A STUDY ON EFFECTIVENESS OF ONLINE MARKETING ON

INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATION

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for

Master of Business Administration (MBA)
Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University
New Delhi

By

PANKAJ BISHT

Roll No:98318403918

Batch 2018-20
Under the Supervision of
DR. BABITA BHATI
Assistant Professor

ARMY INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT & TECHNOLOGY, PLOT NO M-l, POCKET P-5,

GREATER NOIDA-201306 (UP)
Executive Summary

Integrated Marketing Communication is a marketing concept that ensures all forms of

communication and messages are carefully linked together.

At its most basic level, Integrated Marketing Communication or IMC means integrating all the
promotional tools, so that they work together in harmony. Promotion is one of the Ps in the
marketing mix. Promotion has its own mix of communication tools.

All of these communication tools work better if they work together in harmony rather than in
isolation. Their sum is greater than their parts - providing they speak consistently with one voice
all the time, every time.

Integrated Marketing Communication is the concept that makes all the marketing tools to work
together as a unified force rather than work in isolation. It makes the use of entire marketing
efforts in the form of advertising, public relation, personal selling, sales promotion, internet
marketing , direct marketing in order to generate maximum impact on the target audience at the
minimum cost.
According to William Stanton, “IMC is an element in organization’s marketing mix that is used
to inform, persuade and remind the market regarding the organization and / or its products.”

It blends various promotional tools and communication/marketing/advertising services and

techniques to maximize profit. IMC is ultimately achieved through concise and consistent
messaging that fosters familiarity and consumer affinity.

The advances in technology have led to one of the most dynamic and revolutionary changes in
the history of marketing, the dramatic changes in communication using interactive media such as
Internet. Interactive media allows communication on a two way form instead of one way
communication and a two way communication plays vital role in IMC.
Online marketing is becoming a hot topic in every business sector, and gradually plays a truly
important role in any company’s multi-channel marketing strategy. It uses the Internet to deliver
promotional marketing messages to consumers. It includes email marketing, search engine marketing,
social media marketing, many types of display advertising (including web banner advertising), and
mobile advertising. Like other advertising media, online advertising frequently involves both a
publisher, who integrates advertisements into its online content, and an advertiser, who provides the
advertisements to be displayed on the publisher's content. Other potential participants include
advertising agencies that help generate and place the ad copy, an ad server who technologically delivers
the ad and tracks statistics, and advertising affiliates who do independent promotional work for the
advertiser.

This dissertation aims at identifying the importance of integrated marketing communication followed by
the effectiveness of online marketing as a part of IMC strategy. Therefore the objective of the research is
to understand the massive contribution of Online marketing as a part of Integrated Marketing
Communication and to know its splendid efforts towards promotion in practice and also to find out
some challenges in using online advertising as a tool of Integrated Marketing Communication.

In order to attain these objectives, the methodology uses descriptive research design. Data is collected
from secondary as well as primary sources. Secondary data provides necessary theoretical back up to the
study which is collected from published or unpublished sources. Primary data is collected under Survey
method using questionnaire as the main research instrument. Since “Customer`s inclination towards
Online marketing” is the core focus of the study, a structured & closed ended questionnaire has been
prepared for customers only.

The questionnaire incorporated questions related to customers’ preference for online marketing and
other traditional mediums for getting awareness on various brands and making purchase decision. The
questionnaire is then distributed among the sample selected for this study. Stratified probability
sampling is used with sample size as 200 within Delhi /NCR suburbs and sample frame as educational
institutions & corporate offices.

1
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Introduction to Integrated Marketing Communication

“At the heart of any business strategy is a marketing strategy; Businesses exist to deliver
products that satisfy customers”.

Integrated marketing communication (IMC) is an approach used by organizations to brand

and coordinate their communication efforts. The American Association of Advertising
Agencies defines IMC as "a concept that recognizes the added value of a comprehensive plan
that evaluates the strategic roles of a variety of communication disciplines, and combines
these disciplines to provide clarity, consistency and maximum communication impact." The
primary idea behind an IMC strategy is to create a seamless experience for consumers across
different aspects of the marketing mix. The brand's core image and messaging are reinforced
as each marketing communication channel works together in unity, rather than in isolation.

According to William Stanton, “IMC is an element in organization’s marketing mix that is

used to inform, persuade and remind the market regarding the organization and / or its
products.”

Koekemoer & Bird, (2004) defines Integrated Marketing Communication as the collective
activities, materials and media used by a marketer to inform or remind prospective
customers about a particular product offering and to attempt to persuade them to purchase
or use it.

IMC blends various promotional tools and communication/marketing/advertising services and

techniques to maximize profit. IMC is ultimately achieved through concise and consistent
messaging that fosters familiarity and consumer affinity. Effective IMC messages and images
are meaningful and useful to consumers, messaging and branding consistency - a proven IMC
concept - yield customer satisfaction and loyalty.
2
1.2 History of IMC:

First defined by the American Association of Advertising Agencies in 1989, IMC was
developed mainly to address the need for businesses to offer clients more than just standard
advertising. The 4As originally coined the term the "new advertising”, however this title did
not appropriately incorporate many other aspects included in the term "IMC" - most notably,
those beyond traditional advertising process aside from simply advertising.

Overall, an influx of new marketplace trends in the late 20th century spurred organizations to
shift from the standard advertising approach to the IMC approach:

 Decreasing message impact and credibility: The growing number of commercial

messaging made it increasingly more difficult for a single message to have a
noteworthy effect.

 Decreasing costs of databases: The cost of storing and retrieving names, addresses
and information from databases significantly declined. This decline allowed marketers
to reach consumers more effectively.

 Increasing client expertise: Clients of marketing and public relations firms became
more educated regarding advertising policies, procedures and tactics. Clients began to
realize that television advertising was not the only way to reach consumers.

