Theoretical Concept or Management Fashion? Examining the Significance of Imc

Advertising remains within a perpetual state of change but the 1960s saw a significant change in the approach advertisers took to target consumers. Automation allowed for mass production of goods which meant that advertisers had to convince a consumer that a mass-produced item could be made personal and contribute to their individuality. Consumers were trying to be seen as individuals, this caused demassification as consumers began to be grouped into more and more refined categories. Advertising became less about what the product did and more about how the product contributed to individuality and advertisers used the counterculture and anti-consumerism as a way to target consumers. “The message in the new ads was quite simply, ‘buy this good to escape consumerism.’” (Reading, 7). This may be considered deceptive towards consumers as the advertising takes advantage of insecurities and consumers desperate want for social acceptance and individuality. There were multiple shifts in advertising formats the product-information format, product-image format, personalised format and the lifestyle format each targeting consumers in a different way, the final shifts were more effective in targeting those with an anti- ad mind-set

| Adherence: Marketers are integrating new media with the traditional IMC tools to help understand the consumers and how they wish to interact with the brandDeviations: The tools must be understood and tested to prove that they are being used effectively to create the brands that consumers want, and not brands that the clients wish the consumers to want

The average United States Citizen views about 5000 advertisements a day (Johnson). Advertising is everywhere. Billboards on the way to work, ads on the internet, and paper products such as magazines or newspapers display a sale or a promotion of a good or service. Usually, the ad will give a brand or company name, and uses the product’s merits to draw the consumer closer. This has grown exponentially as advertisements in media in 1970 were estimated to be 500 a day, a ten percent increase in the last 48 years. (Johnson). This is due to the rise of technology, as the computer has become a household gadget within the new millenium. These advertisements are meant to give a synopsis of the product or service’s purpose, quality, and efficiency. If a consumer views 5000 advertisements in a single day and assuming the commercials do not repeat, 5000 goods or services are introduced. With more options to choose from in such little time, the consumer has a harder time differentiating the quality and perhaps necessity of the product. The marketers rely on the quick, impulsive decision making of consumers. With the misleading nature of many infomercials or radio broadcasts, the people of American society are bombarded with constant propaganda, thus making seemingly harmless promotions more potent to filling industries’ pockets and lessening the common population’s

* Integrated marketing program is a comprehensive plan that communicates and delivers the intended value to chosen customers.

Moreover, (Product) RED uses the INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS (IMC)technology for its marketing campaign. The IMC involves the utilization of all the elements of the marketing mix, which specifically includes

Marketing is an integrated communications-based process through which individuals and communities are informed or persuaded that existing and newly-identified needs and wants may be satisfied by the products and services of others....

Marketing is an important area in any company. Integrated marketing is an area of the marketing world. This type of marketing can increase brand value and this allows for a high turnover on the company’s investments. We will review a company and describe the purpose and value of integrated marketing, as well as showing what value the plan adds to the company.

“One of the most talked about ideas in marketing during the 1990s was the notion of integrated marketing communications (IMC). And while marketing managers still clearly feel that it is a valuable concept and one that will play an increasingly important role in their companies, there is unfortunately a great deal of evidence to suggest that truly integrated marketing communications is the exception rather than a rule”

“Marketing communication is an ever changing field. New theories, new techniques, cultural changes and technological advances all combine to create a dynamic environment within which marketers try to ensure that their messages get through to their target audiences” (Blythe, 2006, p.2). Fill (2005) argues that marketing communications is the way in which organisations reach their target audiences or it is an “audience-centred activity” (Fill, 2005, p.9).

Several facts are changing in today’s marketing communications. Owing to the growing numbers of alternative communication media and promotion, marketing communication does not just primarily focus on advertising and promotion. Organizations and entrepreneurs begin moving toward the process of integrated marketing communication (IMC), which has emerged as a new concept and the major communication development in marketing in the 21th century. More and more companies adopt IMC to convey a consistent message about their brand and products to derive competitive advantage and brand value. In addition, IMC has developed into a beneficial strategy for companies to reach more customers as well as build good customer relationships. Smith et al.

In the book, Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind, two authors, Ries and Trout, illustrate how efficient positioning a product can affect the recognition of the target market. In addition, it is an outside-in approach to the business marketing. In other words, the marketer considers a business with the prospect’s mind rather than the products. First and foremost, the authors introduce the concept of positioning---“Positioning is not what you do to a product. Positioning is what you do to the mind of the prospect. That is, you position the product in the mind of the prospect” (Ries & Trout, 1986). Moreover, the past strategies for marketing no longer match the present market, and Ries and Trout believe that communication itself is a big problem. Since our society is “over-communicated,” customers might receive overwhelming information. People’ s minds can only collect a narrow amount of information and it blocks out the rest of irrelevant information; therefore, this can explain the reason why some advertisements fail to attract the attention of consumers. The authors provide several statistic data to support their statement about the over-communicated world. Obviously, 57% of the world’s advertising is offered by the United States, America publishes more than 30,000 books per year, and the average of American family watches around 51 hours per week of television. Therefore, American customers receive too many messages from different mediums, such as television, books, and

However, with the introduction of new technologies and advances in information technology communication has been completely revolutionised and same has impacted in organisations in there IMC strategies. “For IMC to really take hold, old assumptions must exit, assumptions about the role of advertising and sales promotion, about the organisation of advertising and public relations departments, about agencies and what they do, about the media, and most of all accountability” (Schultz et al. 1994).

To ensure an effective marketing campaign an Integrated Marketing Strategy must be developed to communicate the brand and work collectively with various tactics to deliver a seamless message to consumers that stand out amongst competition. The objective is to make certain all elements of the marketing communication including, public relations, advertising, online communication, direct marketing, social media, and sales promotions are a collaboration of a unified campaign to effectively promote a product, rather than each tactic working independently, and would not have a maximize effectiveness. Csikósová (2014).

IMC can be defined as an approach to brand communications where the different modes work together to create a seamless experience for the customer and are presented with a similar tone and style that reinforces the brand’s core message (Belch & Belch, 2013). Agencies overcome this challenge by understanding and embracing technology and its effectiveness in solving clients’ problems.

It is important to highlight the impersonal component of this second definition, since nowadays, the most of the occasions, advertisements focus on mass audiences, instead of being directed to a specific target audience, because these target audiences are expected to be among the mass media receivers. Furthermore, we must consider the last definition more complete, as it tells the advertiser that since there will not