In the last decade, no area of marketing has seen more drastic changes than marketing communications. Current communication operates in an environment of saturation by product messages, increasing inattentiveness on the part of consumers, and increase in competition as a consequence of the globalization process (Kitchen et al., 2004). One of the most important changes is the dramatic increase in the variety of communication options available to advertisers. Within this context, managers deploying scarce resources across different communication elements hope that spending on one source has a positive impact on the effectiveness of another source.
Traditionally,
the various components of marketing communication, i.e. advertising, public relations,
sales promotion, direct marketing and so forth, have operated largely independently
of each other. Most recent literature has suggested that companies should use
an Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) approach. This approach provides a
new way to manage the different communication options, which insists on integrating
them in a common program. The IMC framework is built on the foundation that different
communication media, if deployed appropriately, have the potential to enhance
communication effectiveness. In addition, IMC as a business competency suggests
that multiple communications can be integrated to achieve synergistic outcomes
(Naik and Raman 2003; Smith et al. 2006). |
