The Social Sciences 6 (2): 64-73, 2011

ISSN: 1818-5800
© Medwell J owmls, 2011

Integrated Marketing Connnunication: A Catalyst for the

Growth ofE-Business Management

Kehinde Oladele Joseph

Department of Business Studies, Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria

Abstract: The need for an organization to properly coordinate its marketing commnnication strategies in order
to deliver clear, consistent and competitive messages about itself and its products has become highly
imperative today for every result driven organization. Integrated marketing commmrication can be defined as
the strategic coordination of marketing commmrication mix elements and the channels of commmrication in
order to afford an organization a clear, consistent, impactful and result driven commnnications about its brand
and corporate image in the eyes of its esteemed customers and other stakeholders. The objectives of this study
amongst others are to: appreciate the meaning of Integrated Marketing Commnnications (IMC) and its vital
tools which an efficient marketer can use in order to strategically position its products very well in the ever
dynamic and competitive market make a comprehensive analysis of the steps involved in developing an
effective IMC programme. In this case, the immense benefits which E-business managers stand to gain through
the use of IMC as well as examine the needs for finns to maintain the right database which could serve as
catalyst to effective E-business management. The study uses a qualitative method draws up useful policy
implications and what firms stand to gain through their adoption of IMC in their E-business management.

Key words: Integrated marketing, commmrications, growth, E-business, IMC programme, Nigeria

INTRODUCTION Commmrications (IMC) in E-business management, the

objectives of the study amongst others are to make
The need for an organization to properly coordinate readers be able to:
its marketing commnnication strategies in order to deliver
a clear, consistent and competitive message about itself • Appreciate the meaning of integrated marketing
and its product has become a challenge today for every commmrications and its strategic place in E-business
result oriented finn. Effective marketing commnnications management
must be an integral part of every efficient and result • Understand the vital tools of integrated marketing
driven organization. How innovative and creative commnnications which an efficient firm can use in
marketing commnnications practitioners are m order to effectively position its products/services
appropriately combining, coordinating and efficiently very well in the eyes of its esteemed customers
using the marketing commmrication tools will have great • Be familiar with a nwnber of steps and stages
impact on their companies' products/services and by involved in developing an effective integrated
extension, on such products' market share. This again marketing commnnication programme
could pose serious challenge to competing companies • To show-case the strategic place of direct marketing
across markets and put these competitors on their toes. in E-business management as well as examine the
The Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) nnique needs for firms to maintain the right database
approach believes that a company must leave no chance which could serve as catalyst to effective E-business
for error, no patience for miscommnnication and no time management
should be left for confusion. The IMC approach is on the • Show the immense benefits which E-business
consistency of message that commnnications effort of a managers stand to gain through integrated marketing
company through its different products must project a commnnications usage such as cost savings, better
nnified voice. Business (companies) must be able to retwn on investment, planned and sustained good
deliver the right message in the right mediwn to elicit the client-customer relationships, amongst others
right results. A simple argwnent for IMC is that there are
financial, competitive and effective benefits to be Background: Many changes in the world of business
achieved through the synergy afforded by the process of today have been driven primarily by advances in
integration. In reading this study on Integrated Marketing information technology and this has caused a major shift

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 The Soc. Sci.• 6 (2): 64-73. 2011

