Business Studies

Explain the benefits of an integrated marketing communications (IMC) strategy.

ANSWER

Integrated Marketing Communications

Integrated marketing communications is a simple concept that ensures all communications and messages are carefully linked together. At the most, basic level IMC means integrating all marketing tools so that they can work in harmony. Integrated marketing communication requires a lot of effort, but it has a lot of benefits (Camilleri, 2018). IMC can create a competitive advantage, boost sales and profits, and at the same time save money, time and stress involved in marketing.

IMC leads to improved results compared to the traditional marketing approaches. In traditional marketing, there is a separation between different teams which can lead to different messages being sent out about one product which is chaotic to the consumers (Camilleri, 2018). IMC brings the marketing teams together, forming one big marketing machine. The integration in the teams brings out positive results as there is harmony in the messages being sent out there about the product.

IMC improves the brand image. Integrated marketing communications presents a consistent and uniform style guide that enhances the brand image. It helps in lining up the brand elements seamlessly, which helps maximize the market impact. It also helps carve out the niche. IMC is also cost-effective in that it helps in reducing the costs of purchasing images for different media. In business, it is essential to ensure that the cost is low and therefore using the same content across all the various platforms reduces the expenses of copywriting and photography.

The increased morale is another one of the advantages of IMC. Apart from the external benefits, IMC has its internal benefits (Camilleri, 2018). Employees will have less on their plate with this program, which will increase morale and increase the quality of their work. The teams will also be in better contact.

References

Camilleri, M. A. (2018). Integrated marketing communications. In Travel marketing, tourism economics and the airline product (pp. 85-103). Springer, Cham.