Integrated Marketing Communication Decisions and Issues Portfolio - Essay Example

IMC DECISIONS AND ISSUES PORTFOLIO Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation Date 1. Setting Objectives Introduction Establishment and focus on objectives in communication and businesses is important in the push for ICM as it is advantageous for making sure that the business firm sticks to the objectives and provides a good linkage in the business. Furthermore, it helps in regulation of decisions and provides an appropriate plan and layout that guides the implementation process (Watson, 2012). IMC Topic The major persuasive components that organizations and businesses in general can use to link with their consumers are corporate social communication and marketing. The passage of knowledge and ideas in such circumstances needs to incorporate the dynamic and wide variety of communication and tools for promotion in order to deliver the message on a worldwide basis (Watson, 2012). Analytical Observations In societies that have tired in communication, customers and consumers create practices and routines that tend to avoid communication. For instance, they evade advertisements and other business information. The end result of this is the incapability of commercial message disseminators to reach out to the targeted audience. In addition, the consumers tend to lose interest in the goods being advertised by one organization and shift to that which they consider good but from a different organization (Ilona, 2012). Implications for the Firm The SVA encourages competitive markets and explosion of products as there is increased entry of new competitors on the market place that offer competitive advertising of their products. Implicatively, the lifetime of a product on the market declines therefore earning the firm less returns from the sale of the product (Reinold, & Joerg, 2012). Additionally, consumers may develop less belief in advertised goods. Finally, there is an increase in the focus and spending on MPR. Conclusion The corporate social responsibility approach objectives have received a lot of negative remarks that have stimulated a path to a much better approach that will ensure the social responsibility of organizations. Such an approach could result in improving the regularity of the brands messages of words and actions. In addition, the approach is capable of changing the objectives of sales and marketing groups and establishment of efficient strategies for creating responsibility awareness and communication due to the changing organizational objectives. References Ilona G . (2012).Measurement of Marketing Communications Performance: Implications and Theory Building for B2B Organizations. Aarhus University. Reinold, T. & Joerg, T. (2012). Integrated marketing communications: How can we measure its effectiveness?’Journal of Marketing Communications, vol. 18, issue 2, pp. 113-132 Watson, T. (2012). The evolution of public relations measurement and evaluation. Public Relations Review, vol. 38, pp. 390-398 2. Determining the Role of IMC Tools Introduction The approach of Integrated Marketing Communication encompasses the control and coordination of a number of tools for marketing that involve advertisement, sponsorships, marketing of goods directly, creation of public relations, individual marketing and marketing through digital and interactive platforms (Owen, 2015). The state of the condition will determine the coordination of different integrated marketing communication tools without necessarily using all tools (The Nielsen Company, 2013). The current business environment provides a variety of goods with different brands. This signifies the great importance of the need for IMC in order to establish profound brand equity in businesses through sponsorship programs. Many business firms are using celebrities as their brand ambassadors for their products such as clothing lines and perfumes. Analytical Observations Adherence to or deviations from IMC Concepts The current business advertising environment generates over 4000 messages per day to an individual customer that tend to advertise the brands. This implies that the consumers are unable to view all the messages and therefore the marketing of some brands may not be achieved. (Friedman, 2012). Significantly, the need for using a variety of integrated marketing communication tools in combination with sponsorships would ensure adequate marketing of the brands rather than mere reliance on sponsorship (Belch, Kerr & Powell, 2014). Incorporation of direct marketing strategies and sales-promotion would be among the significant tools that can be used to reach out to different consumers at differing times (Belch, Kerr & Powell, 2014). Improvement in technology has enabled celebrity fans to deviate to relevant information depending on the time. This implies that organizations and brands need to have knowledge about their target customers and develop strategies of conversing with them relevantly. Conclusion Celebrity and specifically socialite sponsorship is filled with stiff competition. Reliance on such sponsorship alone is not sufficient and this therefore calls upon firms to incorporate a variety of tools for IMC appropriately in order to expand the customer base. References Belch, B. Kerr & Powell. (2014). Advertising: An Integrated Marketing Communication Perspective (3rd Ed). McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd. Friedman, F. (2012). Public Relations, Integrated Marketing Communications, and Professional Development in PR. West Virginia University. The Nielsen Company (2013). Under the influence: consumer trust in advertising. The Nielsen Company. Owen, D. (2015). Social Entrepreneurship is the New Black. Huffington Post. 3. Message Strategy Introduction The content of the message is an important luring tool for customers. The effectiveness of the strategy is paramount in such persuasion. The creation of the strategy is a process whose development requires a number of steps whose effective