Study with the several resources on Docsity
Earn points by helping other students or get them with a premium plan
Prepare for your exams
Study with the several resources on Docsity
Earn points to download
Earn points by helping other students or get them with a premium plan
Community
Ask the community for help and clear up your study doubts
Discover the best universities in your country according to Docsity users
Free resources
Download our free guides on studying techniques, anxiety management strategies, and thesis advice from Docsity tutors
“It is obvious that IMC as "a new marketing communication strategy" is being extensively utilized by advertising and PR agencies” (Kitchen et al., 2008, p.43).
Typology: Study notes
1 / 59
This page cannot be seen from the preview
Don't miss anything!
Authors: Abdikadar Aden 911130 Fikrie Kreidly 930101 Adnan Tvrtkovic 920610 Supervisor: Dr. Setayesh Sattari Examiner: Dr. Pejvak Oghazi Date: 11 /6- 2014
We wish to thank everyone who helped with the construction of this bachelor thesis. First we owe our deep gratitude to Dr Setayesh Sattari, our tutor, for her effort to constantly read and objectively help us to stay on track and even improve the quality of this work. Whether we needed help for 5 minutes or 1 hour, Dr Sattari was always an available tutor that could find time for her students. We would not be as proud of our work as we are now, if it weren’t for her. Furthermore, we also like to thank Dr Pejvak Oghazi, our examiner, for helping us improve our response rate when it was very low to a much better response rate, we would also like to thank him for his effort to criticise both the written material of this work and the presentations of it. In addition, we would also like to thank Dr Magnus Hultman, for his help in guiding us through the methodology chapter, which is one of the main essential chapters of this study. The quality of his lectures on methodology very much reflects in this text. Special thanks to all our classmates for their advice and reflections that helped us in improving our work. Last but not least, we also owe a great deal of gratitude to Linnaeus University and CIL! It was an honour being a student at LNU and an enlightening three years for us all.
Today there are many tools used for marketing. Many Ideal figures have been drawn to create “the way” to do marketing. IMC is constructed to be a non mass-marketing tool that focuses on its target market specifically, makes it essential to start relationships with customer, it shows the importance of one coherent message the user of IMC is trying to portray to its customers, and finally it allows marketers to know what resources or communication channels they have at hand because IMC makes it important to now your resources of marketing before you actually start marketing your product. These characteristics of IMC are the very reason the authors of this study became interested in this topic specifically. This chapter introduces the topic of the thesis and starts with the background into the topic of IMC. The specification of the problem being studied was next discussed and followed by the purpose. This chapter will then conclude with the research question.
Integrated marketing communications (IMC) has been studied and used in the global market for the past 20 years and still today, there are many different definitions and/or perceptions of IMC. Many practitioners accepted IMC as a valid new marketing tool and others have contradicted the idea of IMC as a misunderstanding (Cornelissen & lock, 2000; Schultz & Kitchen, 2000). As integrated marketing communications deals with merging or combining communication tools to form a combined message, Hutton (1996) argues that “… marketing, advertising, and public relations practitioner’s had been adept at coordinating their efforts long before the term IMC came into vogue.” (p. 156). This is while other researchers argue that IMC is a new brand concept for the emerging digitilized environment and state the importance of integrated marketing methods/efforts (Schultz & Kitchen, 2000). During the past twenty years, discussions on IMC were mainly based on definitions and theoretical understanding and this discussion is still taking place today (Laurie & Mortimer, 2011). Regardless of the theoretical development of integrated marketing communications, a large number of agencies have continued to deploy integrated marketing communication programs (Kitchen et al., 2008). As stated, “IMC would appear to be defined by those implementing it” (Kitchen et al., 2004, p.23), meaning that many different definitions have been created as a result of the length of time the theoretical process has been taking place for
