Reasons for the Growing Importance of IMC

The move toward integrated marketing communications is one of the most significant marketing developments that occurred during the 1990s, and the shift toward this approach is continuing as we begin the new century. The IMC approach to marketing communications planning and strategy is being adopted by both large and small companies and has become popular among firms marketing consumer products and services as well as business-to-business marketers. There are a number of reasons why marketers are adopting the IMC approach. A fundamental reason is that they understand the value of strategically integrating the various communications functions rather than having them operate autonomously. By coordinating their marketing communications efforts, companies can avoid duplication, take advantage of synergy among promotional tools, and develop more efficient and effective marketing communications programs. Advocates of IMC argue that it is one of the easiest ways for a company to maximize the return on its investment in marketing and promotion.18

The move to integrated marketing communications also reflects an adaptation by marketers to a changing environment, particularly with respect to consumers, technology, and media. Major changes have occurred among consumers with respect to demographics, lifestyles, media use, and buying and shopping patterns. For example, cable TV and more recently digital satellite systems have vastly expanded the number of channels available to households. Some of these channels offer 24-hour shopping networks; others contain 30- or 60-minute direct-response appeals known as infomer-cials, which look more like TV shows than ads. Every day more consumers are surfing the Internet's World Wide Web. Online services such as America Online and Microsoft Network provide information and entertainment as well as the opportunity to shop for and order a vast array of products and services. Marketers are responding by developing home pages on which they can advertise their products and services interactively as well as transact sales. For example, travelers can use American Airlines' AA.com website to plan flights, check for special fares, purchase tickets, and reserve seats, as well as make hotel and car-rental reservations (Exhibit 1-6).

Even as new technologies and formats create new ways for marketers to reach consumers, they are affecting the more traditional media. Television, radio, magazines,

Importance Imc

Exhibit 1-5 Montblanc uses a variety of marketing mix elements including price, product design, brand name, and distribution strategy to create a high-quality, upscale image for its watches

Continue reading here: Whats the Buzz

Was this article helpful?

+1 0

Readers' Questions

  • frederick
    Why increasing value of the imc perspective in advertising and promotional programs.?
    5 months ago
  • Increasing value of the IMC (Integrated Marketing Communication) perspective in advertising and promotional programs is beneficial for several reasons:
    1. Consistency: IMC ensures a consistent message across different advertising and promotional channels, creating a unified brand image. This consistency helps in building brand awareness and recognition among consumers.
    2. Efficiency: By integrating various communication tools such as advertising, public relations, direct marketing, social media, etc., IMC helps in optimizing marketing efforts. It eliminates redundancy, reduces wastage of resources, and enhances overall campaign efficiency.
    3. Targeting: IMC allows marketers to tailor their messages to specific target audiences. It enables the use of different communication channels and methods to reach different segments of the audience effectively. This targeting increases the relevance and impact of advertising and promotional programs.
    4. Brand Equity: Consistent messaging and a cohesive brand identity built through IMC contribute to the development of brand equity. Brand equity refers to the value and reputation associated with a brand. Strong brand equity leads to increased customer loyalty and higher perceived value, resulting in long-term profitability.
    5. Customer Engagement: IMC facilitates two-way communication between brands and customers. It encourages interactions, feedback, and dialogue, improving customer engagement. Engaged customers are more likely to develop an emotional connection with a brand and become brand advocates.
    6. Measurement and Evaluation: An integrated approach allows for better measurement and evaluation of advertising and promotional efforts. With a unified strategy, it becomes easier to track, analyze, and review the success of various communication channels, enabling marketers to make data-driven decisions and improve future campaigns.
    7. In conclusion, by integrating different communication tools and channels, the IMC perspective enhances brand consistency, efficiency, targeting, brand equity, customer engagement, and measurement capabilities. These factors ultimately contribute to the success of advertising and promotional programs.
    • Judy McCann
      What are the factors that contributed to the growth of imc quora?
      10 months ago
      1. Increasing advertising and promotional budgets: Companies have been allocating larger budgets to advertising and promotional activities because they recognize that it is the most effective way of reaching a large customer base.
      2. Improved technology: This has enabled companies to use more sophisticated advertising and promotional techniques, such as online marketing, social media and mobile marketing.
      3. Increased use of internet and mobile: The growth of the internet and mobile phone technology has enabled companies to reach a larger and more diverse target audience than ever before.
      4. More segmentation: Companies are now segmenting their customer base into smaller and more targetable customer segments, and tailoring their marketing messages to each group in order to have greater success.
      5. Growing focus on customer service: Companies are now realizing that customer service is an important element of their IMC strategy and are investing more on hiring customer service staff, developing customer relationships and using customer feedback.
      6. Greater customer engagement: Companies are now using different tactics to engage customers and create a loyal following, such as using experiential marketing, customer loyalty programs, customer recognition and incentives.
      7. Greater focus on measurement: Companies are now beginning to use analytics in order to better measure their marketing efforts and their return on investment. This has enabled them to become more efficient with their IMC spending.
      • ermias
        What is the reason for the growing importance of integrated marketing communication?
        1 year ago
      • The growing importance of Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) is due to the fact that it helps organizations to effectively and efficiently communicate their message to their target audience. IMC allows organizations to create a unified brand image by using all of their marketing communication tools in a coordinated, consistent way. This unified approach helps organizations to be more effective in their messaging and storytelling, as well as ensuring that their messages are delivered in a consistent and effective manner. IMC also helps organizations to efficiently manage their marketing budget, as it eliminates the need to purchase separate campaigns for each medium. Finally, IMC can help to build relationships with customers through effective campaigns that provide a personalized experience for customers.
        • mebrat
          Why the evolution to integrated marketing communication (imc) occurred?
          1 year ago
        • The evolution to Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) occurred because it was seen as a more efficient and effective way to reach target audiences and deliver marketing messages. Traditional marketing techniques of the past relied heavily on one-way communication and relied on a fragmented approach to reaching customers. IMC created a more unified approach to marketing and communication that uses multiple channels and allows for interactions, feedback and dialogue between marketers and consumers. In an age of greater consumer sophistication and oversight, IMC offers a way to create more targeted and effective messages, while more efficiently managing a brand's total marketing budget.
          • petros
            What are the reasons for IMC's growth popularity?
            1 year ago
          • There are several reasons for IMC's growth and popularity:
            1. Integrated Approach: IMC, or Integrated Marketing Communications, takes an integrated and holistic approach to marketing by combining various communication tools and channels. This allows for a consistent and coordinated message across different platforms, leading to better brand awareness and customer engagement.
            2. Increased Fragmentation: With the rise of social media and digital platforms, consumers are exposed to a multitude of marketing messages. IMC helps businesses cut through the noise and capture their target audience's attention by delivering a consistent and unified message across all channels.
            3. Customer-Centric Focus: IMC emphasizes understanding the customer journey and tailoring marketing efforts accordingly. By integrating different marketing tools such as advertising, public relations, direct marketing, sales promotion, and digital marketing, businesses can create a seamless customer experience.
            4. Cost Efficiency: IMC allows businesses to optimize their marketing budgets by eliminating duplicate efforts and streamlining communication strategies. By integrating various marketing channels, companies can achieve better results with less investment.
            5. Measurable Results: IMC enables businesses to track and measure the success of their marketing efforts more accurately. With the use of digital marketing tools and analytics, companies can gain valuable insights into customer behavior and adjust their strategies accordingly.
            6. Competitive Advantage: Adopting IMC gives companies a competitive edge by positioning their brand consistently and effectively. It helps build brand equity, increases brand loyalty, and differentiates businesses from their competitors.
            7. Technological Advancements: Advancements in technology have made it easier to implement IMC strategies. Digital platforms and automation tools allow for seamless integration of various marketing channels and enable real-time communication with customers.
            8. Overall, IMC's growth and popularity can be attributed to its ability to create a cohesive and customer-centric marketing approach, improve cost efficiency, and deliver measurable results in an increasingly fragmented and competitive marketing landscape.
            • Folcard
              How has competion contributed to the growth of imc?
              1 year ago
            • Competition has contributed to the growth of IMC by providing incentives for organizations to innovate, increase efficiency and focus on customer service. IMC has been able to improve the quality of its products and services by responding to the challenge of competing firms. Moreover, competition has encouraged IMC to invest in technology and processes to increase efficiency, which has allowed it to lower prices and expand its market share. Additionally, IMC has used competition to develop its customer service and brand reputation. By continuously striving to differentiate itself from its competitors, IMC has been able to create a loyal customer base and increase its market share.
              • Antti
                Why is it necessary for businesses to adopt IMC?
                1 year ago
              • Businesses need to adopt Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) for several reasons:
                1. Consistency: IMC ensures consistent messaging and branding across all communication channels. This consistency helps to reinforce and strengthen the company's brand identity, making it more recognizable and memorable to the target audience.
                2. Efficiency: By integrating different marketing communication channels (such as advertising, public relations, direct marketing, social media, etc.), businesses can streamline their efforts and resources. This prevents duplication of tasks and ensures that marketing messages are delivered effectively and efficiently.
                3. Increased reach: Adopting IMC allows businesses to reach a wider audience by utilizing multiple communication channels. It helps to target different segments of the market and engage customers at various stages of the buying process.
                4. Building customer relationships: IMC focuses on building relationships with customers rather than just promoting products or services. By using consistent messaging across different channels, businesses can establish trust, loyalty, and long-term relationships with customers.
                5. Better understanding of customers: IMC helps businesses gather and analyze data from different communication channels, allowing them to gain insights into customer preferences, behavior, and needs. This information can be used to tailor marketing messages and strategies accordingly.
                6. Adaptability: IMC allows businesses to adapt their marketing efforts to the evolving needs of the market and customer expectations. By integrating all communication channels, businesses can quickly respond and adjust their marketing campaigns to remain competitive.
                7. Cost-effective: IMC ensures that marketing efforts are well-coordinated, avoiding duplication and wastage of resources. This can lead to cost savings for businesses while maximizing the effectiveness of marketing campaigns.
                8. In conclusion, adopting IMC is necessary for businesses to ensure consistency, efficiency, reach, customer relationship building, better understanding of customers, adaptability, and cost-effectiveness in their marketing efforts.
                • basso
                  Why marketer move from traditional to IMC?
                  1 year ago
                • Marketers move from traditional to integrated marketing communications (IMC) because IMC offers a more holistic, comprehensive approach to marketing. IMC allows marketers to coordinate multiple channels, create campaigns that are consistent across platforms, and measure the effectiveness of their efforts in one place. Additionally, IMC can save marketers time and money in the long-run, as they are able to see the entire campaign in one place and make adjustments as needed.
                  • INES
                    What are the major reasons forthe growing importance of imc?
                    1 year ago
                  • The major reasons for the growing importance of Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) are:
                    1. Fragmented media landscape: With the rise of digital media, consumers have access to a plethora of channels and platforms for receiving information and entertainment. This fragmentation makes it necessary for businesses to integrate their marketing efforts across multiple channels to reach their target audience effectively.
                    2. Changing consumer behavior: Consumers today are more empowered and have a greater control over the messages they receive and the brands they choose to engage with. IMC allows businesses to create consistent and cohesive brand experiences across different touchpoints, which can positively influence consumer behavior.
                    3. Information overload: Consumers are bombarded with a constant stream of marketing messages, making it harder for businesses to cut through the clutter and get their messages noticed. IMC helps in creating a cohesive and consistent brand message that stands out amidst the noise.
                    4. Increasing competition: The marketplace is becoming increasingly competitive, and businesses need to find ways to differentiate themselves from their competitors. IMC provides businesses with an opportunity to create a unique and memorable brand identity that sets them apart in the minds of consumers.
                    5. Shift towards personalization: Consumers today expect personalized experiences and content tailored specifically to their preferences and needs. IMC enables businesses to collect and leverage data to create targeted and personalized marketing communications that resonate with individual consumers.
                    6. Leveraging technology: Advances in technology, such as data analytics, artificial intelligence, and automation, enable businesses to track and measure the effectiveness of their marketing efforts more efficiently. IMC allows companies to leverage these technologies to optimize their marketing strategies and improve results.
                    7. Customer-centric approach: IMC focuses on building strong and meaningful relationships with customers by delivering consistent brand messages and experiences. This customer-centric approach helps businesses build loyalty and trust, leading to long-term customer retention and advocacy.
                    8. Overall, IMC has become increasingly important due to the changing marketing landscape and the need for businesses to connect with their customers in a more personalized and cohesive manner.
                    • hallie falzone
                      Why maketers are using more IMC perspectives of advertising and promotional programs ?
                      1 year ago
                    • Marketers are using more Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) perspectives of advertising and promotional programs because it allows them to reach customers across multiple channels, build on their brand awareness, and create a more cohesive, strategic message. IMC is also cost-effective and can help to target potential customers more efficiently. The use of multiple channels also allows marketers to track and measure the performance of their campaigns and make better decisions on where to invest their resources.
                      • nilde
                        What are the reasons for IMC growing popularity?
                        1 year ago
