Integrated Marketing Communication (PBL 2)

During the second PBL we came up with the following problem: How can a company use integrated marketing communication in the most effective way?
We created three learning objectives which can help us to find a solution or an answer to the problem:

1. What is Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC)?
2. What are the elements of successful integrated marketing communication?
3. Find some examples. Why do you like or dislike them?

What is integrated marketing communication?
The business dictionary defines IMC as an approach to achieving the objectives of a marketing campaign, through a well-coordinated use of different promotional methods that are intended to reinforce each other.

The American Association of Advertising Agencies defines IMC as a "comprehensive plan that evaluates the strategic roles of a variety of communication disciplines and combines these disciplines to provide clarity, consistency and maximum communication impact." They also mention that the primary idea behind an IMC strategy is to create a seamless experience for consumers across different aspects of the marketing mix.
IMC is the coordination and integration of all marketing communication tools, avenues, and sources within a company into a seamless program that maximises the impact on consumer and other end users at a minimal cost.

According to MMC Learning there are different levels of integration which help to strengthen Integrated Communications:

• Horizontal integration: for example, production, finance, distribution and communications should work together and be conscious that their decisions and actions send messages to customers. 
• Data integration: different departments as sales, direct mail and advertising can help each other through data integration. Therefore a marketing information system is needed which collects and shares relevant data across the different departments. 
• Vertical integration: marketing and communication objectives must support the higher level corporate objectives and corporate missions. 
• Internal integration: keep all staff informed and motivated about any new developments from new advertisements to new corporate identities, new service standards and new strategic partners. 
• External integration: this requires external partners such as advertising and PR agencies to work closely together to deliver a single seamless solution and an integrated message. 

Elements of successful integrated marketing communication
Management Study Guide says that there are various components of integrated marketing communication:

• The foundation: detailed analysis of both the product as well as the target market. As a marketer, you need to know the needs, attitudes and expectations of the target customers as well as the competitor`s activities. 
• The corporate culture: the features of the products and services ought to be in line with the work culture of the organisation. 
• Brand focus: this is the corporate identity of the brand.
• Consumer experience: what does the consumer feel about the product? A consumer is likely to buy a product which has a good packaging and looks attractive, so products need to meet and exceed customer expectations. 
• Communication tools: these are various modes of promoting a particular brand such as advertising, direct selling and promoting through social media. 
• Promotional tools: these are trade promotions, personal selling and all the other tools brand are promoted through. 
• Integration tools: an organisation need to have specific software, like customer relationship management, which helps in measuring the effectiveness of various IMC tools. 

According to Roslyn Frenz on eHow, IMC has eight major elements:

1. Corporate image: a company's corporate image sums up the publicly established characteristics of the business. This includes what the company claims it does best, logos, policies and company culture. The corporate image sets the tone for the rest of the IMC program.
2. Branding: IMC creates branding and is aided by existing branding.
3. Market segmentation: many elements of IMC plans are tailored to meet the requirements of specific market segments.
4. Advertising: crafting advertising messages to reach the target segment is essential to IMC plans. The more appealing the advertising, the more likely it will be to catch the attention of market segment members. 
5. Media selection: the organisation should select the type of advertising mediums that will best feature the IMC and brand messages. 
6. Promotional tools: IMC uses promotional tools to enhance branding and attract market segments. 
7. Customer Relationship Management (CRM): CRM programs are designed to instil long-term loyalty in existing customers. 
8. Public Relations: PR protects the brand and the corporate image by creating publicity that builds a positive impression of the organisation and by reducing the impact of negative elements related to the business. 

Karen S. Johnson writes on www.yourbusiness.azcentral.com that IMC consists of four elements:

1. Public Relations: PR is used to create and foster relationships with publics that are important to the organisation. It also builds a credible reputation and favourable image. 
2. Advertising: the advertising of the organisation should reinforce the messages that they convey through public relations to increase comprehensions and retention. Advertising is different of PR because you pay a channel to place your message. 
3. Sales promotion: these are elements that are part of the marketing and sales plan of the organisation. Designing the sales promotion techniques in a way that they integrate with the other communication elements, keep the messages of the organisation cohesive and it can boost the promotion efforts. 
4. Direct mail: direct mail targets specific audiences so that the efforts of the organisation are more targeted. 

