IMC is “the use of marketing strategies to optimize the communication of the consistent message of company’s brand to stakeholders”.
Brands must develop integrated digital marketing strategies by moving towards ‘omnichannel marketing’ to communicate with customers across multiple channels.
New and multidimensional IMC are necessary in digital space. However, brand may face four key issues to accommodate this need as following:
- Community-centric strategic orientation
Customer-centric marketing treats customer at the center of a brand’s marketing strategies to deliver value from multiple channels.
Disney provides Disney’s Experience where customers have privilege to plan their Walt Disney World vacation through their online website and mobile applications at home and on the road. Guests can purchase tickets or passes, reserve and manage dining, view daily showtimes and link hotel reservations.
Moreover, MagicBands wristbands help customers with everything such as getting instructions to space mountains and having their purchased food and merchandise delivered without charge for hotel guests.
2. Emergent strategy
Emergent strategy is set of actions that occurs unintentionally within corporation without any planning.
Sam Walton built Walmart in rural settings to provide convenience for him to organize. He sold the products with cheaper price to entice customers to visit the store and supply the communities.
3. Hybrid communication mix
Nowadays, user-generated content is important for brands to drive more response from customers towards their products.
In 2014, Starbucks held a contest to encourage its customers to draw doodle on their white cups with the hashtag #WhiteCupContest. The winning white cup will be used as limited edition for their cup design. It evoked customer’s interest and generate 4000th entries of cup sent to Starbucks.
4. Reciprocity-based assessment
Brand must capable to provide products and services that will be beneficial for both customers and the firm itself.
Spotify launches Spotify Premium that offers Ad-free music streaming with offline mobile access. Customers will be able to use this service with 30-day free trial that can be cancelled any time. People love to listen to music without interruption and wish to access it anywhere. They may not want to stop the payment when the free trial ends when they just need to pay for $8/months.
IMC will be more effective when utilized as part of an integrated approach:
- Coherence: different communications are logically connected
- Consistency: multiple messages support and reinforce
- Continuity: Communications are connected and consistent through time
- Complementary: synergistic, sum of parts is greater than the whole
To create a successful IMC, there are 7 steps that needs to be fulfilled which are:
- Understand who your target audience is
Brand should understand what their target customers wants and needs
2. Pick the right channels
Brand must know the channels that can help them accomplish their objectives and what channels does customers use
3. Have a consistent look
Brand should give customers a particular feeling and should be consistent across various channels
4. Create consistent content that can be adapted to suit different media or channels
Three C’s: Communications must be clear, Compelling to target audience and Consistent across various channels
5. Ensure that the message is integrated
6. Make sure your marketing teams/agencies are working in sync
7. Don’t forget to track your campaigns – and coupons
Brand must create an integrated IMC strategy to communicate consistent message across multiple channels. Brand must solve the issues that avoid their objectives to be accomplished and follow the steps to create successful IMC campaign. As a result, customers will move towards your brand to help them deliver the value that they want to achieve.
What do you think about IMC? Do you think the brand should integrate IMC in their business strategy? Let me know what you think in the comment section below. I will be happy to see all of your thoughts. Feel free to ask me more questions regarding the subject.
Sarah Erfina's Blog 
I think IMC is a very effective tool for companies to incorporate in their business strategy. Customers will be able to understand more about your brand and relate to the value that companies deliver to fulfill their wants and needs.
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Yes, you’re absolutely right. It is important for companies to create coherent and interesting IMC campaign to communicate clear and consistent message and value to evoke customers desire to purchase their products that comply with their wants and needs.
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I do believe that by integrating IMC to the businesses it will expand a company’s brand awareness and have specific target markets through the help of certain channels that help business accounts such as Social Media Instagram and Facebook that have different looks and algorithm for businesses. It is also helpful for businesses as current Social Media provide analytics that will further help companies to strategies future marketing and to also utilise it in their other IMC channels.
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IMC is a very effective campaign for companies to implement where customers can understand more about the brand and evoke their interest to purchase the products. Undertaking analysis will also help companies to build their business strategy accordingly to improve their marketing activities and increase the higher chance of success in the workplace.
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Yes, I agree with you. IMC is very useful for the businesses. What do you think if some businesses lack of know-how and lack of commitment to IMC? What possibly could happen?
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Businesses must be able to create interesting and appealing IMC campaign to increase the higher chance or probability of achieving success in promoting or advertising your brand which can persuade more customers to purchase your brand. Therefore, businesses must understand the ways to utilise this campaign and commit to IMC.
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Hi Sarah! Good in-depth post! You listed 7 steps in creating a successful campaign, if you could pick your top 3, what would it be and why?
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Thank you for giving feedback to my post. If i could choose 3 steps that I would like to incorporate, it would be 1) Understand your target audience, 2) Create consistent content that can be adapted to suit different media or channels and 3) Ensure that the message is integrated
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Hi! I enjoy your article, can you please elaborate more on how message is supposed to be integrated? Thank you!
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By all means, company communicates a message that are unified as a whole hence customers will be able to understand what you are trying to convey and be able to relate with your value and consider to purchase your product.
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