message objectives for a particular product, to build upon each successive
objective until a sale is ultimately made. The objectives of a campaign are (in order of
delivery): awareness, knowledge, liking, preference, conviction, and purchase.
The hierarchy-of-effects theory is an advanced advertising strategy in that it approaches
the sale of a good through well-developed, persuasive advertising messages designed to
build brand awareness over time. While an immediate purchase would be preferred,
companies using this strategy expect consumers to need a longer decision- making
process. The goal of advertisers is to guide a potential customer through all six stages of
the hierarchy.
The behaviours associated with the hierarchy-of-effects theory can be boiled down to
"think," "feel," and "do," or cognitive, affective and conative behaviours. The hierarchy-
of-effects model was created by Robert J. Lavidge and Gary A. Steiner in their 1961
article A Model for Predictive Measurements of Advertising Effectiveness.

Hierarchy-Of-Effects Theory Stages

 The awareness and knowledge (or cognitive) stages are when a consumer is informed about
a product or service, and how they process the information they have been given. For
advertisers, it is essential to give key brand information in this stage in a useful and easily
understood fashion that compels the prospective customer to learn more and make a
connection with a product.
 The liking, preference, and conviction (or affective) stages are when customers form
feelings about a brand, Advertisers should attempt to appeal to a consumer's values,
emotions, self-esteem, or lifestyle. Advertisers should attempt to convince potential
customers that they need a product or service, possibly by offering a test drive or sample
item.
 The purchase (or conative) stage focuses on action. It is when an advertiser attempts to
compel a potential customer to act on the information they have learned and emotional
connection they have formed with a brand by completing a purchase. Advertisers should
also build a level of trust with them by focusing on the quality, usefulness, and popularity of
a product or service.

Common IMC Objectives

Brands must assess their marketing budget and target audience when setting IMC goals. An
IMC strategy with a huge budget will be radically different in size, scope and reach than a
meagre marketing budget. Thus, smaller businesses with tiny IMC budgets may rely
heavily on social media advertising and word-of-mouth networks to increase brand
presence and generate new leads, rather than more expensive television and billboard
advertising. Despite varying budgets, product features and benefits, and consumer
behaviours, organizations typically set and work towards the following goals when
implementing IMC strategies:

 To develop brand awareness  To enhance firm / brand

 To increase consumer or business image
demand for a product category  To increase market share
 To change or influence customer beliefs  To increase sales
or attitudes  To reinforce purchase
 To enhance purchase actions decisions
 To encourage repeat purchases
 To build customer traffic to physical stores, websites or other marketing channels
 IMC strategies may seek to achieve one, many or all of these objectives
throughout the course of a campaign. Once strategies have been
implemented, they are not changed unless major new events occur. Only
changes in the marketplace, new competitive forces, or new promotional
opportunities should cause companies to alter strategies and reassess IMC
goals.

Determining a Budget
Marketing budgets aid in the planning of operations by forcing managers to prioritize activities
and consider how conditions may change. As with all business activities, marketing budgets
help the planning of actual operations by forcing managers to prioritize activities and consider
how conditions might change. Marketing also encourages managers to take steps now, so they
can deal with problems before they arise. It also helps coordinate the activities of the
organization by compelling managers to examine relationships between their own operation
and those of other departments, which is a key component of integrated marketing. The
essential purposes of budgeting include:
 To control resources  To evaluate the performance
 To communicate plans to various of managers
responsibility centre managers  To provide visibility into the
 To motivate managers to strive to achieve company’s performance
budget goals
Marketing plans are resource driven and affect the budget. Two big budgeting decisions should
be resolved up front:
1. How shall these efforts be funded? For example, 70% will be reallocated through cost
reductions by consolidating programs and 30% will come from new funding.

2. Who will benefit from the new program? For example, 70% will advance the reputation of
the company and 30% will build “steeples” – the critical core themes that make a difference,
which are usually only built one at a time.