 Increasing mergers and acquisitions of agencies: Many top public relations firms
and advertising agencies became partners or partnered with other communication
firms. These mergers allowed for more creativity, and the expansion of
communication from only advertising, to other disciplines such as event planning and
promotion.

 Increasing global marketing: There was a rapid influx in advertising competition

from foreign countries. Companies quickly realized that even if they did not conduct
business outside their own country, they were now competing in global marketing.
 Increasing media and audience fragmentation: With the exception of the decline of
newspapers, media outlets, such as magazines and television stations, increased from
1980 to 1990. Additionally, companies could use new technologies and computers to
target specialized audiences based on factors such as ethnic background or place of
residence.

 Increasing number of overall products: Manufacturers flooded retailers with a

plethora of new products, many of which were identical to products that already
existed. Therefore, a unique marketing and branding approach was crucial to attract
customer attention and increase sales.

The Shift from Fragmented to Integrated Marketing Communication

Prior to the emergence of integrated marketing communication during the 1990s, mass
communication – the practice of relaying information to large segments of the population
through television, radio, and other media – dominated marketing strategy. Marketing was
once used as a one-way feed. Advertisers broadcasted their offerings and value proposition
with little regard for the diverse needs, tastes, and values of consumers.
Often, this "one size fits all" approach was costly and ineffective due to its general inability to
measure results in terms of sales. As methods for collecting and analyzing consumer data
through single-source technology such as store scanners improved, marketers were able to
correlate promotional activities with consumer purchasing patterns. Companies also began
downsizing their operations and expanding marketing tasks within their organizations.
Advertising agencies were also expected to understand and provide all marketing functions –
not just advertising – for their clients.

 Today, corporate marketing budgets are allocated towards trade promotions, consumer
promotions, branding, public relations, and advertising. The allocation of
communication budgets away from mass media and traditional advertising has raised
IMC's importance for effective marketing.
Now, marketing is viewed more as a two-way conversation between marketers and
consumers. This transition in the advertising and media industries can be summarized by
the following market trends:
 A shift from mass media advertising to multiple forms of communication.

 The growing popularity of more specialized (niche) media, which considers individualized
patterns of consumption and increased segmentation of consumer tastes and preferences.

 The move from a manufacturer-dominated market to a retailer-dominated, consumer-

controlled market.

 The growing use of data-based marketing versus general-focus advertising and marketing.

 Greater business accountability, particularly in advertising.

 Performance-based compensation within organizations, which helps increase sales and

benefits in companies.

 Unlimited Internet access and greater availability of online goods and services.

 A larger focus on developing marketing communication activities that produce value for
target audiences, while raising benefits and reducing costs.

Integrated Marketing Communication and its comparison with Simple Marketing

Communication
As per Don Schultz (2008), IMC is a strategic business process used to plan, develop, execute
and evaluate coordinated, measurable, persuasive brand communication programmes over
time with consumers, customers, prospects, and other targeted, relevant external and internal
audiences.
The key difference in this definition of IMC from that of simple Marketing Communication is
highlighted by use of three words: i) strategic, ii) evaluate and iii) measurable. In essence,
IMC enforces use of marketing communication mix in such a way that it is strategically
designed to achieve certain objectives, measured to enforce accountability over marketers and
are evaluated over time. These elements are also stressed on by various IMC authors (Schultz,
1996; Duncan & Caywood, 1996), who believe that although the concept of IMC is not new,
but the fact that previously marketing communication was not coordinated strategically and
strategy is now believed critical, gives this concept a new look.

In another definition of IMC given by a well-known author on IMC literature, Kliatchko

(2005) reflects the same concept. As per the author, IMC is the concept and process of
strategically managing audience-focused, channel-centered and results- driven brand
communication programmes over time. This definition is a bit more specific and along with
strategy and accountability it emphasizes specifically on communication being channel-
centered and audience-focused. Managing and coordinating the integration of company`s
communication across different media and channels is an important aspect of IMC. IMC does
involve a process/plan aimed at providing consistency and impact through integration of
communication via different mediums (Larich & Lynagh, 2009).

1.3 IMC – The Changing trend

Media has undergone an extensive phase of development in the last ten years. Marketers were
previously focusing on promoting their product/service through traditional mediums like TV,
Radio, Newspapers, however, now the future of marketers appears to be digital as technology
has become an important part of daily lives (Pall & McGrath, 2009).

Concepts like convergence have come in to bring more versatility in the communication
mediums being used. Convergence represents a paradigm shift – a move from medium
specific content towards content that flows across multiple media channels, towards the
increased interdependence of communication systems, towards multiple ways of accessing
media content, and towards ever more complex relations between top-down corporate media
and bottom-up participatory culture.‘ (Jenkins, 2006)

The concept certainly suggests about making the communication mix ― interdependent
bringing in more integration and moving towards having multiple ways of accessing media
i.e. bringing in more versatility in the marketing mix by using a mix of traditional and new
media. Moreover, it refers to the behavior of media audience as being migratory, i.e. shifting
to the media that can provide them their desired experience. In such an environment,
customers are actively involved in seeking new information and make connections among
dispersed media content.
Benefits of IMC

IMC helps to create Top of Mind (TOM) awareness with the aid of various marketing tools.

 IMC not only creates awareness, but, evokes the purchase action. IMC persuades
the customers to buy the product or service through creative messages, free gifts,
trial offers etc.
 IMC helps to develop brand loyalty that results in repeat purchase and favourable
recommendations to others by existing customers.
 By using various techniques of promotion, IMC may help expanding the market
from local to regional, regional to national, national to international
Limitations of IMC

 Lack of coordination within various departments within the large agencies over areas such as
sales promotion, advertising, public relation. This may also lead to internal conflict.

