Core Concepts of Marketing

198 CHAPTER 8 COMMUNICATINGTOMASSMARKETS

a dealtothetradeora dealtocustomers. Thissubstitutabilitycallsfortreatingthevarious

IMCtoolsina joint-decisionframework.

TheCampaign

Determiningwhatparticulardevicestouse andhowtocombinetheminordertoachieve

IMCobjectivesisoneofthegreatestchallenges facingthecommunicationplanner. Ordi-

naril y,managementjustmakeuseofthecampaignconcept.Acampaignis a planned,coor-

dinatedseriesofmarketingcommunicationeffortsbuiltarounda singlethemeorideaand

designedtoreacha predeterminedgoal.Althoughtheterm"campaign"is probablythought

ofmostofteninconnectionwithadvertising, it seemsappropriatetoapplytheconceptof

acampaigntotheentireIMCprogram.

ManytypesofIMCcampaignsmaybeconductedbyacompany, andseveralmaybe

runconcurrently.Geographically,a firmmayhavea local,regional,ornationalcampaign,

dependingupontheavailablefunds,objectives,andmarketscope.Onecampaignmaybe

aimedatconsumersandanotheratwholesalersandretailers.

Acampaignrevolvesaroundatheme,a centralideaorfocalpoint.Thisthemeper-

meatesallIMCeffortsandtendstounifythecampaign.Athemeis simplytheappealsdevel-

opedinamannerconsidereduniqueandeffective.Assuch,it is relatedtothecampaign' s

objectives andthecustomer' s behavior.Itexpressestheproduct' s benefits. Frequentlythe

themetakestheformofa slogan,suchasCoca-Cola's"Cokeisit !"OrDeBeers'"Adia-

mondis forever."Somecompaniesusethesamethemeforseveralcampaigns;othersdevelop

a differentthemeforeachnewcampaign.

Ina successfullyoperatedcampaign,theeffortsofallgroupsconcernedwillbemeshed

effectively.Theadvertisingprogramwillconsistofa seriesofrelated, well-timed,care-

fullyplacedads.Thepersonalsellingeffortcanbetiedinbyhavingthesalespersonexplain

anddemonstratetheproductbenefitsstressedinads. Also,thesalesforcewillbefully

informedabouttheadvertisingpartofthecampaign-thetheme,mediaused,scheduleof

appearanceofads,appealsused,etc.Thesalesforcewillal so informthemiddlemen, i.e.,

wholesalersandretailers,aboutthiscampaign,andconvincethemtoincorporateit intotheir

totalmarketingeffort.Salespromotionaldeviceswillbecoordinatedwiththeotheraspects

ofthecampaign.Foreachcampaign, newdisplaymaterialsmustbeprepared,reflecting

theadsandappealsusedinthecurrentcampaign, inordertomaximizethecampaign's impact

MARKETING CAPSULEB. 2

1.Marketingcommunication:

a. Isintendedtobe persuasive

b. Has internalandexternalflows

2.The followingstepsareinvolvedindesigninganIMC

strategy:

a. Determineobjectives

b.DetermineIMCopportunities

c. Select audience(s)

d. Selectmessage(s)

e. Determinebudget

f. Allocatefunds

g. Measureresults

h. Organize

3.FactorsthatmostimpacttheIMCmixinclude:

a. Marketing/lMCobjectives

b. Natureoftheproduct

c. Place intheproductlifecycle

d. Availableresources

4.A campaignisa planned,coordinatedseriesofmarketing

communicationeff0l1sbuiltarounda single themeoridea

anddesignedtoreacha predeterminedgoal.