Marketing communications (also known MC, marcom(s), marcomm(s) or just simply communications) refers to the combined use of different marketing channels and tools. Marketing communication channels focus on how businesses communicate a message to their desired market, or the greater market in general. It can also include the internal communications of the organization. Marketing communication tools include advertising, personal selling, direct marketing, sponsorship, communication, public relations, social media, customer journey, and promotion.

Overview

Marketing communications include advertising, promotions, product sales, branding, advertising campaigns, events, and online promotions.

  • "Consumer apathy" is the tendency of a consumer to avoid marketing communications. The consumer may not be interested, or consider themselves "in the market," and as such attempt to shut out the irrelevant marketing stimuli; this is known as selective attention. Alternatively, a consumer may be "in the market," yet not be aware of the brand or product's existence or prevalence. Consumers tend to purchase familiar brands, and will not be inspired to investigate alternatives. One approach marketers use to overcome apathy is to create incentives, such as competitive pricing or loyalty rewards. This is not ideal, as effective marketing communication increases brand equity. One important objective of marketing communications is to develop a strong, unique brand identity that allows the brand to be positioned separately from its competition.
  • Marketing mix is the most important part of marketing strategy, which is "the framework to manage marketing and incorporate it within a business context".
  • Marketing strategy: how a business achieves its marketing objectives. The initial step to achieve a marketing strategy is to identify the market target and build up a business plan.

Communications

Communication is one important aspect of the marketing mix. Marketing communication is often the largest component of communication within a company, which may be to present company values, objectives or specific products and services to investors, customers or the general public. In the 21st century, communications objectives focus on more customized messages, targeting customer groups or individuals to create high responses and greater brand interaction. One of the linguistic device categories is a simple language. The different devices under simple language include phonetic symbolism, numbers, sound repetition, and pronunciation. All four devices use the cognitive effort of automatic processing. Phonetic symbolism is "a non-arbitrary relation between sound and meaning, and suggests that the sound of a word can convey meaning apart from its definition". A communication process is defined as information that is shared with the intent that the receiver understands the message that the business intended to send. The communication process was once thought of as having the source of the message, which is then encoded, put through the chosen communication channel, which is then decoded by the recipient and then received.some models of the communication process incorporate an additional channel to reflect this behaviour. Opinion leaders and opinion formers, who can influence consumer perceptions, are also considered within the communication process before the message reaches the recipient.

This model is more effective when there is common ground between the senders and receivers, allowing them to communicate effectively. Choosing the appropriate source helps develop the message and appeal to the target audience. The source will be more effective if it is relatable to the target audience. This realm of understanding is represented by overlapping circles. The more knowledge the source has about the target audience, the better they can understand how the receiver may interpret or react to the message.

  • Encoding: This is transposing the intended meaning of the message with words, symbols, or pictures to show a message. Encoding is the development of the message that contains the information the source hopes to convey. It is putting together the thoughts, ideas, and information into a symbolic form that can be transmitted and understood by the receiver. Finally, it is extremely important for the sender to get to know its receiver and this is accomplished through research for targeting strategy. These concepts help craft the intended message in the minds of the consumer.
  • Message: The message comes from the encoding process, it is the content, meaning, or information the sources hope to convey. The message can be in many forms such as verbal, non-verbal, oral, written, or symbolic. Carrying a message without interpersonal contact between sender and receiver is known as non-personal channels of communication. Mass media or mass communications are examples of non-personal channels since the message is sent to many individuals at one time. Non-personal channels of communication are made up out of two main types, the first being print. Print media includes newspapers, magazines, direct mail, and billboards. The second type is broadcast; broadcast media includes radio and television.
  • Decoding: The receiver unravels the symbols to interpret what is being communicated. Transforming the sender's message back into thought. This is influenced greatly by the receiver's frame of reference (or realm of understanding) which involves their values, attitudes and state of mind when receiving the message. For the model to be effective the decoding by the receiver would match the encoding by the source, meaning they correctly understand the message that was sent. These can be peers or celebrities, and often represent a "desired state" in the eye of the influenced consumer. By following the consumption patterns of opinion leaders, consumers aspire to achieve a similar status or lifestyle, and project a similar image. Because of this, opinion leaders are powerful factors in marketing communications. Having opinion leaders endorse a brand can increase brand awareness and sales. Due to this, large companies pay highly influential celebrities to endorse their products.

