In today’s high-paced, technology-driven
market, the way companies do business
is ever-evolving. Buying and selling isn’t ust done face to face anymore. Business is
done in a variety of ways and through several different channels. Savvy businesses are
marketing their companies in ways never
before imagined — via e-marketing campaigns or programs, search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click, e-mails, banner
ads, Webinars, blogs, RSS feeds, podcasts
and Internet television. All of this is in addition to traditional methods, such as print,
mail order, public relations, billboards, radio
and television.
It’s a lot to keep track of, and if you’re not
on top of things, your marketing dollars may
end up going down the drain. Thus, companies are searching for a holistic way to manage a broad range of communication vehicles
to various target audiences. The search has
lead to the advent of integrated marketing
communications (IMC).
According to Dick Brooks, director of the
Center for Integrated Marketing Communications at San Diego State University,
IMC is designed to make all aspects of marketing communications work together as a
unified force, rather than each aspect working alone in isolation. IMC creates a unified
look and message for all elements of a marketing campaign, leading to less headaches
for companies and their marketing teams
and, more importantly, more money to the
bottom line.
Smart Business spoke with Brooks about
why IMC is important in today’s market and
what companies can do to implement it.
Why has IMC grown in importance?
The number of media tools has grown
exponentially over the years, giving marketers a vast range of opportunities to send
their messages to their target audiences. But,
it’s difficult to sort out what vehicles will best
reach your audiences in the most appropriate
ways. A younger consumer will have different media consumption behaviors than a
baby boomer, so you need to know the needs
and wants of your target audiences, then get
the right message to them via the appropriate
vehicle, and you need to do it all while staying within your marketing budget. All of this
has led to the need for a good IMC program.
What are the challenges of IMC?
A big challenge comes when the various
people who take ownership in different
media silos compete with one another. For
instance, one group may be in charge of
media advertising, while another is in charge
of the Web site. Both have their own individual ideas and creative directions, so they
don’t want to change. This happens constantly. It gets further complicated when a
marketer employs different agencies to do
different functions. It’s usually easier to get
your own people on the same page versus
those from different companies. Either way,
though, the result is inconsistency of messages, using the wrong vehicles to reach the
wrong audiences and the improper allocation of marketing dollars.
How can these challenges be overcome?
The solution has to come from the top
down, with a mindset that all marketing ventures are going to be managed holistically,
with the appropriate tools delivering the
appropriate messages to the appropriate audiences. Also, someone needs to be in
charge of the entire process, which is why
we’re seeing the creation of a new position:
manager of IMC. Knowing what to use, when
to use it and how much to spend can be a
major challenge. A manager of IMC can look
at the big picture and ensure this is being
accomplished.
What should a company look for in a manager of IMC?
Most importantly, the person needs to have
incredible people skills. He or she will have to
negotiate through all the various communication silos and the egos that go with them.
Bringing all of this together, while staying in
budget, takes an expressive, understanding
and influential person. The person also needs
to have license from above to make all this
happen. He or she also needs to have the ability to help train all parties involved and keep
them on the same page. Obviously, the individual needs to be knowledgeable, skilled
and trained in the range of tools available as
well as adept at being able to translate a creative platform that describes the target audiences and the messages to be delivered.
What does the future hold for IMC?
The importance of IMC is growing rapidly
as we speak, and it will continue to do so for
many years. The key is figuring out the best
way to implement IMC. With that, top management wants accountability — it wants to
know exactly where its communication dollars are going. Right now, we can measure
individual aspects, such as the impact of a
banner ad or a podcast, but we need a better
way to measure the synergistic effect of an
entire campaign. The holistic effect is still difficult to quantify, so there will be more efforts
in the future to improve that. The interest in
the marketplace for IMC is great, and with
the cost of communication increasing practically every day, the bottom line is screaming
for a measurement of performance.
DICK BROOKS is a clinical professor of marketing and director
of the Center for Integrated Marketing Communications at San
Diego State University. Reach him at (619) 594-4713 or
[email protected].