integrated marketing communications and in the manner agencies have chosen to implement it. Furthermore, as stated by Kitchen et al., (2008); “ …one of the reasons that the understanding of IMC understanding has emerged so slowly is because its practitioners have been more interested in its development and implementation than its measurement value” (p.531). In 2004, Schultz developed a definition of integrated marketing communications that in the author’s opinion best describe what integrated marketing communications is and suits the study well. IMC is “…a strategic business process used to plan, develop, execute, and evaluate coordinate, measurable, persuasive brand communication programs over time with consumers, customers, prospects, and other targeted, relevant external and internal audiences” (Schultz & Schultz, 2004, p.20). The authors of this thesis have composed a table of various different integrated marketing communications definitions to help illustrate and explain the vast definitions of integrated marketing communications that have been composed over the years; please refer to section literature review for further readings. Essentially, integrated marketing communications composes all of the firm’s marketing channels; i.e. public marketing, e marketing, advertisements, telemarketing, and composes a unified message throughout these communications tools to be sent to their targeted audience. This notation is important for firms because having a correlated and unified message, drastically reduces the chance of confusion or misinterpretations of the brand message a firm would like to present to their audience. Studies proposed different success factors for implementing IMC in an organization. In this regard, Kitchen et al., (2004) reference five main components of IMC as stated below that will be used as a tool and or checklist for this study. This notion will be explained further below:- “1. The primary goal of IMC is to affect behavior through directed communication
_2. The IMC process should start with the customer or prospect and then work backwards to the brand communicator.
This study aims to investigate managerial perception of Swedish firms towards success factors of IMC implementation.
How do marketing managers perceive Integrated Marketing Communication and the five success factors within the Swedish markets?
The main theories of this study are the five factors of IMC. This chapter will be divided so that each and every factor of IMC will be fully explained as well as the IMC concept in itself. The factors of IMC were all chosen based on their repeatedly emphasized importance to IMC in various articles. Also, the relationship between the factors and IMC will be explained by the end of each section to keep the reader on the same train of thought as the authors. Before going through each and every factor of IMC, the authors’ decided to start with marketing communications to further clarify the origins of Integrated Marketing Communications.
One definition of marketing communication was released by American Marketing Association in 2004 as “… an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders” ( Gundlach & Wilkie, 2010, p.89). Another definition was found which states “the means by which firms attempts to inform, persuade, incite and remind consumers – directly or indirectly – about the brands they sell” (Keller, 2001, p.819). Since the previous definition that was released in 2004 by AMA (American Marketing Association) was argued to be too narrow to define the wide approaches that are used today to practice marketing and communication, in 2007 AMA published another more recent and reformed version “… the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large ” (Gundlach & Wilkie, 2010, p. 90). After changes, reforms and developments, marketing communication has become internationally recognized as the most efficient way for companies to communicate with their customers in regards to their brands and offerings (Keller, 2001). The reforms and changes that marketing communication has undergone throughout its existence, has eventually given it the important roles it has today. “ Marketing Communication represents the voice of a brand and the means by which companies can establish a dialogue with consumers concerning their product offering ” (Keller, 2001, p. 823). This means that the role of marketing communication is to help
Since IMC is the main topic of discussion, in both this overall study and in this theory chapter, the authors decided to provide the reader with a historical overview of definitions. These definitions will be given in the table “evolution of IMC definitions”. Table 2.1: Evolution of IMC Definitions
American Association of Advertising Agencies
A concept of marketing communications planning that recognizes the added value of a comprehensive plan that evaluates the strategic roles of a variety of communications disciplines, e.g., general advertising, direct response, sales promotion and public relations—and combines these disciplines to provide clarity, consistency, and maximum communications impact.
Caywood, C., Schultz, D.E., & Wang, P.
[IMC is 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 – general advertising, direct response, sales promotion, and public relations – and combines these disciplines to provide clarity, consistency, and maximum communication impact (p.2).
