Introduction
By definition, Integrated Marketing Communication is the way a company integrates and coordinates its various communication channels to disseminate clear, consistent and convincing information about itself and the products it offers. Basically, IMC entails merging and combining various communication tools to form a combined message to the customers. Integrated Marketing Communications is made up of a company’s marketing channels, such as public marketing, e-marketing, advertisement and telemarketing. A unified message is composed in these communication tools to be disseminated to the targeted audience. Having a unified message for the targeted audience helps a firm reduce confusion about the brand message intended for the audience (Kreidly, Aden and Tvrtkovic, 2014).
This report is a summary of four organizations which have successfully implemented the Integrated Marketing Communication strategy to combine marketing communications and strategies to provide a unified experience to their customers. They include Always Company, Southwest Airlines, Dimino’s Anyware and the movie- The Martian.
Article Overview
This article on Integrated Communication Strategy was posted on the AU online AURORA University website on February 21, 2017. https://online.aurora.edu/integrated-marketing-communications-examples/
Always Company, in a bid to target the next generation of consumers, came up with an integrated marketing communication strategy which targets young girls at the puberty stage to empower them through a marketing campaign dubbed LikeAGirl. This campaign was meant to empower young girls at puberty who are experiencing a decline in confidence because of the body changes they are undergoing. Always Company wanted to instill confidence in young girls by showing them their brand purpose. The Company used marketing channels like television, print and social media to reach out to young girls at puberty stage.
The result of the campaign included winning D & D award and gaining a global awareness, it changed the perception of how men view girl as just “like a girl”, and the film advertisement generated over 85 million views on Youtube.
Southwest Airlines also launched an integrated marketing campaign dubbed Transparency. This campaign was designed to help customers pay for things like checked bags, flight changes, snacks and drinks. The company used the following communication channels to reach out to the customers: television, radio and print media. It demonstrated the value customers will receive from choosing its services over other airlines.
Some of the contents which were included in its campaign include the following: a “Fee” or “Fake” game which shows the related extra charges customers will receive from using other airlines, “Dear Southwest”, a well-designed letter which boasts of the status of the airline and its free charge for checked bags, Fee Hacker which is a parody demonstrating how customers can avoid fees with other airlines and “FeeDontFly” which is showing a comparison of southwest airlines with other airline like Delta.
Domino, which is a pizza restaurant, created a campaign dubbed “AnyWare” to help its customers order food in a more convenient way. Dimino’s AnyWare made it easy for customers to order food using tweets, text messages, smart televisions and watches. This new invention was possible for Domino Pizza because it had earlier developed Pizza Profiles, which helped customers save payment information, addresses and order types. Domino used press releases and television advertisements to create awareness among the customers to use its website AnyWare.Dominos.Com.
Through the use of integrated marketing communication, Dimino AnyWare was able to garner over 500,000 traffic to its website, its sales grew, half of its orders were placed digitally, and it achieved media impression by being shown on notable TV shows like Jimmy Fallon’s Saturday Night Live.
The Martian movie also used integrated marketing communication to boost its box office results for its films about the mars. Its marketing efforts included social media campaigns, celebrity endorsement and shows on the National Geographic Channels. On its debut, it opened at number one on the box office for four weeks, earning over $600 million across the globe.
Concept Implications
Integrated Marketing Communication involves the use of the following marketing communication principles: creating a customer focus, creating targeted communication, customer base relationship and synergy.
Creating a customer focus involves letting customers be part of the company by listening to their feedback and taking into account their needs. Creating a customer-oriented company leads to the company gaining new customers and having a better reputation for service delivery. Being customer-focused enables companies to understand their demands and create offering suitable for them. Always Company saw a need the empowering young girls at the puberty stage by creating a campaign to boost their confidence while at the same time making them potential customers for their product. Southwest Airlines also created a marketing campaign dubbed Transparency, which focused on the value customers will receive from using their services like free checked bags.
Targeted communication entails direct marketing through the use of various channels to reach customers. Some of the targeted communication channels highlighted in the article include the use of social media advertisements, celebrity endorsements and press releases. The aim of targeted communication is to ensure that customers feel some attachment to them and the brand. For example, Always Company used the campaign dubbed LikeAGirl, which elicited some personal association towards “like a girl’ from the viewers of its social media campaigns.
Customer brand relationship entails creating a healthy relationship with a brand. It needs continuous dialogue with the customers and creating an access point between the customer and the brand. Some of the benefits of creating customer-based relationships include retention of customers and gaining new ones, to mention a few. The relationship that Always Company has established between itself and young girls at the puberty stage is a shared service which creates value for both parties.
Synergy in integrated marketing communication entails coordinating all the forms of communication to create an impact on the particular message a company is trying to convey to the customers. The Martian movie exploited the application of synergy by using various communications channels like social media, celebrity endorsement and other platforms like National Geographic to create an impact on the debut of its films about mars, which fared well in the box office movie lists.
Communication channels are the various forms of disseminating information between the company and the customers. The article has highlighted the coordination of various communication channels like social media, press releases and television advertisements.
Critique And Extensions
As discussed above, one of the marketing communication strategies that most companies can leverage is creating a customer-brand relationship. Building a healthy relationship with customers creates synergy and retention of the customers. Always Company has identified itself with young girls at the puberty stage to empower them, and it deems them as the future of the brand. The company can fully exploit this strategy to gain a global presence and relationship with young girls, which will foresee its continuation.