from the mass marketing, product centered theories of (dlllllping nnprofitable customer while selectively seeking
marketing popularized in the 1950 and 1960's to the more and keeping the profitable ones). He listed other form of
Customer-centric, Database-driven interactive and marketing communications which are media proliferation,
measurable approaches of integrated commnnications audience fragmentation, advancement of information
(Peltier et oZ .• 2003). The development of Integrated technology and the internet, conslllller empowerment,
Marketing Commnnication (IMC) can be traced to the increased advertising, clutter, shift in channel power and
early 1980's when many Americans advertising agencies the desire for more acconntability. All these nnderpin the
started to feel threatened by their clients attempt to save driving forces leading toward integrated marketing
money through direct media purchases and patronage and commnnications.
creative boutique operations. This development came to In their research on marketing commnnications,
a climax towards the early part of 1990's when adverts Dnncan and Everett asserted that IMC is both a concept
agencies started to offer more than their traditional and a process. The IMC perspective can be interpreted as
frmction of just producing and placing advertising in the meaningful integrative of Holistic thinking, i.e., looking at
media. marketing commnnication in a way by which various
The advertising agencies then saw that their smvival marketing communication tools are strategically employed
in the turbulent decade of the 1980's depended on in a complementary fashion after a careful analysis
providing integrated strategies. of customer needs and review of market situation.
The question one might ask here is were advertising Schultz and Kitchen (2000) equally viewed integrated
agencies not adding value to their clients programmes marketing communication measurable persuasive brand
before IMC. Of course, they were but not in an integrated communication programmes over time with conslllllers,
sense. In this respect, Kliatchko (2005) opines that value prospects and other targeted relevant external and internal
added services need not start and end in only advertising audience.
messages and strategies. But now in an expanded view of According to Duncan (2002). he believes that the
advertising, advertising agencies must positively evolve above definition of IMC by Schultz and Kitchen (2000).
specific promotional mix to provide clarity, consistency forecasts the trend of the development of IMC in the
and maximlllll commnnication impact. future. He therefore, noted that this new definition
In a similar way, Picton and Broderick (2005) observes indicates that IMC has moved from (or has the potential
that coordination is a powerful element of an integrated to move from) a marketing planning process to a strategic
communication strategy. And that many companies might business process. Based on the above definitions, one
find integration difficult to adopt due to tough battles on can simply slllllmarize some basic tenets of integrated
how to allocate resources and nnwillingness to invest in marketing communications as:
the needed database. He also observed that different
departments were responsible for different elements in the • Aims to affect behaviour
communication strategy (i.e., an advertising department, • Starts with customers or prospects
direct mail department and a trade show or an event • Uses any and all forms of contents
management department). In many of these cases they are • Achieves synergy
usually reluctant to give-up control over their, respective • Builds relationships
area and fight each other for a piece of the marketing
budget. Low (2000) opines that integrated marketing is simply
The result will be that the communication strategy a step further from IMC or the highest stage of IMC by
will be fragmented rather than integrated. What happens focusing on conveying unified messages to customers via
when interactions with customers are fragmented. Belch the correct blending of the promotional mix.
and Belch opined that if customers are fragmented then
they would get annoyed because different parts of the MATERIALS AND METHODS
company do not know what others are saying. Conslllllers
might feel that they are talking to many different The growing importance of IMC: The move towards
companies instead of one. Truly that is actually not the integrated marketing commnnications according to Belch
way to build good relationship. is one of the most important marketing developments that
In the opinion of Fill (2006). he raises the fact that occwred in the 1990's and this approach is growing daily
marketing has moved from customer acquisition (winning as this new millenniwn continues to advance. Belch
new customers) through customer relations (keeping believed that the IMC approach to marketing
customers for life) towards customers deselection communication planning and strategy is being adopted by

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 The Soc. Sci.• 6 (2): 64-73. 2011

