A
FIELD PROJECT REPORT ON
Integrated Marketing Communications
submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the
award of degree of
MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
SESSION (2024-2025)
SUBMITTED TO: - SUBMITTED BY: -
DR. AARTI GARG Upasna Sharma
COORDINATOR – MBA II SEM MBA II SEM
24021124
STUDENT’S DECLARATION
I Upasna Sharma Roll No. 24021124 am a full-time bonafide student of MBA II
Sem of IFTM University, Moradabad. I hereby certify that this field project work carried
out by me and the report submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the
programme is an original work of mine under the guidance of the class
coordinator dr. Aarti garg and is not based or reproduced from any existing work of
any other person or on any earlier work undertaken at any other time or for any other
purpose, and has not been submitted anywhere else at any time.
(Student's Signature)
Date:
(Class Coordinator’s Signature)
Date:
IFTM UNIVERSITY
Established under UP Govt. Act No. 24 of 2010 and approved under section 22 of UGC Act 1956)
Lodhipur Rajput, Delhi Road, Moradabad- 244102, U.P.
Telephone: 0591-2360817, 2360818 Email: [email protected] Website: www.iftmuniversity.ac.in
CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that Ms. Upasna Sharma a student of MBA II Semester in
School of Business Management, IFTM University; has successfully completed
the field project work entitled “Integrated Marketing Communication” in
partial fulfillment of requirement for the completion of MBA programme. This
project report is the record of authentic work carried by her.
Prof. (Dr.)Nisha Agarwal
Director, School of Business
Management IFTM University
Date:
TABLE OF CONTENT
S. NO. CONTENTS PAGE NO.
1 INTRODUCTION
1-2
2 OBJECTIVE(S) OF STUDY
3
3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
4
4 DATA ANALYSIS
5-12
5 FINDINGS & CONCLUSION 13
6 BIBLIOGRAPHY 14
CHAPTER - 1
INTRODUCTION
Promotion is one of the four major elements of the marketing mix. Therefore, an integrated
marketing communications (IMC) strategy consisting of a combination of promotional tools could
be an essential element of the businesses’ overall marketing strategy. Different promotional tools
could foster an increased awareness of a company’s products or services, inform people about
features and benefits, and move them to make a purchase. In this light, this chapter examines these
promotional tools, individually. It suggests that effective IMC plans promote the companies’
products and services, by sending clear, consistent and complementary messages that are
ultimately intended to turn prospects into customers. In conclusion, it posits that the marketing
managers must consider the 6Ms (including the market, the mission, the message, the media,
money and measurement) when they are preparing an IMC plan.
Advertising is salesmanship on paper" - John E Kennedy Since companies are spending huge
amount of money on marketing communications, they are interested to know whether they are
meeting the right customer at the right time with the expected influence.
This calls for the study of marketing communications as a discipline.
Marketing Communications is about:-
• Establishing an image for company and products
• Persuading customers with the benefits of products
• Creating awareness about new products
• Reminding customers about existing products for brand loyalty
• Reassuring customers and generating market excitement .
This unit defines marketing communications and then discusses the communications mix and
basic communication model.
This unit defines marketing communications and then discusses the communications mix and
basic communication model.
Definitions :-
‘IMC recognizes the added value of a comprehensive plan that evaluates the strategic roles of –
Advertising, Direct Response, Sales Promotion and Public Relations – and combine those
principles to provide clarity, consistency and maximum communications impact’ – American
Association of Advertising Agencies.
‘IMC is 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.’ – The American Marketing Association.
Features of IMC
Shift in Promotional Expenditure from Traditional Media to Non-Traditional Media:
Traditional media is more expensive and not as target oriented as the new tools of promotion.
Consumers are less responsive to traditional media advertising and they may even avoid it. The
best way to communicate with target audience is to integrate the brand with movies, shows or
events.
Usage of Internet and Social Media to Communicate:
In this age of Internet revolution, where at any moment there are millions of consumers surfing
on the Web, marketing communication is characterized by usage of social media where there is
regular and close interaction with consumers. Internet has given rise to development and growth
of social media which people use to share experiences, content, information and suggestions about
products they have used.
