CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1. Background of the Study
A critical part of brand building is communication and the most effective and productive way of managing this effort is through a concept called Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC).
Due to societal changes over the past fifty years, today’s organizations are being forced to adjust their brand/marketing strategies. Not surprisingly, many have turned to integrated marketing communications (IMC). Why? Old assumptions about the role of advertising promotion and media have fallen by the way side because change remains the only constant thing in the world. Thoughts about how branding and promotion should be organized have been upside-down. And organizations, marketing executives and the media are scrambling to accommodate their new roles, ever since, integrated marketing communication (IMC) has been part of business. Clow & Baack (2004) define IMC as “the coordination and integration of all marketing communication tools, avenues and sources within a company into a seamless programme that maximizes the impact on consumers and other end users at a minimal cost”.
In addition, Arens (2004) defines integrated marketing communications (IMC) as:
The process of building and reinforcing mutually profitable relationship with employees, customers, other stakeholders, and the general public by developing and coordinating a strategic communications programme that enables them to make constructive contact with the company/brand through a variety of media or other contacts
From the above definitions, it can be deduced that IMC unifies all communication effort from an organization to produce an identifiable source (brand) in the minds of its audience while some observers think that so long as a company is involved in a variety of promotional activities (e.g., advertising sponsorships, public relations etc), it is practicing IMC. But this is not the case using IMC means looking at the whole where there were once only parts. If calls for re-aligning communications and seeing constant flow of information from a single and identifiable source. An effective IMC process comprises the following steps:
• Identify the target audiences: This requires a well throughout market segmentation and targeting process which may includes secondary and/or primary market research.
• Determine the communication objectives: This can range from generating brand awareness to countering the competition.
• Design the message content: This is an absolutely critical component. Effective messages can make or break a promotional effort.
• Select the means for communications, whether advertising, public relations, direct marketing sponsorship etc.
• Define the mix of media, budget and priorities
• Measure the effectiveness of the efforts.
IMC and Brand Building
Based on the foregoing, the brand building aspects are the focus of this study. As consumers are bombarded with a variety of products to meet the same need, branding provides a way for consumers to reduce their decision making to consider only those products that they feel are relevant to them or that have met their needs acceptably in the past.