both large and small companies and has become popular uses in order to pursue its advertising and marketing
among finns marketing conswner products and services objectives. "While, implicit commrmication occurs through
as well as business to business marketers. Some of the the various elements of the marketing mix, most of an
reasons why marketers are adopting the IMC approach organization's commmrication effort with the market place
according to Marketing Commrmication Scholars (MCS) takes place as part of a carefully planned and controlled
are: promotional programme.
In the words of Davies, he sees marketing
• The rmderstanding that the strategic integration of commrmication mix as the specific mix of advertising,
the various commmrication fnnctions rather than personal selling, sales promotion, public relations and
having them operate autonomously would bring direct marketing that a company uses to pursue it
many added benefits both to clients and conswners. advertising and marketing commrmication objectives.
By coordinating their marketing commmrication Fill (2006) goes further when he says. marketing
efforts, companies can avoid duplications take commmrication is a management process through which
advantage of synergy among promotional tools and an organization engages with its various audiences.
develop more efficient and effective marketing By rmderstanding an audience's commrmication
commmrications environment organizations seek to develop and present
• Advocates of IMC approach are of the opinion that messages for its identified stakeholder groups before
it is one of the easiest ways for a company to evaluating and acting upon the responses. By conveying
maximize the retlllll on its investment in marketing messages that are of significance value, audiences are
and promotion encouraged to offer attitudinal and behavioural
• The move towards integrated marketing responses.
commrmications also reflects an adaptation by Traditiomlly. Wright (2000) believes that the
promotional mix has included four elements: advertising,
marketers to a changing environment, particularly
sales promotion, public relations and publicity; personal
with respect to conswners, technology and media.
selling. However, most modem scholars agreed on the
More changes are occwring daily among conswners
inclusion of the 5th element which is direct and interactive
with respect to demographics, lifestyle, media use,
(internet) marketing. A company's total marketing
buying and shopping patterns
commmrication mix-called its promotional mix therefore,
• Today, many companies are tllllling to lower-cost
consists of the specific blend of:
target commrmication tools such as event marketing
and sponsorships, direct marketing, sales promotion
• Advertising
and the internet as they develop their marketing
• Personal selling
commmrication strategies. There IS indeed a
• Publicity and public relations
revolution in the world of marketing commmrication
• Sales promotion
today
• Direct and interactive marketing tools that a firm uses
• The rapid growth and development of database to pursue its advertising and marketing objectives
marketing. Many companies are building database
containing customers' name, geographic, Briefly, we can identify these promotional mix
demographic and psychographic profiles; purchase elements.
patterns; media preferences, etc. Advocates of this
approach believed that database marketing is critical Advertising: Any paid form of non-personal
to the development of effective use of IMC communication and promotion of ideas, goods or services
by an identifiable sponsor.
Promotional mix
The tools for IMC: Marketing promotion has been defined Personal selling: Oral presentation in a conversation
by Belch and as the coordination of all seller initiated form with one or more prospective purchasers for the
efforts to set-up channels of information and persuasion pwpose of making sales and building customer
in order to sell goods and services or promote an idea. relationships.
Kallmeyer and Abratt (2001) viewed it as marketing
commmrication mix which the joint researchers called the Sales promotion: The use of short-term incentives in
specific mix of advertising, personal selling, sales order to encourage the purchase or sale of a product or
promotion, public relations and direct marketing that a firm service.

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 The Soc. Sci.• 6 (2): 64-73. 2011

Advertising

Mazketing comm:uniclllion
objectives to:
Public relations and publicity
Inform
P<:nillllde
RemiDd
Differentiate

Fig. 1: Marketing commrmications mix

Public relations: Building good relations with the Reminder promotion

company's various publics by obtaining favourable • To remind conslllllers that the product may be needed
publicity, building up a good corporate image and in the near future
heading-off wllavourable rumours, stories and events • To remind conslllllers where to buy the product
about the firm. • To maintain conslllller awareness