You can receive the opinion leaders' thoughts or feelings towards the product/service through paid advertising, social media, blogs, or any other form of written media. These can be direct, or indirect influences.

Opinion formers are consumers who are regarded by their peers as being highly knowledgeable and trustworthy. They are considered experts in selecting the highest quality products due to their extensive knowledge, and as such are able to influence the purchasing behavior of other consumers despite lacking the celebrity status of an opinion leader. They have specialized knowledge about the area which corresponds with the product, service or business. For example, this could be a doctor sponsoring a form of medication, or a personal trainer recommending a sports brand to the customer. This means that both opinion leaders and opinion formers have a large influence on the consumer and their perceived view of the business, product, or service provided.

Opinion leaders add another link in the communication process, acting as a "meaning filter" for the receivers of the message.

While the initial production costs of a television advertisement are high, it is likely to reach a mass audience and, therefore, maintains a low cost per viewer, making it an efficient communication platform. Despite being the oldest form of media transmission still being used, marketing via radio remains a popular and effective choice due to its relatively lower cost and convenience (radio exposure can occur during transit, at work, and during recreational activities). Due to the lack of a visual aspect, radio advertising attempts to create imagery in the consumer's mind. Radio advertising is also extremely effective at reinforcing messages encountered in other channels (such as television). A familiar jingle or voice associated with a brand enhances brand and ad awareness, ultimately increasing brand equity. This is an example of "Integrated Marketing Communications", in which multiple marketing channels are simultaneously utilized to increase the strength and reach of the marketing message. Like television, radio marketing benefits from the ability to select specific time slots and programs (in this case in the form of radio stations and segments within).

Fill et al. Research suggests this sub-conscience relational thought process greatly benefits future brand recognition and awareness.

Within printed media, organizations also produce materials used to inform prospects and to support sales presentations and direct response efforts. Marketing collateral such as business cards, brochures, sales sheets, presentation folders, and point-of-sale materials may use higher-quality paper stocks and tactile or visual finishing treatments to increase perceived quality and reader engagement, and in direct-mail contexts such treatments are intended to help drive response rates.

Traditionally, marketing communications practitioners focused on the creation and execution of printed marketing collateral. Traditional media, or as some refer to as old media, has been used within the marketing and advertising world for many years. Traditional media encompasses conventional forms of advertising media, such as television, magazines, newspapers, radio, and direct mail and outdoor. For many decades, these forms of communication have been the main source for marketers to reach both consumers and other companies. In a world with no internet and the vast world of social media, roots of advertising and promotion lie within traditional media, where there is a more direct, physical way of advertising.

Advertising in the form of print is used by businesses in the form of billboards and posters, as well as magazines and newspapers, to get their message across to the target audience. Businesses will usually place a billboard in areas where it can be easily seen and where the target audience will spend their daily activities. Newspapers, magazines and posters are smaller in size and can be found in numerous places allowing the general public to read them. Depending on the product or service that is being advertised, marketers may specify where the majority of their prints may go to, such as advertisements of a new shampoo promoting more common within salons.