 It limits client’s ability to take advantage of specialists in various IMC areas.

 Synergy and economies of scale are not achieved by a single agency handling all
communication areas.

1.4 Introduction to Online Marketing

Online Marketing is the art and science of selling products and/or services over digital
networks, such as the Internet and cellular phone networks.
The art of online marketing involves finding the right online marketing mix of strategies that
appeals to your target market and will actually translate into sales.
The science of online marketing is the research and analysis that goes into both choosing the
online marketing strategies to use and measuring the success of those online marketing
strategies.

Online marketing uses internet to deliver promotional marketing messages to consumers. It

includes email marketing, search engine marketing, social media marketing, many types of
display advertising (including web banner advertising), and mobile advertising. Like other
advertising media, online advertising frequently involves both a publisher, who integrates
advertisements into its online content, and an advertiser, who provides the advertisements to
be displayed on the publisher's content. Other potential participants include advertising
agencies that help generate and place the ad copy, an ad server who technologically delivers
the ad and tracks statistics, and advertising affiliates who do independent promotional work
for the advertiser.

Importance of Online marketing

Growth of internet users must be credited for the growth of online marketing. With the advent
of internet technology number of internet user is increasing at the greater extent across the
world. India stands at forth place with 81 million internet users in 2010.
([Link])

Fig 1.1 Top 20 countries with highest number of internet users

Online marketing is becoming increasingly important to small businesses of all types. In

the past, marketing online was something that local bricks-and-mortar businesses could
justifiably ignore. It didn't make sense to waste time and money on online marketing
when all your business was local.
Now with increasing local search and people's new habit of searching on the Internet
first, it matters.

Online marketing refers to a set of powerful tools and methodologies used for promoting
products and services through internet. Online marketing includes a wider range of
marketing elements than traditional business marketing due to the extra channels and
marketing mechanisms available on the internet.

Following are few specific contributed to the growth of online marketing -

 Online marketing can deliver several benefits such as:

 Growth in potential

 Reduced expenses

 Elegant communication

 Better control

 Improved customer service

 Competitive advantage

Advantages of Online Marketing

One of the most important advantages is the fast availability of the information. The
clients/users can easily get information, by navigating the internet, about the products
that they wish to purchase, and besides that, they can check the information at anytime
of the day.
1. It allows the companies to save money, an aspect that is really taken into account by the
companies since the online marketing campaigns don’t require a large amount of
investment.
2. The previous mentioned aspect, gives less importance to the differences between large
and small companies in some way, thus increasing the competition and giving that way
advantages to the customers.
3. Presence on the Internet can help the expansion of the company from a local market to
national and international markets at the same time, offering almost infinite expanding
possibilities.
4. On the internet everything can be measured, thus it’s easier for the companies to know
almost instantly if their campaign is working or not, what company or user is interested
in their products, from what cities or countries are they, etc.
Disadvantages of Online Marketing:

1. Slow internet connections can cause difficulties. If the companies build too complex or
too large websites, it will take too long for users to check them or download them and
they will get bored eventually.

2. The e-commerce doesn’t allow the user “to touch” the merchandise before purchasing
it. Because of this, some salesmen are starting to guarantee the possibility of returning
the product. In Germany, where a law that regulates e-commerce and guarantees the
customers the total refund of the money exists since 2000, the electronic commerce is
very popular.

3. Other factor is the payment: many users still don’t trust in the electronic methods of
paying and give up buying online because of this.

4. One of the major disadvantages may be the lack of trust of the users because of the
constant virtual promotions that appear to be frauds. This is an aspect that deteriorates
the image and reputation of quality and honest companies.

5. Other disadvantage is the cash on delivery system, since it doesn’t guarantee the 100%
purchase of the product. This is also the case of thousands of users that dedicate
themselves to daily mock big companies by ordering on the internet using false
identities.
CHAPTER 2

OBJECTIVES

 To understand the importance of Integrated Marketing Communication.

 To understand the importance of Online advertising in changing market scenario.

 To understand the reasons for growing popularity of online marketing.

 To identify the limitations of online marketing as IMC tool.

CHAPTER 3
LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter aims at exploring detailed information on major domains of the dissertation topic by
reviewing past research, books and related articles. Modern studies and past theories concerning
these domains are presented. These theories will be the foundation for the dissertation.

Since the major domains of research topic are – Integrated Marketing Communication & Online
Marketing. The review of literature will revolve around these.

Literature on Integrated Marketing Communication

Philip Kotler & Kevin Lane Keller, Marketing Management, New Delhi, Pearson Education, 2006,
pg. no. 52 Integrated marketing communication can produce stronger message consistency and
greater sales impact. 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. It gives some responsibility to unify the company’s brand image and
messages as they come through thousands of company activities. IMC should improve the
company’s ability to reach right customers, with the right message, at right time in the right place.
Thus personal and non-personal communication channels should be combined to achieve maximum
impact.

Warren J. Keeyan, Global Marketing Management, USA, Prentice-Hall of India Pvt. Ltd., 2002, pg.
no. 3

A revolutionary development in the shift to the strategic concept of marketing is in the marketing
objective – from profit to consumer benefits. There is a growing recognition that profits are a
reward for performance (defined as satisfying customers in socially responsible or acceptable
ways). To compete in today’s market, it is necessary to have an employee team committed to
continuing innovation and to producing quality products. In other words, marketing must focus on
the customers and deliver value by creating consumer benefits. This change is revolutionary idea
that is accepted today by a vanguard minority marketing practitioners. The idea of integrated
marketing communication (IMC) is to create consistency and synergy by combining marketing
communication elements so that they support and enhance each other, to promote potential
communication understandings (Duncan and Everett, 1993).
Integrating Online & offline marketing together, Fitzpatrick Michele, Direct marketing, Oct 2003,
pg no. 50. The concept of integrating online & offline marketing to build success is one who time
has come. While many companies still view their online & offline efforts as separate entities, savvy
marketers are slowly realizing that success comes through integration through all channels to
provide consumers with what they demand- accessibility, choice & convenience.