Direct and internet marketing: Direct marketing Differentiation promotion: The Chartered Institute of
commrmication is a process of commmrication directly Marketing (CIM). London in 2007-2008. Lecture manual
with target customers to encourage responses by added a fourth objective to the marketing communication
telephone, mail, electronic means or personal visit. objectives. CIM London in 2008, calls these marketing
Popular methods of direct marketing commmrication communication objectives with the acronym, Drip to, i.e.:
include direct mail, telemarketing, online computer
shopping services, castle television shopping network, • Differentiate a seller's products from other competing
internet marketing, etc. All types of marketers including products (D)
retailers, wholesalers, manufacturers and service • Remind customers on the company products/offers
providers use direct marketing commnnications. The (R)
• Inform potential customers on the products'
ultimate goal of marketing communication is to reach some
availability (!)
audience to affect their behaviour. In Fig. 1, marketing
• Persuade customers to buy (P)
communication mix elements with the objectives of
marketing communication are shown.
Choosing the correct marketing communication tools:
It is believed that choosing the correct marketing
Informative promotion:
communications tools for a particular promotional task is
• To inform the market about the arrival of a new
not an easy one. Indeed, the process is still very much an
product
art though it is becoming more scientific because of the
• To increase the awareness of a new product, brand or
access to conslllller and media database. Computer can
product attribute carry out matching conslllller characteristics with media
• To explain how the product works database very rapidly and promotional budgets can be
• To suggest new uses for a product evaluated for a variety of different mixes. In the final
• To build a company image analysis however, the client's wishes and the expertise of
the promotion plmer are decisive. In this regards, it is
Persuasive promotion: good to provide some guideline for choosing the correct
• To encourage brand switching promotion tools.
• To change customers' perceptions of product The choice should be exercised within the flowing
attributes top-down hierarchy of objectives. According to CIM
• To influence customers to buy now London in 2008, the choice of the marketing promotional
• To persuade customers to call back tool is largely influenced by a nlllllber of factors such as:

67
 Business mission

Business objective

Marketing objectives

Promotional objective

Choice of correct tool

 The Soc. Sci.• 6 (2): 64-73. 2011

Market strategy and

...
analysis (marketing Target marketing Marketing planning

--
earoh) process program developmant

Opportunity IdentiJY!ng Promotion to

analysis 1-t marl<ets Product decisions f-+ • Advertising
Promotional decisions:
final buY"'
'Thrget market
Ul-
• Direct marketing Promotion to
Mulret consumer:
Competitive
1-t segmentation Pricing decisions • Interactive marketing
• Sales promotion
tnlde .eon.um...
analysis ~Rooellent • Businesses
publicity and
Selecting a target
mmket
f-+ public relations
Channel of • Personal selling

"Imget ""'keting 1-t Positioning 1hrough

marketing stmtegies
f-. distribution
decision

Fig. 3: Marketing and promotions process model

important to consider the relative strengths and

weaknesses of each component of the marketing
commrmication mix. Fwi:her, one must always define
his/her total budget first (generally defined in the
marketing and/or business plan) and then decide upon the
best way to leverage the different elements of the mix to
maximize the retwn on one's investment. One has to
balance the various mixes to create an integrated Fig. 4: Process of customer descision
approach to one's marketing commnnications effort and
also devote enough resources for each component to be message. In putting the message together the marketing
successful. communicator must decide what to say (message content)
and how to say it (message structure and format).
Steps in developing effective marketing communication
programme: In order to achieve better results from use of Message content: Here, the marketing commnnicator has
IMC, the marketing communicator must take the following to figure out an appeal or theme that will produce the
steps into consideration when designing the message. desired response. There are 3 types of appeal.
We now examine the steps involved in developing an
effective integrated marketing communication programme. Rational appeal: Message appeals that relate to the
audience's self interest and show that the product will
Identify the target audience: The marketing communicator produce the claimed benefits, i.e., appeals of product
must have a clear target audience in mind. The audience quality, economy, value or performance.
may be potential buyers or cwrent users; those who make
buying decisions or those who influence it. Emotional appeal: Message appeals that attempt to stir up
negative or positive emotions that will motivate purchase.
Determine the communication objectives: This is what Examples are fear, guilt, shame, love, hwnour, pride and
the marketer wants to achieve. To do this, he needs to joy appeal.
know where the target audience now stands and what
stage/or state it needs to be moved to. The pwpose of Moral appeal: Message appeals that are directed to the
marketing commnnication is to move the customer along audience's sense of what is right and proper.
these stages and ultimately to achieve final purchase
(Fig. 4). Message structure: Here, the commnnicator decides how
to say the message. There are three issues that are
Design the message: Having designed the involved here:
communication objectives, the marketing communicator
turns to develop an effective message. Ideally, the • The first is whether to draw conclusion or to leave it
message should get attention; hold interest; arouse to the audience. Present researches show that the
desire and obtain action (A framework kno\Vll as AIDA advertiser is better-off asking questions to stimulate
model). In practice, few messages take the conswner all involvement and motivate customers to think about
the way from awareness to purchase but the AIDA the brand and then let them come to their own
frame work suggests the desirable qualities of a good conclusions