Another source (softdrinkcolawar.blogspot.fi) adds two more elements to the elements mentioned by Karen S. Johnson:

1. Direct Marketing
2. Interactive media and social media

Examples of Integrated Marketing Communication
Here I will mention some examples of companies who did a great job in applying IMC. I also will mention some companies who did not understand the idea of IMC.

The first company who did a great job in using IMC is Coca Cola. For the argumentation, I will use some of the elements Karen S. Johnson and softdrinkcolawar.blogspot.fi mentioned.

• Advertising: the slogans of Coca Cola are known by consumers all over the world. Think of "Open Happiness" and "Taste the feeling". Coca Cola uses for example TV commercials and billboards to achieve that everyone knows them and their slogans. Below you can see an example of a billboard of Coca Cola in London.

• Direct marketing: Coca Cola has offerings through partnerships such as restaurants, hotels and supermarkets. 
• Interactive marketing and social media: the website of Coca Cola is interactive and entertaining. They also use Facebook in a good way. They have a different facebook for each country so to communication to the customers in each country is best and each customer can be helped in their own language if they have any comments or questions.
  Coca Cola also uses a lot of interaction through PR. As an example, you can watch a campaign they used in Korea. 

• Sales promotion: Coca Cola uses for example discounts in supermarkets, merchandising and return back allowance to distinguish from their competitors. 
• Public Relations: Coca Cola uses PR in its strategy through sponsoring events like music and cinema. 

The second company I think is a good example of how to use IMC, is Always with their #likeagirl campaign. Watch their video below.

The Youtube film has been viewed more than 850.000.000 times in more than 150 countries. The hashtag was used countless times on Facebook and Twitter.  This is an example of how to use different channels to promote your company. And due to this campaign, Always makes and does have a connection with their consumers.

The campaign of McDonalds using the hashtags #McDStories and #MeetTheFarmers is an example of how you can use IMC the wrong way. Although McDonalds attempted to use IMC in a good way, Twitter users did not like the campaign and used the opportunity to slam the brand by saying that they rather eat their own diarrhea than eat at McDonalds and that the chicken nuggets of McDonalds are made of the same things which are used for building materials.

Lidl also has a campaign of which I think they do not use IMC very well. The campaign is called Lidl Surprises and it was the trigger for this PBL. In the commercial they use #LidlSurprises, but by the consumers of Lidl,  this hashtag is not used to spread positive things about Lidl.
Thereby, I think Lidl makes it themselves really hard to surprise their customers in their supermarkets. When you have watched the commercial, you really expect that the next time you are going to Lidl, they will surprise you, but it is not a surprise that they sell champaign or bread, and it is not a surprise that they offer the lowest prices.
Besides, I think the environment in which the video is recorded, does not fit the environment of the Lidl supermarkets. The environment in the video is cosy with all the people enjoying their food and with the sellers all friendly, but when you go to a Lidl supermarket, the supermarket does not look that cosy and most of the time the sellers are really efficient and not friendly. I think this causes an unpleasant surprise.

Sources
Boundless.com (2016), accessed 2 September 2016, from https://www.boundless.com/marketing/textbooks/boundless-marketing-textbook/integrated-marketing-communications-12/introduction-to-integrated-marketing-communications-81/introduction-to-integrated-marketing-communications-403-4061/

Business Dictionary (2016), Definiton IMC, accessed 2 September 2016, from http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/integrated-marketing-communications-IMC.html

Frenz, R. (2016), 8 Major Elements of Marketing Communication & IMC, accessed 3 September 2016, from http://www.ehow.com/info_8361708_8-elements-marketing-communication-imc.html

Johnson, K.S., Elements of Integrated Marketing Communication, accessed 3 September 2016, from http://yourbusiness.azcentral.com/elements-integrated-marketing-communication-3805.html

Management Study Guide (2016), Integrated Marketing Communications, accessed 2 September 2016, from http://www.managementstudyguide.com/integrated-marketing-communications.htm

MMC Learning (2016), Integrated Marketing Communications, accessed 2 September 2016, from http://multimediamarketing.com/mkc/marketingcommunications/

West Virginia University (2016), What is Integrated Marketing Communications?, accessed 2 September 2016, from http://imc.wvu.edu/about/what_is_imc