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Fundamentals Of Communication In Marketing
- CORPORATE COMMUNICATION: This activity covers internal communication within
the company and its employees. It also covers external communication affecting the company
and the various publics existing within its environment. - LOBBYING: Refers to the effort to deal with legislators and government officials to defeat
unwanted legislation and regulation or to promote wanted legislation and regulation. - COUNSELLING: Is the provision of general advice to the company about what is happening
in the society and what the company might do in the way of changing its ways or improving
its communication.
INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATION (IMC)
The focus of market-driven companies is on developing and sustaining relationships with their customers.
This has led to a new emphasis on relationship marketing which involves creating, maintaining and
enhancing long-term relationships with individual customers and other stakeholders for mutual benefit.
Many companies have recognized the need to integrate their various marketing communication efforts,
such as media advertising, personal selling, direct marketing, sales promotion, public relations and
publicity to achieve more effective marketing communication.
Marketers have started changing their pattern of managing promotional tool, instead of the usual separate
management of promotional functions with different plans, management practices, budgets, different
views of the market, different goals and objectives, they have recognized that the wide range of marketing
and promotional tools must be coordinated to communicate effectively and present a consistent image
to target markets.
THE EVOLUTION OF INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATION
During the 1980s, many companies came to see the need for more of a strategic integration of their
promotional tools. Thus a movement toward the process of integrated marketing communication began,
which involves coordinating the various promotional elements and other marketing activities that
communicate with a firm’s customers.
The process provides for synergy among the various promotional tools toward achieving common
objectives. Researchers into this field found that integrated marketing communication requires firms to
develop a total marketing communications strategy that recognizes how all firm’s marketing activities,
not just promotion communicate with its customers. Consumers’ perceptions of a company and its
various brands are created by a combination of the bundle of messages they receive or contacts they
have made, including media advertisements, price, package design, direct marketing efforts, publicity,
sales promotions, messages on the Internet, point-of-purchase displays and even type of store where a
product is sold or service provided.