Print media are highly customizable, varying in print size, font, positioning and color combination. Newspapers commonly use coarse paper and tend to have poor reproduction quality, while magazines can enhance the appearance of a certain product due to the heavy weight gloss paper used which translates color well and offers a long lasting quality and likeability. For example, Vogue, a leading paid circulation fashion magazine, publishes advertising efforts alongside beautiful imagery and elegant photography, the association of the two communicates respectability and sophistication and promotes the credibility of the brands which appear in the same publication. Due to the high-quality reproduction, magazines tend to last longer and are often found in hair salons and waiting rooms. Consumers often cut out individual images which further prolongs the message and increases potential exposure. Although the relevance of the message may be lost during this extended time, brand awareness may still be raised. This change is driven by two key factors: audience fragmentation and ability to choose commercial content. Television, radio, magazines, and newspapers are becoming more fragmented and reaching smaller and more selective audiences. The rapid growth of communication due to interactive messaging, particularly the internet, had caused the changes in the use of communication throughout promotion mediums, with businesses preferring to use modern media over more traditional media methods. Consumers cannot avoid new and innovative ways of communication. Strategic selection of various communication platforms is known as a media strategy which aims to engage an audience in a conversation and, as a result, attempt to create a lasting relationship. Modern technology has expanded the use of platforms and ways in which consumers and the brand can interact. As a result, the context of platforms and how they are defined has changed. There are various platforms by which communication is transmitted, and these can be categorized as paid, owned, earned, or shared, formally named as the integrated communication triangle by Grönroos and Lindberg-Repo. The model acknowledges that communication must be credible and trustworthy to be effective. Studies reveal that many consumers look at review forums and ask friends or peers whom they trust for ratings on products before making a purchase decision. The brand controls the platform, message content, frequency and repetition of the communication message. These factors are typically accomplished through traditional paid platforms, such as print, electronic, outdoor and alternative media, that aims to target a mass segment of the market. Social media are flexible communication tools that go beyond the traditional means of advertising and allow brands to interact with their audience personally or professionally.

Influencer Marketing used to be focused on applying celebrity endorsement to help to influence audiences. Nowadays, with the growing outreach of social media, "common people" like bloggers are becoming popular and are connected with brands and products as influencers. Companies are beginning to invest time and money creating influence through resonance and reach. Return on Influence is not metrically trackable like Return on Investment is, but mechanisms such as links with UTM parameters can be created to track conversion behavior of influence.

The internet

The Internet features both non-personal and personal forms of communication. It has become one of the most dominant sources of information for most consumers. Belch & Belch explained that the internet is mostly a non-personal form of communication as consumers absorb information online with no personal contact between the consumer and the organizations that are providing the information on their websites. However, as the internet develops, it is including personal communication as consumers interact with marketers online as well as communicate and share information with one another through the use of social media. The Internet as a marketing tool can be used to reach and inform customers directly, create brand loyalty, and build relationships. Online advertising includes elements such as: graphic images as website banners, pop-up advertisements, homepage restyling and anchor deals (co-operation between two organizations ). He argued that in the then-new Internet business environment, clients rather than the marketers usually start the interaction, by actively looking for the information that they need. Moreover, personal responses of customers will be collected by corporations and their individual demands will be met according to their desires.

On the one hand, traditional media are "push" formats where marketers broadcast their messages to customers, but do not allow direct feedback. The interaction between the two parties is few and far between. On the other hand, Internet media have the attribute of "pull" where customers have the freedom to search for whatever they wish. For instance, whenever a consumer types "flower" Google's search engine, an advertisement of a specific flower shop might be placed on the top or bottom of the search result page by the Google AdWords program. Google makes use of the client's search history and location to place an appropriate ad. The traditional one-way "push" communication is supplanted by the more productive two-way "push and pull" interaction.

Individualization

Compared with the traditional media where the same information is received by all consumers, As another advantage of two-way interaction, internet media can carry information "tailored" to the needs of a specific consumer. One of the first and most prominent examples is the personalized service provided by Amazon in which consumers are called by their names and "tailored" recommendations are provided according to their previous purchase records. Furthermore, besides "tailored" individual service, with the accumulation of consumers' information on the Internet, mass customization becomes possible in which companies provide "tailored" content to particular segments of consumers with similar interests. Douban is a Chinese social networking service website that allows its users to rate movies, TV dramas, music and concerts. It rapidly grew to 200 million registered users in 2013 (founded in 2005). In addition, people who like the same TV drama, like Game of Thrones, or fans of the same movie star, such as Tom Cruise, will group together to discuss and share their feelings. This allows companies to take advantage of mass customization to sell products or reinforce their brand equity in suitable target groups. By doing so, the interaction and co-operation of companies and consumers are deepening, widening and multiplying in a variety of ways.

