The Stages of IMC

Integrated Marketing Communications and Branding

This post is going to be a little bit more "technical" in that it summarizes the stages an organization goes through to develop a integrated marketing communications process and culture (and ultimately, build a strong brand). Don Schultz at Northwestern University is the primary author behind this. Here at LCC, we are in the first stage of IMC. We'll be moving into stage 2 in the next few months. Your thoughts and comments are always appreciated!

Lucian

There is a process through which brands are built and maintained over time. That process is normally referred to as Integrated Marketing Communications.

Integrated Marketing Communications is a strategic business process used to plan, develop, execute, and evaluate coordinated, measurable, persuasive brand communication programs over time with consumers, customers, prospects, and other targeted, relevant external and internal processes. (Shultz and Shultz, page 20).

An effective brand is the result of a well constructed and well executed integrated marketing communications process. It is virtually impossible to have one without the other.

It has been proposed that organizations committed to integrated marketing communications are at one of four stages of development.

Stage 1: Coordination of Tactical Communications Efforts
Finding 1: Integration requires a high degree of interpersonal and cross-functional communication within the organization, across business units, and with outside suppliers. Integration cannot be driven by formal policies and procedures alone.
Finding 2: Organizations are taking charge of the integration process themselves rather than looking to ad agencies and other suppliers.

Stage 2: Redefinition of the Scope of Marketing Communication.
Finding 3: Organizations gather extensive information about their customers, using primary and secondary market research sources as well as actual customer behavioral data, and use that information in the planning, development, and evaluation of communication activities.

Finding 4: Best practice organizations create a variety of feedback channels to gather information about customers; they then use this customer feedback and share it through the company.

Finding 5: One of the most difficult challenges of integration is aligning internal practices and processes with external communication programs.

Stage 3: Application of Information Technology

Finding 6: Leading best practice organizations maintain a greater number of data sources, and their marketing communication personnel have greater access to the data for planning marketing communication programs than do the sponsor organizations.

Finding 7: Best practice firms are more likely to use finance-based approaches to targeting and segmentation.

Stage 4: Financial and Strategic Integration

Finding 8: The role of the marketing communication department is perceived quite differently at partner companies than at sponsor organizations. Marcom departments at partner companies more often have bottom-line responsibilities and a more prominent role in strategic planning and new product introductions than do the same groups in sponsor firms.

Finding 9: Most organizations use a variety of tools to measure the effectiveness of marketing communication activities; however, relatively few incorporate financial measurement into the evaluation process.

Finding 10: While organizations may claim to be customer focused, relatively few have grappled with the strategic and organizational implications of such a focus.