Discuss about The Integrated Marketing Communications for Alternative Perspective.
Answer:
Integrated marketing communication (IMC) is a tool which is used to combine different communication discipline to increase the clarity and consistency of the business. The planning and execution of the marketing communication need to be aligned to meet the business objectives. In this context, Finne & Grönroos (2009) stated that IMC comprised of different marketing communication tool such as advertising, direct marketing, public relations, social media marketing and sales promotion to maximise the communication impact on the target consumers.
Also, Robertson & Davidson (2013) stated that IMC is focused on achieving a few strategic objectives such as to improve considerable sales and build a strong brand image of the firm. The goal of IMC is to create customer-centric sensibilities to help in resource allocation. This, in turn, contributes to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. A favorable business attitude can also be attained increasing the brand awareness of the firm. Eventually, the business revenue can be increased.
The brand awareness-building strategy is driven by different elements, which are called the pillar of the strategy. The IMC consists of three components such as consumers, communication channels and the results. In the words of Hinterhuber & Bertini (2011), the consumer element helps the brand to identify which mode of communication can affect the customer attraction and loyalty index towards the brand. Apart from this, the communication channel also evaluates how much more efficient the channels are to maintain the brand identity. The result parameter also considers how the level of intricacy can lead marketers to measure the fruitfulness of the strategy. Eventually, new ways are designed to manage the alignment of the sales.
AMP is a financial service firm headquartered in Australia, that deals with superannuation, investment products, insurance, financial advice and banking products. This company conducts direct marketing by employing cold calling in different residential regions across the country. Also, Markey et al. (2007) stated that the firm is substantially attached with social media advertising, which has increased the effectiveness of the brand.
Hoarding and banner advertisements are potentially utilised by the firm to generate significant awareness among the customers. The loan offerings and change in interest rates are promoted through radio advertisements and television ads. The emails and newsletter sending strategies have also helped the firm capitalising the multi-channel promotions. It has helped the company creating competitive advantage and better growth in the banking segments.
Advertising and brand promotion are the crucial elements of the IMC employed by Woolworths Limited. The message posting through media and radio advertisement channels represents everything the brand stands for. The overall business operation is successfully communicated through the implementation of the social media marketing. Finne & Grönroos (2009) supported the fact and stated that IMC helps the firm to deliver different types of customers and creates the brand identity for various segment people as well. The statistical data also indicate that implementation of the IMC has helped Woolworths Limited improve the business profitability in both domestic and international markets.
The loyalty card concept employed by Woolworths also acts as a significant promotional activity to impact on the consumer buying behaviour. Apart from this, the residential campaigning regarding the newly launched discounted products has also increased the sales volume of the firm Woolworths (Robertson, K., & Davidson, 2013). The Facebook and hashtag campaign of the Woolworths have been found successful in generating mass brand awareness among the target population. All in all, the IMC approach employed by Woolworths has been found useful enough to improve the overall brand awareness of the firm.
The essential importance of IMC is to save the costs of promotion and advertisements. Posting the same advertisement content in different promotional media reduces agency fees and creates the opportunity to increase the brand identity index as well. Ferdous (2008) also stated that customer preferences are better understood through an integrated campaign such as email, text message, and other social media communication processes as well.
Also, it has been identified that creative consistency can be managed through the effective implementation of the IMC protocol. The primary campaign themes increase the business prospects as it helps to communicate directly with the customers. The customers share their own views of the firm representatives and provide prospects with more information as well. Supporting this fact, Barker (2013) stated that telemarketing options help the organization understand the customer’s needs. Eventually, the brand becomes successful in offering innovative services to customers. The time prospect increases the efficient utilization of the IMC strategies. It also helps the sales force to generate prospective leads and active follow-up is done respectively. Thus, the implementation of IMC helps the brand to improve customer awareness and sales growth across the global operation platform.
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