Integrated marketing communications

Integrated
Marketing
Communication

A ROADMAP TO THE REPORT

TOPIC

Page no.

PART I
Introduction…………………………………………………………………… 09
What Is Integrated Marketing Communication ………………………. 11
An Analogy – The Symphony Orchestra ……………………………….. 15
Components of IMC……………………….………………………………… 17
Factors contributing to IMC's rising prominence ……………………. 19
Heart Of IMC – 5 Power Concepts ……………………….………………. 22
Levels of Integration …………………….…………………….…………….. 24
Consumer Psyche and Information Processing ……………………….. 27
CASE I
How the Entertainment Industry Capitalizes on IMC ……… 30
Success Factors and Advantages of IMC ……………………………….. 43

PART II - PROCESS OF IMC
Characteristics of an IMC approach

46

Communications Mix Hierarchy

48

The Actual Process:

50

Model for Planning Integrated Marketing Communication

52

CASE II
Godrej Consumer Products Ltd.

55

Issues In Co-Ordination Of An IMC Campaign

67

PART III - REINVENTING THE AGENCY
Reinventing the Agency

73

Integrated Marketing Communications 2

PART IV - EVALUATION AND BARRIERS
Evaluation – IMC Audit

78

Barriers To Implementation

85

Necessary Conditions for IMC Success

93

Conclusion

94

ANNEXURE A
IMC AUDIT FORM
The Integrated Marketing Audit

ANNEXURE B
IMC IN GLOBAL ARENA
ANNEXURE C
QUESTIONNAIRE

BIBLIOGRAPHY


PART I

I M C
AN INTRODUCTION


Introduction
Pepsi, announced some time back that it was scrapping its familiar red,
white, and blue design and switching to a radical new electric blue
package and logo design, the reason being that Pepsi's image, particularly
in international markets, had been losing something in translation.
As The Wall Street Journal observed in reporting on the Project Blue
launch, "Pepsi’s image is all over the map." The story explains that a
grocery store in Hamburg uses red stripes, a bodega in Guatemala uses
'70s-era lettering, a Shanghai restaurant displays a mainly white Pepsi
sign, and a hodgepodge of commercials feature a variety of spokespeople,
ranging from cartoons and babies to doddering butlers.
It's not just Pepsi's marketing communication that sends different
messages to different people. Consumers say the cola tastes different in
different countries, so PepsiCo's plans also call for revamping
manufacturing and distribution to get a consistent-tasting drink
marketed throughout the globe. And some of its European marketing
communication partners were mixed in their support of the plan because
they felt they weren't consulted about how it was to be implemented, so
there's work to be done there, too.

Everything Sends a Message: What happened to Pepsi dramatizes the
point that message consistency is a systemic problem, as well as strategic.
It has to be approached from the viewpoint of the whole company and its
total business operations, not just from how the company executes its
marketing communication or corporate image programs.


As Nicolas Hayek, CEO of Swatch, says, "Everything we do, and the way
we do everything, sends a message." And that’s where Integrated
Marketing Communications comes in. Integrated marketing
communications is a process that manages all of a company or brand's
interactions with customers and other key stakeholders. Its premise is that
everything a company does, and sometimes what it doesn't do, sends a
message.
In the marketplace of the 21st century ... the driving force is not a
company with products to sell but customers controlling what, where,
and how they want to buy. Thanks to the Internet, 24-hour toll-free
phone numbers, credit cards, and express delivery services, consumers
are accessing information on demand and seeking out the products and
services that interest them.
Gone are the days when a company determined where, when, and how it
sells its product. This new approach not only changes the way we make
our purchasing decisions, it also revolutionizes how companies market to
their customers. For most companies to win, they must replace outdated
mass-marketing tactics with a targeted, customer-focused approach.
Integrated marketing communications (IMC) is one such customercentric, data-driven method of communicating with consumers. Nestle,
IBM, Sprint, Microsoft, Apple computers, Nike and many other companies
have adopted the IMC approach.


What is Integrated Marketing?
Integrated marketing is a comprehensive approach to internal and
external organizational communication.

Definition of IMC:
As per American Association of Advertising Agencies
'The concept of marketing communications planning that recognizes the
added value of a comprehensive plan that evaluates the strategic role of a
variety of communication disciplines - for example, general advertising,
direct response, sales promotion, and public relations - and combines
these disciplines to provide clarity, consistency and maximum
communications impact'.
According to Don Schultz, Integrated marketing Communications is a new
way of looking at the whole, where once we only saw parts such as
advertising, public relations, sales promotion, purchasing, employee
communications, and so forth. It is realigning communications to look at
it the way the customer sees it - as a flow of information from
indistinguishable sources.
A successful IMC campaign requires that the firm find a right
combination of promotion tools and techniques, defines their roles and
the extent to which they can or should be used, and coordinate their use.
In the words of Duncan and Everett, Integrated Marketing
Communications may be defined as “The strategic coordination of all the
messages and media used by an organization to influence the perceived
brand value”
The focus here is on two aspects:


1) Being present at all the contact points
2) Managing the communications well that your brand speaks one
language. As Nowak and Phelps say - your brand should have ‘One
voice’ reaching to your customers, may it be by any number of
channels.
If this does not happen:
a) You may miss out on some of the contact points where your customer
awaits your communications but he does not find you and he
abnegates the brand.
b) You may reach different contact points but different communications
(including the intangibles) speak differently, your customer gets
confused as to what he should associate with your brand.
Thus the first aspect creates awareness and the second aspect creates
and maintains loyalty.
Other views on what Integrated Marketing Communication is:
“Integrated marketing is a cross-functional process to create, maintain and
grow profitable relationships with customers and other stakeholders, with
the intended result being a gain in brand value for the company, as well
as it's products/services.”
“IMC is the management of all organizational communications to build
positive relationships with customers and other stakeholders -- stresses
marketing to the individual by understanding needs, motivations,
attitudes, and behaviors.”


“Integrated marketing unifies the core purpose, key goals and strategies
and company-wide processes to create congruent messages and sufficient
dialog with all stakeholder groups.”
Necessary conditions for an Effective IMC program:
Today, IMC definitions are broader in application, as a brand is developed
in stakeholders' minds as a result of all interactions they have with a
company, and not just as a result of a campaign they are exposed to. The
premise is virtually the same — synergies are achieved when all brand
contacts work in concert.
While definitions differ, the practice of IMC involves the same success
factors and helps organizations build and deepen relationships with their
many stakeholders. The following conditions should be considered
"necessary," but not sufficient conditions of IMC practice:
1. It must speak to all stakeholders with a "single," consistent voice.
2. It must assume the consumers' point of view.
3. Its strategic communications disciplines must be internally
integrated.
4. It must have a clear and consistent message that is more efficient
and effective than competing messages.
5. Its messages must cut through the increasingly cluttered
commercial landscape.
6. It must foster a two-way dialogue between consumers and itself.
7. It must build bonds that lead to long-term, consumer-to-brand
relationships.
8. It must not place excellent marketing ahead of corporate
reputation.
Thus in the IMC approach, the different communications are in the form
of arcs making up a 360-degree circle, at the center of which lies the
customer. With too much communication surrounding the customer he


gets confused, he being a center of many brand communications circles
and still more if the communications from a single brand are not
integrated. Thus the communications need to be spread and integrated on
a holistic basis what forms the basis of IMC.


An Analogy – A Symphony Orchestra
'Integrated communications' are like a band. The different
communications instruments-advertising, public relations, database
marketing, media specialists, sponsorship, interactive, event marketing
and the rest - are just like different musical instruments: piano, trumpet,
trombone, violin, clarinet, percussion and the rest. This analogy is neither
as silly nor as simple as it sounds.
The first thing to note is that although all the instruments normally play
the same tune, they are not interchangeable; they make different noises.
When each plays alone, the melody will be recognizable. But if you think a
piano playing Rule Britannia is the same as a trumpet playing Rule
Britannia, you are tone deaf. Very few consumers are tone deaf. They will
recognize that the underlying messages being conveyed, say, by public
relations and sponsorship, are identical, but the tone will be entirely
different. The form in which a message (or melody) is conveyed is nearly
as important as its content, sometimes more important.
Second, all the different disciplines must play in harmony.
But, third, it does not always mean they must play exactly the same tune.
There are many occasions when they should be playing in counterpoint.
On their own, it may not be apparent they are playing the same melody at
all. Each may be exploiting its own virtuosity, instead of echoing the
others.
Badly done integrated marketing campaigns squeeze different
communications media into straitjackets which minimize their individual
vitality. To force all types of communications to use the same message,

instead of allowing them to deploy their own strengths and complement
each other is direly inefficient.
The Analogy leaves several questions unanswered:
.

Who is to be bandleader, and how is the band to be led?

.

Would the traditional jazz formula be best, in which all the musicians
go through the harmonies beforehand, and then more or less do their
own thing?

.

Or is the discipline of a powerful conductor needed, to control the
tendency to wander and restrain the egos of the players?

A company that wants to make maximum use of the synergy of integrated
marketing communication has to do more than simply initiate
advertising, direct marketing, public relations and data base
management. It requires total management commitment to a multi-faceted
program of operations and marketing.


The Components of IMC
Integrated Marketing will require strategic combination of two or more of
the following basic marketing elements/instruments used in concert to
multiply the effectiveness of a campaign:
•

Advertising (Print/ Television/Radio) - used to inform and entice a
prospect about a company's product or service, draw attention to
the company Web site and stimulate trial use.

•

Public Relations - also used to inform, but adds credibility by use of
a third party endorsement.

•

Web Site/ Internet - used by both existing customers and prospects
to obtain product and service information and, with the
implementation of eCommerce, conveniently purchase online.

•

Sales Promotion - provides short-term incentives to buy. Best used
when offered to prospects who are already familiar with the product
or service.

•

Direct Marketing - used today mostly to establish an ongoing
relationship with a current customer or prospect in order to
stimulate repurchase and build loyalty.

• Special events
• Video and audio presentations
•

Multimedia presentations

There are TWO CRITICAL FACTORS that have the most influence on the
effectiveness of an Integrated Marketing campaign.
.

The first is the strategic combination or "mix" of the basic
elements. Achieving the most effective mix is usually the result of
experience.

.

The second critical factor is the consistency of the theme across all
elements in the campaign. Logically, consistency is best achieved
through the use of a single source responsible for defining the role of
each element, creating the theme, and coordinating the timely
implementation of the campaign. However, consistency is where most
companies who believe they are already integrating their marketing
efforts usually fall short.

The following Research compiled from the U.S. Department of Commerce,
the American Management Association, and the Direct Marketing
Association reiterates the fact that strategically combining the basic
marketing elements with a consistent theme will impact results:
.

Average stand-alone direct mail campaign generates 3.3% response
rate.

.

One basic marketing element added to stand-alone direct mail
campaign, response rate increases to 5.4%.

.

Two basic marketing elements added to stand-alone direct mail

.

Three basic marketing elements added to stand-alone direct mail


Factors contributing to IMC's rising prominence
1. Fragmentation of media - both the print and the Television media
have proliferated dramatically in the past decade which has resulted in
less reliance on mass media and more emphasis on the other
promotional options, such as direct mail and event sponsorship.
2. Better audience assessment - More sophisticated research methods
have enabled more accurate and specific targeting, leading the
marketer away from the mass media to promotional tools that reach
only the segment that has been targeted.
3. Consumer empowerment - empowered consumers are more skeptical
of commercial messages and demand information tailored to their
needs.
4. Increased advertising clutter has diluted the effectiveness of any
single message. There seems to be no end in sight to this 'media'
proliferation.
5. Many marketers feel that traditional advertising is too expensive and is
not cost effective. Hence there is a trend of shifting of budgets from media
advertising to other forms of promotions.
6. Database technology can be used to create accurate customer and
non-customer profiles for developing highly targeted direct response &
telemarketing programs can be implemented.
7. Channel Power - Retail channels are developing power and hence are
able to demand promotional fees and allowances from manufacturers,
which diverts funds away from advertising and into special events or
other promotions.
8. Increased Accountability have led the firms to reallocate marketing
resources from advertising to more short-term and more easily
measurable methods such as direct marketing and sales promotion.


