Ch. 12 & 13 - Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) Flashcards
How do companies communicate to consumers?
Promotion (e.g. advertising, sales promotion, public relations, personal selling, direct marketing, digital media)
What challenges do companies face when trying to communicate with customers?
- There is lots of noise in the environment which can drown out their message
- Competition (companies need to determine how to get consumers to focus on them)
Traditional Marketing
Different forms of promotion are seperate: each campaign is developed by different agencies hired by a company. Result: no universal message
Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC)
Coordinating all of your touch points to form a consistent image for your brand or product
Touch Point
Anywhere a consumer comes in contact with your product/brand
What are the 5 steps of a IMC campaign (marketing communications process)?
Recall the 5 M’s:
1. Set objectives and identify target audience (Mission)
2. Decide budget (Money)
3. Choose message (Message)
4. Decide media mix (Media)
5. Evaluate effectiveness (Measurement)
Campaign Objectives
Communication task to be accomplished with a specific target audience during a specific time
List 4 methods companies can use to budget marketing campaigns
- Affordable
- Percentage-of-Sales
- Competitive-Parity
- Objective-and-Task
Affordable Budgeting
Budgeting based on what a company thinks it can afford (marketing not prioritized)
Percentage-of-Sales Budgeting
Budgeting based on a percentage of current or forecasted sales
What is the main flaw of percentage-of-sales budgeting?
Generally, promotion leads to sales, but the percentage-of-sales method operates on the belief that sales lead to promotion
Competitive-Parity Budgeting
Set budget to match competitors. The idea is to budget to keep up with your competition
Objective-and-Task Budgeting
Set objectives and determine tasks to achieve objectives. The budget is the sum of task costs
What should good messages accomplish?
Good messages should
- Get attention
- Hold interest
- Obtain action
What is a major challenge of IMC?
Designing each promotional activity to communicate the same message
How can messages be classified?
Messages can be classified based on execution and tone
What are the different concepts behind a message (execution)?
- Slice of life (everyday events)
- Lifestyle (what you could experience)
- Fantasy
- Personality Symbols
- Scientific
- Endorsement/Testimonials
- Mood (artistic)
Message Tone
The emotion a message conveys (can be a powerful motivator)
True or False: Creating fearful messages will intimidate your consumers away from your product.
It depends. Creating fear in your consumers can be very effective if not overdone. If ads are too scary, people tune the ad out and stop paying attention (and they miss the main message of the ad)
What are the different components of the media mix?
- Reach
- Frequency
- Impact
- Engagement
Reach (Media Mix)
The percentage of people in the target audience who are exposed to the message
Frequency (Media Mix)
How many times the average person in a target audience is exposed to the message
Impact (Media Mix)
The qualitative value of a message’s exposure through a given medium
Engagement (Media Mix)
Whether the consumer is encouraged to do something (e.g. click a link, pay attention, share)
What selection criteria do companies use to determine what mediums to use in their marketing campaign?
- Consumers’ habits and lifestyle
- Specific product attributes
- Cost constraints
How do companies measure campaign effectiveness?
Return on campaign investment (measure before and after campaign), communication effects
Communication Effects
Includes click-through, recall, attitude toward product, preference, visits, and sales. These are easier to measure, however they don’t necessarily translate into behaviour
Advertising
Any paid form of nonpersonal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods or services by an identified sponser
Product Placement
Products appearing in alternative outlets (e.g. TV, movies)
Why are product placements effective?
You usually have the viewer’s full attention as they are usually engrossed into the media they are watching so they will see your product
Sales Promotion
Short-term incentives designed to encourage the immediate purchase of a product or service. Consists of consumer promotions and trade promotions
Consumer Promotions
Short-term marketing tools used to encourage immediate consumer purchase
Trade Promotions
Short-term promotional tools used to generate support with wholesalers, distributors or retailers
Give a few examples of consumer promotional tools
E.g. coupons, premiums, contests, rebates, sweepstakes, bonus packs, loyalty programs (long-term)
Personal Selling
Two-way personal communication between salespeople and individual customers (a paid, personal form of selling). It has big impact, but it is expensive
6 weapons of influence
- Reciprocation
- Commitment & Consistency
- Social Proof
- Authority
- Liking
- Scarcity
Reciprocation (weapon of influence)
People’s tendency to feel a need to return a favour
Commitment & Consistency (weapon of influence)
Pressuring a consumer to buy a product based on their past favourable opinion of the product
Social Proof (weapon of influence)
Look to others for information (use others as a verification for quality)
Authority (weapon of influence)
Persuade a consumer to buy a product because a trusted authority figure recommends it. People tend to trust authority figures
Liking (weapon of influence)
Buying a product because it is liked by people you like
Scarcity (weapon of influence)
Pressure a consumer to buy a product by tapping into their fear of missing out (FOMO)
Door-in-the-face Technique
Start by asking for a big request (expecting to be rejected), and then ask for a smaller, more reasonable request. People tend to accept your smaller request as they feel a need to compromise.
Public Relations
Includes obtaining favourable publicity, building a good corporate image, and handling or heading off unfavourable rumours, stories, and events
Direct Marketing
Marketing that communicates directly with target customers to generate a response or transaction
Event Marketing
Companies involve their brand in an experience or occasion with the goal of heightening awareness, creating positive associations, and desired response.
Sponsership
Companies pay for inclusion at an event (often advertising)
Digital Marketing
Online tools for communicating with consumers (websites, blogs, social media, etc.). Targeted impact can be easily and quickly measured; modifications can be quickly assessed.