Viral marketing is an IMC technique that is mostly used for trendy brands; Marketers are increasing
acknowledging Viral marketing as an important IMC tool because it offers the traditions benefits
and effectiveness of advertising. In viral marketing the organization promotes its product using
Word of Mouth Marketing (WOMM), utilizing individual's communication networks, and relying
on their individual recommendations to sell the product. Companies actively seek viral marketing,
by fueling discussion on their offerings. (Groucutt, J. et al 2004).

As per Don Schultz (2008), ―IMC is a strategic business process used to plan, develop, execute
and evaluate coordinated, measurable, persuasive brand communication programmes over time with
consumers, customers, prospects, and other targeted, relevant external and internal audiences. The
key difference in this definition of IMC from that of simple Marketing Communication is
highlighted by use of three words: i) strategic, ii) evaluate and iii) measurable. In essence, IMC
enforces use of marketing communication mix in such a way that it is strategically designed to
achieve certain objectives, measured to enforce accountability over marketers and are evaluated
over time. These elements are also stressed on by various IMC authors (Schultz, 1996; Duncan &
Caywood, 1996), who believe that although the concept of IMC is not new, but the fact that
previously marketing communication was not coordinated strategically and strategy is now believed
critical, gives this concept a new look.

In another definition of IMC given by a well-known author on IMC literature, Kliatchko (2005)
reflects the same concept. As per the author, IMC is the concept and process of strategically
managing audience-focused, channel-centered and results-driven brand communication
programmes over time.
Kitchen and Schultz (1997) believe that integrated marketing communication has significant value
for the organization, specifically in lowering costs and having greater control over the marketing
communication program. This is supported by Duncan and Everett (1993) who extend the benefits
to include gaining competitive advantage through IMC.

Radio, Newspapers, however, now the future of marketers appears to be digital as technology has
become an important part of daily lives (Pall & McGrath, 2009).
Concepts like convergence have come in to bring more versatility in the communication mediums
being used. Convergence represents a paradigm shift – a move from medium specific content
towards content that flows across multiple media channels, towards the increased interdependence
of communication systems, towards multiple ways of accessing media content, and towards ever
more complex relations between top-down corporate media and bottom-up participatory culture.
(Jenkins, 2006)

According to Kotler & Armstrong (2003), there are five traditional IMC elements quoted as
Advertising, Sales Promotion, Direct marketing, Personal selling and Publicity/Public relations.
According to Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA), Advertising refers to "the means of
providing the most persuasive possible selling message to the right prospects at the lowest possible
cost". Kotler and Armstrong (2003), provide an alternative definition: "Advertising is any paid form
of non-personal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods and services through mass media such
as newspapers, magazines, television or radio by an identified sponsor".

According Perkin (2003) “as media-blitzed, ad-cynical, time-poor, channel- flicking audience living
in a fast-paced, attention-challenged world” The fact is that due to fast pace of technology, and
globalization of the world, consumer behavior around the world is changing. Today customers have
more control over what to see, and read and therefore IMC need to tailor the organization campaign
as per the requirements of the market.

IMC tries to maximize the positive message and minimize the negative once and communicate
them using the proper tools. A successful IMC program uses the combination of the right tools,
define
their role and coordinate their use. The company should use the contact method that offers the best
way of delivering the message to the target audience. (Duncan, 2002)

AIDA model developed by Elmo Levis is the set of stair –step stages, describes the stages through
which every potential customer passes till the act of purchase.
This basic model guides the copywriters in writing persuasive copy. AIDA is an acronym of
Attention – grab the attention of target audience and attract them towards ad message.

It leads to generate -
Interest – in the central theme of the ad that presents a forceful selling point,

which arouses –
Desire – to give positive response and act in a favourable manner that ultimately

leads to –
Action – of purchasing product or making an inquiry for the product.

Tools of IMC

As stated earlier, more and more resources are allocated away from the traditional mass media
advertising and used on other communication tools. This allocation of communication budgets is
deeply connected to the appearance of, and is the major part of IMC. (Holm, 2006)

The classic tools –

It is very seldom that companies use one tool of marketing communication. Companies have used a
mix of tools for a long time but that does not mean that they are practicing IMC. The difference
when using IMC is the strategy behind the use and how the mix is coordinated. Duccan (2002) lists
the different tools or functions as advertising, public relations, sales promotion, the personal
connection (direct response & personal sales) and experimental contacts (events & sponsorships).
Advertising

Mass media advertising, or the awareness builder, consists of “non-personal, one way, planned
messages paid for by an identified sponsor and disseminated to a broad audience in order to
influence their attitudes and behavior.” (Duncan, 2002, p. 506). Advertising is the most common of
all the IMC tools and this is equal to marketing for many people. It is a very broad tool and primary
objective is to create awareness.
Personal selling

Personal selling is defined as “Two way communication in which a seller interprets brand features
in terms of buyer benefits.” (Duncan, 2002, p. 617). Also called the face-to face function, it
involves one-to-one marketing using face to face communication. Before, personal selling was
focused primarily on sales, but now has to focus on salving problems and adding value.

