WHAT IS INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATION (IMC)?

Integrated Marketing Communication is the process whereby thoughts are conveyed and meaning is heard between individuals or organisations. Some organisations use IMC plans to present a unified message to the target audience. Advertising, Public Relation, Promotion, Direct Marketing and others are used in other to communicate effectively with understanding for target consumers to make right decisions and act. IMC also recognizes the value of a comprehensive plan that evaluates the strategic role of a variety of communication disciplines.

DISCUSS THE 6 FORMS OF INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATION.

Advertising, Public Relation, Sales Promotion, Direct Marketing, Personal Selling and Internet Marketing are forms or models that create effective marketing communication between an individual and an organisation.

In the concept or field of Advertising it has four characteristics which is persuasive in nature; non-personal; paid for by an identified sponsor; and it is disseminated through mass channels of communication. It is persuasive in nature because advertising messages may promote the adoption of goods, services, persons, or ideas through the sales message which is disseminated through the mass media.
  However, its non-personal nature means it lacks the ability to adapt the sales message to the message recipient and, more importantly, actually get the sale. Therefore, advertising effects are best measured in terms of increasing awareness and changing attitudes and opinions, not creating sales.

Furthermore, Public Relation also constitute to integrated marketing communication thus when the management function which identifies, establishes, and maintains equally beneficial relationships between an organization and the public’s upon which its success or failure depends. Public Relations consider multiple audiences (consumers, employees, suppliers, vendors, etc.) and uses two-way communication to monitor feedback and adjust both its message and the organization's actions for maximum benefit. Public Relation practitioners use Publicity in other to capitalize on the news value of a product, service, idea, person or event so that the information can be disseminated through the news media.

On the other hand, Sales promotion also contributed to integrated marketing communication that is motivate customers to select a particular brand, especially when brands appear to be equal, and they can produce more immediate and measurable results due to the  direct inducements that offer extra incentives to enhance or accelerate the product's movement from producer to consumers. Consumer promotions such as coupons, sampling, premiums, price packs (packs that offer greater quantity or lower cost than normal), low-cost financing deals, and rebates are purchase incentives in that they induce product trial and encourage repurchase.

In addition, Personal selling is also a form of integrated marketing communication. Personal selling includes all person-to-person contact with customers with the purpose of introducing the product to the customer, convincing him or her of the product's value, and closing the sale. The role of personal selling varies from organization to organization, depending on the nature and size of the company, the industry, and the products or services it is marketing. Many marketing executives realize that both sales and non-sales employees act as salespeople for their organization in one way or another. These organizations have launched training sessions that show employees how they act as salespeople for the organization and how they can improve their interpersonal skills with clients and customers. Personal selling is the most effective way to make a sale because of the interpersonal communication between the salesperson and the scout. 

Nevertheless, Direct marketing, the oldest form of marketing, is the process of communicating directly with target customers to encourage response by telephone, mail, electronic means, or personal visit. Users of direct marketing include retailers, wholesalers, manufacturers, and service providers, and they use a variety of methods including direct mail, telemarketing, direct-response advertising, and online computer shopping services, cable shopping networks, and infomercials. Direct marketing allows a company to target more specifically a sector of customers and prospects with a sales message tailored to their specific needs and characteristics. Unlike advertising and public relations, whose connections to actual sales are tenuous or unformulated at best and offer accountability by providing tangible results.

 Reference List

Ketan Deshpande , Emerson College

Baron Osborn, University of Memphis (1 August 199)

 Belch, George E., and Michael A. Belch. Advertising and Promotion: An Integrated Marketing Communication Perspective. 4^th edition

Scott M., Allen H. Center, and Glen M. Broom. Effective Public Relations 8^th edition New Jersey (199)