When determining a budget for an integrated marketing plan, it is important for managers to
understand the components of IMC in order to allocate funds properly. These include:
 The foundation – This component is based on a strategic understanding of the product and
market. This includes changes in technology, buyer attitudes, and behaviour, as well as
anticipated moves by competitors.
 The corporate culture – Increasingly brands are seen as indivisible from the vision,
capabilities, personality, and culture of the corporation.
 The brand focus – This is the logo, corporate identity, tagline, style, and core message of the
brand.
 Consumer experience – This includes the design of the product and its packaging, the
product experience, and service.
 Communications tools – This includes all modes of advertising, direct marketing, and
online communications.
 Promotional tools – This includes trade promotions; consumer promotions; personal selling,
database marketing, and customer relations management; public relations and sponsorship
 programs.
 Integration tools – This is software that enables the tracking of customer behaviour and
campaign effectiveness. This includes customer relationship management (CRM) software,
web analytics, marketing automation, and inbound marketing software.

Promotional Objectives
Integrated marketing communications objectives are based on certain communication tasks. It
should align with the message that is to be delivered to the target audience. The company should
be able to translate their marketing goals into communication goals and promotional objectives.
The primary role of IMC is to communicate the brands knowledge and interest, favourable
attitudes and image and purchase intentions. Consumer will not necessarily respond immediately
therefore advertiser should provide most relevant information and create favourable disposition
towards brand before they react.
Some managers consider that the promotional program is sales-oriented objectives. For them if
the firm has spent money on advertising and promotion it should influence the sales. There are
many factors that influence the sales. Sometimes advertisements play vital role in company’s
marketing program and then sales-oriented objectives help. They refer advertising and sales
promotion as the key determinants of brand’s market share.
There are three main objectives of a promotional mix:
1. Increase demand: These strategies are used in order to increase sales. Eventually a
product will reach its saturation point and investing in sales will decrease as the company
focuses its attention on a new product.
2. Present information about the product: In order for customers and consumers to want
the product they need to understand what the product is and how it benefits them.
Information about the product will differ depending on the specific target market.
3. Differentiate a product: This is especially important if there are multiple competitors in
the same market. For example, Apple was able to differentiate itself in the computer
industry. For many years it was the preferred computer for those who had advanced
computing skills. Then Apple did an advertising campaign to show general users how
easy it is to use.

Difference between Communications Objectives & Sales Objectives

Business’s communications objectives are the goals that you need to achieve through all
communications, such as public relations, advertising and social media. Sales objectives are the
goals you need to achieve in sales, such as an incremental increase in a particular product or an
entire line. Your communications plan can help you achieve that, but it also includes other
aspects of your business other than sales, such as communicating both inside and outside your
organization. Objectives in both areas should meet the “SMART” test: specific, measurable,
achievable, realistic and time-focused.
External Communications Objectives: External communications are what you use to
communicate with audiences and markets outside your business. This includes the media, current
and prospective customers, analysts, investors and any other stakeholders. For new products,
communications objectives may start out very broad, such as “create media awareness about our
company and products.” This means you design communications to introduce yourself to the
media, such as press releases announcing the opening of your business. As your contacts grow,
your objectives can narrow, such as “increase media awareness by 10 percent based on a name
recognition survey.”
Internal Communications Objectives: Your internal business communications include your
employees, sales force and distributors. These communications are important because you want
everyone in your business to be consistent in their communications with everyone they meet.
Internal communications tools may include company web portals, newsletters and weekly
meetings. Objectives may include “increase on-time attendance at weekly status meetings,” or
“improve communications between work groups.” You then develop strategies and tactics to
meet those objectives, such as providing incentives or training in meeting facilitation.
Sales Objectives: Sales objectives are easier to measure than communications objectives. They
can be set for any time period, such as a month, quarter or year and can be broken out by a
particular product as also overall sales. If you have more than one business location, you need to
set specific sales objectives for each geographical area.

