398 The Marketing Book
actually means in practice. They point to the
fact that various writers have argued about the
move away from the traditional distinction
between ‘above-the-line’ and ‘below-the-line’
to ‘through-the-line’ and ‘zero-based’ commu-
nications. What they fail to recognize is that the
practitioners within the field operate as brands
and seek to provide a distinctive offering to
their clients. Hence the adoption of a variety of
nomenclatures for the practice of IMC.
They argue that the theoretical concept of
IMC is ambiguous and ‘provides the basis for
researchers to adopt whichever interpretation
of the term best fits their research agendas at
any given time’.
According to Schultz and Kitchen (1997),
prior to the study by Caywood et al. (1991),
there was no formal discussion or even descrip-
tion of what is now called integrated marketing
communications. There appears to be a dis-
cordancy between academic thinking and prac-
tice in the marketplace. They argue that most
marketing communications activities in the
past have focused on breaking down concepts
and activities into even more finite specialisms.
Few marketing communications approaches
have involved integration or holistic thinking.
Whilst it is acknowledged that the pace of
change towards the adoption of a holistic
approach has been relatively slow, nonetheless
many practitioners and clients have moved
progressively towards a focus on IMC.
Schultz (in Jones, 1999) defines IMC as ‘a
planning approach that attempts to co-ordinate,
consolidate and bring together all the commu-
nications messages, programmes and vehicles
that affect customers or prospects for a manu-
facturer or service organization’s brands’.
Jeans (1998) provides greater clarity by
proposing that ‘IMC is the implementation of
all marketing communications in such a way
that each project, as well as meeting its specific
project objects also
conforms with the brand platform;
is synergistic with all other projects related to
the brand;
actively reinforces the agreed brand values in
any dialogue with the market;
and is measured by short- and long-term
effects on consumer behaviour.’However, perhaps the clearest definition of
integrated marketing communications is that of
the American Association of Advertising Agen-
cies (1993):A concept of marketing communications plan-
ning that recognizes the added value of a
comprehensive plan that evaluates the strategic
roles of a variety of communications disciplines
and combines them to provide clarity, con-
sistency and maximum communications impact
through the seamless integration of discrete
messages.The important dimension of this definition is
the recognition of the need for a comprehensive
plan that considers the strategic aspects of each
of the tools of marketing communications in a
holistic manner, rather than the development of
them as separate elements. This approach
represents a substantial shift in the underlying
planning process, since it aims to ensure cohe-
sion and the delivery of a single-minded
message to the target audience.
Paul Smith (writing in Admap, 1996)
states:Integrated marketing communications is a sim-
ple concept. It brings together all forms of
communication into a seamless solution. At its
most basic level, IMC integrates all promotional
tools so that they work together in harmony.Key to the issue is the fact that the consumer
does not see advertising, public relations, sales
promotion and other marketing communica-
tions techniques as separate and divisible com-
ponents. As the receivers of a variety of
messages from an equally wide range of sour-
ces, they build up an image of a company, its
brands and its services – both favourable and
unfavourable. As far as they are concerned, the
source of the message is unimportant. What