Designing and Integrating Marketing Communications

中国经济管理大学|中国经济管理大学培训|MBA实战_中国经济管理大学 LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. In this chapter, we will address the following questions:
2. What is the role of marketing communications?
3. How marketing communications work?
4. What are the major steps in developing effective communications?
5. What is the communications mix and how should it be set?
6. What is an integrated marketing communications program?
CHAPTER SUMMARY
1. Modern marketing calls for more than developing a good product, pricing it
attractively, and making it accessible to target customers. Companies must also
communicate with present and potential stakeholders and the general public.
2. The marketing communications mix consists of eight major modes of communication:
advertising; sales promotion; public relations and publicity; events and experiences;
direct marketing; interactive marketing; word-of-mouth marketing; and personal selling.
3. The communications process consists of nine elements: sender, receiver, message,
media, encoding, decoding, response, feedback, and noise. To get their messages through,
marketers must encode their messages in a way that takes into account how the target
audience usually decodes messages. They must also transmit the message through
efficient media that reach the target audience and develop feedback channels to monitor
response to the message.
4. Developing effective communications involves eight steps: (1) Identify the target
audience, (2) determine the communications objectives, (3) design the communications,
(4) select the communications channels, (5) establish the total communications budget,
(6) decide on the communications mix, (7) measure the communications results, and (8)
manage the integrated marketing communications process.
5. In identifying the target audience, the marketer needs to close any gap that exists
between current public perception and the image sought. Communications objectives
may involve category need, brand awareness, brand attitude, or brand purchase intention.
C H A P T E R 17 DESIGNING AND
MANAGING INTEGRATED
MARKETING
COMMUNICATIONS

6. Formulating the communication requires solving three problems: what to say (message
strategy), how to say it (creative strategy), and who should say it (message source).
Communications channels may be personal (advocate, expert, and social channels) or
nonpersonal (media, atmospheres, and events).
7. Although other methods exist, the objective-and-task method of setting the promotion
budget, which calls upon marketers to develop their budgets by defining specific
objectives, is typically most common.
8. In choosing the marketing communications mix, marketers must examine the distinct
advantages and costs of each communication tool and the company’s market rank. They
must also consider the type of product market in which they are selling, how ready
consumers are to make a purchase, and the product’s stage in the product life cycle.
9. Measuring the effectiveness of the marketing communications mix involves asking
members of the target audience whether they recognize or recall the communication, how
many times they saw it, what points they recall, how they felt about the communication,
and their previous and current attitudes toward the product and the company.
10. Managing and coordinating the entire communications process calls for integrated
marketing communications (IMC): marketing communications planning that recognizes
the added value of a comprehensive plan that evaluates the strategic roles of a variety of
communications disciplines and combines these disciplines to provide clarity,
consistency, and maximum impact through the seamless integration of discrete messages.
OPENING THOUGHT
Perhaps, the most challenging aspect of this chapter is the section on the nine elements of
the communications process: sender, receiver, message, media, encoding, decoding,
response, feedback, and noise. Students not previously exposed to these concepts in other
marketing or communications’ courses will find these concepts somewhat difficult to
fully understand and perceive without good use of examples and trial. The instructor is
encouraged to use examples gleaned from advertisers Web sites, advertisers, television or
print commercials to demonstrate via dissection these concepts, especially encoding and
decoding.
The remainder of the chapter covers material previously reviewed such as identifying the
target market, and designing the marketing message. What is different in this chapter is
the integration of all of the communication’s “mix” or elements of communicating to the
target audience in a consistent and effective manner.
Finally, the coordination and integration of all of the elements of the communications
mix and their effect/affect on the total message (evaluation of their effectiveness) remains
a challenge to prove. The fact is that the concept of the combined effectiveness of the
integration of all marketing communications is difficult to prove in the real business
world. Instructors are encouraged to use examples of non-effective communication(s) to