Public relations

Also called as credibility builder, public relations seek to affect the public opinion as well as
company stakeholder. It can be a concept, a profession, and a management as well as a practice.
Public relation can create a goodwill and a positive understanding between an organization and its
stakeholders. Marketing PR is defines as non-paid media to deliver positive brand information
designed to positively influence costumers & prospects.” (Duncan, 2002, p. 543)

Sales promotion

Sales promotion [SP] and the value added communication, is a communication tool that encourages
people to action by adding value. It is “a short term, added- value offer designed to encourage and
accelerate a response” (Duncan, 2002, p. 569). SP can be coupons, price reductions, rebates to name
a few and is used to persuade the customers to buy or motivate in other stages of the decision
process. Important to know is that it works in the short term.

Events & sponsorship

Event marketing & sponsorship are not the same but they overlap and have many things in
common. They are designed to create involvement and are effective to bond customers to a brand or
company. Event marketing a used to involve, increase awareness, reach audience and gain
publicity. Sponsorships have increased over the year and both differentiate and add value. The
definition is the “the financial support of an organization, person or an activity in exchange of brand
publicity and association.” (Duncan, 2002, p. 640)

Internet (the contemporary tool of marketing)

The advances in technology has led to one of the most dynamic and revolutionary changes in the
history of marketing, the dramatic changes in communication using interactive media such as
Internet. Interactive media allows communication on a two way form instead of one way
communication. And a two way communication plays vital role in IMC. (Belch, Belch, 2001)

Mohammed Bin Afif (2012) believes that the power of ideas; integration across all media: The P's
of the marketing mix are argued by some to be the four C's, with communication replacing
promotion. This article champions communication as an effective tool in marketing. Within the
marketing sphere there are many mediums by which advertising messages can be conveyed to
consumers. The marketing manager must utilize all of the mediums in their thinking in order to
determine the right mix of mediums to use and in the right frequency in each to best convey their
message to the selected target market.

This article argues that mediums must work together for a unified message to be conveyed to
consumers with a feedback mechanism in place for consumers and the organization to be involved
in two-way communication. Also stated is the importance of word-of-mouth communication, which
is often overlooked by marketing managers. This ties in closely with integrated marketing
communication as the mediums must come under one umbrella, or message to be communicated,
that covers all the mediums used to ensure a single clear message is communicated to consumers.

The marketing manager must therefore be creative in their planning to not only differentiate their
marketing from the clutter that exists in the advertising world but also to create the most effective
and cost efficient marketing mix as possible.
Literature on Online Marketing

Online marketing users in One to one marketing, Fosket, Sally, Direct marketing; Nov 1996, pg no
38

Online services will drive marketing to the opposite end of the spectrum from “mass” marketing to
customized “one-to-one” marketing. Online marketers communicate instantly and directly with the
prospective customers and can provide instant fulfillment as well. Marketers with carefully
designed World Wide Web sites are already interacting computer to computer, with prospective
customers or an individual basis, much as ATM does in very primitive fashion. Online one to one
approaches while innovative and still glamorous in their pioneering aspects, offer significant new
challenges. The significant aspect is the access with the customers. Communication and information
technology development has encouraged the emergence of new communication channels that have
increased the options available to organizations for building relationships with clients.

How important is Internet marketing to the success of an organization?

There are no exact answers for this question. It depends on the nature of one company business line.
There are many companies currently using the Internet as their main business transaction such as
DELL, AirAsia, etc… However, companies such as UPM, the world’s leading forest products
producer only uses the Internet as a media to introduce the company and its products to customers
via its website. Besides that, during the whole purchasing decision making process, customers not
only use the Internet in isolation to search for products but other media such as print, TV, direct
mail and outdoor as well. These media still play an extremely important role for the marketers
to communicate with customers, for example, direct or face – to – face marketing more or less helps
marketers build up the trust in customers and encourage them to purchase the products. Therefore, it
is better to use the Internet as part of a multi-channel marketing strategy which “defines how
different marketing channels should integrate and support each other in terms of their proposition
development and communication based on their relative merits for the customer and the company.”
(Chaffey et al. 2006, 5)

Mohan Nair (2011) takes social media as a complex marriage of sociology and technology that
cannot be underestimated in its impact to an organization marketing communication, choice as to
when to engage, how to manage and measure, and whether to lead or to follow is complex but not
an impossible task. These cannot be answered simply by one formula because the context and the
market dynamics are strong variables in these decisions. Even though the interest for social media is
huge, few companies understand what the term ―social media can mean to their businesses. But
how much it has been given importance, as an IMC tool, varies from region to region
(PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), 2009; BuddeComm & Chiltern Magazine Services Ltd.
(BCMSL), 2009).

According to research conducted by Nielsen, we know that 92% of consumers report that “word-of-
mouth and recommendations from people [they] know” are the leading influence on their purchase
behavior. Only 37% trust search engine ads, and just 24% trust online banner ads. They trust their
friends and family the most when looking for brand recommendations. But what types of
recommendations carry the most weight? Brands are eager to tap into the power of
recommendations, and many companies measure an “NPS,” or Net Promoter Score, which
illustrates how likely someone is to recommend a specific brand or company. According to a U.K.
study by Fred Reichheld, “a 7% increase in word of-mouth advocacy unlocks 1% additional
company growth.” His research also shows that “a 12% increase in brand advocacy, on average,
generates a 2x increase in revenue growth rate plus boosts market share” and, conversely, “a 2%
reduction in negative word-of-mouth boosts sales growth by 1%.”

It is important to understand the relationship between digital communication and traditional

communication in the old media; for example, TV, radio, newspapers, magazines and billboard ads,
the communication model was and is one-to-many compared to one-to-one or many-to-many
communication model in digital media like blogs, social networks, wikis and other social media
(Chaffey, 2003).

The increased fragmentation of media and customers, as well as the revolution in mass
communication by the new communication channels – internet and mobile communication
technologies – has created the need for a new approach to marketing communication that can ensure
centralized management and a consistency of communication messages sent towards various
audiences (McArthur and Griffin, 1997; Semenik, 2002; Smith, 2002).