Schultz, D. E., Tannenbaum, S. I., & Lauterborn, R. F
Integrated marketing communications means talking to people who buy or don’t buy based on what they see, hear, feel, etc.—and not just about [a] product or service. It means eliciting a response, not just conducting a monologue. And it means being accountable for results... delivering a return on investment, not just spending a budget (p.17).
1996 Duncan, T., & Caywood, C.
[IMC is] the process of managing all sources of information about a product/service to which a customer or prospect is exposed which behaviourally moves the consumer toward a sale and maintains customer loyalty (p.18)
1997 Percy, L.
Integrated marketing communications is the process of developing and implementing various forms of persuasive communication programs with customers and prospects over time (p.2).
2004 Schultz, D. E., & Schultz, H.
Integrated marketing communication 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 (p.20).
(^2005) Kliatchko, J.G.
IMC is the concept and process of strategically managing audience- focused, channel-centred, and result-driven brand communication programs over time (p.23).
(^2008) Kliatchko, J.G.
IMC is an audience-driven business process of strategically managing stakeholders, content, channels and results of brand communication programs (p.140).
Besides giving an understanding of what IMC truly means, these definitions are useful when conceptualizing a main definition to stand by in this study; this definition is the most recent one the authors could find, by Kliatchko in 2008. Since the definition was made during 2008, it most certainly should encompass the adjustments and reforms of today’s marketing channels and business markets, and therefore should be more applicable to this particular study. The American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA) produced the very first definition that (the authors found) was made in 1989. In this time period, IMC was not very different from MC. One can note on the definitions made by AAAA (1989) and Shultz, Caywood and Wang (1991) that the definitions shows great similitude with the previously stated definitions
Schultz, 1998, p. 469). This means that IMC is nothing new. It is the same old traditional way of marketing communication only it was made to look different and up-to-date marketing when it really is not. While there are marketers against the idea of IMC, there are ones that are pro IMC. Their argument is that what makes IMC so different and important is the way that it makes marketers use their marketing tools. The marketing tools are used to create synergy through coordination with the goal of improving corporate image. Another factor added to that argument is how efficiently IMC encompasses new arising channels of marketing e.g. the Internet (Kitchen & Schultz, 1998). Since in 1998, Internet was the new growing channel of communication to utilize when communicating with customers, it was used as an example to justify that argument. Arguments, such as the ones mentioned above, contribute to problems within implementation. Since many marketers have their own specific view of what IMC is, they intend to treat the implementation process differently. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate managerial attitudes and perception of Swedish firms towards success factors of IMC implementation. The authors hope that, this will help reduce some of the existing obscurity of IMC in Sweden. The 5 factors of IMC are customer focus, Targeted communication, Relationship between customer & brand and finally, synergy. At the absolute end of this chapter the reader will be provided with a section where all of these factors are combined to fully identify the purposes behind them and their utilization.
Customer focus is the assurance of continually allowing the voices of customers to be a part of companies’ decisions and discussions (Bharadwaj et al., 2012). To be customer focused means that marketers will take into account the feedback and needs of customers when formulating business strategies. This definition shows how important it is for marketers to research their markets before conducting any strategic business decisions. The importance of customer research was verified by the statement “The Marketing Science Institute (MSI) now identifies that learning about the capabilities that underlie a customer-focused organization is a paramount 2010– 12 research priority” (Bharadwaj et al., 2012, p. 1012). This statement also takes into account that it is not only important to yield information about customers but to mainly know what types of data-gathering resources a company has at hand. A beneficial outcome of customer focus that has been stressed by Fuch and Schreier (2011) was that firms that show their existing customer interest would create a customer-oriented image of the company. This image in turn will help yield new customers while making current
customers more loyal. These forms of chain reactions can generate a very bright and profitable future for a company that exercises their customer focused resources right. To attain a successful customer focused method, one needs to have the “ability to translate customer input about features and value into hit products” (Rust et al., 2010, p. 99–100). This ability, as stated, will help marketers both understand their customer while carrying out the demands of their customers and make them into a reality by creating offerings that encompasses these demands. “The IMC process should start with the customer or prospect and then work backwards to the brand communicator” (Kitchen, 2005, p. 75). This particular sentence summarizes the factor of customer focus. It basically points out that marketers should base their marketing communication on the response they generate from customers in their market. Eventually, this will lead to a more efficient marketing strategy since it familiarizes the marketers with the needs and wants of the customers.
