404 The Marketing Book
audience for their propositions, and can more
readily segment markets into groups of users,
rather than communicating with them as an
aggregation.
At the same time, of course, this improved
level of communication has a direct impact on
the consumer. An increased level of media
coverage of consumer-related issues means that
any problem with a product or service is almost
bound to receive media exposure. News stories
about product withdrawals, the focus on prod-
uct deficiencies within programmes like Watch-
dog, all ensure that large groups of consumers
become aware of these issues within days, or
even hours of the occurrence.
The driving forces behind the growth of integrated marketing communications
Various studies have focused on the factors
which are encouraging the adoption of inte-
grated marketing communications pro-
grammes (Yeshin, 1996; Duncan and Everett,
1993; Schultz and Kitchen, 1997; Grein and
Ducoffe, 1998; Kitchen and Schultz, 1999).
Value for money. The recession of recent years
and increasing global competition have brought
about substantial changes in the way that client
companies are managed. On the one hand,
there has been the impact of shrinking
marketing departments, in which fewer people
are allocated to the management of the
products and services which the company
produces. On the other, the pressure on
margins has encouraged clients to become
tougher negotiators. Companies are keen to
gain the maximum value for money and the
maximum impact from all relevant disciplines.
Increasing pressure on organizations’ bottom lines.
The inevitable consequence of the variety of
economic pressures has resulted in a close
focus on company profitability. As all forms of
cost increase, so companies seek to make
compensatory savings throughout all of their
activities.
Increasing client sophistication. This is particularly
true of areas such as an understanding of
retailers, customers and consumers. There has
been an increasing confidence in the use of
other marketing communication disciplines,
especially sales promotion, and the greater
ability to take the lead in terms of their
strategic direction.
A disillusionment with advertising. This has
resulted in clients turning to other disciplines
in the search to improve customer
relationships and more sales.
A disillusionment with agencies. Advertising
agencies, in particular, which were often the
primary source of strategic input for the
clients with whom they worked, have lost
significant ground in this respect. Specialist
consultancies and others are now being
retained by client companies to advise them of
the strategic directions they should be taking,
with the agency role becoming progressively
smaller in many instances.
The fragmentation of media channels. As we have
seen earlier, the changing face of the media
scene is demanding the re-evaluation of the
contribution that the variety of media channels
can make to the delivery of the message. With
new ways of communicating with the target
audiences, new approaches are necessary to
achieve maximum impact from marketing
communications budgets.
Traditional advertising is too expensive and not
cost effective. There is an increased recognition
that, for many companies, the use of
traditional forms of advertising no longer
provides the means of achieving cost-effective
reach of their target audiences. As media costs
escalate, many companies are turning to other
forms of marketing communications to achieve
their objectives.
The rapid growth and development of database
marketing. The increasing availability of
sophisticated database techniques has enabled
manufacturers and service providers alike with