Chapter 14 – Integrated Marketing Communications Flashcards
(65 cards)
Integrated marketing communications (IMC)
represents the promotion dimension of the four P’s; encompasses a variety of communication disciplines – general advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, public relations, direct marketing, and digital media – in combination to provide clarity, consistency, and maximum communicative impact
Three components of IMC
the consumer or target market, the channels or vehicles through which the message is communicated, and the evaluation of the results of the communication
Communicating With Consumers
The sender -
the firm from which an IMC message originates; the sender must be clearly identified to the intended audience
The transmitter
an agent or intermediary with which the sender works to develop the marketing communications; for example, a firm’s creative department or an advertising agency
Encoding
the process of converting the sender’s ideas into a message, which could be verbal, visual, or both
The communication channel
the medium – print, broadcast, the internet – that carries the message
The receiver
the person who reads, hears, or sees and processes the information contained in the message or advertisement
Decoding
the process by which the receiver interprets the senders message
Noise
any interface that stems from competing messages, a lack of clarity in the message, or a flaw in the medium, and it poses a problem for all communication channels
Feedback loop
- allows the receiver to communicate with the sender and thereby informs the sender whether the message was received and decoded properly
How Consumers Perceive Communication
- Receivers decode messages differently -
not always the way the sender intended, different people shown the same message will often take radically different meanings from it
Senders adjust messages according to the medium and receivers traits -
different media communicates in different ways
- Marketers will make adjustments to their message and media depending on who they want to communicate with
Steps in Planning an IMC Campaign
- Identity Target Audience
- Set Objectives
- Determine Budget
- Convey message
- Evaluate and Select Media
- Create Communication
- Assess Impact using marketing metrics
Step 1: Identify Target Audience
Success of the campaign depends on how well the advertiser can identify its target audience - firms conduct research and then use the information they gain to set the tone for advertising program
Step 2: Set Objectives
Derived from the overall objectives of the marketing program and clarify the specific goals that the ads are designed to accomplish - objectives/goals are crucial since they will later serve as the standard against which success of failure is measured
- all firms aim to - inform, persuade, and remind customers
- setting objectives - push strategy
- advertising to consumers - pull strategy
Step 3: Determine Budget
- Objective and task method
determines the cost required to undertake specific tasks to accomplish communication objectives; process entails setting objectives, choosing media, and determining costs
Competitive parity method -
a method of determining a communications budget in which the firm’s share of the communication expense is in line with its market share
Percentage of sales method
a method of determining a communications budget that is based on a fixed percentage of forecasted sales
Affordable method
a method of determining a communications budget based on what is left over after other operating costs have been covered
Step 4: Convey Message
The message - Message provides the target audience with reasons to respond in the desired way
Message should communicate the products problem solving ability clearly and in a compelling fashion
Unique selling proposition
a strategy of differentiating a product by communicating its unique attributes; often becomes the common theme or slogan in the entire advertising campaign
The Appeal
use different appeals to portray their product or service to persuade consumers to purchase then - advertising tends to combine the types of appeals into two broad categories (rational and emotional), moral appeals are sometimes a third category
Rational appeals
helps consumers make purchase decisions by offering factual information and strong arguments built around relevant issues that encourage consumers to evaluate the brand favorably on the basis of the key benefits it provides
Emotional appeal
aims to satisfy consumers emotional desires rather than their utilitarian needs - key to successful emotional appeal is the use of emotion to create a bond between the consumer and the brand