CHAPTER - 2
OBJECTIVE(S) OF STUDY
Laying the Foundation for Effective Marketing Campaigns
To use integrated marketing communication (IMC) effectively in marketing campaigns,
marketers go through several planning steps to define precisely what they want to accomplish
and with whom. Only with this information can they be sure they are identifying the right
message and promotional mix to achieve their goals.
Standard marketing campaign planning steps include the following:
1. Determine the target market
2. Determine purpose and objectives for the IMC campaign
3. Set S.M.A.R.T. goals
4. Define the message
5. Select marketing communications methods and tools
6. Determine the promotional mix: which tools to use, when, and how much
7. Execute the campaign
8. Measure results and refine approach, as needed
CHAPTER-3
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research Methodology
Research and Methodology of Integrated Marketing Communication" would typically cover the
theoretical framework of IMC, outlining its key principles and components, followed by detailed
explanations of different research methods used to study and implement IMC strategies,
including quantitative surveys, qualitative focus groups, content analysis, and experimental
designs, often with examples and case studies to demonstrate practical applications across
various marketing channels like advertising, public relations, social media, and direct
marketing; emphasizing the importance of consistent messaging and coordinated efforts across
all touchpoints to achieve a unified brand experience for the consumer.
• IMC Definition and Concepts:
o Core principles of IMC, including coordinated communication, customer focus,
synergy across channels, and consistent messaging.
o Key elements of the marketing communication mix: advertising, public relations,
sales promotion, direct marketing, personal selling, and digital marketing.
• Research Objectives in IMC:
o Assessing brand awareness and perception
o Identifying target audience segments and their communication needs
o Analyzing competitor communication strategies
o Measuring the effectiveness of IMC campaigns
o Evaluating customer engagement and satisfaction
• Research Methods for IMC:
o Quantitative Methods:
▪ Surveys (online, mail, telephone)
▪ Experimental designs (A/B testing)
▪ Sales data analysis
• Qualitative Methods:
▪ Focus group discussions
▪ In-depth interviews
▪ Social listening analysis
• IMC Research Process:
• Specific IMC Research Areas:
CHAPTER-4
DATA ANALYSIS
Data analysis in integrated marketing communication (IMC) refers to the process of collecting
and analyzing data from various marketing channels to gain insights into customer behavior,
preferences, and engagement, allowing businesses to optimize their marketing campaigns across
all touchpoints by making data-driven decisions and delivering a consistent message to the target
audience.
Key points about data analysis in IMC:
• Holistic view of the customer:
By integrating data from different sources like CRM systems, social media, and website
analytics, marketers can create a comprehensive picture of the customer journey, enabling
personalized and relevant communication.
• Campaign performance measurement:
Tracking metrics like click-through rates, conversion rates, and engagement levels across
various channels helps identify which marketing efforts are performing well and where
improvements are needed.
• Audience segmentation:
Analyzing data allows marketers to segment their audience into smaller, more targeted
groups, ensuring the right message reaches the right people.
• Data-driven decision making:
Insights from data analysis guide strategic decisions regarding campaign adjustments,
budget allocation, and content creation, leading to more effective IMC strategies.
Examples of data analysis in IMC:
• Social media analytics:
Monitoring social media engagement, sentiment analysis, and demographics to understand
audience perception and tailor content accordingly.
• Email marketing analytics:
Tracking open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates to optimize email campaigns
and segment subscribers.
• Website analytics:
Analyzing website traffic patterns, user behavior, and landing page performance to improve
website usability and conversion optimization.
• CRM data analysis:
Analyzing customer data from CRM systems to identify customer lifetime value, purchase
patterns, and potential churn risks.
Benefits of using data analysis in IMC:
• Increased ROI:
By optimizing campaigns based on data insights, businesses can maximize their return on
investment.
• Improved customer experience:
Understanding customer preferences through data analysis enables the creation of more
relevant and personalized marketing messages.
• Enhanced brand awareness:
Data-driven strategies can help reach the right audience and create a consistent brand image
across all channels
1. Analyse the behavioural data to understand your audience – Knowing your target
audience is the first step in developing any communications strategy. To make the most use of its
resources, a company always wants to communicate with a certain target. Businesses may
determine which target consumers are most likely to buy their goods and services by categorising
target customers into groups based on shared traits.
