Further to Valdy’s post on Queries on IMC (Week 3.1):
“Furthermore, how can we able to distinguish an IMC campaign from just a traditional marketing advertisement? Would the fact that IMC campaigns are placed in social media platforms and are digital allow us to distinguish them?”
Taking IMC in conjunction with COMM346 has given me a better idea of what IMC is about and I would like to share it with the class. Integrated Marketing Communication focuses on how to bring a brand’s positioning and marketing strategy to life for the consumer (it may be helpful to think of it as 360-degree marketing approach, whereas a traditional marketing ad is typically 1-way communication). It starts with the brand strategy and positioning, then identifies the target, develops the creative idea through a process of writing a creative brief and providing constructive feedback to submissions. This creative idea is then translated into specific executions across a mix of media channels appropriate to the brand task, the target audience and the budget, and the results are measured (for the next campaign). This approach delivers a single-minded message across different consumer touch points, using each medium in the most effective manner and the combined effect is greater than the sum of the individual messages.
In that regard vis-a-vis the Singtel vs Starhub class activity that we did, it is interesting to learn how 1 ad can be perceived in so many different ways by different people…Personally, I felt that the Singtel ad is more (e) Marketing = PR – which is what IMC tries to sell. Aside from the details on the available plans and cost towards the end of the ad (that made it sound like PR –> Marketing), the Singtel ad seems to follow a clear creative brief template through identifying the Business Goal –> Specific target –> Target Evolution –> Brand Proposition etc. Whereas the Starhub ad is more bubble (d) i.e. to build a favourable image of the brand (the PR aspect) while hoping to improve brand recall that may help to improve sales (the marketing aspect).
So IMC on social media doesn’t necessarily help us distinguish between IMC and traditional marketing ad since IMC can be used in any channel that is most appropriate for the target audience of that specific campaign… a possibly useful way is to determine if the ad is IMC is to see if it has an “insight” translated into a “big idea” e.g. Macdonald’s “Get up and Go” campaign that was built on the insight (“I’m not a morning person; waking up, especially on a weekday with a full stressful day ahead of me, is misery!”) that was translated into a big idea (“Give mornings a chance!”) and delivered through the Mc morning alarm initiative (the “tactic”).
Any other thoughts from the class? =)
Cheers,
Shyan
Dr. KyuJin Shim's blog 
Leave a Reply