4P’s versus the 4 C’s
The current revolution in the market has brought about several
‘Differents’. This has led to the replacement of 4 P's of marketing by the 4
C's of marketing. The 4P’s v/s the 4C’s:
Not PRODUCT, but CONSUMER : Understand what the consumer wants
and needs. Times have changed and you can no longer sell
whatever you can make. The product characteristics must now
match what someone specifically wants to buy. And part of what
the consumer is buying is the personal "buying experience."
Not PRICE, but COST : Understand the consumer's cost to satisfy the
want or need. The product price may be only one part of the consumer's
cost structure. Often it's the cost of time to drive somewhere, the cost of
conscience of what you eat, and the cost of guilt for not treating the kids.
Not PLACE, but CONVENIENCE : As above, turn the standard logic
around. Think convenience of the buying experience and then relate
that to a delivery mechanism. Consider all possible definitions of
"convenience" as it relates to satisfying the consumer's wants and
needs. Convenience may include aspects of the physical or virtual
location, access ease, transaction service time and hours of
availability.


Not PROMOTION, but COMMUNICATION : Communicate, communicate,
communicate. Many mediums working together to present a unified
message with a feedback mechanism to make the communication
two-way. And be sure to include an understanding of nontraditional mediums, such as word of mouth and how it can
influence your position in the consumer's mind. How many ways
can a customer hear (or see) the same message through the course
of the day, each message reinforcing the earlier images?


The Heart of IMC
In keeping with the above trends, there are Five power concepts that go
in IMC and make the communications efficient and effective.
1. Customer Focus i.e. Your message must be appealing, relevant and
accurately timed and must be based on the understanding and
anticipation of what the customer expects and wants, when he wants
it, and how he wants it to be delivered to him.
2. Customer Empowerment i.e. you empower your customer to define
the relevance, you do not define it for him and do not force the content
as per your convenience. You allow him to decide how deeply he wants
to be involved in the communications. This concept extends beyond
the permission from customer. Her you are asking your customer to
take the lead.
3. i.e. you need to be consistent at all the contact points and need to have
continuity such that all the roads of different media lead down the
same path to the brand. The beauty of your communications lies in
that the consumer gets the option only to decide how far to go and not
what different objective to go for.
4. Brand Resonance i.e. your communication while creating relationship
must stand for something that the customers think is worthy of a
relationship with them.
5. Emotional bonding i.e. your brand develops a relationship with your
Customer based on the insights about the customer. He is not only
loyal to your brand but he treats the brand as a friend, a trustee, a

close relative, or as an inseparable part of his life. In this case he
becomes an advocate for your brand and propagates your message
himself. In other sense he becomes a contact point for the other
consumers. Thus the communications become vital to be managed so
well that even this newly created contact point speaks the same voice.
Correctly implemented, the IMC program is a continuous cycle of gathering
data and implementing response-generating marketing communications,
which are based on previously, gathered data. Marketing communications
derived from consumer need can build perceived value into your product
or service, and separate it from the competition in the minds of your
customers and prospects.


Levels Of Integration
Integration of communication goes beyond the definition of one message,
one voice to which so many marketers ascribe. Integrated marketing
communications is not just merely a piece of advertising, a piece of public
relations and a piece of direct mail that all look the same. Rather, IMC is
the management of all brand contact points through an integrated,
consumer-driven strategy. It means realigning your communications from
your customer’s perspective so that your public relations is
indistinguishable from your advertising, your direct marketing is
indistinguishable from your promotions and so on.
There exist various levels at which such integration can take place. The
following table details each of such stages.

Stages of Integration of Marketing Communication
LEVEL I
Tactical Co-ordination

To create ‘one sight, one sound’ by
consolidating communications
planning. Often leads to attempts at
cross-functionality, where teams of
specialists from different areas of
expertise are formed to increase
synergy.

LEVEL II
Redefining the Scope of Marketing

Rather than considering


Communications

communications as an outbound
activity, the firm looks at all points at
which the consumer and the brand
are in contact. Most important result
of this level of integration is inclusion
of Employees as both target for and
proliferators of Marketing
communications.

LEVEL III
Application of IT

The key ingredient here is the use of
databases to capture individual
transactions. This enables the firm to
market to groups of individuals
rather than the average customer at
the middle of the segment.

LEVEL IV
Strategic and Financial Integration In this level two issues are
paramount:
a. The ability to measure the return
on customer investment
b. Ability to use the marketing
communication to drive
organizational and strategic
directions.
Rather than measuring say, extra
sales resulting from an advertising
campaign, the firm would now
measure the returns from a specific


group of customers against costs
associated with that group.


Consumer Psyche & Information Processing
Key to effective communication is understanding how consumers process
the vast amount of information that comes their way each and every day.
To cope, we select only that information that we perceive to be important
and ignore the rest. Thus, we limit our span of perception as a way of
coping. If the marketing message is to be selected and processed, it must:
.

Consist of sensory and life experiences that can easily be identified and
transformed into a unified concept,

.

Have mental relationships to other categorized ideas, and

.

Fit into the categories and mental linkages that people have already
created for themselves.

Marketing communication messages that are not recognizable, are not
related to each other, conflict with what has already been stored, or are
simply unrelated or unimportant to the person will simply not be
processed, but ignored. Communication only occurs when the consumer
accepts, transforms, and categorizes the message. Two models of
information processing have been proposed are as follows:
Models of Information Processing

1. assumes that it is possible for the marketer to "replace" previously

The Replacement Model stored information chunks with new
ideas. What is said does not matter as much as how often and how
loud the message has been transmitted. With enough exposure,

the new will replace the old.


2. The Accumulation Model of information processing assumes that
message consistency is critical since the consumer accepts,
processes, and stores information about the product or service
relative to what has already been mentally accepted.
The storage and retrieval system works on the basis of matching
incoming information with what has already been stored in
memory. If the information matches or enhances what is already
there, then the new information will likely be added to the existing
concepts and categories. If it doesn't match, the consumer has to
make a choice, either the new information can replace what is
already there or the new information can be rejected. If rejected, the
consumer would continue to use existing concepts and categories
and ignore the new. This is called a "judgment system" - in that
consumers match or test new information against what they
already have and then make a judgment to add to, adapt, or reject
the new material. The judgment system (perceptual consistency)
prevents consumers from having multiple concepts or categories for
the same message.
When consumers reject the information or do not add or attach it to
what they already have, there is a failure to communicate. In many
cases, the failure to communicate is the result of the marketer
being unable to match his or her messages or fields of experience
with those of the prospect or customer.
Consumers use the same information processing approach whether the
new data comes from advertising, sales promotions, a salesperson, an
article in a newspaper or magazine or from what their neighbor is telling
them. The marketer who presents non-integrated messages risks not
having any of his or her messages processed because of the conflict that


occurs in the consumer's information processing system. If for no other
reason that the risk of confusion, marketers must integrate their
messages or consumers will simply ignore them.
As we shall see in the case of the Entertainment industry, Rugrats uses
this model of Consumer Information Processing. Via communication
across media like computer games, CDs, magazines, books, comic
strips, toys, an amusement park, live stage shows, Nickledeon
attaches newer information with the prior information and leads to the
creation of a Whole Big Picture. Coupled with a good quality product,
Rugrats became such a success that a sequel to it is already on its way to
premier.


Case I
How The Entertainment Industry Capitalizes On IMC
As the entertainment industry is forced to become more creative in
reaching its audiences, the opportunities for marketing communications
are endless. As Hollywood creates more and more ways to communicate
with its audiences, the need for integration is paramount. With
burgeoning franchises, entertainment companies have begun to delve
deeper into marketing strategies that enable them to connect with their
customers across their whole range of properties and communication
divisions. The hype about integration has created a "buzz" in Hollywood
that has the industry turning out some of the best marketing strategies
and campaigns in years.
Entertainment companies are defining their success with well-thoughtout, consumer-driven strategies and are using an array of marketing tools
to connect with audiences in more relevant and creative ways. In the
process, integrated marketing communications (IMC) is beginning to take
center stage as the entertainment industry’s shining star.

IMC Takes Center Stage
IMC has taken center stage in the entertainment industry as a result of
several factors and trends. Two of the greatest of these factors driving IMC
principles are:

 The proliferation of media choices
The proliferation of media has fragmented audiences, making it harder
and harder to reach them through traditional means. Long gone are
the days when a single 30-second television commercial could capture
the attention of an entire target audience. Today’s media competitive

frame includes 12 networks, 213 cable channels, hundreds of radio
stations and even more magazines (www.ultimatetv.com). At the same
time, consider the number of movies and home videos released each
month. Even still, we must add the thousands of websites available on
the Internet to this media mix.
 The changes in consumer media consumption.
As the number of media options has increased, audiences have become
more diversified. Viewers are now able to make choices in their media
consumption that match their specific interests.
Television for the masses is passe. As the number of media outlets is
rising, ratings are decreasing. For example, the last episode of Seinfeld
drew fewer viewers than a regular episode of the Beverly Hillbillies. It is
clear that advertisers must become more sophisticated in their media
targeting if they are going to reap the benefits that these changes in
media consumption can offer.
However, as an industry that is dependent on media for advertising, as
well as for the delivery of its product, these facts are even more
striking.
Hollywood has responded to the situation by flexing its marketing muscle
to leverage communication across all of its customers’ brand contacts, not
just advertising. This strategy has led the industry to focus on aligning its
marketing efforts for a property around all of its company divisions,
rather than limiting its marketing power to the division responsible for the
main product, such as theatrical or home video.


Using creativity and marketing savvy, the entertainment industry has
successfully capitalized on aligning communication vehicles through the
following four principles:

 Principle I - Focus on the consumer
The industry is increasingly becoming more consumer-focused,
using media outlets to find out what their consumers want and
then deliver it to them through well-defined, specific formats and
programming.
Entertainment companies are proving that they know this tenet
better than most others.
The business is using integrated marketing principles to connect
with its customers not only through its advertising messages, but
also through the entertainment product it offers.
As explained earlier, the proliferation of media today has resulted in
extreme audience segmentation. For example, the WB network
reaches ethnic viewers, FOX offers specific children programming,
Lifetime TV’s format targets women, and ESPN attracts sports fans.
The rise of such specific television formats indicates that the
industry is moving toward segmentation strategies. The effects of
audience segmentation in the entertainment industry have led to
marketing strategies shaped by the consumer. Consumers shape
brands based upon their individual perceptions and judgments,
and marketers must measure the significance these brands hold in
relation to their targets and build identities around these meanings.
Franchises are demonstrating that consumers own the brand
through the branding strategies and promotional partners they
utilize. For example, networks and shows are starting to brand
themselves in consumer-specific ways. As a result, we have seen

the emergence of networks defining their brand identity according
to their audience’s perspective.
"Everything we do, every contest we run, is from a kid’s point of
view," says Cyma Zarghami, general manager and executive vice
president of Nickelodeon. "It permeates the way we work and what
we do." Such networks are branding themselves through their
consumers’ voice with such slogans as Lifetime TV’s "Television for
Women." Slogans such as this reinforce that networks are talking to
specific customers with specific interests, instead of a mass
audience.

Case in Point: The Rugrats on Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon demonstrates this principle in its explicit commitment
to its consumers — kids. Nickelodeon is the creator of the first
television network for kids. The network became the 24-hour cable
ratings leader for the first time in 1995 and continues to hold the
title today. Kids are at the very core of this network. As its website
touts, kids are the creators, drawers, thinkers and writers for
everything that takes place on Nickelodeon. In fact, the grown-ups
behind the scenes display all of the pictures that kids send them
and post them on refrigerators throughout the company as a
constant reminder of their audience.
As a result of this cable channel’s philosophy, much of its
programming follows the same lead. For example, The Rugrats, is
an animated series about life from a toddler’s point of view and is
written completely from a child’s perspective. Debuting in 1991,
this hit series has won several awards including the Emmy, Cable
Ace and Parent’s Choice. It began as a Sunday morning cartoon and
now airs 13 times each week with more than 23 million viewers.

The growing success of this animated series could be trumpeted as
the result of the audience perspective upon which it is based.

 Principle II - Aligning marketing communications vehicles
Another essential communication principle appearing in
entertainment marketing strategies involves the various
communication tools employed in delivering messages to
consumers. The spotlight on the entertainment industry’s
marketing strategies is most evident through the creative
executions that the various marketing mix elements offer the
entertainment industry.
With all of the competition, Hollywood can no longer create
something and expect people to come see it. Instead, it has to
promote it and promote it right. This means communicating with its
audiences at every point that they interact with the brand.
Chris Moseley, senior vice president of marketing and
communications at Discovery Networks, reinforces the importance
of alignment of all customer contact points: "I think all four parts of
the equation — programming, marketing or promotions (and I use
them interchangeably), sales and research — are key factors in how
well anything performs." The result is an integrated marketing
experience that builds relationships between the company and its
consumers.

Case in Point: The Rugrats Movie
The marketing campaign for the release of Nickelodeon’s The
Rugrats Movie demonstrates how a successful entertainment


marketer builds this experience across all brand contacts. The
movie was scheduled to open November 25, 1998. The integrated
marketing strategy for this animated film based on the TV series

already includes computer games, CDs,
magazines, books, a comic strip, toys, an
amusement park and a live stage show.
•

The official buildup of the movie began with on-channel
promotion, including new TV episodes, leading to one that sets
up the movie by revealing that the main character’s mom is
pregnant.

•

Other Rugrats promotional support includes a partnership with
Burger King for a Kids Club promotion.

•

Also in the marketing mix is the release of two computer
programs in the month preceding the movie release, one of which
is based on the movie itself.

•

Broderbund Software and Nickelodeon plan to launch numerous
cross-promotions with the release of the game, including print
advertising, contests and in-theater promotions beginning in
September.

•

Furthermore, the Rugrats marketing blitz includes:
(a) A newspaper comic strip
(b) A guest appearance at Paramount’s King Island where kids
will have an opportunity to meet their favorite Rugrats
characters during a "Rugrats Weekend’
(c) A live musical tour
(d) A Simon & Schuster book series to coincide with the U.K.
release of the movie
(e) Rugrats merchandise and hundreds of licenses for Rugrats
items (including dolls, board games, clothing, bedding,

videos, fruit snacks, school supplies, greeting cards and
party goods)
Through this comprehensive marketing strategy, Nickelodeon has brought
‘The Rugrats’ and the movie into the lives of its audience in all ways that
it interacts with the brand.

 Principle III - Internal corporate synergy
Entertainment companies are building alliances across their entire
franchises in order to bring their entertainment properties to life
across as many mediums as possible.
Andrew Capone, senior vice president of marketing for NBC
explains, "I want to find a way we can combine a number of our
properties, including cable and our stations, to help clients in
integrated marketing solutions." In order to heighten the success of
their products, as well as those of their advertisers, entertainment
companies are realizing that they must build alliances across all the
divisions of their brands. The opportunity to tap into their sister
companies is certainly an advantage for this industry in capitalizing
on this idea of synergy.
Twentieth Century Fox boldly executed this IMC principle to
successfully market the studio’s first self-produced animated
feature. The marketing strategy behind News Corporation’s recent
release of Twentieth Century Fox’s Anastasia positioned each
division to contribute to the success of the animated feature in the
following manner:
•

Harper Collins published a series of Anastasia-based children’s
books

•

The Fox network interspersed Anastasia minutes (behind-thescenes looks at how the movie was made) into its prime schedule

•

News America offered the cover of its weekly FSI

Leveraging the entertainment properties within its own company
proved to contribute significantly to the overall success of the film,
giving Fox a platform to continue making animated movies in the
future.
Steven M. Ross, executive vice president of worldwide promotions
and product placement at Twentieth Century Fox, further supports,
"It’s a huge advantage having such resources available through
sister companies." Many marketers in the industry are aware of this
fact, and as a result, are making great efforts to build alliances with
their other divisions in their companies.

 Principle IV - Measurement and feedback loop
As the entertainment industry has moved toward more consumerfocused strategies, it has integrated the customer into the feedback
loop in order to find out exactly what its specific target is seeking.
The Internet is one of the most recent ways that Hollywood
franchises are working to close the loop in communicating with
their audiences. The Internet allows the entertainment industry to
receive first-hand feedback about products from its audiences,
while building relationships in the process. The traditional forms of
relying solely on Nielsen ratings and box office sales, the industry
traditionally only has been able to measure its success according to
number of viewers, but never has had the ability to learn much

about their audiences beyond the surface level. The primary
interaction it has had with fans has been limited to focus groups.
The Internet changes all of that. The interactivity available through
this medium enables entertainment franchises to communicate
directly with audiences about their likes and dislikes, plot ideas,
etc. As a result, the Internet not only builds relationships between
these franchises and their audiences, but also provides
entertainment companies with valuable information about their
audiences that they can utilize in the creative development process
and in their marketing communications.

Case in Point: Disney.com
Entertainment franchises are quickly learning how to take
advantage of this new opportunity called the Internet. Disney has
long set the standard for marketing success, utilizing several
integrated marketing principles such as corporate synergy. Recently
the marketing franchise has expanded its ability to connect with its
audience through its corporate home page. According to a survey,
Disney’s website was recently ranked number nine on a list ranking
several websites’ ability to build relationships. Disney.com
incorporates several vehicles to connect with its audience:
(a) One method Disney utilizes to accomplish this task is through
live chat events where kids can talk to their favorite Disney stars
online. The use of such tactics is building relationships with
their viewers that were never possible before.
(b) Another way that Disney.com builds relationships is by
expanding the entertainment experience online. Its website
features opportunities such as Club Disney, real play areas in


two locations, where they can plan their trips, tours and
birthday parties online before they visit.
(c) Another part of the website features Disney Blast, a new online
service offered to kids featuring games, stories and other
interactive opportunities.
(d) In addition, the website provides kids and their families direct
access to all aspects of the Walt Disney franchise including its
movies, the amusement parks, the Disney Channel, Radio
Disney, its TV shows, the company’s cruise line, the Disney
Vacation Club, the Disney Magazine, and all of the other various
company divisions spanning computer software to home video.
In this way, Disney is always accessible to kids and their parents. Also,
the way in which Disney.com provides audience contact with all divisions
of the company helps to reinforce all that Disney has to offer its
customers. Kids and parents can click on any one of the departments and
send a message to them. Disney.com serves as a model of how companies
can expand their audience’s experience with the franchise while helping
to strengthen the relationships built through those experiences in the
process.
The outstanding performances that the entertainment industry has
executed certainly suggest that integrated marketing communications
deserves a star on Hollywood’s famous "Walk of Fame." However, the
industry would be amiss if it did not recognize the ways in which it could
further its alignment with IMC practices and principles.
The industry’s application of the aforementioned principles is leading
marketers to believe that successful entertainment properties are all
about good marketing. The industry’s ability to capitalize on such


principles appears to be a formula for success for networks such as
Nickelodeon and studios such as Twentieth Century Fox and Disney.


Words of caution:
While the entertainment industry has demonstrated its ability to integrate
a consumer message across all marketing communications vehicles and
company divisions, it still has not mastered the ability to align itself
internally.
•

In several of the entertainment franchises, the synergy across divisions
is siloed. Dealing with a sister company may make it easier to start the
negotiating process, but in many entertainment conglomerates no
formal internal structure exists to make marketing alliances a natural,
synchronized process. Having demonstrated the benefits that synergy
has to offer, the entertainment industry should work toward fleshing
out the internal structures that make this alignment possible.

•

Companies also have room to grow in their focus on the consumer.
While entertainment has made great strides in communicating with
children’s markets through new tools like the Internet, many other
strategies are still not consumer-driven.
A significant number of networks and studios do not have feedback
mechanisms in place, or if they do, they are not using them to their
full potential in order to deliver on their audiences’ wants and needs.

•

Entertainment companies cannot rely solely on ratings and box office
grosses to learn about and connect with their customers. With the
technology available through the Internet, entertainment companies
should actively work toward aligning their strategies with this
principle. As companies such as Nickelodeon and Disney demonstrate,
the benefits of consumer focus are multifaceted and advantageous for
both the company and its advertisers.

•

Last, entertainment franchises must use an element of caution when
applying integrated marketing principles. Implementing a strategy that
utilizes all parts of the marketing mix, such as advertising, public

relations, direct marketing and sales promotion, does not necessarily
constitute integration.
A complete commitment is essential to achieve this level of comprehensive
communication; simply applying all of the independent tools is not
enough. This means aligning the entire company with the same goals,
missions, objectives, standards and accountability — the company’s
culture, the employees hired, the company’s promotional partners, the
types of programming and products produced, and the types of marketing
strategies executed.
Everything about the company must create the same experience for, and
give the same message to, its consumers. It is the application of these
marketing principles that demonstrates the entertainment industry as a
stellar case study in the field of integrated marketing communications

-----------********------------


Success Factors
The Entertainment Industry’s use of IMC, highlights some success

factors for effectiveness and these include:
•

Segmenting valuable customers.

•

Analyzing profitability.

•

Examining customer, brand & stakeholder contact points with the
company.

•

Marketing based on consumer differences, not similarities.

•

Using databases for behavioral segmentation and lead
management.

•

Creating strategic, effective communications-based initiatives.

•

Driving communications to a new level of customer and stakeholder
fulfillment retention.

•

Achieving consumer satisfaction and bottom-line profitability.

1. The customer becomes the primary focus of everyone.
2. There is no needless duplication of services. PR messages combine
with advertising, marketing and internal communications—
everything is congruent and clearer to customers.
3. There is almost no likelihood of "the left hand not knowing what the
right hand is doing."
4. It fosters intra-departmental cooperation in your company. Workers
experience more harmonious working relationships with their peers
and senior management.
5. Studies verify increased productivity, which positively impacts the
bottom line.
6. Executive "oneness of focus" on mission and results; one mission—
one vision with all the "parts" aligned with it.

7. The core processes of the organization become much clearer and
people start pulling together rather than in several directions at
once.
8. It takes fewer people, energized around a fewer number of central
themes to get more work done than before because human potential
and energy is not wasted.
9. Marketing programs become more effective because they are
focused and more efficient. They are more powerful in delivering the
key message without waste and overlap to no effect.
10. Sales programs become more dynamic because the objectives
become much clearer to the existing sales force. The job of the
salespeople is made more effective because the "home office" is
supporting their steps and making them look much better in the
eyes of your customers.


PART II

PROCESS OF IMC


Characteristics of an IMC approach
Planning for an Integrated Communications program goes beyond merely
using the right tool under the right conditions. Strategic planning for IMC
is distinguished from the traditional use of multi-dimensional promotions by
the following four factors:



An Outside-In approach is used to plan communications – That
essentially means that a firm, designing communications, starts with
the customer or prospect and looks backward, identifying what the
customer deems as important information. This approach helps to
deliver the information that the customer wants rather than in the
form at a time that the firm deems appropriate.
Similarly Tom Duncan suggests the use of Zero-based communication
planning – it involves determining what tasks need to be done and
which marketing communications function should be used and to
what extent.



IMC planning requires comprehensive and detailed knowledge about
the customers, prospects and other stakeholders.



An IMC plan is built around brand contacts like packaging, employee
contacts, in-store displays etc.

Each contact must lbe evauated for

clarity and consistency with the overall IMC program.



Control of the IMC plan is highly centralized. The
effectiveness of the program is highly increased by


appointing a single person or team to control and evaluate all

contacts with targeted customers.


Communications Mix Hierarchy
In the process of implementation of IMC, the marketer assumes a major
responsibility for developing the marketing program and making the final
decisions regarding the advertising and promotional program to be
employed. The marketer typically brings to the process a marketing plan,
goals, objectives, and perhaps a database that will identify current and
potential customers.
The agency on the other hand will help research the market, suggest
creative strategies, and produce IMC materials. Quite a few times the
agency does not have all the internal expertise necessary to develop and
manage every marketing tool. Often the agency is an expert with the
development & Placement of mass media advertising, and hence is often
criticized for their tendency to push mass media as the best form of
communication. When the marketers want other communication options,
they often hence turn to External facilitators to get the expertise they are
looking for. The hierarchy in this case is as shown on the next page.
Once the specialist agencies come into the picture, co-ordination and
integration of a marketing communications program becomes much more
complex. These various agencies view each other as competitors for the
client’s dollars and will most likely champion their particular specialty.
Thus instead of ending up in coordination and integration, it created a
situation characterized by conflict and disintegration.
Realizing these challenges, many advertising agencies attempted at
redesign to add more internal expertise to foster the goals of IMC.


The Communication Hierarchy
Marketing Organization
Marketing plan
Goals and objectives
Customer/ prospect
databases

Advertising Agency
Research
Creative strategies
Production
Message placement

Specialized marketing
communications
organizations
Media organizations
Event management firms
Web site designers
Sales promotion agencies
Direct marketing
agencies
Public relations firms

Massmedia
Advertising

Event
participation

Internet
advertising

Sales
promotion

Direct
marketing

Publicity

Customer


eThe Actual Procss
Integrated Marketing Communications is a process and it involves the
companies, the communication design/creative agencies and the
execution agencies. The first step in this process is consumer research
and planning followed by creative and Implementation.
The planning is at the strategic level. Generally it relates to the entire
strategic framework as to what does the product stand for, its attributes,
the differentiation and then segments which it wants to enter. As
mentioned earlier, IMC is centered around the customer and has its
essence of understanding him to the fullest degree is a must. Thus the
plans need to be based which must answer:
?

What contact opportunities do I have (taking into consideration the
costs and the benefits)?

?

What depth do I want to gain in any media?

?

What is my media strategy i.e. whether I want to just ensure my
presence in the medium or I want to dominate that particular
medium?

The marketing manager needs to provide the agency with information
about the consumer segments, product, positioning ideas, competition
etc. This is the basic framework, based on which all the communications
are designed. This plan is briefed to the creative and the execution agency
and discussed
The promotional planner after reviewing all the information should see
how IMC fits into the marketing program and what are the objectives
set for IMC to achieve. (Thus the objective could either be only to

communicate to the customer about the product or service to achieve a
certain market share or growth in sales)
The next step is to set objectives in terms of specific communications
goals/ tasks for each tool.
The next step following is the designing of the creative which rests on
the creative / advertising agency. Nowadays increasingly most of the
advertising agencies handle the entire account of a brand single handedly
(even including the consumer researches for media and advertising).
The creative here is designed for all the communications whether the
tangibles or the intangibles e.g. packaging, print ads, TV ads, interstitial
etc. This also includes the coordination of the events and PR based on a
one-voice platform.
The final step in the process is the Implementation. This includes the
actual communication and the different activities communicating about
the brand like promotions and events etc.

ANALOGY with the orchestra
Thus…Back to our analogy of the Orchestra - The score (written by
ORCHESTR the company) is interpreted by the maestro (the agency), who
directs the a (the functional communications tools). Consistent
communication of key product and corporate messages, combined with
visual continuity in art design and direction, are critical factors in
generating market awareness and building a strong brand image.


Model for Planning IMC
Tension, Stress, creativity, deadlines, collaboration, synergy, conflict,
misunderstandings, expertise, complexity, details, details, details….are all
things that characterize the process of preparing to launch an IMC
campaign.
There are many different models that guide the process of planning an
IMC campaign. One such
model being discussed is the

Prospect Definition

‘Strategic Planning
Triangle’ –
proposed by advertising
researchers Esther Thorson
and Jeri Moore in their book
‘Integrated Communication:
Synergy of Persuasive Voices’.

Brand’s
Value
Proposition

Persuasion
Tools
evaluation

Strategic Planning Triangle
As shown alongside, the apexes of the planning triangle entail the
segment(s) selected as targets for the IMC campaign, the brand’s value
proposition, and the array of persuasion tools that might be deployed to
achieve campaign objectives.
(a) The firm starts with customer, prospect, stakeholder definition, as
identification and specification of the target segment as a paramount
apex of the triangle. Building a consensus between the client and the
agency about which customers will be targeted is essential to the
campaign’s effectiveness. Complex IMC campaigns may end up
targeting multiple segment. In such a case it is critical to analyze if

and how different target segments will interact to support or disparage
the campaign. The description of the target hence has to be both
Personal and Precise.
(b) The second important apex in the Planning triangle entails a
specification of the Brand’s Value Proposition. A brand’s value
proposition is a statement of the functional, emotional, and selfexpressive benefits delivered by the brand that provide value to the
customers in the target segment. Factors like what the brand has
stood for in the past, as well as what new types of value or benefits one
wants to claim for going forward need to be considered here.

(c) The final apex of the planning triangle considers the various
persuasion tools that may be deployed in executing the campaign. The
mix of the various tools should depend on the objectives that are set
for the IMC campaign.
Collaboration between the agency and the client is the key to ensure that
the approval process proceeds in a timely fashion.

The Process of an Integrated Marketing Program
thus:
.

Encourages the establishment of a marketing-team approach to
discuss strengths and weaknesses, mission and vision, and niche and
quality, and to reach a consensus on the primary messages to be
delivered to priority audiences.


.

Involves working in teams, typically with members from other campus
offices, to reach prospective students, parents, donors, and community
and government officials with maximum impact.

.

Uses quantitative and qualitative research techniques, including focus
groups and survey research, to determine constituent attitudes and
opinions, and effectiveness of various communications messages and
techniques.

.

Calls for a communications analysis to determine what messages are
being sent to key audiences, including the sequence and flow of these
messages.

.

Calls for the examination of your existing message vehicles for clarity,
consistency, and effectiveness. Combines this assessment with the
results of your research to provide your key audiences with the
information they need, in the ways they have asked to receive it.

.

Focuses on long-term advantages and incorporates interactive
communication to develop more personal relationships. May include
the use of technology like email and the World Wide Web to get
feedback from key audiences.


Case II
Godrej Consumer Products Ltd.
The Godrej Group - Corporate profile
Everyday, every Indian encounters the ‘Godrej’ name sometime
somewhere. A person may begin the day bathing with Godrej soap,
shaving with a Godrej shaving cream, storing clothes in a Godrej
Storewell cupboard, cooking food in a Godrej cooking oil and preserving it
in a Godrej refrigerator. Money and valuables are kept in a Godrej safe,
work is done on a Godrej computer or typewriter while sitting on a Godrej
chair and drinking a Godrej fruit drink.
Innovation has been the key to the growth of the Godrej group. It is this
spirit that has built Godrej and carried it for over a hundred years.
Existing in diverse industries ranging from cupboards to soaps, hair dyes
to edible oils, and packaged foods to refrigerators, the group in recent
years has forged several partnerships with international giants like
General Electric, Pillsbury, Fiskars and Sara Lee, bringing Godrej
membership in the Global village that will carry it forward into the 21st
century.
Godrej has always been a crusader for a better world with programs that
benefit endangered forests, wild life and mangroves. Every year the
Pirojsha Godrej Foundation dedicates funds towards promoting
education, housing, social upliftment, conservation, population
management and relief of natural calamities.


GCPL – An Overview
Godrej Consumer Products Limited (GCPL), has started
operations w.e.f. 1st April 2001. This new company is the result of the
demerger of Godrej Soaps Limited, the flagship company of the Rs. 34
billion Godrej Group.
GCPL is a true FMCG business with focus on four key markets:


Personal care with brands like All Care, Fair Glow, Cinthol, Nikhar,
No.1, Godrej Shaving Creams etc.



Hair care – Godrej Shikakai. Crowning Glory, Color Soft, Color
Gloss, Anoop Hair Oil etc.



Fabric care and – Ezee and Trilo



Household care – Godrej Liquid Cleaner

With a turnover of Rs. 470 crore, the company employs 950 persons and
has two modern manufacturing facilities at Malanpur (M.P.), and Silvassa
(U.T.). GCPL is India's largest marketer of Hair Colourants and Liquid
Detergents and the third largest marketer of toilet soaps.
GCPL is committed to providing world-class products and services and its
efforts are aimed at fulfilling the daily needs of consumers through
innovative, value for money, products that improve their quality of life.
GCPL is a high growth, highly profitable FMCG operation. It will own all
its brands among which are the high profile Cinthol, Fair Glow, Ezee and
Godrej Hair Dye.
GCPL is expected to have ROCE and RONW ratios comparable with the
best FMCG companies in India. It is a professionally managed company


under the leadership of Mr. Adi B. Godrej, as the Chairman and Managing
Director.
Associate Companies include Godrej Industries Ltd., Godrej Sara Lee Ltd.,
Godrej Foods Ltd., Godrej Agrovet Ltd. and Godrej Properties and
Investments Ltd.

IMC and its importance at Godrej Consumer
Products Ltd.
Mr. Girish Korde, Brand manager, FairGlow, defines IMC as “ a multidimensional, multi media communication system that is based on a
pre-designed strategy. It necessitates across the board implementation
for effectiveness”.
The Integrated marketing process is being implemented by Godrej
Consumer products for all its brands across product categories. This is
because with a slate of launches and relaunches, it is very essential for
the brands to not lose focus. Besides concentration of communication on
a central theme, with ‘one look, one voice’ enhances the recall and Impact
of communication on the consumers. Godrej also believes that use of
Integrated Marketing Communication helps the brands to get a noticeable
‘Share of Voice’ and ‘Share of Mind’.
In today’s arena where the messages need to make an effort to stand out
of the immense Clutter and where the messages are prone to different
interpretations in different contexts, use of Integrated Communications
reduces the risks associated with such loses.


The use of Integrated Communications also leads to an emergence of a
sharper brand personality as the personality gets re-inforced over usage
and exposure to the audiences.
In fact Mr. Girish also specifies that only Integrated Communications is
often not enough to ensure all the benefits. The process of integration of
communication should be complemented and supported by the
Integration of the Product and Marketing functions too. This
essentially means that the product should live upto the expectations
created by the communication and all the extensions should also be
integrated with the overall brand. Hence the FairGlow brand was
extended to Fairness Creams and innovations like the sachets packs etc.
continued to deliver the brand promise in an integrated and True manner.

THE BRAND - FAIRGLOW
Launched in Jan 2000, the brand FAIRGLOW has captured 3.5% market
share, in some areas where it has been launched. There has been
overwhelming consumer response to this unique product from Godrej Soaps.
Letters are being received by the company which reveal that consumers
who used FAIRGLOW have become noticeably fairer in a short period of
usage.
The Objective of the brand – ‘Creating an entirely new category in
the stagnant toilet soaps market’.
The Mission for the FairGlow team - ‘To work towards ensuring that the
brand maintains it’s market creator and leader status’
The Product - FAIRGLOW is a high quality toilet soap with 76% TFM (total
fatty matter) and an excellent floral perfume. It is packaged in a polyester


wrapper with attractive graphics. FAIRGLOW is available all across India
and has an introductory price offer of Rs. 10.00 for a 75 gm pack.
The Formula - FAIRGLOW has a unique Bio-extract ‘Natural Oxy-G’ that is of
vegetable origin and absolutely safe. Its natural action involves reduction of
the black melanin in the skin without changing the skin’s natural balance.
The Natural Oxy-G also helps remove blemishes to give the user a smooth
and glowing complexion. FAIRGLOW therefore, provides fairness for the
face and the whole body without any extra effort. In sum, it gives the twin
advantages of a clean and fresh bath while also providing the fairness
benefit.
Activities undertaken by FairGlow:


Television advertising on a large scale to ensure awareness



Magazine and News paper advertising



Press articles and other public relations



Outdoor advertising –Hoardings



FairGlow Express



Net advertising



Skin care section – advisor etc.



‘FairGlow Face of the Fortnight’ series



Radio advertising (FM)



Seminars on skin care



Events – friendship day, valentines party etc.



Direct advertising to members of SIBHA ( South Indian Beauty and

FairGlow Express

Hair associates)


Promotions – both trade and consumer


The Process Of Communication Generation

The component design – Factors:
In the process of designing the communications mix, there are various
factors that are taken into account at Godrej Consumer Products Ltd. The
mot important factors that have a bearing on the variables in the mix are:
(a) The objective of the brand communication – a brand that seeks to gain
awareness will have greater proportion of mass media. Thus
maintaining the brand reputation and developing brand awareness
would see two different mix of target contact points.
Also the magnitude of the objective would also be a contributing
factor. For example ‘gaining a 5% share of the competitor’s market
would require a more aggressive strategy as compared to an objective
of gaining a 2% market share’
(b) The competitors’ activities – Selection of nuances between the
available options at times is also based on the actions of the
competitors. Thus if the competitor is making efforts through the trade
promotions to create ‘dealer push’, a brand like Cinthol would splurge
on mass media or create a consumer promotion, to create a ‘Consumer
Pull’
(c) The stage of the Product Life Cycle in which the brand operates will also be
a factor in the formation of the communication mix.
(d) The Brand Philosophy, character – A brand that symbolizes and associates
itself to Safety, Care, Environment etc. would lend itself easily to
collaborative advertising which may not be the case with all brands.
(e) Product Category is yet another actor. Some brands like Cinthol are
youthful in character and hence lend themselves to Events, Mass


media etc. but a personal care product like Condoms may not lend
themselves to Outdoor communication like the Trains, Hoardings etc.
(f) The Target group also plays an important role in the communication
mix definition. Thus a brand like FairGlow lends itself more to Events
promotion as compared to a family brand like ‘All Care’
(g) The Impact of Expenditure that a brand would earn also be of
consideration. Thus thanks to the novelty factor attached o the
FairGlow brand, the impact of the expenditure incurred was quite
higher as compared to the expenditures incurred by Cinthol.
(h) Qualitative parameters like the Brand Image, Brand

Personality also would be a decisive factor in the process of
strategizing for Communication.
(i) Geographical diversity of a brand and the regional preferences and
performances are another factor to be taken into account. Thus if
Direct marketing has always shown a poor response in the Southern
markets, which happen to a stronghold area for the brand, the strategy
would reduce the proportion spend on Direct even if it may seem to a
desirable alternative.
(j) One of the most important parameters in the decision making would
be the Budgets allocated to the brand for the communications
exercise. As these budgets would be based on a forecast of the
market’s purchasing ability and other factors, this actor is of
paramount importance to ensure the viability of the brand.


(k) And of course the Skill and the Experience of the Brand manager also
is important in the process of strategizing the communications mix as
that often happens to be a source of innovations and experimentation.

The Agencies Involved:


Client – Brand Team of Godrej



Creatives and Strategy - All of the communication for most brands is
handled by Mudra excepting Cinthol, which is handled by Leo Burnett.



Media Buying and Planning – This function is centralized with Madison,
the Agency Of Record for Godrej.



Specialists – Most of the times, Mudra proves to be self-sufficient
agency for functions like direct marketing etc. As and when required,
Mudra internally outsources specialists for tasks where it may not be
as competent (Net advertising)



Others – Besides these agencies at times there are Event management
outfits etc. who may be involved for specific events.

Factors that lead to smooth flow of the process:


‘Centralization of communication’ is an essential for ensuring that the
communication flows the way it is expected to. In fact for all the
regional sales zones, the communication is designed at the corporate
office by the marketing team keeping in mind the inputs from the
Regions. The communication plan along with the creative is then
passed on to the regional areas, where they are implemented.



The existence of one central agency for all of its communication
facilitates coordination and effective implementation of various
communication strategies.



An effective Creative director would be a great benefit to the
communication process, as he would not only germinate the ‘Big Idea’,

but would also mobilize the various specialist aid required at all points
and time for communication implementation.


The methodology adopted at Godrej Consumer Products Ltd.:
1. The brand team identifies the objectives of the brand and the overall
strategy.
2. From the strategy develops the details of the consumer (target group),
short term and long term objectives etc.
3. The marketing brief is explained to both Madison and Mudra
executives.
4. The creative teams gets to work to crystallize the idea that would
communicate the message.
5. The plans for media are prepared through a series of meetings between
the three concerned parties (FairGlow brand team, Mudra CS and
Account Planner, Madison executives)
6. In keeping with the drafted media plan, creatives would be designed for
the various media.
7. In case of special events, promotions etc. too the execution plan is
coordinated with the agency, which designs the creatives for the same.
The process of Implementation of IMC at Godrej Consumer Products Ltd.

Agency of Record Madison

Event
Strategy

Execution
(Creatives)

Client’s Marketing
Strategy
Communication
Strategy

Media
Strategy

Specialists – Events
etc.
Event
Creatives

Creative agency Mudra
Outsourcing for
Certain areas of
Strategy

Specialist outfits Net advertising,
Direct Marketing
etc.


The responsibility of coordination of all the brand building efforts rests
with the Brand Team, which is the Final authority on all components and
mixes adopted by the brand. While the Brand team has complete freedom
to execute strategies that are in keeping with their brand philosophy, they
also keep in mind the association of the brand with the Corporate Brand –
Godrej and the synergy between the two brands. This ensures that no
brand lends a negative rub-off to the corporate brand and works within
its purview, enhancing it at the same time.
The entire process of implementation of a communication program is
documented in a confidential “BRAND Book”. This book contains not only
the process adopted, but also contains update information of all the
communication activities conducted under the various brands.

The Corporate Brand GODREJ
According to Mr. Korde there exists a two-way relationship between the
corporate brand Godrej and each of the brands in the Godrej Stable. The
Godrej brand stands for TRUST, RELIABILITY and QUALITY and that is
an integral part of each brand that evolve with the Godrej Name. The
Godrej name also lends stability to the new brand, reducing the efforts
required to build a new brand.

The
Godrej Brand

Two-way synergistic
relationship

Indivudual brands
(FairGlow, Cinthol etc.)


On the other hand, with newer brands emerging from Godrej, the Godrej
brand too earns a younger, vibrant and versatile image.
Each brand manager ensures that his brand philosophy lies well within
or is related to the overall Godrej philosophy of commitment to Quality
and well-being of the consumer. The senior management (Board of
directors et al) ensure that the vision of the company translates into
brands that are diverse and yet converge synergistically under the Godrej
Brand.

-----------********------------


Issues In Co-Ordination Of An IMC Campaign
Issue I - Stages of Integration of Marketing Communications
The IMC program can be integrated at several Stages. The company needs
to identify which level is it at currently, and what does it seek to achieve
in a specific campaign. The following table details the various stages and
explains them alongside.

Levels of Integration

Explanation

Awareness Stage

Those responsible for
communications realize that a
fragmented approach is not the
optimum one.

Planning Integration

The co-ordination of activities. There
are TWO broad approaches:
1. Functional Integration - which
co-ordinates separate tools to
create a single message where
appropriate.
2. Instrumental Integration –
combines tools in a way that they
reinforce one another.

Integration of Content

Ensuring that there are no
contradictions in the basic brand or
corporate messages, integrating


themes of communication to make
same basic messages.
Formal Integration

Using same logo, corporate colours,
graphic approach and house style for
all communications

Integration between planning

Basic content remains the same

periods

from one campaign to next or the
same executional approach is used
in different projects.

Intra-organizational integration

Integration of activities of all involved
in communication functions.

Inter-organizational integration

Integration of all outside agencies
involved in the firm’s communication
activities.

Geographical Integration

Integration of campaigns in different
countries – strongest in large
multinationals operating globally.

Integration of publics

All communication is targeted at a
segment are Integrated (Horizontal)
or All communication targeted to
different segments are attuned
(Vertical)


Issue II - How many Stakeholders should be taken into Account:
A well-managed IM program identifies all key stakeholder groups and the
impact, both positive and negative, that each can have on an
organization. As Tom Duncan and Sandra E. Morarity, point out in
Driving Brand Value, there are five reasons why all stakeholder groups
must be taken into consideration in integrated marketing:

1e. A value field of int ractions: A company exists within a value field
(rather than a linear value chain) of stakeholder interactions. Companies
communicate directly with customers and retailers at the same time
retailers are talking with customers and customers are talking among
themselves. The interactions among suppliers, distributors, and even
competitors can affect brand value.
2. Stakeholders overlap: An example of the integrated nature of
stakeholder relationships is the employee stakeholder group where a
person may also be a customer, an investor, and a voter in the local
community. These interacting and overlapping relationships demand that
a company be strategically consistent in its basic core values and brand
messages. A company can't say one thing to investors, something else to
employees, and still another message to customers.

3. Integrity builds trust: Integration means unity of effort or purpose.
When an organization becomes more integrated, its interactions become
more consistent, its reputation more distinct, and its stakeholders more
trustful. Integration produces integrity because an organization seen as
working together rather than as a collection of fragmented, autonomous
functions is perceived as being more sound and trustworthy-prerequisites
for sustaining relationships.


4. Brand equity equals support: Just as brand share is the result of a
brand's customer franchise, brand equity is the result of a company's
stakeholder franchise. All stakeholders, not just customers, choose to
what extent they support a brand or company. People have a choice
where they work; investors have a choice of investment opportunities; and
customers have an ever-increasing choice of what they buy. In other
words, people choose to be stakeholders. And when they do, this gives
them the right to understand and influence what a company does. A
brand exists in people's minds; it is owned by them, as much as by the
company.
5. Profitability is the relationship bottom-line: Profits can be improved by
increasing revenues and/or decreasing costs. Therefore, all stakeholders
can affect the bottom line as their actions can have an impact on costs, as
well as revenues. Both can increase or decrease depending on the efforts,
attitudes, ideas, and support of all stakeholders. Actions of groups such
as the financial community, government regulators, and employees can
often affect profits more quickly and significantly than can changes in
customer behavior.

Issue III - Importance of teams
Creativity in the preparation of an IMC campaign can be fostered by trust
and open communication that are hallmarks of effective teams. The
position of the creative director in an agency becomes special as much
like the maestro of the symphony orchestra, the creative director must
encourage personal excellence, but at the same time demand team
accountability.


Principles to be relied on in orchestrating the teams:


Take care in assigning individuals to a team in the first place. It is
important t be sensitive to existing wok loads and keep in mind the
proper mix of expertise required to do the job for the client.



Take time to know the work style of each individual to ensure that you
create the most conducive environment.



Make teams responsible to the client – empower them!



Beware of adversarial relationships between individuals and teams.



Rotate teams to foster fresh thinking.

Issue IV - Problems of coordination
As per the research by Beard in 1993, one of the major hurdles to IMC is
the question of who should coordinate the programs- the client or the
agency? Who will handle the IMC programs – the client or the agency?
Who should be primarily responsible for it?
The answer is provided by the research studies done by George S Low of
Texas University combined with the earlier researches done in this field.
The results of their studies suggest that the clients should be responsible
for the strategic direction and planning which form a basis for the IMC
programs, while the agencies should be responsible for message
consistency and coordination of communications programs. Further the
studies suggest that the clients have more room for IMC improvement in
their strategic planning role than do the agencies in their tactical
implementation role. Nevertheless the key word in the role of agencies is
consistency.
As much lip service as advertisers give to pursuing the "one-voice" and
"seamless communication" that a well-designed IMC program can provide,

there seems to be one major roadblock to implementation: the advertisers
themselves! According to John McLaughlin, a marketing consultant, the
reasons lie in:
•

Clients often don't see a clear-cut cost advantage in dealing exclusively
with a primary agency rather than several suppliers.

•

Clients often don't have confidence in the ability of advertising
agencies to deliver specialized services.

•

Clients have strategic concerns about putting all their eggs in one
creative/ executional basket.

Due to these concerns at times the firms not only hesitate to use the
services of the newly developed capabilities but in fact also delay the
implementation of the IMC program itself.


PART III

REINVENTING THE AGENCY


ENREINVTING THE AGENCY
Thomas Eppes, president of Charlotte, N.C. based Price/McNabb sees a
change arriving, a trend that looks at a ‘New Avataar’ of an agency. He
says, "I think the change is going to be so dramatic that in the future
there won't be any such thing as an advertising agency. . . We have begun
to refer to ourselves as a communications company, and that might
change because we are getting involved with our clients' business in ways
that go beyond communications."
IMC is a specialized concept and while many agencies claim to deliver on
this, there are truly very few agencies capable of integrated
communication. Agencies having separate cells/departments for different
functions e.g. LINTAS has Pathfinders (Research), LinOpinion (PR),
Linteractive (Net related communications), Advent(Events) and Lintas
Direct(for Direct Marketing); Similarly Ogilvy& Mather with Ogilvy One,
Ogilvy Rural, Ogilvy PR; HTA – with IPAN, FULCRUM, HTA Direct etc. are
some such agencies.
According to Mr. Ajay Kelkar, Sr. Marketing Manager, Shoppers Stop, “It
has been my experience that there are two stands one must consider
before identifying whether the brand should take a specialist route or a
one-stop shop route. These points are:
1. Can you afford to have specialist agencies, as these agencies would
mean splitting your marketing spends across various agencies.
2. The Creative approach generally is different for mainly three
components – Public relations, Direct Marketing and Advertising. Can
your agency handle the contradictions within, or do you have the
resources (time and expertise) to consolidate them at your end.


In case too many agencies are involved in the branding process, the
control generally resides with the brand team who provides guidelines for
implementation and where the agencies’ tasks are often only left to the
execution. And that’s not enough reason for the agency to exist. Instead a
route to a common agency who could provide specialist skills under one
roof, either from its internal processes or through Out-sourcing could be
ideal”.

Need for a One-Stop Shop Agency


Strategizing with the brand communication with several agencies,
leaves no meaning to the brand route as there tend to be too many socalled ideas, conflict of interests etc.



Dealing with one-agency aids quicker implementation of the strategies,
due to less time involved in co-ordination.



Reduces the problems of coordination and duplication, as all the
concerned entities know well enough the objectives and the directions.



The merging of ideas prove to be a ‘synergistic beauty’, as there are
rare clashes between the creatives for various media.



Besides after working for all communication with one agency, there
arrives a point where the brand team and the agency vibe well and
therefore there exists a comfort zone that allows free flow of ideas.

Pros and Cons of Integrated services:
Proponents of Integrated marketing and one-stop shop services agency
contend that maintaining entire control of the promotional process
achieves greater synergy among each of the communication program
elements. They also note that its is convenient for the client to coordinate

all of his marketing effort. An agency with integrated marketing
capabilities can create a single image for the product or service and
address everyone from the wholesaler tot he consumer with one voice.
On the other hand opponents of such agencies say that the providers get
involved in political wrangling over budgets, do not communicate as often
and do not achieve synergy. They claim that the efforts by agencies to
control all aspects of the promotional program are nothing more than an
attempt to hold on to the business that might otherwise be lost to
competitors.

What Clients Seek from A One-stop Shop agency?
According to Mr. Korde, Brand manager, Fairglow, a one-stop agency
should be:


Self sufficient in the major areas of service like creative for mass
media, direct marketing, outdoor etc.



If instead the agency manages to obtain specialists in each field, while
delivering the quality insisted, that would be desirable too. In such a
case, the Client Servicing executive and the Account planner would act
as Gatekeepers to ensure only the Fittest fits into the picture.



The agency needs to be Flexible, since plans and implementation ideas
are constantly evolving.



But the most important and major influencer in most cases is the
agencies ability to understand the Brand, the category and the other
players in the market, Its expertise at a cohesive Strategy
Development, and the ability of conversion of this strategy into a
beautiful blend of components.


PART IV

EVALUATION AND BARRIERS


Evaluation – IMC Audit
With today's marketplace conditions, emphasis must now be placed on
retaining and growing the value of existing customers, as much as on
acquiring new ones. Consequently, companies are setting up crossfunctional processes and making other structural changes to better
manage brand relationships. This means there is an increasing need to
audit these internal processes to make sure that they are, in fact,
integrated, and operating efficiently and effectively. Recognizing this, Tom
Duncan and Sandra M. designed the Integrated Marketing (IM) Audit.
IM Audit findings should be used in conjunction with customer
satisfaction and other types of output controls. In other words, an audit
should not be used in place of, but in addition to, traditional output
controls.

Who should do it
An IM audit should be done by an outside, objective team and should be a
census (not just a sample) of the managers of all departments impacting
on brand relationships. At the audit orientation meeting with top
management, the audit instruments are reviewed and customized to fit
the organization's structure and needs.

Audit Tools
The audit tools include three basic interviewing instruments, as well as a
variety of optional tools depending on the type of business and how indepth the organization wants the audit to be.

1.

Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices Questionnaire This
questionnaire determines the respondents' knowledge of the marketing


and marketing communication plans and targeted audiences. Answers
to these questions are then compared to what employees are actually
working to accomplish. Specifically, this instrument evaluates the
following areas and conditions:
Objectives. What are the target/stakeholder priorities? Which
stakeholders are most important? Is there agreement on
communication objectives and the brand's positioning among the
various marketing groups/departments/ functions? Does the
objective-setting process include everyone who contributes to creating
messages? What are the key messages for each of the target
audiences?
Organization. How much agreement exists among and within the
groups on the responsibilities of the various marketing communication
departments/functions? How is coordination managed? Who is
responsible for coordinating communication efforts? To what extent is
managing brand relationships a cross-functional process?

Customer Databases. To what extent do customer databases exist
within the organization? How accessible are they, and how often are
they used? What are the procedures for capturing customer dialogue
and other interactions? Is there sharing of databases, market research
findings, and other types of planning information?

Contact Points. Are these identified? What messages are being
sent? Are they consistent? Do they amount to a strategy? Are these
experiences measured and analyzed? Who controls them?


Integration. What's the brand's current level of integration? What
are the advantages and disadvantages of integration? What are the
major barriers to being more integrated?

Outside Agencies. To what extent are marketing communication
agencies involved in strategic planning? How much
communication/sharing of ideas is there among clients' agencies?

Interactivity. How far has the company moved into interactive, twoway communication with customers?

Planning. Does the organization use zero-based planning, especially
for annual and short-term programs? To what extent are objectives
based on some kind of prioritized SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses,
Opportunities, Threats) analysis? To whom are testing results
distributed, and to what extent are they used in planning?

2.

Communication Network Survey This is a matrix of closedended questions to pinpoint the following information: Who talks to
whom, how often, and about what? Who drives planning and
decisions? Who influences them? How often are respondents involved
in MC planning (formal/informal)? What information sources do they
read? How much and what kind of information sharing is there
(research, other information)? What are the patterns of internal
communication among departments? Is one department doing more
talking than listening?


3.

Content Analysis All marketing communication or planned
messages used by the company over at least a 12-month period are
contently analyzed to determine whether they are consistent with
marketing communication objectives? Whether key messages are
appropriate for key audiences; and whether there is consistent
portrayal of company/brand positioning and image; and the amount of
creative strategy and execution consistency.

Specifically, the analysis looks at the following elements: the objective of
the piece, the audience, key themes, the tone, brand/corporate
image/position cues, use of response devices (active and passive), and
mission/vision cues. Content analysis findings are then compared with
interview findings to determine the organization's actual level of
integration. The content analysis also helps identify gaps in performance.

What Can Be Learned From an IM Audit?
The benefits of auditing the organization, and the processes that are
responsible for acquiring, retaining, and growing customer relationships,
can uncover major inefficiencies and integration gaps. These may include:
Confusion about objectives. In one company, managers gave nine
different responses when asked what the corporate marketing
communication objectives were and ten different responses for the brand
marketing communication objectives. When people are working against
different message objectives, it is impossible to have message consistency;
a facts subsequently proven by a content analyses undertaken as part of
the Audit.
Lack of agreement on message themes. A retail chain had begun
advertising "Low Prices Every Day." However, there was no agreement

among managers on what this meant in the context of the chain's pricing
strategy. Interviewees offered a total of seven different explanations of
what this new strategy involved. None was given by more than 15 percent
of those interviewed.
Another example: In a national consumer goods company, one message
theme was used in 100 percent of television advertising, but only 22
percent of other advertising; another theme was used in 80 percent of
television advertising, but only 20 percent of sales promotion materials
and collateral materials (of which there were more than 100).

Messages not targeted to primary stakeholder
groups. In one company it was found that 24 percent of all printed
messages were not targeted to any of the high priority stakeholder groups
identified by management, and only 1 percent were specifically directed to
the target audience rated most important.

Not enough information available. In almost all the audits
conducted, the majority of marketing managers say that half the time
they do not receive enough information from other departments to do
their jobs effectively. The types of information frequently mentioned as
difficult to get were sales results, research results, and promotional and
other special marketing plans for specific events and programs.

Limited use of research results. One packaged-goods company
was spending approximately $150 million on marketing communication.
Yet 37 percent of the managers said they did not know of any market
analysis being done by the company, 33 percent said some was being
done but didn't know if it was being used, and 15 percent said very little
was used.


Little knowledge of annual planning. In one company, 60 percent of the
managers did not know how the budget was allocated among
departments, and half of the managers did not know to what extent each
year's communication plan compared to the previous one.
Lack of agreement on which stakeholders are most important. In a
health care facility, patients/families received the third highest rating
when all responses were averaged, but were ranked eighth by top
management responses. Political leaders were ranked ninth, but third by
public affairs/public relations. This was in response to the question:
"What is the overall importance to the whole organization of the
organization's stakeholders?"
Limited use of computers for networking and consumer databases.
One company had a relatively small number of industrial customer; yet it
did not capture customer buying behavior information, although there
were many opportunities for doing so.
Unexamined Assumptions An audit can identify problems a company doesn't
even know it has. For example, while auditing a high-tech manufacturer
(annual sales over $300 million), the auditors were told that the company
was working hard to apply for the Baldridge Award and also was getting
ready for its ISO 9000 evaluation. Consequently, the manager of
marketing services was confident the company had maximized the
integration of its processes and was doing everything it could to integrate
its marketing communication. The audit discovered, however, that the
marketing communication department had little knowledge of, and made
little use of, the company's databases even though the company had fewer
than 200 customers. (Most of the company's marketing communication
messages were in the form of ads in industry trade magazines.)


Thus although the IM Audit was designed to be an evaluation tool, it also
provides a road map for showing how a company can become more
integrated. The audit provides an objective, well-documented list of what
must be changed in order to strengthen brand relationships.


BARRIERS TO IMPLEMENTATION
IMC is indeed enjoying a growth in awareness, particularly among larger
companies. Nearly three fourths of the companies surveyed report using a
database to better target their customers- an essential part of
implementing IMC; but only 30 percent say they are doing extensive
profiling and segmenting of customer buying habits using a database.
This suggests that many companies have not yet reached a full
implementation of IMC.
The widespread attention paid to IMC is largely a function of its strong
intuitive appeal - it makes good sense. Despite its appeal, more than a
decade has passed since the concept was first introduced, and most
major U.S. corporations have yet to fully implement the foundational
ideas contained in IMC. Proponents of IMC are left with a compelling
question, a variation of a rhetorical question: If IMC is so good, why isn't
it being fully implemented in corporate America?
Case in Point: Procter & Gamble - The World's Great Consumer Products
Company
Procter & Gamble is considered by business scholars to be a world-class
marketing company. Like the Nike brand, Procter & Gamble possesses
some of the most recognizable brands in the world including: Tide
detergent, Crest toothpaste, Jiff peanut butter, Cover Girl cosmetics, and
Duncan Hines cake mix. It also has dominant market share with many of
its premier brands. For some time now P&G has been lauded for its
efforts in implementing the Integrated Marketing Communications. But is
Procter & Gamble a perfect IMC exemplar? If beginning with stakeholders
and speaking to them with one voice across all communications channels
is an important criterion of IMC, the answer must be "NO."


Despite Procter & Gamble's marketing preeminence, it has a history of
internal and external communication blunders:
• Procter & Gamble publicly mishandled both the Rely Tampon crisis
and allegations that their packaging symbol documented the
company's satanic links.
• Recently, Procter & Gamble lost face publicly and alienated employees
when it was revealed that the company had phone-tapped three
employees they suspected of leaking company information.
• This was followed by a botched job of dealing with some of the
physiological effects of its new fat substitute, Olestra. Without
considering public reaction, they allowed their scientists to term the
discharge of Olestra, "anal leakage" (Henkoff, 1996), raising another
wave of public controversy.
• Lately Proctor & Gamble shot itself in the corporate reputational foot
again. The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) announced to the financial
media that Proctor & Gamble fully expected to meet its earnings
forecast for the end of the quarter. Two weeks later, new CEO Durk
Jager was forced to announce to the same media that they had badly
overestimated their quarterly earnings and that the company would
fall significantly short of its quarterly earnings forecast. Over the
following week, the company's stock fell precipitously as shareholders
and financial markets lost faith in the venerable company. The Proctor
& Gamble Board of Directors subsequently fired Mr. Jager.
Despite characterizations to the contrary, these examples illustrate just
how far away Proctor & Gamble has been operating from the necessary
IMC condition of speaking to all stakeholders with one voice.


The Problem with Implementing IMC
Companies like Nike and Procter & Gamble do an excellent job with the
marketing side of marketing communications without integrating their
public and employee relations functions and hence their corporate
reputations have suffered. IMC theory has given short shift to the
organizational barriers that often prevent companies from implementing
IMC completely or effectively.

(a)Organizational Barriers
Companies like Procter and Gamble have comprehensively or
effectively integrated their many communications functions seamlessly
or spoken to their stakeholders with one voice. They are very strong in
marketing, but remain weak in public relations, employee
communications, or both. The question remains, how do great
companies like these miss the IMC mark?
The answer to this important question lies, to a great extent, in their
respective organizational structures. Procter & Gamble is marketing
organizations, organized around product marketing.
Procter & Gamble exemplifies a "brand management" organization
where both line and staff functions are situated within a company's
various products or brands. While Procter & Gamble's organizational
structure has evolved over the years, staff communication functions
such as public relations and employee communications are organized
around and directly support each brand or group of brands. Brands
receive the greatest resources and exert huge internal influence.


(b)Structure, Function and Culture
Schultz, et. al. (1992) argue that there are three organizational issues
that must be resolved before IMC can be implemented: marketing
planning systems and basic marketing thinking, organizational structure,
and capabilities and control. They believe that because functional
specialists within an organization try to keep the various
communications programs separate, they are a major hindrance to
IMC implementation. One of the authors' programmatic solutions is to
establish a "communications czar" who has control of all
communication functions and presumably would ensure that all
communications programs are effectively integrated. What promoters
often fail to consider is how, structurally and functionally, a
communications czar could come into being in the modern
organization.
Also, since in companies like Proctor & Gamble i.e. in strong
marketing cultures, most communications heads are subordinate to
the chief marketing officer. So, an initiative establishing a
communications czar is very unlikely to come from any of the three or
more functional heads that risk losing authority and responsibility in
the process of integration. Perhaps the most logical and effective way
for the position of a communications czar to be established is by the
CEO of the company. Unfortunately, the power of the CEO remains
neglected as a barrier or enabler to implementing IMC.

(c)The Importance of CEO Control
The importance of the CEO in implementing IMC has been largely
ignored. There in fact are numerous ways CEOs can undermine IMC.
Without their active support or stewardship, IMC will likely never get
off the ground. But even when they support IMC, there are numerous

examples of CEOs acting against its principles. This is because many
CEOs have a great deal of power and control and egos that come along
with these forces. CEOs often act in self-interest or according to their
predilections, instead of advice from their communications czar.
One of the more recent examples is the controversial series of full-page
ads for CrossWorlds, a Silicon Valley software company. These ads
appeared in leading business publications such as Fortune and the
Wall Street Journal and showed CEO Katrina Garnett in a revealing
black dress, despite public relations advice to the contrary. While the
ad garnered a great deal of publicity, it also spawned critical articles
like the one in Fortune titled: "Techno-Cleavage" (Bass, 1998). This ad
prompted a series of parodies by competitors including one by archrival Active Software, where its CEO pulls a CD-ROM from his pocket
and says: "Software, not evening wear." The fact is that CEOs have the
power to market their companies any way they want, with or without
the guidance of IMC.
The fact is that many CEOs want commercials that get rave reviews
among their close circle of peers and notoriety from the public, no
matter what effect they have on consumers or the company's bottom
line. To minimize the influence of the CEO on company marketing is
naïve, but to exclude the CEO in any substantive discussion of IMC
adoption and implementation is simply deficient theory building.

(d)Putting Organization and Culture into IMC Theory
If structure, function and CEO support are given short shrift in IMC
theory, culture is virtually ignored. There are several important
elements often missing from the IMC implnetatator’s treatment of
culture.




First, culture is treated as a determinant of organizational
behavior. While we know culture affects behavior, it is also true
that behavior has a reciprocal impact on culture. This mutual
influence has been established between organizational culture
and organizational communication.



Second, some cultures are so strong and directed away from
centralized control of communication that implementing IMC
would be impossible. For example, regulated monopolies like
AT&T (before the 1996 divestiture) and electrical utilities have
developed cultures where marketing has not been an important
requirement while public relations has been seen as critical.
When AT&T was first divested in 1983, the biggest challenge was
overcoming the "utility culture" and becoming a market-driven
company.
Most of the communication power and resources rest with the
public relations department and its chief, who likely has the ear
and confidence of the CEO. Contrast these cultures with those of
Nike and Procter & Gamble, where public relations has
significantly less structural power and fewer resources than
marketing. Whether a company has a service or a marketing
culture will have a great impact on how and whether IMC gets
implemented.



Third, in some organizations there is so much competition for
resources that the amount of cooperation and collaboration
required by IMC is virtually impossible to achieve. In the case of
mergers and acquisitions, resources are scarce and competition
between departments great. The areas first to suffer are
employee communications and public relations.




Fourth, some cultures have very narrow views of the
communications function. For example, Microsoft, despite its
size and influence on capital markets, did very little public
relations or government relations until the federal government
indicted them for unfair trade practices. Most high technology
companies have a similarly narrow view toward communications
and are unlikely to spend much effort or resources
"experimenting" with IMC.



Finally, in companies where there is a strong or even
egomaniacal CEO, IMC may be either impossible or likely to be
circumvented at the whim of the CEO. For example, Sunbeam
Corporation, under the leadership of Al Dunlap was unlikely to
engage in the IMC process given his desire for strong operational
control.


Recommendations
The above explanation offers adequate rationale for the corporate neglect
of IMC. The recommendations that flow from the analysis are:
1. First, existing IMC theory gives considerably more emphasis to
implementation than adoption of IMC. For IMC to be a reality in a
corporation, adoption must precede implementation. This means the
IMC proponent must negotiate his/her way through the maze of
corporate politics, get CEO and other top-level management buy-in
before the first implementation step can be taken.
2. Second, once top-level buy-in has been achieved, an implementation

plan must be developed that can be reconciled with the organization's
existing structure and functional realities. In some instances, a
"communications czar" is out of the question, but a team of
structurally equal marketing and communications executives might
work.
3. Third, organizational culture must be dealt with in a substantive way
in future IMC adoption models. This means placing the

communication process itself alongside organizational culture. It also
means looking at organizations historically to see how they have
developed and evolved over time. Just as the IMC process must be
built around the customer, so to an IMC operation must reflect the
culture of the organization in which it is being implemented.


Necessary Conditions for IMC Success
There are series of necessary conditions that must be present for IMC to
be adopted effectively by a company. Based on these conditions, six
recommendations for optimal adoption of IMC are offered:
•

IMC is a concept that must be implemented systemically and simultaneously
at all levels and functions of a company. One program in which the public
relations and marketing functions are integrated does not qualify
the company as an IMC exemplar.

•

The CEO must voice direct support for adopting IMC, because without
this critical element, IMC efforts are doomed. Beware of companies
with strong marketing cultures, because issues like corporate
reputation will take a back seat to the provincialism of brand
management.

•

Structural and functional issues must become a critical component
of any effective IMC program. Of particular importance is
establishing a communications czar who will become the evangelist and
conscience of the IMC implementation effort.

•

Any IMC program must be adapted to the unique character of a particular
organizational culture. A "one-size-fits-all" IMC program does not exist.
For an IMC program to work effectively, it must reflect the unique
culture in which it must operate.

•

We must look beyond narrow IMC successes in traditional
businesses for exemplars. Many of America's most venerable


companies do a few aspects of IMC well, but fail to exemplify
company-wide integration. We would do well to look to e- commerce
and high technology companies and recognize that attorneys,
accountants, and economists can be as effective or even more
effective at promoting IMC than the traditional roles of public
relations and marketing.


Conclusion
The New Economy is Integrated Marketing's Time to
Shine!!
Ten years ago, the business world was not quite ready to embrace the
principles of IMC. But as the environment developed over the past decade,
IMC grew in stature because it makes good business sense, especially in
today's fast-moving economy. IMC and the four major new economy mega
trends - technology, intangibles, globalization, and the war for talent - are
made for each other.
Technology has opened up numerous doors in terms of knowledge of the
customer, speed to market and connectivity. Globalization has increased
the importance of a unified strategy while highlighting the need to
recognize and address cultural differences. The increasing value assessed
to intangibles such as brands, employees and customer/supplier
relationships is changing financial outlooks across the board. The war for
talent has turned the recruiting tables upside down, because an
information economy cannot exist without human capital.
The corporate focus of integrated marketing must be on relationships and
on more audiences than just customers. Only in this way can an
organization have a unified brand image and eliminate the fragmentation
that can destroy its brand/corporate reputation.
In a business environment where all four mega trends effect the way we
go to market, following the IMC principles of knowing your customers,
building your brand and measuring effectiveness will put companies one
step ahead of the competition.

For companies that currently embrace IMC, the new economy mega
trends translate into opportunities. Placing the customer and other key
stakeholders at the center of your business strategy has never been more
important. The highly competitive marketplace has made relationship
building paramount in the quest for success. For companies who do not
see IMC as vital, it is time to reconsider.


Annexure A
IMC Audit Form
The Company that can implement IMC
A concise, integrated marketing plan can be developed only after a
company identifies itself. Only when you know who you are and what you
have to offer can you tell others about it. Defining yourself and staking
out a clear position in the minds of your target audience is crucial. Every
savvy company knows it must stand for something in the marketplace
Seek ways to set yourself apart from your competition. Why are you
different? Why should people come to you instead of going to someone
else offering the same service or product?
Corporate Images (An IMC Provider) has developed a process called “The
Integrated Marketing Audit” - adapted from Tom Duncan and Sandra
Moriarity in Driving Brand Value - to evaluate an organization's internal
and external processes for developing communication strategies and
programs.
Once you've defined who you are and have set your sights on where you
want to go in the marketplace, how do you get your message to your
market and project an image that fits your company? And how do you say
it to all of your publics in a consistent voice?