A thorough market analysis ensures that the target market is accurately identified for the
company. They can get insights into their genuine prospects and preferences about their items
thanks to the consumer behavioural data they can collect via this study. Analysing consumer
profiles, previous purchasing patterns, churn rates, and the full range of client demographics is
all part of this process. Based on what they are promoting, this helps the company categorise the
people they want to reach. This distinction is crucial since the aim might be customers vs
prospects or unqualified leads against qualified leads, etc.
2. Developing a contextual analysis – This process of assessing your brand’s internal strengths
and weaknesses, exterior possibilities and threats is also referred to as a SWOT analysis.
Additionally, it highlights the weaknesses that companies should address and the advantages that
may be taken advantage of. Businesses will gain more knowledge while developing their
marketing communications plan by analysing the internal and external surroundings.
3. Determine Your Differentiating Selling Proposition – A company must use strategic
differentiators to differentiate itself from its competition. When a brand identifies a distinct
selling offer, it can attract a larger audience and grow into new areas. This enables them to find
more interested prospects, raise conversion rates, and boost the enterprise’s bottom line.
Knowing what sets you apart from the competition is crucial since it distinguishes your product
from others on the market. Such distinguishing features may include additional functions for
your product, a reduced price-to-quality ratio, and so on.
4. Establishing objectives for marketing communications – If organisations want to track the
efficacy of their marketing campaigns, they must recognise that their objectives must be
quantifiable. Before beginning marketing communication, it is vital to determine the campaign
objectives. It entails writing out what the brand wishes to express to its target audience. This
stage assists companies in documenting their goals for their integrated marketing communication
strategy. Some of the common goals are as follows:
1. Increasing a product’s sales.
2. Increasing brand recognition in the market.
3. Improving the image of a brand.
4. Confirm a customer’s decision to stick with the brand.
5. Establishing the campaign’s budget – Financials are critical at all stages of marketing
communication strategy. The execution of a planned communication plan necessitates
budget approval from senior members of an organisation, who monitor all areas of the
strategy and guarantee that the firm stays within budget. A realistic budget is essential
since it will help you develop your plan properly. This budget should be based on the size
of your firm and can be either a proportion of sales or a percentage of profit.
6. Creating the campaign’s strategies and tactics – Now that a brand has identified its
targets and financial resources, it is time to design strategies for achieving those
objectives through marketing communications. While strategies are simply concepts for
achieving goals, tactics are detailed steps to carry out a strategy. This stage allows the
organisation to flesh out its concepts and specify its strategies to align with its overall
aims. This would outline how their promotional strategies would seem.
7. Assessment and measurement – Checking a campaign’s effectiveness are almost as
vital as creating the strategy. As a result, a company must have a plan to evaluate its IMC
strategy’s performance. Frequently, a component of the communication strategy needs to
function properly. It is critical to comprehend what worked and didn’t work, understand
why some things failed, and create notes for future planning. This is where assessment
and measurement come into play. Other measures for evaluating a process include .
Integrated Marketing: Is it the best option for your company?
The effectiveness of the process of integrated marketing communication is unparalleled. It is
estimated that integrated marketing initiatives spanning more than four channels outperform
single or dual-channel campaigns by 300%. Here are some of the reasons:
• You get better outcomes – Marketing effectiveness is increased when communication
technologies and messaging are combined. The more coherent, purposeful, and focused a
customer’s experience, the greater the possibility of a sale and brand loyalty
• You increase brand awareness – Increase brand recognition by using similar images,
headlines, and keywords across numerous mediums and platforms. By enhancing the
number of times customers see or hear the same content, creative uniformity helps to
cement marketing themes. You leave your imprint.
• You save cash – Concentrating on a single theme saves money on campaign creation and
avoids the budget waste of inconsistent advertising.
Why should one study integrate marketing communications?
In today’s fast-paced environment, firms must have a clear brand message. Furthermore,
disseminating the information across several platforms allows clients to become aware of your
brand and, eventually, purchase. Furthermore, integrated communication provides clients with
timely notifications of deals, updates, and other pertinent information. As a result, learning about
integrated marketing communication is essential for any entrepreneur or marketing professional.