Foux (2006) suggests Social media is perceived by customers as a more trustworthy source of
information regarding products and services than communication generated by organizations
transmitted via the traditional elements of the promotion mix.
Johnson and Greco (2003) explain that desires and different hopes from different clients can
sometime require certain unique information and contact strategies. Communication channels and
strategies now differ broadly from the ones in former times or offline times.

Online marketing is today seen by many practitioners as the new arena for market communication
and on top of the list of users of the different mediums is Facebook, Blogs, Twitter, YouTube and
LinkedIn (Steltzner, 2009).

Kaplan and Haenlein (2010) define social media as ―a group of Internet-based applications that
build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, which facilitates the creation
and exchange of user-generated content. It consists of different Internet applications such as blogs,
social networking sites, content communities, collaborative projects, virtual game worlds and social
worlds. Russell S. Winer (2009) affirms that many companies today are using some or all of the
new media to develop targeted campaigns that reach specific segments and engage their customers
to a much greater extent than traditional media.

Mangold & Faulds (2009) argue that marketing managers should comprise social media in the
communication mix when developing and executing their Integrated Marketing Communication
strategies and they presented the social media as a new hybrid element of promotion mix.

Even as organizations realize the need to engage customers at as many touch points as possible,
there is still a need to stay ahead of the rapidly shifting marketing and communication landscape by
integrating social media into traditional strategies to reach out to B2B and B2C audiences. Online
opportunities and their future impact on traditional marketing are as expensive as your imagination
can provide. (Pownall, 2011).

The role of exigencies in marketing: a rhetorical analysis of Three online social networks, thesis
presented to the graduate school of Clemson university, By Greg Brian Martin, May 2007, pg no.
99.

Traditional marketing efforts have focused on determining exactly what channel to advertise
through, in order to properly segment the potential audience.
Marketers can spend more effort focusing on the messages that they will use, and less time on
proper audience segmentation. Another benefit to marketing in a virtual community is that once the
audience enters the network, they may be able to ignore advertising messages, but they cannot
avoid them (immersion). Consider the Adobe Communities, for instance, which uses no outside
advertisements or popup ads (that the typical user can avoid easily), but rather advertise through
immersion in that the entire network is the respective marketing effort.

The structure of online marketing communication channels, Robert Owen

Texas A&M University-Texarkana; Patricia Humphrey, Texas A&M University- Texarkana; Journal
of Management and Marketing Research, pg no. 4

Online marketing communication are moving toward interactions between individual recipients and
consumers rather than being directed from a marketing organization to masses of consumers. It is
now possible for an individual to be just as efficient in broadcasting information, both positive and
negative, about an organization as it is for a large corporation to promote itself. The social
networking that allows the quick and easy dissemination of information and mis-information is in
part a product of changes in online communication channels, but these communication channels are
in part enabled by such social networking.

From a marketing perspective, we are at a pioneering stage in understanding how these work. The
emergence and popularity of social networking websites and social media has made it just as easy
for an individual to communicate in real time with thousands of total strangers as with a single close
friend. Social networking websites have also been a great equalizer, making it just as easy for an
individual to build or break a marketing brand as for a large corporation – as well as making it easy
for a large corporation to mimic a sincere "grassroots" individual who lacks corporate motives. A
social networking website is defined here as "one that allows internet users the ability to add user-
generated content such as: comments, feedback, ratings, or their own dedicated pages" (iProspect,
2007, p. 3). Websites such as [Link], for example, allow product users to post ratings,
comments, opinions, and full reviews about products.
The distribution of products, information and promotional benefits to target customers through
interactive communication in a way that allows response to be measured. It accounts for direct
connections with carefully targeted individual customers to obtain an immediate response and
cultivate lasting customer relationship. (Jobber, 2007)

Forbes Magazine reports retail is down and e-commerce is up. One clear example of the power of e-
commerce comes from Macy’s recent returns. Forbes reports the 154-year-old retail chain saw
online sales rise 40% in 2011 while same-stores sales grew just 5.3%. Maybe you’re not a billion-
dollar business like Macy’s, but the numbers don’t lie. Online sales are overtaking retail sales. Safe
to say e-commerce is trending upward more and more each year. It’s not too late to jump onboard
the e-commerce train.

According to Forrester research, considering the current volume of internet marketing business, it’s
hard to believe how young the internet marketplace is. While the timeline of internet marketing has
been short, the cumulative events leading up to where we are now have impacted the entire globe
faster than any marketing revolution in history. In 1994, spending for internet marketing totaled
nearly nothing, but increased to over $300 million in 1995. Now, little more than a decade later,
marketing spending and internet marketing business has exploded to nearly $200 billion.

Quiroga & Kamila (2010) in their research- Marketing and Facebook, describe how fashion
companies promote themselves on social media platforms such as Facebook. This study took 34
Swedish companies into consideration. Nida, Sadaf, Sanya & Umair (2010) in their research-
Evolution of Digital Media as an IMC tool and its relevance for Pakistan aim to analyze the trends
of digital media within IMC over the years in Pakistan, the factors that have contributed to the
change and explore the importance of digital media in the marketing mix in future. Chen et al.
(2007, pp.1047) notes that ―from both theoretical and practical perspectives, it is worth studying
what makes marketing communication introduce and promote products effectively, especially in
high-tech industries.
The internet and the marketing mix

Nowadays, the concept of Internet marketing has expanded and brought more opportunities
for companies to approach their customers. In the past, the Internet was only used as a tool to
contact customers, part of direct marketing. Nowadays, the Internet, particularly websites has
been becoming a popular media for any firms to introduce their products and services. The
Internet is considered as an independent and effective marketing tool. During eight years,
from 2000 to 2008, the number of Internet users has increased by 4 times from about 361
millions to more than 1, 46 billion ([Link] ), in which,
Asia, the continent with the biggest population accounts for 39.5% of World Internet Users.