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 The Soc. Sci.• 6 (2): 64-73. 2011

• The second message structure is whether to present selling and public relations) to move their products and
a one sided issue, i.e., whether to mention only the services through intermediaries, an increasing nwnber are
product's strengths or whether to admit few going directly to the conswner. These new companies
shortcomings of the product. "When dealing with believed that the traditional promotional mix such as
highly sophisticated and enlightened customers, you mentioned above are effective in brand image, conveying
have to present the two sides information and or creating awareness going direct with
• Whether to present strong arglllllents first or last. the same tool can generate an immediate behavioural
Presenting strong argwnents first leads to strong response. Direct marketing is a vital tool in the integrated
attention but may lead to anti-climate ending marketing commnnication programme.
By definition, direct marketing is a system of
Message format: This has to do with the content of the marketing by which an organization commmricates
message such as in print adverts the commmricator has to directly with target customers to generate a response or
decide on the headline, copy, illustration, colour, etc. transaction. This is done through mails, telephone,
internet, fax messages and the development of web sites.
Selecting the message source: Message source refers to The response might take the form of an enquiry a
the company, the brand name, the salesperson, the actor purchase or even a note.
in the advert who endorses the product, i.e., today many
firms are using celebrities and other drama artists to Developing the database for effective E-marketing
endorse their adverts s the message source, i.e., in Nigeria programme: A marketing database is a collection of
many companies are using footballers such as Kanu,
records that can be related to one another in multiple
Okocha or other world footballers such as Becham,
ways and from which customer related information can be
Ronalda, Ronaldiiho, etc.
obtained in a variety of ways. We must recall that market
segmentation and targeting are critical components of any
Choosing the media: The commnnicator must now select
promotional programme of any organization. Hence, direct
chmels of commmrication. There are broad two
marketing programme employs these principles even more
commmrication chmels. These are personal and non-
than others since, the success of a direct-marketing
personal commnnication channels.
programme is in large partied to the ability to do one-to-
one marketing. To segment and target their markets, direct
Personal communication channel: In personal
marketers use a database. A database is a list of
commmrication channel, twoor more people commmricate
directly with one another. They may commmricate customers and or potential customers. This list helps the
face-to-face or over the telephone or through mail, fax marketer to segment the customers into different mrits
machine, internet, etc. Personal commnnication system is either on the bases of income; geographical location, etc.
very effective as it gives room for quick feedback. This database is a tool for database marketing. Again,
database marketing can be defined as the use of specific
Non-personal communication: These are media that carry information about individual customers and/or prospects
messages without personal contact such as radio, to implement more effective and efficient marketing
television, newspapers, billboard, posters, etc. commnnication.

Collecting feedback: After sending the message, the Uses of database: Database is used to perform the
commnnicator must research its effects on the target following fnnctions:
audience. This involves asking the target audience
whether they remember the message; how many times • It helps in improving the selection of market
they saw the message. What points they recall, how they segments
felt about the message and their past and present attitude • It helps in needed information which will facilitate
towards the product and the company. The commmricator repeat purchases
would also like to measure behaviour resulting from the • Helps to get information so as to stimulate repeat
message. How many people bought the product. How purchases
may people visited their stores or shops after the • Helps the company to cross-sell some of its other
adverts, etc. variety of products to the same customers, i.e., the
company already has the data/information on the
Direct and internet marketing customer to some of other products of the company
A vital tool forE-business: Today while most companies • Database provides a means of monitoring changes in
continue to rely primarily on the other promotional mix customer behaviour, identify new target markets and
elements (such as advertising, sales promotion, personal cross-selling of products and services

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 The Soc. Sci.• 6 (2): 64-73. 2011

