Integrated Marketing & Communications, Redux
The hiatus is over! For those who have been loyal readers of this blog, Happy New Year! And I thank you for hanging in there with me while I took the time to consider where to head next.
For a long time I focused on marketing, PR and social media, but rarely the integration of them all. The focus of The Harte of Marketing for 2010 (and perhaps beyond) will be integrated marketing & communications. While integrated marketing communications (IMC) is nothing new, the embracing of social media surely puts IMC back in the spotlight as its principles are similar to long-standing IMC principles.
I have often said that social media isn’t shaking the foundations of marketing or public relations; it’s just driving us home to our roots, which seem to be long forgotten. The same is true of the integration of communications (advertising, branding, PR, direct marketing, etc.) or marketing functions (the 4 Ps)…many people have been integrating since the 90s and for them this will be nothing new, but I hope to add a few twists and turns even they weren’t expecting.
The Eight Guiding Principles of IMC
I am a long-time student of Don Schultz (interview with Don), professor emeritus-in-service of integrated marketing communications, Northwestern University, as well as Larry Percy, Clarke Caywood, Robert Lauterborn, Philip Kotler and all the other folks who worked diligently to put customers at the forefront of our marketing and communications. While times have changed since they first wrote and educated on IMC, the need to prove value to management has not. These are the eight guiding principles from Don Schultz’s book “IMC: The Next Generation. Five Steps for Delivering Value and Measuring Returns Using Marketing Communications.(2003)”
- Principle 1: Become a Customer-Centric Organization
- Principle 2: Use Outside-in Planning
- Principle 3: Focus on the Total Customer Experience
- Principle 4: Align Consumer Goals with Corporate Objectives
- Principle 5: Set Customer Behavior Objectives
- Principle 6: Treat Customers as Assets
- Principle 7: Streamline Functional Activities
- Principle 8: Converge Marcom Activites
These principles don’t seem earth-shattering, do they? Then why is it many organizations today still struggle? Helping organizations make these principles a normal course of their business operations (and more!) will be the focus here and I hope you’ll come along for the ride!
Even More Goodness! Related Posts:
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Hi Beth,
I’m glad to see you blogging here again. It is especially good to see you focusing on the one thing that creates sustainable success. Failure to integrate is expensive and inefficient. I’d add “Integrate marketing, operations, and service” as principle 9 so there wouldn’t be a disconnect between the promise and delivery.
Hear, hear! Silos had their purpose. So did the Berlin Wall. Days of hiring journos into pr for contacts are coming to term. I started like that and enjoyed the dubious distinction of house cynic until the exodus of the good and great from big dailies. Role of media relations as healthy autoimmune system for Corp PR is losing value and that’s good: transparency, move to listening, push/pull messaging, and jargon fatigue are slowly becoming vital organs of corporate anatomy. Bigger elephant in the room is that media relations folks are promo’ing a company and ideally aligning with other non-operational liberal arts colleagues. Everyone’s value soars.
Yay!! Beth, I’m so glad to see you back and really glad to see this new focus — these are principles I “intuit” but am still working on building in a business sense. Looking forward to learning from you!
I wish I could participate in #IMCChat but my husband’s new work schedule means I’m with the kids till they fall asleep at 9. If I can jump in late, I will!
.-= Christa M. Miller´s last blog ..Does Google reflect who you are? =-.
Funny, I was reading his column – or should I say rant? – in Marketing News just the other day. He’s right on today’s speakers not talking strategy in the term once used in long-term focused approaches designed to achieve company goals. One reason is turfs and poor department communications. We know the other is often marketing is seen as just promotion/awareness: get the word out, and by the way this is my wish list behavior, etc. Digging the new design a lot. Well done.
.-= Valeria Maltoni´s last blog ..How to Develop a Content Strategy Process =-.
Hi Beth,
Welcome back!
I just moderated an IABC/Washington panel on 2010 trends, and one of the questions I asked was “Is 2010 the year we break down silos?” Obviously this is a broad institutional problem, but it will certainly be helpful if communications pros understand what integration truly means.
Hey Beth, love the design! So glad to have someone who is just as passionate about IMC. I view IMC as a path to an awesome customer experience. If all the pieces are in place, not only does the customer win, but so does the company.
Thanks for all the IMC authors. I haven’t looked at an IMC book in a while.
Beth
As a student of Clarke and Don’s many years back and now a faculty member in the NU IMC department, I too am always amazed at how simple the customer concept seems to be … and always did quite frankly, even when I was a student.
