Chapter 1 - Introduction to IMC

Question 1

steps in the communication process

Answer 1

sender => encoding => transmission device => decoding => receiver => feedback => sender => …

Question 2

exemple of noise

Answer 2

=> Talking on the phone during a TV commercial
=> Driving/talking to a friend while listening to the radio
=> Looking at attractive model in a magazine ad and ignoring the message and brand
=> Scrolling past Internet ads without looking at them

Question 3

State the definition of IMC

Answer 3

coordination and integration of all marketing communication tools, avenues and sources within a company…

into a seamless program that maximizes the impact on consumers and other end-users
at minimal cost…

and includes all business-to-business, channel, customer, external, and internal
communications

Question 4

list several activities that IMC entails

Answer 4

traditional :

=> advertising
=> sales promotion
=> personal selling

novel :

=> Interactive marketing
=> Social Media
=> Alternative Marketing

(=> database marketing)
(=> direct response marketing)
(=> sponsoring marketing)
(=> PR)

Question 5

advances in information technology

Answer 5

=> Proliferation of instant communications
=> Consumer access to unlimited information
=> Increasing communications between consumers

Question 6

changes in channel power

Answer 6

There is an ongoing shift from manufacturers to consumers

Question 7

Increasing Global Competition

Answer 7

More competition => research offline and purchase inline, only best product wins

Question 8

increasing brand parity

Answer 8

As competition increases, brands become more equivalent, brand loyalty declines as consumers increasingly choose among groups of preferred brands at groups of preferred retailers

Question 9

Desire for fun

Answer 9

Consumers become more and more demanding, requiring increasingly more “fun”-interactions leading to an “experience economy”

Question 10

Understand why advances in information technology, changes in channel power, increasing global competition, increasing brand parity and desire for fun have led firms to focus on integrating their marketing communications

Answer 10

1. Firms aim to facilitate customer engagement

=> Examination of all contact points with customers
=> Emphasis on two-way communication
=> Goal: increase consumers’ emotional commitment to the brand

2. Consumers are requiring increasingly more “fun”-interactions

=> Virtual reality

3. Firms cannot market to a whole body of customers anymore, „shotgun marketing“ is over

=> Focus on individuals and small customer groups
=> Usage of mass customization to offer products
=> Communication with personalized messages

Question 11

Describe additional trends in marketing communication

Answer 11

=> Increasing focus on accountability and measurable results
(Facebook, Google analytics)

=> Greater partnering among key players to achieve integration
(e.g., account executives, brand managers, creatives)

=> Increasing use of alternative media and interactive marketing to reach consumers