• It also helps in Customer Relationship Management visit sites to gather necessary information regarding
( CRJ\.1). It takes on the process of tllllling a prospect products, specifications, cost, purchase information, etc.
-+customer-+repeat purchase customer-+member-+
advocate-+partner. So, customer database helps the Sales potential: The Internet helps to generate great sales
organization to identify which customer the company potentials for a firm.
strives to tlllll to advocate and to partner
Creativity: A well creatively designed sites can enhance
Sources of database information in Nigeria a company's image which could lead to repeat visits
Federal office of statistics: In Nigeria, the Federal office which will help to positively position the company in the
of statistics serves as a good source of data on mind of the companies/buyer.
companies and many other organizations.
Exposure: For companies with limited budget or financial
Census board/bureau: Census data provide information resources, the world wide web enables them to gain
exposure to potential customers that would have been
on almost every household in any developed economy
earlier difficult to reach or impossible to reach.
such as USA, UK, etc. We hope that Nigeria will grow or
develop to such a state.
Speed: The internet serves as the quickest means of
acquiring information regarding other companies, its
Yellow pages and directories: There are many providers products/services.
of yellow pages, lists and directories. However, the
accuracy and timeliness of these directories vary. Shortcomings of E-marketing: The use of E-marketing
has a few pitfalls among which are:
Marketing research bureau: There are few reliable and
strong marketing research outfits from which we could Measurement problem: One of the greatest
gather information on companies and prospective disadvantages of the internet is the lack of reliability of
customers. the research nwnbers generated.
At many instances, downloading of vital information
Direct marketing association: In many developed from the net takes a long time. When there are a nwnber
cormtries, we now have direct marketing association of users the time increases and some sites may be
which helps in providing statistical information on direct inaccessible due to too many visitors to the sites
marketing use.
Information overload: As the nwnber of adverts
proliferates, the likelihood of one advert being noticed
Merits of the use of E-marketing: TheE-marketing offers
drops accordingly. The result is that some adverts may
many useful advantages to users amongst which are:
not be noticed and some conswners may become irritated
by the clutter. For example, studies have shown that
Target marketing: The major advantage which the
banner adverts are already losing effectiveness for this
internet offers users is the ability to target very specific
reason as many banners cluster armmd the major busy
groups of individuals with minimwn waste coverage. street.

Message tailoring: E-marketing enables companies to Potential for deception: It has been found that some
target the message to precise audience. Messages are people can use the internet to deceive others. Many case
designed and tailored to meet the needs and wants of of advance fraud ( 419) today are organized via the net.
target audience.
Power problems in the developing nations: Many
Interactive capabilities: Because the internet is developing nations of African do not have constant
interactive, it provides strong potential for increasing electricity supply. To run generators with diesel costs a
customer involvement and satisfaction and it also gives lot of money. This irregular supply of power could pose
ahnost immediate feedback for both the seller and the serious challenge toe-marketing activities.
buyers.
Lacks control of data: Today many people visit certain
Information access: Another great advantage of the sites; collect data for useful pwposes without the
internet is its availability as an information source. People permission of the o\Vllers of that information.

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 The Soc. Sci.• 6 (2): 64-73. 2011