So why is it so difficult to integrate. One reason is that folks still protect their turf. If I admit I need to understand what you’re telling me, then I must not be very smart and hence my job is on the line.
I also think that while many of the agencies – especially the boutiques – are on top of integration – at least conceptually – clients are often not. In house, how many PR people are going to tell the boss they really want to be more closely aligned with the advertising and marketing folks when that admission might well cost more jobs.
Finally, some folks are honestly just not bright enough to see how all the pieces come together, good, bad or otherwise.
Rob Mark
Welcome back. We missed you.
.-= Jason Baer´s last blog ..Attacking the Social Media Lynch Mob =-.
It seems several of us are rediscovering how we want to participate in this space. Welcome back! I am eager to join your conversation about IMC…we are no longer talking about silos, but about how we function together for the betterment of the organizations and communities we serve and engage.
Also, digging the new design.
.-= Lauren Vargas´s last blog ..How can social media monitoring assist your class study? =-.
Welcome back! You were missed for sure. Love the new design and also the focus the blog is taking. Very true that the embracing of SM is a strong tie back to the principles of IMC.
So happy to have you back and be able to learn, share thoughts and ideas with you.
applause!
Welcome back. I’m glad you’re here and hope to have as spirited a discussion here as we did last week on the chat. I completely agree with you on silos. They are a thing of the past and should be gone, gone, gone. They help no one.
However, I don’t know that “marketing” is always the best department to be in charge and think that varies from organization to organization, especially when you’re talking nonprofits and associations. Looking forward to seeing what’s next.
Great to see you giving love to deserved people like Don and Clarke, who have been preaching customer-centricity and marketing department accountability for many years now.
As a current student of theirs, I appreciate you shedding light on their theories (and practices) with forums like #IMCChat and this blog.
You’ve kicked off the first few weeks of 2010 with a bang, Beth, and I can’t wait to see what else this year brings!
Love the new design and the new header is perfect!
I think this new focus suits you because you’ve always been passionate about the need for businesses to integrate their marketing efforts and this shift in focus will make it much easier for you to create content.
Congrats on this and #IMCChat!
Congrats! Welcome back and I look forward to more IMCChat’s.
.-= Jamie Favreau´s last blog ..Social Media to Save the NHL (Last installment a bit late) =-.
Beth,
Welcome to my world… my last post (link in CommentLuve below) talks to exactly these same principles, from a different perspective. Glad to know we are now neighbors in messaging
Let’s do this thing! (take from Ratatouille, I know, Lame)
.-= Esteban Kolsky´s last blog ..The SCRM-E2.0 Convergence: Train Wreck or Chunnel? =-.
Yeah! Beth is back. We missed you and your awesome blog posts. Glad to have you back blogging.
.-= Kipp Bodnar´s last blog ..How to Fail at B2B Social Media =-.
Hurray. Glad to have you back, Beth.
First and foremost… Thank you! Thanks for supporting my time away and for such a great welcome back. I’ve missed blogging and the connections that it’s allowed me to form with so many of you. As well, it’s been tough to be away from learning from you all and your smart insights.
Debra, as I mentioned to you on Twitter…I love the addition of your principle 9 – marketing, operations and service are all part of the overall deal if we are discussing an outside-in mindset.
Kate, so are you of the school that PR should be integrated with marketing or not? I know a lot of PR ‘traditionalists’ don’t agree with that view of integration.
Christa, integrated marketing/communications does seem naturally intuitive, doesn’t it? But so many organizations really struggle with the concept. I hope bringing the discussion front and center helps. Time will tell…
Valeria, I so love Don’s rants, er, columns. Super smart! As an integrated marketer yourself, you know the battles all too well. I often wonder how many clients/customers/amounts of revenues companies need to lose before they get that it’s their own doing…
Daria, from a communications perspective I think integration is simple. One unified message. If communications pros don’t understand that, they should re-think why they want to be in the business of communications. That said, it’s an understandable issue because communications professionals graduate from colleges/universities with perceptions of silos. Journalism/communications/PR students aren’t taught business/marketing/operations/etc. and vice versa. So it becomes a turf war (silos, budgets, perceptions, politics) because that’s all that’s known.
Anna, what can I say, but YEEESSSSSS!
Rob, can I just tell you how envious I am (on both fronts – student & teaching at Medill)? I’ve been a ‘virtual’ student and only had their books, articles and the JIMC to learn from over the years. Politics like the ones you mention will eventually be the ruination of so many organizations…if they let it. Not sure how the alignment of PR, marketing, advertising costs jobs…unless they are truly integrated. That said, it’s rare for marketing folks to truly understand all of the tactical aspects involved (unless they are very passionate marketers!).