highlight what the “possibilities” could be with an integrated marketing communications
process.
TEACHING STRATEGY AND CLASS ORGANIZATION
PROJECTS
1. At this point in the semester-long marketing plan project, students should have agreed
upon their integrated marketing communications matrix. The instructor is encouraged
to evaluate the submissions vis-à-vis the material presented in this chapter. In
reviewing the submissions, the instructor should evaluate the continuity of the
message across all possible communication media (students will tend to concentrate
their media to television or the Internet and exclude other forms such as personal
selling and radio).
2. With the instructor’s guidance and attendance, set up a field trip to a local advertising
agency in the community to gather from the agency’s management, their (ad agency)
views on the topic of integrated marketing communications. Especially, what services
have their clients’ requested that the ad agency performs to build an integrated
marketing communications program? Today, many progressive ad agencies are
including among their services: print, marketing intelligence, personal selling
training, and strategy development in their portfolios.
3. Sonic PDA Marketing Plan: Every marketing plan must include a section showing
how the company will use marketing communications. The question is not whether to
communicate, but rather what to say, to whom, how to say it, how often, and which
promotional tools to use. You are responsible for planning integrated marketing
communications for Sonic’s new PDA. Review the strategies you previously
documented in the marketing plan for the targeting, positioning, branding, product
management, pricing, and distribution of the Sonic 1000. Now use your knowledge of
communications to answer these questions:
• What audience(s) should Sonic target in its integrated marketing communications
plan?
• What image should Sonic seek to create for its first PDA product?
• What objectives are appropriate for Sonic’s initial communications campaign?
• What message design and communication channels are likely to be most effective
for the target audience?
• Which promotional tools would be most effective in Sonic’s promotional mix?
Why?
• How should Sonic decide the amount to allocate to its marketing communications
budget?
Summarize your answers in a written marketing plan or type them into the Marketing
Mix section of Marketing Plan Pro.

ASSIGNMENTS
The opening vignette of this chapter is about Dove’s advertising campaign featuring
“normal” women. Either individually or in groups, have the students go to the Web site:
www.campaignforrealbeauty.com and read Randall Rothenberg, “Dove Effort Gives
Packaged-Goods Marketers Lessons for the Future,” Advertising Age, March 5, 2007;
Theresa Howard, “Ad Campaign Tells Women to Celebrate Who They Are,” USA Today,
July 8, 2005; Jack Neff, “In Dove Ads, Normal is the New Beautiful,” Advertising Age,
September 27, 2004. After reading and visiting the site, have the students’ share their
impressions on the campaign’s effectiveness with the target market.
This chapter states that the marketing communications mix consists of six major modes
of communication and that every brand contact delivers an impression that can strengthen
or weaken a customer’s view of the company. In small groups, have the students select a
company and see if its messages are consistent across all major modes of media:
advertising, sales promotion, events, and experiences, public relations, direct marketing,
and personal selling.
The starting point in planning marketing communications is an audit of all the potential
interactions that customers in the target market may have with the brand and the
company. Students should select a brand of their choosing and in their papers “map” out
or create an audit of all the potential interactions that customers in the target market have
with the brand and company. Students should, for the purpose of this assignment, assume
that they are a member of the target market.
Have the students read the following sources listed in the Marketing Insight:
“Endorsements as a Strategy,” Irving Rein, Philip Kotler, and Martin Scoller, The Making
and Marketing of Professionals into Celebrities (Chicago: NTC Business Books, 1997);
Greg Johnson, “Woods Cautious Approach to the Green,” Los Angeles Times, July 26,
2000, p. A1; Bruce Horovitz, “Armstrong Rolls to Market Gold,” USA Today, May 4,
2000, p. 1B; Theresa Howard, “Pepsi Takes Some Fizz off Vanilla Rival,” USA Today,
November 16, 2003; Keith Naughton, “The Soft Sell,” Newsweek, February 2, 2004, pp.
46-47; Betsy Cummings, “Star Power,” Sales & Marketing Management, (April 2001):
pp. 52-59. After reading these articles, ask the students to take a position: For or against
using celebrities as endorsers.
Under the heading Integrated Marketing Communication is a story about BMW’s Mini
Cooper automobile and its launch. Have the students read Karen Lundegaard, “BMW
‘Mini’ Campaign: Odd to the Max,” Wall Street Journal, February 28, 2002; John
Gaffney, “Most Innovative Campaign,” Business 2.0, May 2002, pp. 98-99; Warren
Berger, “Dare-Devils,” Business 2.0, April 2004, pp. 111-116; Steve Miller, “Mini
Making Big Claims About Mileage in New Push,” Brandweek, June 4, 2007, p. 7;
Barnaby Feder, “Billboards That Know You By Name,” New York Times, January 29,
2007; http://www.kellyawardsgallery.org/; Burt Helm, “For Your Eyes Only,”
BusinessWeek, July 31, 2006, pp. 66-67 and in small groups, students can collect as many
“copies” of the advertising that BMW used in the initial launch by looking for copies of