Targeted communication can also be described as direct marketing, which is defined as “Direct marketing is a data driven interactive process of directly communicating with targeted customers or prospects using any medium to obtain a measurable response or transaction via one or multiple channels” (Scovotti & Spiller, 2006, p.199). Direct marketing deals with creating marketing programs from the information you get from your customers. This enables the marketers to develop a more customized marketing program from the information. “ When targeting potential adopters of a new product, firms should focus first on people with (proportional) effect on others, often labeled "opinion leaders," "influentials," or "influencers." The idea is that getting to opinion leaders early will help accelerate the overall adoption process in the population” (Haenlein & Libai, 2013, p. 65). This is done by directing information through, e.g. advertising, to the most influential players or end users in a particular market. Since they are the most influential ones, they could help to further establish a desire for a product in the overall market, which is very beneficial when companies try to establish an image and increase the desire of a product in a particular market (Alden et al., 1999). “The primary goal of IMC is to affect behavior through directed communication ” (Kitchen, 2005, p. 75). Targeted communication is more of a goal than a tool or approach, unlike the rest of the factors. The eventual goal of targeted communication when it comes to IMC is that customers
“ The concept behind synergy in marketing communication is coordination of messages for delivering more impact ” (Wang, 2006, p. 160). The main idea of synergy is to coordinate all forms of communication to increase the impact on the specific message/image that the companies are trying to portray to their customers. Wang (2006) states the following " This impact is created through synergy—the linkages that are created in a receiver's mind as a result of messages that connect to create impact beyond the power of any one message on its own" (p. 160). “The effects of using similar messages in advertising and product publicity were validated by streams of research focusing on the effects of message repetition on attitude strength (Harkins and Petty, 1987). This type of synergy materializes when messages that are conceptually integrated and that repeat essential information over time through different channels and from different sources come together to create coherent knowledge and attitude structures in audiences (Moriarty, 1996).” (Wang, 2006, p. 160). The importance of having one message within the firm is validated here as that helps in creating a coherent knowledge of the firm and brand in the customers mind. When it comes to IMC and Synergy, as one of its main factors, it was explained that “the need for synergy, with coordination helping to achieve a strong brand image” (Kitchen, 2005, p. 75). This shows that IMC uses synergy to reach the ultimate goal of IMCs’ very existence, which is to provide marketers the ability to vigorously direct the right message to the right group of people. Therefore, Synergy became one of the five factors of IMC.
Communication channels are defined as channels that “enable the flow of various types of information between buyers and sellers” (Li & Russel, 1999, p. 190). The meaning behind all forms of communication is that marketers should utilize all the channels of communication they have. Although this Not only includes the different types of channels of communication (presented in section 2.1 Marketing communication), but also any brands, contacts or marketing business strategies they have present. “IMC should use all forms of communication and all sources of brand or company contacts as prospective message delivery channels” (Kitchen et al., 2004, p. 23) This means that companies should combine and coordinate their various types of communication channels in order for them to have a more effective delivery channel. To combine all forms of communication channels is much more effective than to use them separately and in
different ways. Therefore, combining and coordinating the channels of communication that companies have at hand will also create a more consistent image that will eventually represent a company in a more favorable and memorable way. Although at first glance IMC seems like it merely focuses on external targets, it is also emphasized that “all forms of communication” also refers to, internal communication. The communication between different departments must work unified in a cross-functional manner, not only within themselves but also with their external sources and agencies, this claim is supported by the following statement, “The cross functional process means that all departments must work together in unison in planning and monitoring phases of brand relationships” (Kitchen, 2005, p. 75).
