Chapter 15 Summary: Designing and Managing Integrated Marketing Communications

The text defines marketing communications as, “the means by which firms attempt to inform, persuade, and remind consumers-directly or indirectly-about the products and brands they sell. They represent the voice of the company and its brands and help the firm establish a dialogue and build relationships with consumers” (Kolter 228). Marketing communications are very important, in my opinion; because they shape the way a company and their products and services are seen to the public.

My professional background is in marketing communications for a hospital. There, we were marketing our services as a top health care provider to our community and several of the surrounding towns. We did both internal and external communications, website, graphic design for mixed media and advertising, social media, events, public relations, community service, videography, photography and commercials. These are a few of the different types of the marketing communications mix. Everyone communicates differently, therefore messages are both received and interpreted differently. That’s why it is imperative that the marketing departments know their target audience, strategic values, goals, and strategy. After gathering all of that information, you can establish your budget, design the communication and brand and determine what marketing mix would be the most beneficial.

There are four main communication objectives to review during the planning process. The first one is category need, defined as, “establishing a product or service category as necessary to remove or satisfy a perceived discrepancy between a current motivational state and a desired emotional state” (Kolter 233). To put it simply, you need to market to your consumer that they “need” your product or service, not that they just want it but that they actually need it. The second objective is brand awareness. Brand awareness is getting your product name and/or brand in the consumers mind. When I go to the grocery store to buy toothpaste, Proctor and Gamble wants me to recognize the Crest brand toothpaste as a good quality and good value toothpaste. They also want me to recall their brand when looking at all the other packages of toothpaste. Commercials and coupons help me remember Crest toothpaste.

The third type of communication objective is brand attitude. The text defines this as, “helping consumers evaluate the brand’s perceived ability to meet a currently relevant need. Relevant brand needs may be negatively oriented (problem removal, problem avoidance, incomplete satisfaction, normal depletion) or positively oriented (sensory gratification, intellectual stimulation, or social approval).” Lastly, brand purchase intention is the fourth objective. It essentially means to convince consumers to buy your product. You want them to not only know and recall your brand but to actually buy it.

There are two main types of communication channels: personal and nonpersonal or mass communication channels. Personal communication channels are through word-of-mouth or face-to-face communication. Examples would be selling products at parties such as Mary Kay or Scentsy products, also door-to-door salesman. AT&T uses mass communication channels to create brand awareness and market products and services to consumers but when you go to an AT&T store, you meet face-to-face with a sales associate and they tailor the products and services to meet your needs. 

Lastly, when evaluating your marketing strategy, you should also know the characteristics of the marketing communications mix. A marketing professional should understand what the different types of communications will do for their brand and how to incorporate them into a marketing plan. Advertising is one of the most important types of the mix; it can make or break your brand. Advertising can mean commercials, traditional ads in magazines, programs, newspapers, and other print media, online ads, and sponsorships. It can be highly effective and persuasive. The visual aspect also helps people to recognize your brand and logo. In my experience, advertising eats up the majority of the budget and if ads are not chosen or placed properly, it can be a waste of money. We placed a lot of ads in the local newspapers for the hospital because it was in a predominately older community and that was our target audience. We knew that the majority of the newspaper readers were elderly and it also helped us to support our local community. By placing so many ads and being a main supporter of the newspaper, in return, they covered a lot of our news stories and printed almost all of the press releases that I sent to them.

This transitions into the effects of public relations and publicity. Through our relationship with the local media, including radio, it enabled us to tell our story. My favorite stories to write were about experiences that our patients had at our hospital. My very favorite story was about four women that worked at the hospital that were all diagnosed with breast cancer in the same 3 month span. They all beat breast cancer and now two of them work at the cancer center. It was a very emotional story but also inspiring. Click here to read the story. I felt like these stories were more relatable than press releases and being in a smaller community, many people knew the people that I wrote about.

Sales promotions are made available through ad campaigns or coupons. One example would be Payless Shoes. They almost always have a BOGO (buy one, get half off) sale and because of their promotions, I know not to shop there when they don’t have the sale because I could get a better deal if I just wait. However, when they do have the BOGO sale, I’ll probably end up spending more money because I’ll buy two or four pairs of shoes instead of just one at full price. It’s a gimmick, but it gets me and many other consumers in the store. Another type of marketing mix is events and experiences. At the hospital, we had our own event center. Not only did this bring in additional revenue, but it also allowed us to have trainings, educational sessions, health screenings, and holiday events for the community. These events were a lot of work but were great marketing tools.

In conclusion, there are so many options when marketing but the basics are simple. Know your audience, target them with the best marketing tools, deliver a strong brand, and evaluate your efforts. I personally believe marketing can be trial and error but I find the challenge to be a lot of fun and important in the success of any business.

Sources: Kotler, Philip, and Kevin Lane Keller. A Framework for Marketing Management. 5th ed. Boston: Prentice Hall, 2012.