Marketing In Progress

How integrated marketing communications provides synergy within an organisation

The purpose of this essay is to discuss the notion that integrated marketing communications provides synergy within an organisation. In order to do that it is imperative to define IMC first. Marketing communications are communications with target audiences, having the purpose of influencing costumer behaviour. It involves managing the marketing communications mix. The marketing communication mix also known as the promotional mix consists of 4 elements; public relations, advertising, sales promotions and personal selling (Pickton and Broderick,1995:3-8). IMC tries to align and to integrate those efforts. Shimp(1986:12) gives the following definition: IMC is the process of developing and implementing various forms of persuasive communications programs with costumers and prospects over time...IMC considers all sources of brand or company contacts which a costumer or prospect has with the product or service as potential delivery channels for future messages. Further, IMC makes use of all forms of communication which are relevant to customer and prospects, and to which they might be receptive. In sum, the IMC process starts with the customer or prospect and then works back to determine and define forms and methods through which persuasive programs should be developed. Although this definition is quite comprehensive it should be noted that IMC is not only directed at costumers and prospects, it is directed at all people that have an influence on the actual purchase. That group of people, the decision making unit (DMU) comprises amongst others: costumers, consumers, employees etc. (Pickton and Broderick,1995:10). IMC is a very broad concept and it works a lot of angles or it can be implemented using many different 'dimensions' as Pickton(1995:90)calls them. However, IMC is mostly seen in the context of the promotional mix, so the main stress will be on that in this essay.

The main advantage of implementing IMC is that it creates synergy because the various facets of marketing communications are brought together in a mutually supportive and enhancing way(Pickton, 1995:68). In the context of IMC, synergy means that aligning and integrating all marketing communication efforts, and achieving harmony amongst those efforts results in more than keeping those efforts separated(pickton:90). Achieving harmony between the different marketing communications elements is an advantage for many reasons, first of all, many communication activities can impossibly be categorised under one of the marketing communication mix elements. For instance, an exhibitions stand promoting sausages or crisps in a supermarket can be considered both sales promotions and personal selling. If the company selling those sausages does not have an integrated marketing approach, chances are that both the sales