the print ads in back issues of magazines. Secondly, find news stories that were run that
mentioned the product and finally, collect other information off the Web site about the
product. Once this information has been collected, compare, contrast, and form an
opinion (based on the material in this chapter) of why this campaign was so successful?
Could such a campaign (grassroots and/or guerilla) have worked so successfully for a
“normal” size automobile? How does the non-traditional “form” of the Mini lend itself to
a non-traditional campaign?
END-OF-CHAPTER SUPPORT
MARKETING DEBATE—Has TV Advertising Lost Power?
Long deemed the most successful advertising medium, television advertising has received
increased criticism as being too expensive and, even worse, no longer as effective as it once
was.
Critics maintain that consumers tune out too many ads by zipping and zapping and that it’s
difficult to make a strong impression. The future, claim some, is with online advertising.
Supporters of TV advertising disagree, contending that the multisensory impact of TV is
unsurpassed and that no other media option offers the same potential impact.
Take a position: TV advertising has faded in importance versus TV advertising is still the most
powerful advertising medium.
Pro: Marketing managers must begin with an identified target market and the strategic
direction of the brand before choosing the advertising program. The selection of TV
advertising as the medium should be as a function of: the mission, money, message, media,
and measurement. In addition, the marketing manager must understand where the product is in
its product life cycle and how the hierarchy of effects affects his products. If these factors are
known then the marketing manager can decide if informative advertising, persuasive
advertising, reminder advertising, or reinforcement advertising is necessary. Television
through its multisensory impact is the best medium for these advertising conditions. In
addition to the product’s life cycle, the product’s market share and consumer base,
competition and clutter, advertising frequency, and product substitutability affects decisions to
use TV.
Properly designed and executed TV programs can improve brand equity by vividly
demonstrating product attributes and persuasively explaining consumer benefits, portraying
user and usage imagery, brand personality, and other brand intangibles. Critics of TV
advertising may be focusing on the “messenger” rather than on the “message.”
Con: Consumers have changed. We are now into the fourth generation of consumers using TV
as a marketing communications medium. The proliferation of new technologies has shifted the
“power” to the viewer rather than the “transmitter.” Current generations receive information
through numerous media channels: the Internet, cell phones, satellite, cable, radio, and others.
The influence that TV once had to stimulate, interest, and build brand loyalty due to its
exclusivity is gone. Today, buyers are more likely to review product performance on the
Internet or to ask opinion leaders than they are to “act” because they saw a clever commercial.
As a result, with the exception of certain product categories or product lines, TV advertising
no longer reaches target consumers. More importantly, TV commercials do not reach opinion

leaders who are increasingly influencing consumer-buying decisions on a greater scale. To
reach this important group, companies must target messages through combinations of other
media and product usage.
MARKETING DISCUSSION
Pick a brand and go to the Web site. Locate as many forms of communications as you can
find. Conduct an informal communications audit. What do you notice? How consistent are the
different communications?
Student answers will differ depending upon their favorite Web sites.
Marketing Excellence: RED BULL
1) What are Red Bull’s greatest strengths and risks as more companies (like Coca-
Cola, Pepsi, and Monster) enter the energy drink category and gain market share?
Suggested Answer: Red Bull’s greatest strength has to be its integrated marketing
communications mix and their ability to reach a select target market with success. A
second strength is their integrated marketing communications mix that eschews
traditional forms of media—mass media and print.
Red Bull’s greatest weakness will be its ability to reach their target market influencers,
decision makers amongst increased advertising spend by the major beverage kings.
(sense)
2) Should Red Bull do more traditional advertising? Why or why not?
Suggested Answer: Student answers will vary but good students will note that as a
product moves through its product life cycle, advertising messages and media must adapt
to meet the changing demographics and demands of its target market.
So, as Red Bull’s target market (young adults) age they’ll be looking for their product in
and through traditional media and traditional marketplaces featuring traditional media.
3) Discuss the effectiveness of Red Bull’s sponsorships, for example Bull Stratos. Is
this a good use of Red Bull’s marketing budget? Where should the company draw
the line?
Suggested Answer: Student answers will vary by opinion and good students will not that it
would only take one fatality or disaster to negate all the good public opinion, and goodwill
built up by Red Bull’s sponsorship’s in the past. Recent newspaper stories have commented
that Red Bull has “pulled” this Stratos stunt for the time being.
Marketing Excellence: TARGET
1) What has Target done well over the years in terms of its integrated marketing
communications strategy? What should it do going forward?
Suggested Answer: Short answer is that Target has done everything well in terms of an
integrated marketing communications strategy—its message is consistent, accessible to
consumers, recognizable to consumers world-wide, strong sales promotions, public