DAGMAR Approach

A major contribution of Russell H. Colley, DAGMAR is a marketing expression that stands for
“Defining Advertising Goals for Measured Advertising Results”. It is a marketing tool to
compute the results of an advertising campaign. Advertising is strongly associated with
economic cycles across major world economies. The DAGMAR method is a long-established
method of creating effective advertising. The idea behind the method is to “communicate
rather than sell”.
DAGMAR attempts to guide customers through ACCA model. According to this approach,
every purchase encounter four steps; Awareness, Comprehension, Conviction, and Action.

1. AWARENESS
• Awareness of the existence of a product or a service is needful before the purchase
behaviour is expected. The fundamental task of advertising activity is to improve the
consumer awareness of the product.
• Once the consumer awareness has been provided to the target audience, it should not be
forsaken. The target audience tends to get distracted by other competing messages if they
are ignored.
• Awareness has to be created, developed, refined and maintained according to the
characteristics of the market and the scenario of the organization at any given point of time.
• The objective is to create awareness about the product amongst the target audience.

2. COMPREHENSION
▪ Awareness on its own is not sufficient to stimulate a purchase. Information and
understanding about the product and the organisation are essential. This can be achieved
by providing information about the brand features.
▪ The objective is to provide all the information about the product.\

3. CONVICTION
▪ Conviction is the next step where the customer evaluates different products and plans to
buy the product. At this stage, a sense of conviction is established, and by creating
interests and preferences, customers are convinced that a certain product should be tried
at the next purchase.
▪ At this step, the job of the advertising activity is to mould the audience’s beliefs and
persuade them to buy it. This is often achieved through messages that convey the
superiority of the products over the others by flaunting the rewards or incentives for using
the product.
▪ The objective is to create a positive mental disposition to buy a product.
 4. ACTION
▪ This is the final step which involves the final purchase of the product.

The objective is to motivate the customer to buy the product.

EXAMPLE OF DAGMAR APPROACH

Let’s suppose that an ABC company wants to evaluate the effectiveness of marketing campaign for
its latest product launched. The company starts evaluating the commercial that is designed to
persuade potential consumers through the four stages of the buying process:
1. In the AWARENESS stage, company ABC spreads awareness among the consumers about
its new product launched in the market.
2. In the COMPREHENSION stage, company ABC portrays to its consumers the features and
distinctiveness of the new product and reminds the consumers of the company ABC’s logo
and brand name.
3. In the CONVICTION stage, company ABC attaches the consumer emotionally to the new
product so that the consumer establishes an emotional preference for the company ABC’s
brand.
4. In the ACTION stage, company ABC makes sales.

Company ABC then evaluates the success of the marketing effort using DAGMAR. The company
measures that how fast the customer processed through the four stages of the purchase and how
many sales were generated. In cases where the customer is distracted and deviated from buying the
product, and the company doesn’t meet sales goals, the company needs to change its ad campaign.

TARGET AUDIENCE: DAGMAR claims the target audience is well defined. A group of potential
customers, who have the highest likelihood of purchasing the product, is the target market.
Identifying the target market includes the process of demographic, geographic, and psychological
segmentation. Target markets can be segmented into Primary and secondary groups.

▪ Primary markets are the main target audience, on whom the marketing efforts are mainly
focused.

▪ Secondary markets are the target audience on whom the marketing efforts will focus after the
primary market goals are achieved.

CONCRETE AND MEASURABLE: The objective of communication should be a precise and

clear statement of whatever message the advertiser wants to communicate to the target audience. The
specification must include all the details and descriptions of the measurement procedure.

SPECIFIED TIMEFRAME AND BENCHMARKS: A good objective has a specified time frame,
during which the objective is to be achieved. Understanding the specifications enables advertisers to
define goals that will yield the best result. Setting a specific timeframe assures effective evaluation
of results. The timeframe should be realistic to prohibit skewed results from static marketing.
Creating the benchmark is essential for an appropriate measurement of the effectiveness of the
advertisement.

WRITTEN GOAL: The goal should be committed on a paper. When the goals are clearly written,
basic shortfalls and flaws are exposed, it becomes eventually easy to determine whether the goal
contains the crucial aspects of the DAGMAR approach.