Consider the following advantages of knowing integrated marketing communication:
1. Increase your firm’s profitability – Previously, businesses developed distinct
campaigns for advertising, public relations, direct selling, and promoting sales. However,
IMC uses the same communication strategy across all marketing media. A brand, for
example, may utilise its advertising power to raise product awareness and create leads for
the sales staff. Thus, IMC teaches you the need for uniformity in marketing.
2. Savings on expenses – Standardisation in an IMC campaign may help a corporation save
money. Using the same imagery and marketing materials saves time and money on text,
design, and photography. Furthermore, one may use a marketing automation platform to
automate repetitive operations. Due to this, they will have additional time to experiment
and eventually take the firm to new heights.
3. Customer Preference – IMC provides customers with information in the manner they
choose. Companies can also ask their clients if they want to receive information by email,
direct marketing, text message, or phone. Once that information is accessible, it may be
utilized to guarantee that the appropriate information is delivered to the appropriate
consumer. Furthermore, IMC can improve the customer experience at each stage of the
customer lifecycle.
4. Better Strategies – With IMC, you can choose the right metrics for your marketing
campaign based on your goals. They may then analyses the type of material attracting the
target audience’s attention and adjust their strategy and goals appropriately. As a
result, the process of integrated marketing communication guarantees that individuals
learn to develop better tactics.
Resulst :-
In the context of Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC), data provides insights into
customer behavior, allowing marketers to create more targeted and effective campaigns by
precisely segmenting audiences, optimizing messaging, and measuring the impact of
communication efforts across various channels, ultimately leading to improved brand awareness,
customer engagement, and sales conversions.
Key results of using data in IMC:
• Precise audience targeting:
By analyzing customer data, marketers can identify specific demographics, interests, and
behaviors to deliver relevant messages to the right people at the right time.
• Personalized communication:
Data enables tailored messaging across different channels, creating a more personalized
experience for each customer, boosting engagement and loyalty.
• Optimized campaign strategies:
Data-driven insights help marketers identify which marketing tactics are most effective and
adjust their strategies accordingly to maximize ROI.
• Measurable results:
Data allows for tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) like click-through rates,
conversion rates, and brand mentions, providing concrete evidence of campaign success.
• Improved customer understanding:
Analyzing customer feedback and interaction data provides deeper insights into customer
needs, wants, and pain points, enabling marketers to develop more relevant products and
services.
Examples of data used in IMC:
• Demographic data: Age, gender, income, location
• Behavioral data: Website visits, purchase history, app usage
• Social media data: Likes, shares, comments
• Survey data: Customer feedback and opinions
Overall, data plays a critical role in IMC by providing the foundation for informed decision-
making, allowing marketers to create more targeted, relevant, and effective communication
campaigns across all channels to achieve optimal marketing results.
CHAPTER-5
FINDING AND ANALYSIS
Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC), "finding and analysis" refers to the process of
gathering and interpreting data about a company's target market, competitors, and current
marketing landscape to identify key insights and inform the development of a unified, consistent
communication strategy across all channels, including advertising, public relations, direct
marketing, and social media.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) is a strategic approach that allows
businesses to create a unified brand experience by coordinating all marketing channels and
delivering consistent messaging across all customer touchpoints, ultimately enhancing brand
awareness, customer engagement, and driving business growth through a cohesive
communication strategy; however, successful implementation requires collaboration between
different marketing teams to overcome potential challenges and fully capitalize on the benefits of
IMC.
CHAPTER-6
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bibliography
A "bibliography in integrated marketing communication" refers to a list of academic sources,
including books, articles, and research papers, that are cited and used to inform a study or
discussion related to the concept of Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC), which focuses
on coordinating all marketing communication channels to deliver a consistent message to the
target audience across various platforms.
Example citations from an IMC bibliography:
• Schultz, D. E., Tannenbaum, S. I., & Lauterborn, R. E. (1993). Integrated
marketing communications: Putting it together and making it work. NTC Business
Books.
• Duncan, T. (2002). IMC: Using advertising and promotion to build brands.
McGraw-Hill.
• Fill, C. (2002). Marketing communications: Contexts, strategies, and applications.
Financial Times Prentice Hall.
• Caywood, C. & Duncan, T. (1996). Concept, process, and evolution of IMC. In
Thorson, E., & Moore, J. (Eds.), Integrated communication: Synergy of persuasive
voices. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