relations and publicity, events and experiences, interactive and word-of-mouth selling,
and direct marketing.
Target has developed an effective communication strategy by following the eight steps
required: identify, determine objectives, design communications, select the channel,
budget, mix, measure results, and manage the process.
2) How does Target compete against mammoth Walmart? What are the distinct
differences in their IMC strategies?
Suggested Answer: The differences between Walmart and Target lie in their target
market distinctions. Target’s target market’s income, education, and lifestyles differ from
Walmart’s target market consumer.
The differences in their IMC strategies are simple: Walmart’s is focused on “everyday
low price” and Target’s is “cheap chic.”
3) Did Target do the right thing by tweaking its message to focus more on value and
less on trends? Why or why not?
Suggested Answer: Student answers will vary, but good students will probably state that
Target had no choice but to respond to the economic climate and focus more on value and less
on trends, because they were losing customers and market share to Walmart and other low
price retailers, like Dollar General, etc.
DETAILED CHAPTER OUTLINE
Modern marketing calls for more than developing a good product, pricing it attractively,
and making it accessible to target customers. Companies must also communicate with
present and potential stakeholders, and with the general public.
For most marketers, therefore, the question is not whether to communicate but rather
what to say, how and when to say it, to whom, and how often.
Consumers can turn to hundreds of cable and satellite TV channels, thousands of
magazines and newspapers, and millions of Internet pages. They are taking a more active
role in deciding what communications they want to receive as well as how they want to
communicate to others about the products and services they use. To effectively reach and
influence target markets, holistic marketers are creatively employing multiple forms of
communications.
Done right, marketing communications can have a huge payoff.
THE ROLE OF MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS
Marketing communications are the means by which firms attempt to inform, persuade,
and remind consumers—directly or indirectly—about the products and brands that they
sell.
A) Marketing communications represent the “voice” of the brand and are a means by
which it can establish a dialogue and build relationships with consumers.

B) By strengthening customer loyalty, marketing communications can contribute
to customer equity.
C) Marketing communications also work for consumers when they show how and
why a product is used, by whom, where, and when.
The Changing Marketing Communication Environment
Technology and other factors have profoundly changed the way consumers process
communications and even whether they choose to process the information.
The rapid diffusion of multipurpose smart phones, broadband and wireless Internet
connections, and ad-skipping digital video recorders (DVRs) have eroded the effectiveness of
the mass media.
Two forces are to blame for the demise of TV:
A) The fragmentation of the U.S. audience
B) The media we now use to reach them
The rapid diffusion of multipurpose smart phones, broadband and wireless Internet
connections, and ad-skipping digital video recorders (DVRs) have eroded the effectiveness of
the mass media.
Marketing communications in almost every medium and form have been on the rise, and
some consumers feel they are increasingly invasive. Marketers must be creative in using
technology but not intrude in consumers’ lives.
Marketing, Communications, Brand Equity, and Sales
In this new communications environment, advertising is a central element but not the most
important one.
Marketing Communications Mix
The marketing communications mix consists of eight major modes of communication:
A) Advertising
B) Promotion
C) Events and experiences
D) Public relations and publicity
E) Direct marketing
F) Interactive Marketing
G) Word-of-Mouth Selling
H) Personal selling
Every brand contact delivers an impression that can strengthen or weaken a customer’s
view of the company.
Marketing communication activities contribute to brand equity and drive sales in many

ways: by creating brand awareness, forging brand image in consumers’ memories,
eliciting positive brand judgments or feelings, and strengthening consumer loyalty.
Marketing Communication Effects
The way brand associations are formed does not matter.
Marketing communication activities must be integrated to deliver a consistent message and
achieve the strategic positioning.
A) The starting point in planning marketing communications is a communication audit
that profiles all interactions customers in the target market may have with the
company and all its products and services.
B) Marketers need to assess which experiences and impressions will have the most
influence at each stage of the buying process.
C) Armed with these insights, they can judge marketing communications according to
their ability to affect experiences and impressions, build customer loyalty and brand
equity, and drive sales.
D) In building brand equity, marketers should be “media neutral” and evaluate all
communication options on effectiveness (how well does it work?) and efficiency (how
much does it cost?).
The Communication Process Models
Marketers should understand the fundamental elements of effective communication. Two
models are useful: a macro model and a micro model.
Macro Model of the Communication Process
A) Two represent the major parties in a communication:
1) Sender
2) Receiver
B) Two represent the major communication tools:
1) Message
2) Media
C) Four represent major communications functions:
1) Encoding
2) Decoding
3) Response
4) Feedback
D) The last element is noise.
E) The model emphasizes the key factors in effective communication:
1) Senders must know what audiences they want to reach and what response they
want to get.

2) They must encode their messages so that the target audience can decode them.
3) They must transmit the message through media that reaches the target audience.
4) They must develop feedback channels to monitor the responses.
F) The more the sender’s field of experience overlaps with that of the receiver, the more
effective the message is likely to be.
Micro Model of Consumer Responses
Micro models of marketing communications concentrate on consumers’ specific response
to communications.
A) All models assume that the buyer passes through a:
1) Cognitive stage
2) Affective stage
3) Behavioral stage (in that order)
B) This “learn-feel-do” sequence is appropriate when the audience has a high
involvement with a product category perceived to have high differentiation.
C) An alternative sequence, “do-feel-learn” is relevant when the audience has high
involvement but perceives little or no differentiation within the product category.
D) A third sequence, “learn-do-feel” is relevant when the audience has low involvement
and perceives little differentiation within the product category.
E) By choosing the right sequence, the marketers can do a better job of planning
communications.
F) Here we will assume that the buyer has high involvement with the product category
and perceives high differentiation:
1) A hierarchy-of-effects model in the context of a marketing communication
campaign:
a. Awareness
b. Knowledge
c. Liking
d. Preference
e. Conviction
f. Purchase
G) To increase the odds for a successful marketing communications campaign, marketers
must attempt to increase the likelihood that each step occurs.
DEVELOPING EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATIONS
There are eight steps in developing effective communications.
The five basic ones are:

1. identifying the target audience,
2. determining the objectives,
3. designing the communications,
4. selecting the channels,
5. and establishing the budget.
Identifying the Target Audience
The process starts with a clear target audience in mind.
1) Potential buyers of the company’s products
2) Current users, deciders, or influencers
3) Individuals, groups, or particular publics
4) General public
A) The target audience is a critical influence on the communicator’s decisions on:
1) What to say
2) How to say it
3) When to say it
4) Where to say it
5) To whom to say it
B) Although we can profile the target audience in terms of any of the market segments
identified in Chapter 8,
1. It’s often useful to do so in terms of usage and loyalty.
2. Is the target new to the category or a current user?
3. Is the target loyal to the brand, loyal to a competitor, or someone who switches
between brands?
4. If a brand user, is he or she a heavy or light user?
5. Communication strategy will differ depending on the answers.
6. Image analysis can be conducted to profile the target audience in terms of
brand knowledge to provide further insight.
Determine the Communication Objectives
Communication objectives can be set at any level of the hierarchy-of-effects model.
A) Rossiter and Percy identify four possible objectives:
1) Category need
2) Brand awareness
3) Brand attitude
4) Brand purchase intention

B) The most effective communications can often achieve multiple objectives.
Design the Communication
Formulating the communication to achieve the desired response will require solving three
problems: what to say (message strategy), how to say it (creative strategy), and who should
say it (message source).
Message Strategy
In determining message strategy, management searches for appeals, themes, or ideas that will
tie into the brand positioning and help to establish points-of-parity or points-of-difference.
A) Some of these may be related directly to product or service performance:
1) Quality
2) Economy
3) Value of the brand
B) Where others may relate to more extrinsic considerations:
1) Contemporary
2) Popular
3) Traditional
C) John Maloney saw buyers as expecting one of four types of reward from a product:
1) Rational
2) Sensory
3) Social
4) Ego satisfaction
Creative Strategy
Communication effectiveness depends on how a message is being expressed as well as the
content of the message itself.
A) An ineffective communication may mean that the wrong message was used or the
right message was expressed poorly.
B) Creative strategies are how marketers translate their messages into specific
communication.
C) Creative strategies can be broadly classified as either “informational” or
transformational appeals.
Informational Appeals
An informational appeal elaborates on product or service attributes or benefits.
A) Examples are:
1) Problem solving ads
2) Product demonstration ads

3) Product comparison ads
4) Testimonials
B) Informational appeals assume very rational processing of the communication on the
part of the consumer—logic and reason “rule.”
C) There are three types of informational appeals:
1) Conclusion drawing
2) One-versus two-sided arguments
3) Order of argument presentations
D) Each of these appeals has their supporters and distracters and depends heavily upon
the target audience for the message.
Transformational Appeals
A transformational appeal elaborates on a non-product-related benefit or image.
A) It might depict:
1) What kind of person uses a brand
2) What kind of experience results from using the brand
B) Transformational appeals often attempt to stir up emotions that will motivate
purchase.
C) Communicators use negative appeals such as:
1) Fear
2) Guilt
3) Shame
D) Messages are most persuasive when they are moderately discrepant with what the
audience believes.
E) Communicators also use positive emotional appeals such as:
1) Humor
2) Love
3) Pride
4) Joy
F) Motivational or “borrowed interest” devices are often employed to attract consumer
attention and raise their involvement with an ad.
G) Borrowed interest techniques are thought to be necessary in the tough new media
environment characterized by low involvement consumer processing and while
competing with ad and programming clutter.
H) These borrowed interest approaches can attract attention and create more liking and
belief in the sponsor, but they may also:

I) Attention getting tactics are often too effective and distract from brand or product
claims.
J) One challenge in arriving at the best creative strategy is figuring out how to “break
through the clutter” to attract the attention of the consumer—but still be able to deliver
the intended message.
K) The magic of advertising is to bring concepts to life in the minds of the consumer
target.
Message Source
Messages delivered by attractive or popular sources can potentially achieve higher attention
and recall.
A) What is important is the spokesperson’s credibility.
B) The three factors underlining credibility are:
1) Expertise
2) Trustworthiness
3) Likability
C) The most highly credible source would be a person who scores high on all three
dimensions—candor, humor, and naturalness.
D) If a person has a positive attitude toward a source and a message, or a negative attitude
toward both, a state of congruity is said to exist.
E) What happens if a consumer holds one attitude towards the source and another toward
the product?
1) Attitude change will take place in the direction of increasing the amount of
congruity between the two evaluations
F) The consumer will end up respecting one somewhat less or somewhat more.
G) The principle of congruity implies that communicators can use their good image to
reduce some negative feelings toward a brand but in the process might lose some
esteem with the audience.
Marketing Insight: Celebrity Endorsements as a Strategy
A well-chosen celebrity can draw attention to a product or a brand. Celebrities can play a
strategic role for their brands; using celebrities poses certain risks.
Select the Communication Channels
Selecting efficient channels to carry the message becomes more difficult as channels of
communication become more fragmented and cluttered.
A) Communication channels may be personal and non-personal
Personal Communication Channels

Personal communication channels involve two or more persons communicating directly faceto-
face, person to audience, over the telephone, or through e-mail.
A) Personal communication channels derive their effectiveness through individualized
presentation and feedback.
B) Advocate channels consist of company salespeople contacting buyers in the target
market.
C) Expert channels consist of independent experts making statements to target buyers.
D) Social channels consist of neighbors, friends, family members, and associates talking
to target buyers.
E) Personal influence carries especially great weight in two situations:
1) With products that are expensive, risky, or purchased infrequently.
2) Where the product suggests something about the user’s status or taste.
Non-Personal (Mass) Communication Channels
Non-personal communication channels are communications directed to more than one person
and includes media, sales promotions, events, and publicity.
A) Media includes print, broadcast, network, electronic, and display media.
B) Sales promotions consist of consumer promotions, trade promotions, and business and
sales-force promotion.
C) Events and experiences include sports, arts, entertainment, and cause events.
D) Public relations include communications directed internally or externally to
consumers, other firms, media, and government.
E) Much of the recent growth of non-personal channels has been with events and
experiences.
1) A company can build its brand image through creating or sponsoring events.
2) Companies are searching for better ways to quantify the benefits of sponsorship
and are demanding greater accountability.
F) Companies can create events designed to surprise the public and create a buzz.
G) The increased use of attention-getting events is a response to the fragmentation of the
media.
1) The lasting effects of events on brand awareness, knowledge, or preference will
depend upon the quality of the product, the event itself, and its execution.
Integration of Communication Channels
Although personal communication is often more effective than mass communication, mass
media might be the major means of stimulating personal communication.
A) Mass communications affect personal attitudes toward behavior through a two-step
process:

1) Ideas flow from mass media to opinion leaders.
2) From opinion leaders to the less media-involved population groups.
B) This two-step flow has several implications:
1) The influence of mass media on public opinion is not as direct, powerful, and
automatic as supposed.
a. It is mediated by opinion leaders.
2) This two-step flow challenges the notion that consumption styles are primarily
influenced by a “trickle down” or “trickle up” effect from mass media.
a. People interact primarily with their own social groups and acquire ideas from
opinion leaders in their group.
3) The two-step process suggests that mass communicators should direct messages
specifically to opinion leaders and let them carry the messages to others.
Establish the Total Marketing Communications Budget
One of the most difficult marketing decisions is determining how much to spend on
promotion. Industries and companies vary considerably in how much they spend on
promotion.
Companies decide on the promotion budget in four common ways:
A) the affordable method
B) percentage-of-sales method
C) competitive-parity method
D) the objective-and-task method
Affordable Method
Some companies set the promotion budget at what they think the company can afford.
This method completely ignores the role of promotion as an investment and the
immediate impact on sales volume. It leads to uncertain annual budget, and makes longrange
planning difficult.
Percentage-of-Sales Method
Some companies set promotion expenditures at a specified percentage of sales (current or
anticipated) or the sales price.
A) Supporters of the percentage-of-sales method see a number of advantages.
1) Promotion expenditures will vary with what the company can “afford.”
2) It encourages management to think of the relationship among promotion cost,
selling price, and profit per unit.
3) It encourages stability when competing firms spend approximately the same
percentage of their sales on promotion.
B) The percentage-of-sales method has little to justify it.
1) It views sales as the determiner of promotion rather than as the result.