How integrated is your company?
Because all companies are integrated to some extent, this audit helps
determine which areas companies need to focus on to become more


integrated. Since the complete audit is quite complex and takes a
research team anywhere from six to eight weeks to complete, the authors
have developed an Integrated Marketing mini-audit which they use in
workshops and seminars. The 20 questions that follow provide executives
with a rough idea where their organizations stand on the integration
scale.
One of the most helpful applications of this Integrated Marketing miniaudit is when a group of executives from the same company complete it
and then compare their answers. Seldom is there a consensus, which
prompts some interesting and useful discussions. To get a quick idea to
what extent your own company is practicing Integrated Marketing, take
this survey and find out how you rate. For each of the statements, click
the number in the mini-audit that best describes how your organization
operates (one is "Never do" and five is "Always do"). If a question does not
apply to your organization, leave it blank.

The Integrated Marketing Audit

Organizational Infrastructure
1. In our company, the process of managing brand/company
reputation and building stakeholder relationships is a crossfunctional responsibility which includes departments besides
marketing such as production, operations, finance, human
resources, etc.
Never 1

2

3

4

5 Always


2. The people managing our communication programs have a good
understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of all major
marketing communications tools such as direct response, PR, sales
promotion, advertising, and packaging.
Never 1

2

3

4

5 Always

3. We do a good job of internal marketing, informing all areas of the
organization about our objectives and marketing programs.
Never 1

2

3

4

5 Always

4. Our major communication agencies have (at least) monthly contact
with each other regarding our communication programs and
activities.
Never 1

2

3

4

5 Always

Interactivity
5. Our media plan is a strategic balance between mass media and
one-to-one media.
Never 1

2

3

4

5 Always

6. Special programs are in place to facilitate customer inquires and
complaints.
Never 1

2

3

4

5 Always


7. In our databases, we capture customer inquiries, complaints,
compliments, offers, and sales behavior (e.g., trial, repeat,
frequency of purchase).
Never 1

2

3

4

5 Always

8. Our customer databases are easily accessible (internally) and user
friendly.
Never 1

2

3

4

5 Always

Mission Marketing
9.

Our organization's mission is a key consideration in our
communication planning.
Never 1

10. Our

2

3

4

5 Always

mission provides an additional reason for customers and other

key stakeholders to believe our messages and support our
company.
Never 1
11. Our

2

3

4

5 Always

corporate philanthropic efforts are concentrated in one specific

area or program.
Never 1

2

3

4

5 Always

Strategic Consistency
12. We

periodically review all our planned messages (e.g., advertising,

sales promotion, PR, packaging, direct marketing, events) to
determine the level of strategic positioning consistency.
Never 1

2

3

4

5 Always


13. Our

current big idea is conceptually broad enough to allow for

compatible sub campaigns aimed at all key stakeholder groups.
Never 1
14. We

2

3

4

5 Always

think carefully about the messages being sent by our pricing,

distribution, product performance, service operations, and others
beyond the control of the company.
Never 1

2

3

4

5 Always

Planning and Evaluating
15. A

SWOT analysis is used to determine the strengths and

opportunities we can leverage, and the weaknesses and threats we
need to address, in our marketing communication planning.
Never 1
16. We

2

3

4

5 Always

use a zero-based approach in marketing communication.

Never 1
17. When

2

3

4

5 Always

doing annual marketing communication planning, first

priority is given to fully utilizing intrinsic brand contact points
before investing in creating new brand contact points.
Never 1
18. Our

2

3

4

5 Always

company uses some type of tracking study to evaluate the

strength of our relationships with customers and other key
stakeholder groups.

Never 1

19. Our

2

3

4

5 Always

marketing strategies maximize the unique strengths of the

various marketing communications tools.
Never 1
20. The

2

3

4

5 Always

overall objective of our marketing communication program is to

create and nourish profitable relationships with customers and
other stakeholders by strategically controlling or influencing all
messages sent to these groups and encouraging purposeful
dialogue with them.
Never 1

2

3

4

5 Always

Adapted from Tom Duncan and Sandra Moriarity in Driving Brand Value
(New York: McGraw-Hill 1997), p. 27-28.


Annexure B
IMC in Global Arena
In the international marketplace Cross-cultural business communication
is especially important. In order to gain a competitive advantage, global
marketers must have an understanding of the underlying motives of
buyer behavior, without regard to their geographic locations.
Organizations in the global arena must communicate their marketing
strategy both internally to their employees and externally to domestic and
international customers. This integrated marketing communications
requires a vast array of strategic and tactical tools. The ability to
proactively respond to what motivates consumer demands, regardless of
geographic allocation, is vital to organizational success.
In international marketing, although language translations may be
accurate, they are, after all translations and have their limitations. The
development of an IMC program in the international arena focuses on longterm relationships with the consumer at the local level. This strategy
conflicts with the traditional product-driven, short-term focus at the
corporate level.
There are several characteristics that need to be considered in the
implementation of an integrated communication plan in an international
market. Some of these characteristics are discussed in brief below.

 Establishment of long-term relationship
The most important aspect of internationalization is that it will require
long-term commitment on the part of the product or service provider, the
different nations involved in the business, and the consumer in the


domestic as well as the international market. The marketing
communication strategies should be developed based on the type of
product that the company is trying to introduce in the Market.
For example, pharmaceutical products such as ViagraÆ that has been
considered by many as a 'wonder drug,' may not perform as well in the
Asian Market. In the U.S., ViagraÆ is considered as a 'lifestyle drug',
which is used for treatment of a rarely deadly disease. Open discussion
regarding matters related to this product quite openly in the relatively
conservative societies, such as the Asian society, has the potential of
backfiring.



Awareness of Cultural and Language Barriers

Multinational corporations should thoroughly explore cultural, language,
and religious differences that exist in the host countries. One common
solution to manage the cultural difference is by hiring locals as managers
of the company to perform the local and day to day operations. However,
in order to maintain a close link of this remotely located unit, as
compared to the parent organization, the company should train the
individual at the organization's central location. Proper awareness of local
language, sign, symbols, gestures, and other similar relatively minor but
extremely critical local characteristics would help in avoiding
embarrassing situations during the marketing communication process.

 The Role of family
Multinational corporations should be aware of the significant roles that
the family relationship plays in many foreign, and particular in Asian
societies. At times, many decisions made by the employees and customers
in Asia are often determined by the closeness that they have with their
family members. Awareness and acceptance of this closeness will benefit
western companies in establishing effective communication models in


Asia. Most Asians would go to all lengths in order to take care of their
family and friends.



Language and Religious Sensitivity

Asia is a continent of many languages and religions. Despite the fact that
English is perhaps the most widely used language worldwide, in order to
succeed in Asia, companies should make sure that the language used in
communicating with the customer as well as with employees in the
company is not disrespectful based on their language and religious
beliefs. Even the product names should be carefully analyzed to
determine whether they are appropriate and are not disrespecting to the
customers. Discussion regarding certain topics relating to certain
products and services may not be as readily accepted as they are in the
United States. For example, news reports relating to sexual problems and
functions are acceptable by the general consumer in the U.S. and in
many western countries. However, this may not be the case for many
Asian countries. In many Asian countries, talking about sex among family
members is not common and acceptable. Even sexual innuendoes in
commercials are highly disregarded among many Asians because
television is usually watched by the whole family together. A good way of
reducing this potentially harmful situation is by having local employees
and advertising agencies. Culturally sensitive studies should also be
conducted to avoid mishaps.

 Culturally Sensitive Studies
Culturally sensitive strategies will have to be used by multinational
products and services providers, depending upon which country they are
in. Care must be taken not to be condescending on consumers.
Appropriate copy editing must be carried out so that local opinionleaders, particularly politicians, are not offended. Public relations efforts
to highlight significant involvement in social programs and support for

Asian cultural activities will help to build and foster a sense of
contribution to stakeholder welfare maximization.

Annexure C

Questions for Integrated Marketing Communication
1. How would you define the concept - Integrated Marketing
Communication?
2. Is your entire campaign designed by a one-stop agency or by
specialists in each field? What was the rationale in selecting the
specific approach?
3. What are the criteria adopted for selecting an agency to handle the
brand?
4. What level of integration is expected from the various agencies (e.g.
integration of concept with diverse content, integration of content, logo
and tag line co-ordination etc.)?
5. How is the process of integration carried out - through the brief given
to the agency, through common meetings across agencies or some
other method?
6. How is the responsibility of integration shared between the client and
the agencies?
7. Is the process of integration documented and followed as a guide?
8. Who are the target audiences for the various consumers - is it only
external customers or also the internal consumers? Who is

responsible for communication with the internal consumer in that
case?
9. Effects of IMC on the Consumer Psyche, if any.
10. What factors play an important role in developing the IMC strategy
(PLC stage, Target etc.) and what variables (components) would they
influence?
11. Would you please compare the IMC campaigns of Fairglow, Godrej All
Care, Cinthol on the following parameters:
(a) Objectives
(b) Budgets
(c) Components
(d) Proportions of the components and allocations made to each of them
(e) Consumer’s perception of the Brand Image
(f) Sales and other parameters of evaluation
(g) Any other effects on Consumer Psyche
(h) Any other
12. How is the synergy between the Corporate Brand ‘Godrej’ and all the
other consumer products brands achieved?


References

Online Resources
http://www.morse-balegno.com
http://www.tri-media.com
http://www.corporate-images.com
http://www.harcourtcollege.com
http://www.bi.no/users/fgl96053/imcmsc/imcplanning.htm
http://www.northernlight.com
http://spot.colorado.edu
http://www.medill.nwu.edu/imc
http://www.apqc.org
http://about.com
http://askjeeves.com

Books & Authors:
George Belch & Michael Belch - ________________
O’Guinn_____________________________________
Maketing Communications ______________________
Schultz, D.E., Tannenbaum, I &Lauterborn, - Integrated Marketing
Communication:Putting it together & making it work.
Weber, Barrett, Mandel, and Laderman1998
DeMooij and Keegan 1991
Clinton and Chandra 1996
Esther Thorson and Jeri Moore, Integrated Communication: Synergy of
Persuasive Voices)

Tom Duncan and Sandra Moriarity in Driving Brand Value
Loyd S. Pettegrew, Ph.D.
Argyris, Putnam & Smith, 1985; Van deVen, 1989
Weick, 1983)
Stephanie Baca
Kennedy & Deal, 1981
Daft & Weick, 1984
Pacanowsky & Trujillo, 1983
VanMaanen & Schein, 1979
Temin & Galambos, 1989
Caywood, 1992
McKenzie, 2000

Magazines & Journals:
Journal of integrated marketing communication
Advertising Age, October 1993: Don Schultz, “ Maybe we should start all
over with an IMC organization”,
1

Source: Council for the Advancement and Support of Education CURRENTS

Magazine, 1998
2

Source: “Sales & Marketing Management" September, 1996

Promotion Marketing Association - Publications, 1998.
Marketing News - Moriarty, Sandra (1997), "IMC needs PR's stakeholder
focus,"
Communication World - Reich, Ken (1998) "IMC: Through the looking glass
of the new millennium,"
Schultz, Don (1998), "Invest integration". Industry Week, 247:10, May 18,
20.
Schultz, Don E. & Kitchen, Philip J.1997. Integrated marketing
communications in U.S.
Journal of Advertising Research, 37:5, September/October, 7-18.

Sales & Marketing Management - Yarbrough, John F. 1996. Putting the
pieces together.


Integrated marketing communications

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