Integrated Marketing Communications: A Value-Adding Approach

Let me begin by making one thing perfectly clear: adding economic value to a company is the fiduciary duty of the company's managers and other employees. If the company's management and employees fail to add economic value to the company, it will stop growing, begin shrinking, and eventually fail. And, when company's fail all of its stakeholders are negatively impacted.

When the subject of adding economic value comes up, most managers think of operational efficiency. Popular methods of improving operational efficiency include ideas such as implementing just-in-time inventory systems, out-sourcing, lean manufacturing, etc... Indeed, many modern managerial theories center around the idea that business operations function as a dynamic system. And as such, a "system dynamics" approach to organizing and managing operations has been implemented in many companies. This has resulted in significant economic value being added to these companies.

With so much success in the area of improving operational efficiency it seems logical to conclude that managers would seek to expand this approach to all areas of the business. But many times the one area that managers overlook is their company's branding effort. When a system dynamics approach is expanded to include all areas of a company then the company's branding effort must be viewed as a crucial component to the total value of the firm. Unfortunately, this is often not the case.

In truth, a brand is an intangible asset for a firm. This means that it's not something physical that managers can touch or hold and because of this fact, some managers believe their company's branding effort is not really that important. This is especially true when the economy enters a time of recession and managers react by cutting out expenses that they deem as "unnecessary" costs. For some, this may mean slashing the advertising budget or perhaps letting go of some of the "creative" staff.

Such choices, however, carry with them an unseen opportunity cost that must be considered. The opportunity costs include the brilliant marketing campaign that was not conceived and the new customers that were not reached and the resulting sales that did not happen. It's true, the unseen cost is often not accounted for—but it is all too real and results in a loss of economic value. And, this is why it is important for managers to adopt a systems dynamic approach to their marketing and branding effort.

Integrated marketing communications is the concept of designing marketing communications programs that coordinate all promotional activities in order to provide a consistent brand message across all audiences. It is about considering what the customer experiences when they come in contact with the company. And, it is about giving the customer a pleasant experience at each contact point.

The core feature of an integrated marketing communications approach is the concept of brand consistency. This means developing a consistent branding message across the company's functional areas: Outbound Marketing, Inbound Marketing, Sales, and Public Relations.

Communicating a consistent branding message strengthens the brand. A strong brand attracts new customers who may then turn into loyal repeat customers. And a growing base of loyal repeat customers adds economic value.

 

© Jan James Baughman, 2015 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED