Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) Strategies
IMC is defined as:
A comprehensive plan that evaluates the strategic roles of a variety of communication disciplines and combines these disciplines to provide clarity, consistency , and maximum communication impact.
Simply put an IMC strategy is a machine made up of communications channels cogs like social media, T.V., newspaper, ect. The only way to get the IMC strategy machine to work is if these communications channels cogs work together. As a result of the combined efforts of the communications channels cogs, the IMC strategy machine generates for the audience a clear picture of a brand’s image and messaging as it relates to them.
According to the EPMG Source Marketer, digital ad spending in the U.S. is projected to increase from $32B to $55.2B from 2011 to 2016, which means most companies are now shifting towards a greater focus on digital marketing and customers are willing to be given online communication.
Benefits of IMC
Although Integrated Marketing Communications requires a lot of effort it delivers many benefits. It can create competitive advantage, boost sales and profits, while saving money, time and stress.
- IMC wraps communications around customers and helps them move through the various stages of the buying process.
- IMC also increases profits through increased effectiveness.
- IMC saves money as it eliminates duplication in areas such as graphics and photography since they can be shared and used in say, advertising, exhibitions and sales literature.
Example of IMC
Always: #LikeAGirl
The “#LikeAGirl” social experiment recruited real women, men, boys and preteen girls and asked them to show what it physically means to run like a girl, throw like a girl, etc. Surprisingly, the prepubescent girls were the only ones who performed these actions confidently and proudly, for they weren’t yet tainted by society’s engraved definition of “like a girl.” Created in partnership with Leo Burnett Chicago, Toronto and London, the online film made its broadcast debut during the Super Bowl, further empowering people of all ages and genders to continue the conversation.
To this day, “#LikeAGirl” has over 90 million views on YouTube and over 150 top awards, and it is the most-watched video in Procter & Gamble’s history. The campaign has won an Emmy, 14 Cannes Lions (including the inaugural Glass Lion, Titanium Lion and a Grand Prix), a D&AD Black Pencil and a Facebook Studio Blue Award by illustrating what it truly means to be “like a girl.” The groundbreaking campaign made a profoundly positive impact on the societal issue of negativity in the life of young girls and on P&G’s brand reputation.
In a nutshell, you need to do integrated marketing to earn profits and remain relevant in the marketplace. An integrated marketing campaign (IMC), therefore, is the only sure way to increased sales, boost revenues and building brand awareness. What's your opinion about IMC? Do you have some interesting examples share with me? Please make comments and communicate with me.
TANG XIAOTING 
Hi, from your blog, I have made further understanding about IMC. It is a marketing strategy that promoting the brand through different media. The aim is to deliver consistent brand information to target audiences. I acquired that different media platform target different groups of people which help business to find their customers. Furthermore, different media has different function which reach different goals. Therefore, it is necessary for business to identify and analyse that how to allocate their advertising.
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Thank you for your comment! IMC does play an important part in marketing for a company. There are many social media platforms that can attract customers’ eyes. As a marketer, we should know which media platform is the best choice for the company and how to use less money to do more things.
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I earned IMC in the last semester on Marketing Communication which provides a lot of nice examples about it. when companies do the influencer marketing they should be very careful about which influencer they should work with because the influencer is supposed to match the product and the thought you want to communicate with consumers.
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Thank you for your comment! Marketing communication is an important class for marketers and we have learned how to make full use of communication platforms and which one is the most suitable for the company. What’s more, the budget is also an important part we should consider.
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This is a good blog post where you explained IMC and some of its benefits and also used a good example to show me how these companies are using IMC to grow and promotion. A successful IMC marketing strategy can improve brand equity and have stronger influences on customers. The example of ‘like a girl’ has arrested lots of attention. it combines 4Ps and 4Cs. which was an extremely successful example.
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Thank you for your comment! The benefits of IMC strategy show that marketers must pay attention to IMC and devote to a lot of money. The example of Always is successful and improved brand equity and awareness. I think a company should know how to make full use of IMC strategy.
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Hi Xiaotong, the video is really attracting to me. I’d read some articles which discuss about the level of planning that marketers should be working on to make it goes viral. I think that P&G has done it appropriately here together with the implementation of IMC. Some viruses went on quite well with exposing themselves to only 1-2 platforms. Herein, P&G has successfully illustrated the effectiveness of perfectly applying IMC for viral marketing as aligned with the finding that Integrated campaigns across 4+ channels outperform single or dual-channel campaigns by 300 percent.
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Thank you for your comment! The example of P&G shows the effectiveness of applying the IMC strategy for viral marketing. As a marketer, we should know how to apply IMC and how to play an important role in marketing activities. We can learn more information from the P&G case.
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