and careful implementation would yield a successful outcome for the firm. The message strategy details the actions and words to be delivered by the practitioners and the appeal they should give (Hussain, 2015). IMC Topic Very few firms and brands manage to use long period and consistent slogans that are capable of passing their messages across a multiplicity of markets. This raises the question of are brands able to come up with slogans that are able to be consistently existent for long periods of time? (Hussain, 2015). Analytical Observations The ability of the message to reach to different targets in different methods determines the success of the brand’s slogan. The nature of the message and the specific group being targeted are significant in ensuring the eventual success. There is an increase in the quantity of messages being received by the consumer industry. The main focus of brands should be to develop messages that have an impact due to the increasing media changes. Furthermore, brands need to employ skilled practitioners that are able to influence the memory of a consumer for brands and employ a variety of methods that can increase remembrance (Spiller, Tuten, & Carpenter, 2011). Conclusion In order for firms to generate effective message strategies and slogans, the need for coming up with a luring message that can hold for long periods of time and still retain meaning is paramount. Employment of skilled practitioners that are convincing to the customers is key for ensuring that the slogan does not go out-of-date. References Hussain, A. (2015). 14 Companies with Really Catchy Taglines and Slogans. Hubspot Blogs. Obal M., Burtch G. & Kunz, W. (2011). How Can Social Networking Sites Help Us? International Journal of Integrated Marketing Communications, 33-47. Spiller, L., Tuten, T., Carpenter, M. (2011). Social Media and Its Role in Direct and Interactive IMC: Implications for Practitioners and Educators. International Journal of Integrated Marketing Communications, 74-85. 4. Media Strategy Introduction The significance of media is to act as a passage route for communication messages. The limitation of funds in a brand has to be controlled. Thus, the technician in charge has to align the media with the target customers and the message in an effective and efficient manner (Kelman, 2015). IMC Topic The increasing influence of social media on brands and customers has been evidently felt. The emergence of social media has given rise to new social influencing groups that offer pieces of advice on different markets (Wong, 2014). Analytical Observations The emergence of digital communication platforms such as social media has eased the burden of identifying online customers. Conversely, a very small percentage of customers are creating social profiles (Camelia, 2012). The firms will have to down their pockets in order to fund bloggers that are supposed to control and create mutually beneficial relationships with customers (Wong, 2014). Conclusion The increasing credibility of social influencers in communication has proved to be a successful path for brands in communicating their messages. Such a strategy requires continuous maintenance and therefore consumes more time and funds (Kelman, 2015). References Camelia M. K. (2012). Modeling the Influence of Integrated Marketing Communication on Consumer Behavior: An Approach Based On Hierarchy of Effects Concept. Academy of Economic Studies. Kelman, A. (2015). Best Influencer Marketing Programs of 2014. Traacker. Mihart, C., Stancioiu F. & Teodorescu, N. (2011). The Integrated Marketing Communication the Consumer Behavior Impacts. Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Business Excellence, October, Brasov. 266-270. Wong, K. (2014). The Explosive Growth of Influencer Marketing and What It Means for You. Forbes 5. Measuring the Effects of IMC Introduction In order for the success of any program to be determined, the measurement of its outcomes needs to be determined. The determination of the effectiveness of an Integrated Marketing Communication campaign is of critical importance to the end results. It enables the practitioners and the brand to test, control, quantify and understand the performances of a campaign program parallel to the preset objectives at the commencement of the campaign program (Sena, 2015). The costs and time are the major evaluating factors. IMC Topic The MVP approach to improvement of products gives rise to growth hacking method of testing widely used across the globe. Such an approach seeks to create, test and quantify significant changes that increase the growth of a business. Analytical Observations The method of growth hacking is most effective on the digital media platforms (Biyani, 2013). Thus, IMC managers should see this technique as just one among the many at their disposal. The reluctance for failure is a setback to innovation as viewed by practitioners. Contrary, growth hacking utilizes the principle of embracing failure. This technique offers practitioners the avenue for small risk taking and experience learning (Acheampong & Asiedu, 2012). Conclusion The technique of growth hacking can be usefully employed as an approach to improve the marketing communications of an organization. Despite the generally good acclaim associated with such a technique, its limitations are worth consideration. As evidently seen, the technique draws its basis from an absence of a plan and a strategy .This calls upon the practitioners to develop peculiar and well stated goals whose measurement and evaluation is effective. References Acheampong, A. & Asiedu, A. K. (2012). Integrated Marketing Communications: A Customer-Focused Approach in Marketing Modern Businesses Andersson, C. (2015, August 26). How to growth hack your way to successful marketing campaigns. Marketing Magazine Biyani, G. (2013). The Difference between Growth Hacking and Marketing. The Next Web News. Sena, P. (2015). Growth Hacking for Grownups: How Can Big Brands Leverage Startup Growth Tactics? AdWeek Read More