2) It leads to a budget set by the availability of funds rather than by market
opportunities.
3) It discourages experimentation with countercyclical promotion or aggressive
spending.
4) Year-to-year sales fluctuations interfere with long-range planning.
5) There is no logical basis for choosing the specific percentage.
6) It does not encourage building the promotion budget by determining what each
product and territory deserves.
Competitive-Parity Method
Some companies set their promotion budget to achieve share-of-voice parity with
competitors.
A) Two arguments are made in support of the competitive-parity method.
1) Competitors’ expenditures represent the collective wisdom of the industry.
2) Maintaining competitive parity prevents promotion wars.
3) Neither argument is valid.
Objective-and-Task Method
The objective-and-task method calls upon marketers to develop promotion budgets by
defining specific objectives, determining the tasks that must be performed to achieve these
objectives, and estimating the costs of performing these tasks. The sum of these costs is the
proposed promotion budget.
A) The objective-and-task method has the advantage of requiring management to spell
out its assumptions about the relationship among dollars spent, exposure levels, trial
rates, and regular usage.
Communication Budget Trade-Offs
A major question is how much weight marketing communications should receive in relation to
alternatives such as product improvement, lower prices, or better service.
1) The answers depends on where the company’s products are in their life cycles
2) Whether they are commodities or highly differentiable products
3) Whether they are routinely needed or have to be “sold”
4) Other considerations
Marketing communications budgets tend to be higher:
1) When there is low channel support
2) Much change in the marketing program over time
3) Many hard-to-reach customers
4) More complex customer decision-making
5) Differentiated products and non-homogeneous customer needs

6) Frequent product purchases in small quantities
In theory, the total communications budget should be established so that the marginal profit
from the last communications dollar equals the marginal profit from the last dollar in the best
non-communications use.
Implementing this principle is not easy.
DECIDING ON THE MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS MIX
Companies must allocate the marketing communications budget over the eight major
modes of communication:
1. Advertising,
2. Sales promotion,
3. Public relations and publicity,
4. Events and experiences,
5. Direct marketing,
6. Interactive marketing,
7. Word-of-mouth marketing,
8. And the sales force.
A) Within the same industry, companies can differ considerably in their media and
channel choices.
B) Companies are always searching for ways to gain efficiency by replacing one
promotional tool with others.
C) The substitutability among promotional tools explains why marketing functions need
to be coordinated.
Characteristics of the Marketing Communications Mix
Each communication tool has its own unique characteristics and costs.
Advertising
Advertising can be used to build up a long-term image for a product or trigger quick sales.
A) Advertising can efficiently reach geographically dispersed buyers.
B) Certain types of advertising require large budgets; others do not.
C) Just the presence of advertising might have an effect on sales.
1) Consumers might believe that the advertised brand must offer a “good value.”
D) Because of the many forms of advertising, it is difficult to make generalizations
however, the following qualities can be noted:
1) Pervasiveness
2) Amplified expressiveness
3) Impersonality
Sales Promotion

Companies use sales-promotion tools to draw a stronger and quicker buyer response,
including short-run effects such as highlighting product offers and boosting sagging sales.
A) Sales-promotion offers three distinct benefits:
1) Ability to be attention-getting
2) Incentive
3) Invitation
Public Relations and Publicity
Marketers tend to underuse public relations, yet a well-thought-out program coordinated with
the other promotion-mix elements can be extremely effective.
A) The appeal of public relations and publicity is based on three distinctive qualities:
1) High credibility
2) Ability to catch buyers off guard
3) Dramatization
Events and Experiences
A) There are many advantages to events and experiences:
1) Relevant
2) Involving
3) Implicit
Direct and Interactive Marketing
The many forms of direct marketing—direct mail, telemarketing, and Internet marketing—
share three distinct characteristics.
A) Direct marketing is:
1) Customized
2) Up-to-date
3) Interactive
Word-Of-Mouth Marketing
Word of mouth also takes many forms online or off-line. Three noteworthy characteristics are:
A) Influential
B) Personal
C) Timely
Personal Selling
Personal selling is the most effective tool at the later stages of the buying process, particularly
in building up buyer preference, conviction, and action.
A) Personal selling has three distinctive qualities:

1) Personal interaction
2) Cultivation
3) Response
Factors in Setting the Marketing Communications Mix
Type of Product Market
Communication allocations vary between consumer and business markets. Consumer
markets tend to spend comparatively more on sales promotion and advertising.
A) Business marketers tend to spend comparatively more on personal selling.
B) In general, personal selling is used more with:
1) Complex
2) Expensive
3) Risky goods
a. In markets with fewer and larger sellers.
C) Advertising combined with personal selling can increase sales in the business markets,
advertising still plays a significant role:
1) Advertising can provide an introduction to the company and its products.
2) If the product has new features, advertising can explain them.
3) Reminder advertising is more economical than sales calls.
4) Advertisements offering brochures and carrying the company’s phone number or
web address are an effective way to generate leads for sales representatives.
5) Sales representatives can use copies of the company’s ads to legitimize their
company and products.
6) Advertising can remind customers how to use the product and reassure them
about their purchase.
7) Advertising combined with personal selling can increase sales over personal
selling alone.
D) Personal selling can also make a strong contribution in consumer goods marketing.
E) An effectively trained company sales force can make four important contributions
1) Increased stock position
2) Build enthusiasm
3) Conduce missionary selling
4) Manage key accounts
Buyer-Readiness Stage
Communication tools vary in cost-effectiveness at different stages of buyer readiness.

