Integrated Marketing Communication

Integrated marketing communication (IMC) emerged during the late twentieth century and its importance has been growing ever since (Grove, Carlson, and Dorsch, 2002; Cornelissen, 2001; Hartley and Pickton, 1999). Owing to the impact of information technology, changes came about in the domains of marketing and marketing communications which led to the emergence of IMC (Kitchen et al., 2004a; Phelps and Johnson, 1996; Duncan and Everett, 1993). The multiplication of media, demassification of consumer markets, and the value of the Internet in today’s society are just three of the areas in which technological innovation has impacted (Pilotta et al., 2004; Peltier, Schibrowsky, and Schultz, 2003; Reid, 2003; Lawrence, Garber, and Dotson, 2002; Fill, 2001; Low, 2000; Hutton, 1996). This in turn left marketers in a challenging and competitive environment, trying to fulfil customers wants and needs while also developing long-term relationships with them. IMC can help in creating coordinated and consistent messages across various channels of communication. Furthermore, the concept is especially valuable in that it places great emphasis on the importance of all stakeholder groups and, in particular, on customer loyalty, which can only be created through strategic relationship building (Jin, 2003/2004; Cornelissen, 2000; Eagle and Kitchen, 2000; Pickton and Hartley, 1998; Miller and Rose, 1994). To date, academic research on IMC has been limited. The majority of empirical research has been conducted with advertising and PR agencies or companies located in the United States with a clear tendency toward quantitative methodologies (Jin, 2003/2004; Peltier, Schibrowsky, and Schultz, 2003; Kitchen and Schultz, 1999; Beard, 1996; Miller and Rose, 1994). Very few studies have concentrated on the business ‘‘client’’ perspectives within Europe (Cornelissen and Thorpe, 2001; Low, 2000; Kitchen and Schultz, 1999). The following sections discuss IMC in greater depth. Firstly, the relevance of IMC as a concept is discussed. Subsequently, an analysis of IMC implementation is carried out with reference to past research. Then, barriers to integration and criticisms of IMC are addressed. Finally, concluding comments are proffered.