Industry restructuring

Restructuring followed by disintermediation and reintermediation is one of the essential features of the transition from traditional to Internet marketing communications. The Internet may force traditional distributors or retailers out of business simply because Internet transactions are less costly. JD.com significantly impacted the distribution channels for personal computers in China as of 2009 by allowing consumers to order different parts of the computers that were then assembled by the online business, leaving tens of thousands of retailers in that field out of their jobs. In 2015, JD.com accounted for 22.9% of the Chinese online shopping's market share. Again, according to Financial Times, with the shifting trend of using mobile phones for online purchase in China, the people using cellphones to log on to the Internet outnumbered those using PC, the next wave of restructuring faced by JD.com and its major competitors like Alibaba. In 2014, JD.com's orders deriving from mobile phones increased by 543%, compared with the last year's quarter of the same period. Haoyu Shen, the chief executive of the JD.com, ascribed this result to its own company's app rather than the co-operation with Tecent, the Chinese second largest online corporation, although it invested in JD.com in March 2014. As an e-commerce business, JD.com has been constantly facing challenges and opportunities of reintermediation with the rapid shifts of the technology development of the Internet.

Email

Email marketing is directly marketing a commercial message to a group of people using email. In its broadest sense, every email sent to a potential or current customer could be considered email marketing. It usually involves using email to send ads, request business, or solicit sales or donations, and is meant to build loyalty, trust, or brand awareness. Email marketing can be done to either sold lists or a current customer database. Broadly, the term is usually used to refer to sending email messages with the purpose of enhancing the relationship of a merchant with its current or previous customers, to encourage customer loyalty and repeat business, acquiring new customers or convincing current customers to purchase something immediately, and adding advertisements to email messages sent by other companies to their customers.

In-product communication

Another channel for direct digital marketing is in-product communication (or in-product marketing), which delivers marketing content directly to a user's internet-connected device or software application. In-product marketing content is often very similar to that of email marketing campaigns, but the segmentation and delivery is more targeted. Because email has become a standard tool in the digital marketing toolkit, the email channel often is overloaded and overused, leading to much lower open rates, lower engagement rates, lower click-through rates (CTR), and lower conversion rates. The rise of internet-connected (IOT) devices is enabling a growing number of consumer products manufacturers to take advantage of this channel of marketing communications, to supplement other digital marketing channels.

Guerrilla marketing

Due to the rise in advertising clutter, there has been a push for non-traditional media such as guerrilla marketing. Guerrilla marketing is usually a low-cost way of generating buzz through creative or unexpected communication platforms. Outdoor settings provide potential ground to gain attention from a large audience. An example is customizing street infrastructure or creating an event such as a flash mob. Research rates guerrilla advertising as having a higher perceived value compared to other communication platforms, which tends to result in a positive consumer response.

Touch points

Every point of contact is a form of communication and it is, therefore, necessary to consider touch points as a communication platform. Touch points can be either physical or a human interaction between a brand and the consumer which influence customer decision-making process during pre-purchase, purchase and post-purchase.

There are many ways in which a customer may interact with a business. Likewise, the higher price point and packaging of Ferrero Rocher may communicate sophistication and better quality. Visual appearance can have a significant effect on purchase decision, After failed attempts to solve the issue through customer service, Carroll uploaded a humorous YouTube video titled "United breaks guitars", Carroll's YouTube video is an example of the multiplier effect, and how consumer experiences are shared through user-generated content (UGC) networks and word of mouth communication.

Traditional models viewed paid media platforms as the primary source of information. However, technology has enabled dialogue within a consumer-centric communication platform. The transition from traditional media to various forms of online and UGC marketing is increasing. Academics recognize that marketing communication is an open system and customers are influenced by multiple communication platforms. Direct marketing is a growing form of marketing communication. It is designed to build the relationship between the customer and the brand, known as customer relationship management (CRM). Organizations use customer accounts in order to monitor and understand their needs. They manage detailed information about the customer's touch points with the objective to maximize satisfaction and loyalty. The communication can be in person, by telephone, mail, email or website.

Direct mail

Direct mail is a letter, card, catalog, or sample sent through post, email, fax, or courier. This communication is most effective when the recipient has shown interest in or has previously purchased from the organization. Advantages of direct mail are personalization, careful targeting, creativity and flexibility. Email is low-cost, but can be lost through spam and junk email filters. Direct mail is dependent on accurate databases. Coupling methods together improves communication as it harnesses the benefits of each channel, which when combined, builds a clearer and vaster impact than if used individually. IMC requires marketers to identify the boundaries around the promotional mix elements and to consider the effectiveness of the campaign's message.

