Integrated marketing in the new economy

Integrated marketing in the new economy

The very nature of business is changing as sure as the oceans are rising and, if you are oblivious to this change, there's a danger you'll drown.

The traditional marketing model

Advertising's traditional standing has been as an "above the line" business. This lofty status allowed advertising agencies to charge clients commissions of between 10 and 15 percent of the value of press and television space bookings.

The new integrated marketing model

The new integrated marketing model is based on a combination of marketing elements, advertising, PR, web sites, sales promotion, and direct marketing.

The four steps in integrated marketing

The brand manager is the person responsible for coordinating a company's brand strategy. It's a very responsible role in the context of today's business. In the age of integrated marketing, a sound business approach is to present a strong brand image across a variety of media. A brand manager who is familiar with the main forms of marketing is crucial to this process. The brand manager needs to observe the four steps in integrated marketing:

• understanding consumers

• zero-based budgeting

• selecting the mix

• continuous review

Understanding the consumer

Integrated marketing begins with the consumer. Effective brand managers should use both quantitative and qualitative research to understand the steps that consumers go through to purchase a certain brand. The trick here is to survey people who have recently purchased items by asking them to fully describe the purchase process, from ignorance of the product to buying it.

Zero-based budgeting

One of the big problems in marketing is that there is a tendency to set budgets in an arbitrary way or calculate them using a crude advertising-to-sales ratio (typically 5 to 10 percent of expected revenue). A logical way to assign budgets is by zero-based budgeting. In this approach, the brand manager decides on the aims of a marketing campaign. They then calculate the effects that must take place with respect to the consumer to take them through a decision-making sequence right up to purchase and repurchase. The logical basis of this process is that the actual purchase is inextricably linked to the other stages in the consumer's decision-making. The end result of a zero-based budgeting process is that a manager can submit a budget with both an overall figure and a breakdown of where the money is spent.

Selecting the mix

Ideally, an integrated marketing mix is made up of selected steps. The relevance of these depends on the brand and the decision-making steps of target consumers. Each element of the marketing mix has its advantages and disadvantages. Advertising plays an essential part in brand building for a mass audience, but it doesn't allow for the subtleties of relationship marketing. PR is simply ideal for brands that depend on third-party reviews, but its major drawback is that, once launched, it is the media rather than the brand manager that has control. Direct marketing can be a great means for specifically targeting customers, but a lot of people choose to ignore this type of correspondence by junking it. Sales promotions can have an instantaneous effect on sales and encourage people to switch brands, but there is a perception in marketing that they may turn brands into commodities.

The Internet is a new addition to the marketing mix and it is a huge area of concern for advertisers. The Internet is the perfect medium for communication because of its capacity to deliver large amounts of information speedily and efficiently. The Internet is an ideal first stop for customer research on potential purchases. In the developed world any medium to large company worth its salt maintains a web presence. Web sites have another advantage beyond an advertising and promotional sphere in that they can be used to sell. The sales technology inherent in a web site vis-à-vis encryption software and so forth makes it an excellent sales tool, but an obvious drawback is that web sites are not ideal for all products. This would be true of products such as perfume, for example, that appeal to our sense of smell.

Continuous review

A successful integrated marketing strategy will remain successful only if it is subject to continuous review. This is achieved through ongoing assessment of a campaign's impact by gathering and analyzing customer data.

Impact of the integrated marketing model

A fundamental shift has taken placed in marketing. No longer is it a departmental responsibility, it's now a company-wide endeavor concerned with creating an impression in customers' minds that ultimately leads to sales. The aim is to strengthen the customer's faith in and respect for the brand.