THEROLEOFIMe 187
JerryWalsh.Uordoallmarketersrequirea multimilliondollarnationaladvertisingcam-
paigninordertoreachobjectives.Allmarketers,however, mustlearntocommunicate their
strategytotheirtarget market.
TheconceptofIntegratedMarketingCommunication(IMe)is offeredas ageneral
framework,whichcanbeemployedby marketersin ordertodesigna comprehensiveand
effectiveprogramofcommunication.Itacknowledgestheinherentdifferencesbetweenmar-
ketersandbuilds upontherealitythat"everycompanyis castintheroleofcommunica-
tor."Ultimately,it is thechoiceofeachcompany whetherthis communication process will
beperformedina haphazard,unplannedway,or whetherit willbeguidedbystated objec-
tivesandimplementedthrougheffectivestrategies.
ThischapterintroducestheconceptofIMC,a framework fororganizingthe persua-
sivecommunicationeffortsofthebusiness.Becauseofitsvisibility,manyconsumersfeel
thattheyalreadyknowa greatdeal aboutIMC,orat least aboutadvel1ising.Mostholdeither
a somewhatpositiveornegativeattitudetowardadvertising, aggressive salespeople, coupons,
andsoforth.Thisis a casewhena littlebitofinformationcanbe a dan gerous t hing.
This chapteralso providesa discussionoffouroftheIMCmixelements-advertising,
salesprom')tion,publicrelations,andpersonalselling.Webegin ourdiscussionwithan
explanationoftheroleIMC playsinthemarketingstrategy.
THEROLEOFIMe
Theheartofeverytransactional exchangeiscommunicationbetweenparties. Thebuyer
seekscertainbasicinformationaboutproduct features,price, quality, supportservice,rep-
utationoftheseller,andsoforth.Allthis informationis intendedto assess how closeeach
alternativeis tomeetingdesiredneedsandwants.Weseekinformationtoreducepossible
riskassociatedwiththetransaction.Presumably,themoresolidtheinformationwehave,
themoresecurewefeelinourdecision.Theselleralsodesiresinformation. The sellerwants
toknowwhetheryouqualifyasa buyer(i.e., doyoureally needtheproduct andcanyou
payforit),whichproductfea,uresareimportantto you,what otherchoicesyouarecon-
sidering,areyoureadytobuy,howmuchdoyouknowab outmyproduct, andsoforth.
Therefore,allthepartiesentera t ransaction witha whole se t of questions theywantanswers
to.Someofthesequestionsarequiteexplicit:"Howmuch doesit cost?"Others arequite
vagueandmayalmostbesubconscious: "Willthis productmakemefeelbetterabout myself?"
Allthesedecisionsrelatetothemarketer'sabilitytointegratemarketingcomm unications
(IMe).
Theprimaryroleof!MCis tosystematicallyevaluatethecommunicationne edsand
wantsofthebuyerand,based onthatinformation,designa communicationstra tegythat
will(1)provide answersto primaryquestionsofthetargetaudience, (2)facilitatethecu s-
tom~r'sabilitytomakecorrectdecisions,and(3)increasethe probabilityth atthe choice
theymakemostoftenwillbethebrandoftheinformationprovider, i.e., thesponsorormar-
keter.^1 Marketersknowthatiftheylearnto fulfillthis role, a lastingrelationshipwiththe
customercanbeestablished.
PrimaryTasks
Ifthemarketeristoconsistentlyandeffectivelycommunicatewith consumers,three pre-
liminarytasks mustbeacknOWledgedandachieved. First, theremust bea mechanismfor
collecting,storing, analyzing,anddisseminatingrelevantinfornlation.This includesinfor-
mationaboutcustomers(past,present, potential), competitors,the environment,trendsin