In the mid to late 1980s, the marketing environment was undergoing profound environmental changes with implications for marketing communications. Media proliferation, audience fragmentation, globalization of markets, the advent of new communications technologies, the widespread use of databases meant that the old methods, and practices used in mass marketing were no longer relevant. In particular, the rise of digital and interactive media meant that marketers were relying less on advertising as the dominant form of marketing communications. Amongst practitioners and scholars, there was an increasing recognition that new approaches to marketing communications were required. That new approach would become known as integrated marketing communications. A number of empirical studies, carried out in the early 1990s, found that the new IMC was far from a "short-lived managerial fad," but rather was a very clear reaction by advertisers and marketers to the changing external environment.

Integrated marketing communications is a holistic planning process that focuses on integrating messages across communications disciplines, creative executions, media, timing and stakeholders. An integrated approach has emerged as the dominant approach used by companies to plan and execute their marketing communication programs and has been described as a paradigm shift. Coordinating a brand's communications makes the brand seem more trustworthy and sound, as it is seen as a 'whole' rather than a mixture of different messages being sent out. The IMC perspective looks at the 'big picture' in marketing, advertising and promotions. In that environment, both practitioners and theorists recognized the potential for confusing or inconsistent brand images to develop across media and across different communications disciplines. The fragmentation of audiences presented marketers with particular challenges. No longer were they able to communicate with mass markets via mass media; instead they needed to communicate with increasingly tightly defined market segments, using highly specialist media and communications disciplines. New media and the use of databases were enabling marketers to communicate with customers on a one-to-one basis. The old methods and practices associated with mass communications were failing to serve the realities of the new era. The imperative to present a clear, coherent and unified narrative in both internal and external communications was becoming increasingly apparent by the late 1980s.

In 1989, two discrete events served to draw attention to the fact that industry attitudes to marketing communications were shifting. Firstly, the consulting firm, Shearson-Lehman Hutton published a report on the subject of consumer advertising, signaling that a number of market-place changes would force packaged goods marketers to adopt a more integrated approach to marketing communications. Their report also noted that high-end manufacturers (e.g. automobiles) and up-market services (e.g. cruise vacations) were more inclined to use integrated promotions. Secondly, the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4A's), instituted a task-force to investigate integrated marketing communications (IMC), with the result that the first official definition was published. The AAAA defined IMC as, "a concept of marketing communications planning that recognizes the added value of a comprehensive plan that evaluates the strategic roles of a variety of communication disciplines (e.g. general advertising, direct response, sales promotion, and public relations) and combines these disciplines to provide clarity, consistency, and maximum communication impact." The 4As originally coined the term the "new advertising"; however, this title did not appropriately incorporate many other aspects included in the term "IMC" – most notably, those beyond traditional advertising process aside from simply advertising.

thumb|The Medill School at Northwestern was the first university to teach course in integrated marketing communications.

In 1991, the faculty of Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University in conjunction with the AAAA, began the first empirical research study designed to investigate how IMC was being used. The study focused around understanding the concept and the importance of IMC and also to analyze the extent in which IMC was practiced in all major U.S advertising agencies. This initial study was then replicated by other studies with a view to examining how IMC was being used in other countries; New Zealand, UK, US, Australia, India, Thailand, South Africa and the Philippines, etc. The findings from these studies demonstrated that the new IMC was far from a "short-lived managerial fad" but rather was "a very clear reaction by advertising agencies and their clients as they are affected by a multitude of factors such as new forms of information technology including development and usage of databases, media fragmentation, client desires for interaction/synergy, and global and regional coordination."