Privacy: The Internet marketers must be careful not to The joint authors also enwnerated the 4Cs of
1mpmge upon the privacy of their customers or integrated marketing commmrications which is also
prospective buyers. supported by CIM London in 2007-2008. lecture manual.
These include:
Benefits of the use of IMC in E-business: On benefits of
integrated marketing cornmnnicatio:n, Picton and Broderick Coherence: Logically connected finnly stuck together.
(2005) presented an highlight of what the joint researchers
Consistency: Not self contradictory in agreement,
considered as part of the benefits of the use of integrated
harmony and accord.
marketing commmrication by firms. These, according to
the researchers include:
Continuity: Connected and connected and consistent
overtime.
• Create integrity
• Consistent message Complementary communication: Producing a balanced,
• Unbiased marketing commendations whole and supportive commmrication.
• Better use of media
• Greater marketing precision CONCLUSION
• Operational efficiencies
• Cost control It is worthy to note that many companies still rely on
• High calibre consistent service one or two marketing commmrication tools in their attempt
• Easier working relations at achieving their marketing commrmication objectives.
• Greater agency accmmtability This practice persists despite growing sophistication of
conswners, dynamic nature of the market, growing
Belch stressed further that the greatest benefit competition in most industrial sectors and the need for
derived from the integration of marketing commrmications efficient allocation of marketing commmrication budgets.
is synergy. Synergy can be described as the addition of Yet, the wide range of marketing commrmication tools,
3+ 3 = 7 phenomenon. By bringing together the various messages and audiences make it imperative for companies
facets of marketing commrmications in a mutually to move towards the IMC approach in an effort to ensure
supportive and enhancing way then the resulting whole clarity of messages, consistency, credible and a
is more than the simple swn of its parts. For example, competitive message cross to target audience.
One strategic benefit of IMC is that it helps produce
Smith and Taylor (2002) illustrated this by adding that
stronger messages, consistent and consequently greater
images and messages used in television advertising are
sales impact. IMC helps in improving the company's
carried through poster and magazine advertisements and
ability to reach the right customers with the right message
are also presented at point-of-sale display on packaging,
at the right time in the right place and eliciting the right
sales promotion and merchandizing and in other
response. It has been stressed that the use of IMC
promotional activities. Each element enhances and
reduces media waste (reduction in cost of promotion) and
supports the other in a consistent fashion. Integration is helps in promoting and improving the company's
not just easy to achieve, however when it is achieved, the competitive edge.
4Es and 4Cs of IMC will definitely create the synergistic
benefits of integration. Picton and Broderick (2005) listed Policy implications:
these 4Es of!MC as: • There is need for organizations to first conduct
research in effectively identifying the need for
Enhancing: Improve, augment, intensity. marketing commrmications where and to what extent
• Companies need to properly integrate their marketing
Economical: Least cost in the use of financial and other commmrications agencies, the company and with one
resources not wasteful. another in order to ensure clarity of messages,
consistency, credibility and a highly competitive
Efficient: Doing the right thing; competent not wasteful. message across to target audience. However if a finn
cannot do this, then it is advisable such a finn
Effective: Doing the right thing; producing the outcome should use one single agency for its marketing
required and wasteful. commmrication messages

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 The Soc. Sci.• 6 (2): 64-73. 2011

• There is need for an organization to be consistent Dnncan, T., 2002. IMC Using Advertising and Promotion
and not conflicting about its marketing to Build Brands. McGraw Hill. USA.
commmrication because consistency in message Fill, C., 2006. Marketing Commrmications Engagement,
creates better awareness, reinforces the message and Strategies and Practices. 4th Edn., Pearson Education
helps in building a solid brand while conflicting Ltd .• Edinburgh Gate. London.
messages confuses and could even scare away Kallmeyer. J. and R. A brat~ 2001. Perceptions of!MC and
customers organizational change among agencies in South
Africa. Int. J. Advert .• 20: 361-380.
Again, firms should also foster interdepartmental Kitchen, P.J .• J. Brignel. T. LI and G.S. Jones. 2004. The
commnnications to ensure that each group is living up to emergence of IMC: A theoretical perspective. J.
expectations where necessary to identify rmexpected Advert. Res .• 44: 19-30.
problem or challenges:
Kliatchko, J., 2005. Towards a new definition of Integrated
Marketing Communications (IMC). Int. J. Advert.•
• Proper training must be accorded to employees (staff)
24: 7-34.
of both client companies and those from marketing
Low, G., 2000. Correlates of integrated marketing
commnnication agencies. This will yield better
commrmications. J. Advert. Res., 40: 27-39.
marketing commmrication results
Peltier. J.W .• J.A. Schibrowsky and D.E. Schultz. 2003.
• The monitoring mechanism must be adequate. There
Interactive integrated marketing commnnication:
is need to monitor the results of marketing
commmrications across all media Combining the power of IMC, the new media and
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