In Finland, nearly four out of five Finns aged 15 to 74, or over three million persons, used the
Internet in Spring 2007 ([Link]). To understand precisely how the Internet offers new
opportunities to traditional marketing model, it is necessary to examine it based on the
marketing mix which is traditional but still applicable.

In 1960, Jerome McCarthy introduced the marketing mix - widely referred as the 4 Ps of
Product, Price, Place and Promotion. Until now, it still plays an important role in formulating
and implementing marketing strategy. The 4 Ps have been developed and extended to the 7 Ps
with the appearance of People, Process and Physical evidence (Booms and Bitner, 1981). It
provides an effective strategic framework for changing different elements of a company's
product offering to influence the demand for products within target market (Chaffey et al.
2006, 215).

However, the researchers only focus on the first main and traditional 4 Ps in this paper due to
some limitations.
According to Philip Kotler (2003), Product is the solution to customers wants or/and needs. It
refers to the characteristics of a product, service or brand. The Internet offers options for
varying the core product, options for changing the extended products, conducting research
online, velocity of new product development and velocity of new product diffusion (Chaffey
et al. 2006, 217 - 222). Many digital products now can be purchased easily over the Internet
via providers’ website. For other products, instead of providing actual products to customers,
many companies publish the detailed product information with pictures or images. Thanks to
this, consumers still have concepts about different kinds of product even when staying at
home. Besides that, for some companies, it is possible for buyers to customize products. Dell
is a typical example. Through its websites, a customer can build a laptop or a desktop with the
desired functions and features. Besides that, companies also can supply more extended
product user guides, packaging, warranty, after sales services in a new method. For example,
new drivers or updated package for a computer or software are easily downloaded via
producers’ websites. It brings conveniences for both of buyer and seller/ producers. In
addition, it is obvious that the Internet provides a new tool to collect customer feedback
quickly and accelerate new product development since process of testing new products is
more rapid and effective. The information about new products will spread out more wildly
and quickly.

Companies can use the Internet to build differential price for different customers in different
countries, based on IP (Internet Protocol) analytic technologies. For buyers, they are able to
find out the price differences by visiting companies' websites or price comparison sites. In
addition to this, the Internet also reduces costs and price per product by reducing operating
costs of stores and number of staffs. Therefore, the Internet is considered as the most effective
marketing tool.

(P S Verma et al. 2003, 135-156). Together with these advances, many new payment methods
are created. The online payment method using credit cards is the most popular, efficient,
convenient and flexible way for companies and customers. Bills can be paid at any time and
in anywhere. Moreover, companies can cut costs by reducing paper works since the customers
fill all the necessary information such as their own private information and credit cards
information by themselves.

Beside these conveniences, online customers still have to worry about securities and privacy
matters. Hence, some third parties provide services to protect consumer privacy and to secure
transactions. PayPal is one of the most successful companies in this business sector.

Place in the marketing mix refers to how the product is distributed to customers. New method
of distributing goods through online selling is offered by the improvement of the Internet. It is
possible for customers to make their purchasing decisions anywhere at any time. The Internet
has the greatest implications for the Place in the marketing mix because it has a large market
place (Allen and Fjermestad 2001, 14-23). Companies now can expand their business from
local areas to the whole country even to international market. They also can use the Internet to
exploit new markets with low cost international advertising since they do not have to establish
sales infrastructure in different countries (Chaffey, 2006, 237-243).

Price is the most flexible element comparing to other three elements of the marketing mix,
since it can be changed quickly to adapt to the market's demand.

The Promotion element of the marketing mix refers to how marketing communication are
used to inform customers and other stakeholders about an organization and its products
(Chaffey, 2006, 243). The Internet can be used to review new ways of applying each of
elements of communication mix such as advertising, sales promotions, PR and direct
marketing; assess how the Internet can be used at different stages of the buying process; and
assist in different stages of customers relationship management from customer acquisition to
retention (Chaffey, 2006, 243 - 245)

Online marketing communication is initiated through the use of marketing media vehicles
such as social media networks, forums, e-mail, ads, blogs, press release, RSS distribution, and
other promotional tools.

If you have a website selling products or services, it can help you generate traffic of visitors to
your website and before you know it, you are getting leads and making sales. Generating
traffic to your website is very important, but of course, your website needs to look unique,
well-structured, rich contents, and search engine optimized.
CHAPTER 4

RESEARCH OBJECTIVES & METHODOLOGY

Scope of the research

The study aims to understand the massive contribution of Online marketing as a part of Integrated
Marketing Communication and to know its splendid efforts towards promotion in practice and also
to find out some challenges in using online marketing as a tool of integrated marketing
communication. The recommendations of this research can be used to frame an appropriate
Integrated Marketing Communication strategy in which companies can give special consideration to
online marketing along with the other traditional tools of IMC.

Research problem

This study focuses on following problems –

 Should companies integrate various marketing tools to communicate about its brand?

 How do consumers get awareness about different brands?

 How online marketing plays important role in companies’ marketing strategy?

 What are the reasons for growing popularity of online marketing among consumers?

 How is online marketing advantageous over traditional marketing?

 What are the loopholes in online marketing?

36
Research Methodology
The first step is to formulate a research design. This means planning a strategy of conducting
research. It is a detailed plan of how the goals of research will be achieved. Research design is
exploratory, descriptive and/or experimental in nature. It is helping the investigator in providing
answers to various kinds of social/economic questions. After collecting and analysis of the data, the
researcher has to accomplish the task of drawing inferences. Only through interpretation researcher
can expose relations and processes that underlie his findings and ultimately conclusions.
Interpretation refers to the task of drawing inferences from the collected facts after an analytical
study.