In 1993, Don Schultz and his team published the first text-book dedicated to IMC. Their work, simply entitled, Integrated Marketing Communications, described IMC as a totally new way of looking at the whole of marketing communications, rather than looking at each of the parts separately. And, in the same year, the Medill School at Northwestern University changed their curriculum to include a focus on this new idea of integrated marketing communications rather than the traditional program which had emphasized advertising. IMC emerged from an "academic department that, for several decades, had been recognized as the number one advertising program. Since the mid-1990s, virtually every text-book on the subject of marketing communications has adopted an integrated perspective or has added chapters on IMC in new editions of standard works. Collectively these books focus on the IMC planning processes and this represents the third distinct stage in the evolution of IMC – an emphasis on managing and organizing IMC.

Over time, scholars have advanced different definitions of IMC, with each definition exhibiting a slightly different emphasis. Yet, in spite of the variety of definitions in circulation, there is general consensus that integrated marketing communications should be viewed as a planning process. Some scholars have pointed out that because IMC is both a process and a concept, it is exceedingly difficult to define.

Some of the key definitions that have been advanced during IMC's evolution are outlined here:

  • "IMC is the process of all sources and information managed so a consumer or prospect is exposed which behaviorally moves the customer more towards a sale."
  • "The strategic coordination of all messages and media used by an organization to influence its perceived brand value."
  • "The process of strategically controlling or influencing all messages and encoring purposeful dialogue to created and nourish profitable relationships with consumers and other stakeholders."
  • "[A three-pronged definition] One-voice marketing communications is integration that creates a clear and consistent image, position, message, and/or theme across all marketing communication disciplines or tools. Integrated communications refers to the creation of both a brand image and a behavioral response that emanate directly from marketing communications materials such as advertisements. Coordinated marketing communications associates 'integrated' with the concept of 'coordination'.
  • "IMC is a strategic business process used to plan, develop, execute and evaluate coordinate measurable persuasive brand communication programs over time with consumers, customers and prospects, and other that are targeted, relevant internal and external audiences."
  • "IMC is the concept and process of strategically managing audience-focused, channel-centered, and results-driven brand communication programs over time."
  • "An IMC program plans and executes various marketing activities with consistency so that its total impact exceeds the sum of each activity. It is a strategy in which different communication tools like advertising, public relations, sales promotion, direct marketing and personal selling work together to maximize the communication impact on target consumers." (Saeed et al., 2013)
  • "IMC is the planning and execution of all types of advertising-like and promotion-like messages selected for a brand, service, or company, in order to meet a common set of communication objectives, or more particularly, to support a single ‘ positioning’." Belch and Belch argue that IMC has become the dominant approach used by companies to plan and execute their marketing communication programs while other scholars have described IMC as a paradigm shift.

Meaning of integration

thumb|Integrating the creative and the media can result in imaginative and powerful messages that grab attention and are noticed.

Within the literature there is no absolute agreement about the meaning of "integration" in the concept, "integrated marketing communications". The concept of IMC has evolved during its brief history, and with that different ideas around the meaning of integration have been advanced. The diverse views surrounding IMC and its meaning can be explained by the early state of theoretical development and research on IMC which gives rise to a multiplicity of different perspectives. As the discipline matures, these different views are expected to converge. As consumers approach the actual purchase, they may turn to other types of promotion such as personal selling or direct marketing. A carefully planned communications program will include a blend of tools in a way that the messages move the customer through the various stages of the purchase decision – from need recognition through to purchase and post-purchase stages. Integrating the communications disciplines addresses the question of how the strengths of one discipline can be used to overcome the weaknesses of a different discipline.

Clearly, media releases which are often part of a PR program are very different to persuasive messages used in advertising. However, messages should include a similar tone and at least some common elements so that each message looks like it is part of a coherent, integrated campaign. Every execution is part of the brand's identity. Consistent executions facilitate brand awareness. People associate the 'look' of the brand's marketing communication with the brand itself. Consistent executions are more of a 'feeling' that ties everything together; a unique look or feel so that the target audience recognizes a brand's marketing communication even before they see the brand name. The key to consistency is the visual feel. This is because the visual memory for the imagery associated with the brand actually elicits faster brand identification than the brand name itself. Certain messages may not translate into other media. For instance, messages containing 'sex appeals' may work well on TV because movement lends itself to eroticism, but may become "flat" in a static medium such as print. In such cases it is important that the secondary media support the primary media and that messages harmonize. Consequently, the discipline has relatively few critics. Nevertheless, researchers have pointed to areas that are in need of further research, and highlight some of the discipline's deficiencies:

  • Some practitioners and scholars argue that IMC is not new. Skeptics point out that the more experienced communications managers, especially national brand managers, have always practiced integration.
  • A more serious criticism of IMC concerns the problem of measurement. The value of IMC activities has proved very difficult to measure due to the interactions of different communications tools.
  • Studies have shown that, while managers are familiar with the IMC concept in theory, it is not widely practiced. Such findings suggest that IMC is easy to understand, but difficult to do. One possible explanation for the slow uptake is that organizational barriers to implementation may have become entrenched and are difficult to overcome.

Marketing communications framework

The marketing communications planning framework (MCPF) is a model for the creation of an ICM plan. Created by Chris Fill, senior examiner for the Chartered Institute of Marketing, the MCPF is intended to solve the inadequacies of other frameworks.

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Integrated marketing communications planning approaches

Inside–out approach

An “inside-out” approach is the traditional planning approach to marketing communication. Planning begins "inside" the organization by identifying the goals and objectives which are often based around what has always been done. Communication's task then becomes a process of "selling" the organization's message to the "outside" or external stakeholders.

Outside–in approach

The outside–in approach of integrated marketing communications seeks to understand the needs and wants of the consumer. Communication builds rapport that could prove to be profitable as they retain clientele. The outside-in approach offers a unique way to plan, as it operates backwards by concentrating on customers first, then determining the most effective course of marketing and communication methods to implement. Effectively managing the strategic business process is crucial as it defines the steps to follow which ensure brand value is upheld.

Cross-functional planning approach

Cross-functional planning approach of integrated marketing communications diverges away from the other two categories, it does not center around the concept of marketing promotional elements, instead the focus has shifted toward restructuring the organization to increase a customer-centric environment. This approach recognizes that messages do not just come from the marketing department, but can come from virtually any department within the organization. Implementing IMC is a flexible process due to the changing nature of the marketing dynamics therefore by eliminating borders within the organization it allows for this notion.

Barriers to implementation

The barriers to implementation have been cited as one of the main reasons for the failure to adopt holistic approaches to IMC. The key barriers cited in the literature are:

No support from senior management

It is vital for an organization who implements integrated marketing communications to have the commitment from all levels of employees, including senior management. Changing the emphasis on what consumers desire leads to a higher success being attained through IMC, as it is being influenced by not only internal stakeholders but also external ones.

Communication-based relationship marketing

Expanding from this, Tom Duncan and Sandra E. Moriarty formed the concept of communication-based relationship marketing. This model diverged from the concept of the general one way, business influencing consumers what to believe scenario. Subsequently, these findings shaped modern marketing, focusing on an interactive two-way approach that builds rapport with stakeholders. Developments from integrated marketing communications have evolved into three categories: inside-out approach, outside-in approach and cross-functional strategic approach.

Branding

Branding goes beyond having a logo; it is how businesses communicate on behalf of their company, verbally and visually. A brand is a conversation it is how people talk about your company when you are not in the room. There are many CBR constructs but five of the main ones in the literature are brand love, brand attachment, self-brand connection, brand identification, and brand trust. All five of these constructs are not exclusive and firm, but can overlap each other. Brand attachment is the emotional connection a customer has with a brand. Brand love is the measurement of that emotional commitment to a specific brand from a satisfied customer. Self-brand connection is the degree to which a brand has become an important aspect of one's self-identity. In other words, this brand accurately represents their self-concept. while corporate communications deal with issue management, mergers and acquisitions, litigation, etc.

Customer-focused versus customer-centric

A recent revelation in integrated marketing communication is the change in the role of the customer within the business world. Due to the fast-paced growth of technology, customers are rapidly gaining more power through forums such as word of mouth; now with capabilities of reaching a much wider audience through the use of social media. Recognizing this power shift, organizations have begun to re-evaluate their typical marketing strategies and customer approaches from the traditional customer-focused attitude to the wide-spreading customer-centric method in order to develop a more integrated strategy.

A customer-focused approach can be defined as "when an organization learns more about the habits of the customer so that they can identify opportunities for cross-selling".

Cited sources