                        1. Increase in Globalization: With the rapid growth of globalization, businesses now have access to new markets and customers in multiple countries and continents. This has resulted in an increased demand for IMC to effectively target these markets and promote a unified brand message.
                        2. Technology: The use of technology has enabled companies to easily target their customers with personalised campaigns and messages through multiple channels. This has resulted in an increase in engagement and conversions, driving the popularity of IMC.
                        3. Cost Savings: IMC helps marketers achieve their objectives with a more efficient budget when compared to traditional advertising methods. This allows them to save costs while still reaching the desired audience.
                        4. Measurability: IMC helps marketers measure the effectiveness of their campaigns and measure the return on investment (ROI). This provides valuable insight which can be used to modify campaigns and make better decisions in the future.
                        5. Flexibility: IMC is highly flexible, allowing marketers to easily modify campaigns to ensure they are reaching their target audience. This allows for quick turnaround times and helps marketers to adjust their campaigns on the fly.
                        • calliope pirozzi
                          What are the seasons for growing importance of IMC?
                          1 year ago
                        • The seasons for growing importance of IMC can be broadly defined as:
                          1. Pre-Planning: Gathering market research and developing a concise strategy;
                          2. Implementation: Implementing the IMC plan and measuring its results;
                          3. Evaluation and Refinement: Evaluating the results and making adjustments accordingly;
                          4. Monitoring: Ongoing monitoring of the IMC program to ensure success.
                          5. The importance of IMC is growing as technology advances, more channels become available, and customer expectations change. As such, it is important that companies keep up with these changes to ensure success and maximize their ROI.
                          • Patrick
                            What are the factors that lead to growth of integrated marketing communication?
                            1 year ago
                            1. Consolidated View: Integrated marketing communications provides much-needed clarity and consistency when it comes to marketing. It allows marketers to have a unified and better understanding of the company’s core message and overall identity.
                            2. Improved Reach: By using various channels to reach out to target audiences, brands can reach more people with integrated marketing communications. These campaigns have the potential to have a greater impact on their intended audience.
                            3. Increased Engagement: When brands use integrated marketing communications, they tend to be more creative and engaging. This helps to attract and keep the attention of the target audience, resulting in improved engagement rates.
                            4. Increased Efficiency: Integrated marketing communications encourages collaboration between different departments of an organization. This allows for better use of resources and faster completion of tasks.
                            5. Improved Effectiveness: Integrated marketing communication campaigns tend to be more effective as they tend to be better aligned with the needs and desires of the target audience. This helps to maximize the impact of the campaigns.
                            • Ciriaca
                              What aree the reason for growing important of IMC?
                              1 year ago
                              1. Increased Productivity: Integrated marketing communication helps create higher levels of productivity, efficiency and effectiveness in the product development process. It also helps to reduce costs and improve communication between different departments and divisions.
                              2. Increased Brand Recognition & Loyalty: Building a strong brand recognition and loyalty is one of the most important goals of IMC. It helps to create brand ambassadors that can help spread the word about your product or service.
                              3. Improved Customer Satisfaction: By using an IMC approach, a company can ensure that customers have a cohesive and consistent experience with your brand on all platforms. This improves customer satisfaction and encourages customers to remain loyal to your brand.
                              4. More Targeted & Cost Effective Messaging: IMC helps to target a specific audience with tailored messages that are cost-effective. This helps to draw attention and generate leads more efficiently.
                              5. Greater Reach: Through an integrated approach to marketing, a business can use different channels such as print, digital and social media to reach more customers in a cost-effective manner.
                              • brodie craig
                                Why has imc grown in importance in the last decade?
                                1 year ago
                              • IMC has grown in importance in the last decade due to the exponential growth of digital marketing, the rise of mobile, customizable messaging and personalization, and the increasing focus on creating a unified customer experience across different channels. This has made it clear that companies need to use integrated marketing campaigns to effectively reach their target audiences and maximize ROI. IMC is key in helping companies achieve success in these areas.
                                • seth mcintosh
                                  Why integrated marketing communication growing?
                                  1 year ago
                                • Integrated Marketing Communication is growing in importance because it allows businesses to reach a large number of customers across multiple channels and platforms, while providing a consistent message. It also allows businesses to track their progress and better measure marketing effectiveness. Additionally, IMC helps businesses create a unified brand identity and reach consumers more cost-efficiently. Finally, it allows businesses to use integrated data to become more agile and better understand their customer base.
                                  • ignazio piazza
                                    What are reason why firms adopt IMC approach?
                                    1 year ago
                                    1. Improved brand image & recognition: IMC allows firms to create and control a unified brand image across all media channels, which can significantly improve overall brand recognition.
                                    2. Efficient and cost-effective campaigns: IMC allows companies to use multiple channels such as television, print media, radio, and digital marketing to spread their message in an efficient and cost-effective manner.
                                    3. Greater audience reach: IMC allows companies to reach out to a larger audience beyond their local community or base. This allows them to reach a much broader range of customers.
                                    4. Improved customer relationship: IMC allows firms to create a more personalized relationship with their customers by providing them with integrated, tailored messages and content.
                                    5. Greater flexibility: IMC allows firms to quickly adjust their messaging and campaigns based on customer feedback and changing market conditions. This helps firms continue to reach their desired audiences.