Jay, thank you!
(See below…gruntled!)
Lauren, rediscovering is a good way of putting it! Indeed, it’s about functioning together for the benefit of the customer. Pretty simple, right?
Suzanne, indeed vocal customers help push all the IMC buttons, that’s for sure!
Mary, well, I *am* a marketer, what can I say?! I think everything belongs under marketing!
That said, I am also a PR professional (an oxymoron for some!) and I know that PR isn’t about pushing for sales or lead generation etc. That said, I think proper PR (and I am not talking solely media relations) should indirectly lead to sales by developing gruntled (vs. disgruntled) customers, stakeholders (may never buy, but could be an evangelist), etc. A lot to discuss for sure!
Daniel, again…envious! I would have given my left arm to get an MS in IMC from Medill. Alas, St. Joe’s here in Philly had to put up with me and my other passion…international marketing.
Thanks for the support and I hope your fellow IMCers will join in on the weekly chats or here for some great debates/conversations.
Mack, being the blogging expert I am glad to hear that you like the new design (I think it still needs some fixin’ though). I hope you are right about the content creation… I already feel like I am behind in posts! Thanks for your ongoing support too…you are a true friend!
Jamie, thank you!
Esteban, looking forward to rowing in the same boat! Ratatouille isn’t lame, BTW!
Kipp, thank you!
Mark, thank you!
Lucky us! Welcome back. We missed you – seriously.
As an integrated marcomm, I’m personally excited about your new focus and I’m looking forward to some great thoughts and discussion starters from you.
By the way, the new design is nice, too!
Here’s to a great 2010!
.-= David Mullen´s last blog ..Reader Poll: Should This Blog Run PR Job Ads =-.
Quite agree with Rob Mark’s comment on turf-protecting; we do and support what we know best in our frames of reference based on our experiences.
Perhaps part of the challenge too is the complexity of managing so many channels and having the resources to determine the best ones then manage them?
Great to see you back Beth and glad you’re focusing on “integration” – truly it’s key.
.-= Giles (Webconomist)´s last blog ..Social Media Use in Atlantic Canada: 2010 Report =-.
Yay!! Welcome back!
David, thank you…that means a lot to me. And yes! I am looking forward to talking about integration with you.
Giles, absolutely…also, I’ve been giving a lot of thought to ‘sales-oriented’ companies versus ‘market-oriented’ companies, which is also another big factor. As for the complexity of management, if the C-Suite doesn’t embrace the concept of integration, it will be tough to send it downstream to other line managers.
David, thanks buddy!
So happy to discover a blog dedicated to the wonderful world of IMC. Our IMC class at Northwestern (including Daniel above) was referred to your blog by Rob Mark. Be sure to give him due props for recruiting us.
Can’t wait to see what more you have to say on the IMC front!
.-= Megan O’Malley´s last blog ..Vitamin IMC turns one year old! =-.
The question of ROI in Social Media seems to be a hot one lately and I think it needs to be addressed as more and more companies are dedicating human and out of pocket resources to Social Media. I think that the definition of ROI has changed, and needs to evolve. ROI is no longer the traditional Direct Response ROI of account times revenue per customer acquired or retained. ROI or Payback can be calculated, or perhaps demonstrated is a better word, in three ways.
Specific Customer Behaviors – As Social Media evolves, the measurable behaviors will grow but for now there are tweets, re-tweets, Fans, Followers etc. I think that once a benchmark is established versus the competition, or versus your own baseline, a trend can be established and results demonstrated to management. This will help rationalize resource allocation.
Sales/Revenue – It seems that the revenue side is less distinct and harder to measure especially for larger companies. For smaller to small/medium companies, where there may not been much “marketing”, the company can probably attribute an increase in sales to these efforts. Generally, in larger companies, for sales related activities, Social Media is part of an integrated strategy. Therefore, it is harder to attribute specific results solely to Social Media, and the project or effort needs to be paid out on a total basis. The ‘whole is greater than the sum of its parts”
Expense Reduction – The expense reduction side seems somewhat easier to quantify. For example, if the company counts the # of customers it helps or services, this can be quantified based on the cost of answering an incoming e-mail or call. A customer’s retention value may be able to be quantified if the customer had a serious issue, then the lifetime customer value can be used. This seems straight forward and can help rationalize the human expense associated with Social Media.
In short, I believe that Social Media is part of the marketing mix and can be quantified through innovative and focused thinking. This quantification will help Management, as well as Team Members, help to understand its value to growing and retaining business, and thus justify the expense.