The integration of marketing communications 405
a more precise means of targeting consumers.
The move away from traditional mass
marketing towards closely focused
communications techniques is a reflection of
the increasing cost of traditional advertising
techniques.
Power shift towards retailers. In most consumer
markets, comparatively small numbers of
retailers have come to dominate their
respective categories. In the grocery field, for
example, the major supermarket chains –
Tesco, Sainsbury, ASDA and Safeway – account
for a substantial part of the retail business.
Together, these four companies account for
around 40 per cent of retail sales. Inevitably,
this has resulted in their taking the initiative in
terms of the marketing to consumers. To a
large degree, even major manufacturers have
to bow to the demands of the retailers or face
the prospect of their products being de-listed
from their shelves.
Escalating price competition. As brands
increasingly converge in what they offer to
consumers, companies are striving to
overcome the debilitating impact of the
downward price spiral. The recognition that
marketing communication is often the only
differentiating factor between competing
brands has led to an increased focus on how
the tools can be used to achieve brand
distinction.
Environmental factors. Consumers are becoming
increasingly concerned with the way in which
products impact on the general environment.
In turn, companies have been forced to adopt
a more environmentally friendly approach or
risk consumers rejecting their products in
favour of those which they consider to be
more responsive to these broader concerns.
Emergence of a variety of compensation methods.
Where once agencies were bound by a
compensation based on commission (a fixed
percentage of the monies spent on
advertising), today’s marketing communications
companies are rewarded in many different
ways. The most important impact of this
change has been to free them (and the
perception of their income) as being tied to
recommendations to increase their clients’
spend.
Agency mergers and acquisitions. Responding to
the needs of the marketplace and, in particular,
to pressures from their clients, agencies are
increasing merging to form larger groups.
Partly, this has been driven by the need to
provide client services across a variety of
territories. However, a further dimension has
been the desire to provide a comprehensive
service to clients across the variety of areas
encompassed by marketing communications.
The large agency groups exist as holding
companies controlling operational companies
in all of the relevant communications fields.
Increased global competition. The drive towards
globalization has increased the necessity to
achieve synergy between all forms of
marketing communications. Where once a
brand might be sold in a single country, today’s
mega-brands are available across the globe.
Significant savings can be achieved through the
implementation of a constant communications
campaign across all of the territories in which
the product is sold.The impact on marketing communications
We have already seen that marketing commu-
nications need to focus on the end-user rather
than on the nature of the product or service
provided. But, it is suggested, marketing com-
munications need to respond more rapidly to
these underlying changes in the social and
environmental framework.
In their important work on IMC, Schultz et
al. (1992) propose that it is time to abandon the
principles of the four Ps for the four Cs:Forget Product. Study Consumer wants and
needs. You can no longer sell whatever you
make. You can only sell something that some-
one specifically wants to buy.