It is a search for broader meaning and research findings. It is the device through which factors that
seem to explain what has been observed by researcher in the course can be better understood and
provides theoretical conception which serve as a guide for further researches. It is essential because
it will lead towards findings of the study and proper effective conclusions of the study.

In the present study, researcher has followed Descriptive research. Descriptive research is
usually a fact finding approach generalizing a cross - sectional study of present situation. The
major goal of descriptive research is to describe events, phenomenon and situations on the basis of
observation and other sources.

Survey Method:

The survey method is the technique of gathering data by asking questions from people who are
thought to have the desired information. Every effort should be made to state the objectives in
specific terms.

The survey design can be defined as: “gathering information about a large number of people by
interviewing a few of them.”(BACKSTROM & HURSH P3)
The definition can be modified by stating that collecting information with other data collection
alternatives available to survey researcher in addition to interviewing i.e. questionnaire, personal
observation etc.
Surveys are conducted in case of descriptive research studies with the help of questionnaire
techniques in most appropriate manner. Survey type of research studies usually have larger
sample. It is concerned with conditions or relationships that exists, opinion that are held,
processes that are going on effects that are evident or trends that are developing. Thus in surveys
variables that exist or have already occurred are selected and observed. It is the example of field
research.

Data Collection:

Data collection means to a purposive gathering of information relevant to the subject matter of
the study from the units under research.
Primary data are empirical observations gathered by the researcher or his associates for the first
time for any research and used by them in statistical analysis. There are several methods of
collecting primary data particularly in descriptive researches.

 Telephone enquiries

 Postal/mail questionnaire

 Personal interviewing

 Panel research

 Special survey techniques.

Telephonic inquiries and mailing questionnaires are the best’s method for gathering quickly
38
needed information at the cheapest way.

39
Questionnaire:

The questionnaire has a list of questions to be asked and spaces in which the respondents record
the answer. It is either printed or typed in definite order on a form or set of forms. Each question
is worded exactly as it is to be asked; also the questions are listed in an established sequence.

Generally it is mailed to respondents who are expected to reply in the space provided in itself or
may be approached personally to explain the purpose and meaning of questions in the
questionnaire, they are conducted by enumerators. Often questionnaire is considered as heart of a
survey operation hence should be drafted carefully. Hence structured questionnaire ensures easy
quantifications.

In present study, the required data was collected through Sample survey using structured
questionnaire. Since ‘Customer`s inclination towards Online marketing’ is the core focus of
the study, a structured & closed ended questionnaire was prepared for customers only.
(covering various demographic parameters).

The questionnaire incorporated questions related to customers’ preference for online

marketing and other traditional mediums for getting awareness on various brands and
making purchase decision. Though questionnaire is an economic tool for data collection,
non-response or incomplete response is high in this case. However, proper follow up was
taken to overcome this barrier by making sure that each questionnaire is completely filled.

Secondary data is the data collected by others in the past and used by others. It may be either
being published or unpublished data. It includes the following:

1. Various publications of central, state and local governments.

2. Various publications of foreign governments or international bodies.
3. Technical and trade journals

4. Books, magazines, and new paper.

5. Reports prepared by research scholars, university economists etc.

6. Reports publications of various associations connected with business and industry, bank,
university, economists etc.

Sources of unpublished data are mainly diaries, letters, unpublished biographies; autobiographies
etc. before using secondary sources the researcher must ensure reliability sustainability and
adequacy of data.

In present study, researcher has used published and unpublished sources of secondary
data.
Secondary data was collected to provide the dissertation with necessary theoretical back up.
Information related to IMC, online marketing & its implication etc. was collected through
various secondary sources such as research journals, reference books, business magazines
and content sharing websites.

Sampling methods:

Sample selection is undertaken for practical impossibility to survey entire population by applying
rationality in selection of samples we generalize the findings of our research. A complete
enumeration of all items of the population is known as census enquiry. But practically
considerations of time and cost almost invariably lead to a selection of respondents called
sampling techniques.
A sample design is a definite plan for obtaining a sample from a given population.
Sampling process:

Define the population: the population is said to be completely defined if atleast the following
terms are specified i.e. elements, sampling units, extent, and time. In this research such terms
may be defined as follows:

 Elements

 Sampling units

 Extent

 Time

Identifying the sampling frame: a complete list of population units is the sampling frame it
should be so selected which consist of almost all the sampling units. Popularly known sampling
frames are census reports, electoral register, list of account holders, etc.

Specifying sampling unit: it is the basis unit containing the elements of target population.

Specify the sample method: it indicates how the sample units are selected, whether probability
or non-probability samples are to be taken.

Determine the sample size: the decisions about the number of elements to be chosen i.e.
number of observations in each sample of the target.
Parameters of interest: one must consider the questions of specific population parameter
which are of the interest.

Select the sample: final step in the selection of sample process where a good deal of field
work and office work is introduced in the actual selection of sample elements:
Descriptive type of study generally used probability sampling design (random
sampling) and requires structured or well, thought out instruments for collection of
data like questionnaire.
In present study researcher has used stratified probability sampling with -

 Sample size: 200 (Sample size is selected on the basis of discussion with
the research expert)
 Area covered – Delhi / NCR suburbs

 Sample frame – Educational institutions & corporate offices.

Validity of the data:

The approach of content validity was used in order to verify whether the context of
measure covers the full domain of the content. It helped to assess how items used in
the survey represent their context domain and how clear they are. Verification made
to assess whether questions asked to the respondents covers all the necessary details
related to dissertation topic.

Thus, the present study adopts descriptive research design and undertakes the survey
method with questionnaire as a research instrument in order to collect primary data
required in the research. Stratified probability sampling is the sampling technique
used to select the appropriate sample. And content validity is used for the
verification of data.