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Key Topic IMC Areas. Mkt 642. In recent years, the marketplace has changed: Competition has increased Customers have become more distrustful of businesses New communication and information technologies have been developed
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Key Topic IMC Areas Mkt 642
In recent years, the marketplace has changed: Competition has increased Customers have become more distrustful of businesses New communication and information technologies have been developed Companies have discovered it’s more profitable to sell to current customers than to new ones Organizations now need more effective and efficient ways of communicating with customers Moving from Transactions to Relationships
Focuses on customer relationships instead of transactions Uses customer databases to have more personal, two-way communication with customers Utilizes a planning technique that lets each unique brand situation determine the best mix of marketing communication functions and media Provides a system for integrating the planning and monitoring of brand-building activities Helps ensure that a brand has one voice, one look Takes advantage of new media and new communication and information technologies Builds trust in a brand by creating an open, customer-focused culture IMC Helps Companies Build Profitable Customer Relationships
Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) • Building customer relationships will produce more sales and profits than sales transactions alone. • Marketing activities must take into consideration not only potential customers but also other stakeholders.
What is IMC? • Process for managing customer relationships that drive brand value. • Its foundation is communication. • Cross-functional process for creating and nourishing profitable relationships with customers other stakeholders by strategically controlling or influencing all messages sent to these groups and encouraging data-driven, purposeful dialogue with them.
Five Major Elements of the Definition of IMC • Cross-functional. • Creating and nourishing stakeholder relationships. • Profitable customer relationships. • Strategically controlling or influencing all messages. • Encouraging purposeful dialogue.
Communication Drives Relationships • Communication is the foundation of all relationships, including brand relationships. • Commercial brand relationships are created and terminated in a way similar to personal relationships. • IMC focuses on maximizing positive messages and minimizing negative messages about a brand in order to create and sustain brand relationships. • When used to build long-term relationships, IMC also builds and strengthens the brand. • The stronger a brand is, the more value it has.
IMC and the Marketing Umbrella • IMC functions under marketing’s umbrella. • Marketing is the process of creating and providing what customers want in return for something they are willing to give. • The AMA defines marketing as the “process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods, and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational needs.”
Marketing Communication • Marketing communication (MC) is the collective term for all communication functions used in marketing a product. • The purpose of marketing communications is to add value to a product for both customers and the company.
Marketing Communication Functions • Marketing communication is the means by which organizations send brand messages to whomever it is that needs to be persuaded to think or act a certain way, and the means by which the organization receives messages back from these people. • Other communication activities coordinated with MC include: • Personal sales. • Customer service.
Integration • Integration involves more than marketing communication. • Integration means unity and wholeness. Through unity, synergy can be achieved. • Another basic principle of IMC: When an organization is not integrated internally, it is difficult, if not impossible, for the brand to be integrated externally in the minds of customers, prospects, and other stakeholders.
Evolution of IMC The concept of IMC – the idea of managing customer relationships – is not new. However, the processes used in managing IMC, such as taking advantage of new communication and database technologies and creating synergy for a brand, are new.
Move to Mass Marketing Industrial revolution and mass production led to mass marketing, “selling the same product in the same way to ‘everyone,’” which led to Commodity products, products made by different companies that have few or no distinguishing characteristics.
Relationship Revolution How companies communicate with customers and sell products will change due to: • New technological developments • Expansion of global marketplace • Growing competition among internal departments and external suppliers • Shift from manufacturing to a service-based economy • Increases in mergers and acquisitions • Critical and demanding customers