Functions of Marketing Communications Inform Persuade Remind Build relationships

Traditional Forms of Communications Advertising Sales Promotion Special Events Marketing Communications Public Relations Sales People

Role of IMC Promotion is communication by marketers that informs, persuades, reminds, and builds relationships with potential buyers of a product to influence an opinion or elicit a response IMC is a plan for optimal use of the elements of promotion

Putting It All Together Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) is “a strategic business process used to plan, develop, execute, and evaluate coordinated, measurable, persuasive brand communication programs over time with consumers, customers, prospects, and other targeted, relevant external and internal audiences.”

Communications Model

Message Source Marketers hire celebrities as spokespersons to add excitement to the source of the message

An Opportunity to Communicate

Control Continuum High Low Advertising Sales Promotion Personal Selling Public Relations Word of Mouth High Low

Advertising That Gets Attention

Appeals Personal appeals allow for direct interaction between a company representative and a customer Mass appeals seek to reach many prospective customers at the same time New appeals Guerrilla marketing Viral marketing Buzz and hype

Skechers This ad creates a feeling of excitement

KitchenAid Product giveaways can stimulate purchase

Advertising Non-personal communication from an identified sponsor using the mass media can: convey rich and dynamic images establish and reinforce brand identity communicate factual information remind customer to buy

Sales Promotion Programs that build interest or encourage purchase of a product through the use of an incentive in a specified time period coupons contests rebates premiums

Publicity and Public Relations Portray an organization and its products positively by influencing the perceptions of various publics writing press releases holding special events conducting and publishing consumer surveys putting a positive spin on negative news

Guerrilla Marketing Discover gave away orange hats to those celebrating New Year’s Eve at Times Square The hats got national television coverage as Regis Philbin interviewed participants

Buzz versus Hype Buzz Hype Word of Mouth Advertising Grassroots Corporate Authentic Fake Credibility Skepticism

Yahoo Buzz

Characteristics of an IMC Program Creates a single unified voice Begins with the customer Seeks to develop relationships Involves 2-way communication Focuses on stakeholders Generates a continuous stream of communication Measures results based on actual feedback Video: Sony’s Metreon facility

Ad Space on Blimps Some promotional components are not integrated with the ad campaign

Developing the Promotional Mix

Step 1: Identify the Target

Step 2: Establish Promotion Objectives Possible objectives create awareness inform the market create desire encourage trial build loyalty

Up the Promotional Road

Step 3: Determine/Allocate Promotion Budget Top-down budgeting techniques percentage-of-sales method competitive parity Bottom-up budgeting technique objective-task method

Allocate Budget to Specific Promotion Mix Organizational factors Market potential Market size

Push and Pull Strategies Pull strategies seek to create consumer demand which convinces retailers to carry the product Push strategies target retailers

Step 4: Designing the Promotion Mix Which elements of promotion will be used? What message is to be communicated? Type of appeal? Structure of appeal? What communication channels should be employed? What role will advertising, sales promotion, public relations, and selling play?

Effects of Time and the PLC Introduction phase: push strategy; mix relies heavily on advertising, sales promotions, and public relations Growth phase: heavy advertising with emphasis on differentiation Maturity phase: emphasis on sales promotions to encourage brand switching Decline phase: dramatic reductions in promotional spending

Altoids This campaign made it a hit with young people

The AIDA Model Action Desire Interest Attention

Step 5: Evaluate Effectiveness Is the plan working? Measure response to sales promotions Measure brand awareness, recall, and image before and after ad campaign Analyze and compare sales performances by territory and sales force Clip articles appearing in media

Email Communications By using HTML email, firms can send customers emails that look like their Web sites

Database Marketing Critical to interactive marketers as they seek to track responses to messages and develop a dialogue with customers Allows the organization to learn customer preferences, fine-tune and test offerings, and build relationships

Database Marketing Is interactive Builds relationships Locates new customers Stimulates cross-selling Is measurable Is trackable