A) Advertising and publicity play the most important roles in the awareness-building
stage.
B) Customer comprehension is primarily affected by advertising and personal selling.
C) Customer conviction is influenced mostly by personal selling.
D) Closing the sale is influenced mostly by personal selling and sales promotion.
E) Reordering is also affected mostly by personal selling, sales promotion, and somewhat
by advertising.
Product Life-Cycle Stage
Communication tools also vary in cost-effectiveness at different stages of the product life
cycle.
A) In the introduction stage:
1) Advertising and publicity have the highest cost-effectiveness
2) Followed by personal selling to gain distribution coverage
3) Sales promotion to induce trial
B) In the growth stage:
1) Demand has its own momentum through word-of-mouth
C) In the maturity stage:
1) Sales promotion
2) Advertising
3) Personal selling all grow more important in that order.
D) In the decline stage:
1) Sales promotion continues to grow strong
2) Advertising and publicity are reduced
3) Salespeople give the product only minimal attention
Measuring Communication Results
Senior managers want to know the outcomes and revenues resulting from their
communications investments.
A) Too often, communications directors supply only outputs and expenses.
B) After implementing the communication plan, the communications director must
measure its impact on the target audience.
C) Members of the target audience are asked:
1) Whether they recognize or recall the message.
2) How many times they saw it.
3) What points they recall.

4) How they felt about the message.
5) Previous and current attitudes toward the product and the company.
D) The communications director should also collect:
Behavioral measures of audience response, such as how many people bought the product,
liked it, and talked to others about it.
MANAGING THE INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS
PROCESS
Many companies still rely on only one or two communication tools. This practice persists
in spite of the fragmenting of mass markets into a multitude of minimarkets, each
requiring its own approach; the proliferation of new types of media; and the growing
sophistication of consumers.
The wide range of communication tools, messages, and audiences makes it imperative
that companies move toward integrated marketing communications.
Companies must adopt a “360-degree view” of consumers to fully understand all the
different ways that communications can affect consumer behavior in their daily lives.
The American Association of Advertising Agencies defines integrated marketing
communications (IMC) as “a planning process designed to assure that all brand contacts
received by a customer or prospect for a product, service, or organization are relevant to
that person and consistent over time.”
This planning process evaluates the strategic roles of a variety of communications
disciplines—for example, general advertising, direct response, sales promotion, and
public relations—and skillfully combines these disciplines to provide clarity, consistency,
and maximum impact through the seamless integration of messages.
Media companies and ad agencies are expanding their capabilities to offer multi-platform
deals for marketers. These expanded capabilities make it easier for marketers to assemble
various media properties—as well as related marketing services—in an integrated
communication program.
Coordinating Media
Media coordination can occur across and within media types, but marketers should combine
personal and non-personal communications channels through multiple-vehicle, multiple-stage
campaigns to achieve maximum impact and increase message reach and impact.
A) Promotions can be more effective when combined with advertising.
B) Many companies are coordinating their online and off-line communications activities.
Web addresses in ads (especially print ads) and on packages allow people to more
fully explore a company’s products, find store locations, and get more product or
service information.
Implementing IMC
In recent years, large ad agencies have substantially improved their integrated offerings.

A) To facilitate one-stop shopping, these agencies have acquired promotion agencies,
public relations firms, package-design consultancies, Web site developers, and
direct-mail houses.
B) They are redefining themselves as communications companies that assist clients
to improve their overall communications effectiveness by offering strategic and
practical advice on many forms of communication.
C) Integrated marketing communications can produce stronger message consistency
and help build brand equity and create greater sales impact.
D) It forces management to think about every way the customer comes in contact
with the company, how the company communicates its positioning, the relative
importance of each vehicle, and timing issues.
E) It gives someone the responsibility—where none existed before—to unify the
company’s brand images and messages as they come through thousands of
company activities. IMC should improve the company’s ability to reach the right
customers with the right messages at the right time and in the right place.
Marketing Memo: How integrated is your IMC program?
In assessing the collective impact of an IMC program, the marketer’s overriding goal is to
create the most effective and efficient communications program possible. The following six
criteria can help determine whether communications are truly integrated coverage;
contribution; commonality; complementarity; versatility; and cost.