What is integrated marketing communication?

What is Integrated Marketing Communication? How it works?

• Answer:

  Integrated Marketing Communication Information Processing Key to effective communication is understanding how consumers process the vast amount of information that comes their way each and every day. To cope, we select only that information that we perceive to be important and ignore the rest. Thus, we limit our span of perception as a way of coping. If the marketing message is to be selected and processed, it must: consist of sensory and life experiences that can easily be identified and transformed into a unified concept, have mental relationships to other categorized ideas, and fit into the categories and mental linkages that people have already created for themselves. Marketing communication messages that are not recognizable, are not related to each other, conflict with what has already been stored, or are simply unrelated or unimportant to the person will simply not be processed, but ignored. Communication only occurs when the consumer accepts, transforms, and categorizes the message. The storage and retrieval system works on the basis of matching incoming information with what has already been stored in memory. If the information matches or enhances what is already there, then the new information will likely be added to the existing concepts and categories. If it doesn't match, the consumer has to make a choice, either the new information can replace what is already there or the new information can be rejected. If rejected, the consumer would continue to use existing concepts and categories and ignore the new. This is called a "judgment system" in that consumers match or test new information against what they already have and then make a judgment to add to, adapt, or reject the new material. When consumers reject the information or do not add or attach it to what they already have, there is a failure to communicate. In many cases, the failure to communicate is the result of the marketer being unable to match his or her messages or fields of experience with those of the prospect or customer. Consumers use the same information processing approach whether the new data comes from advertising, sales promotions, a salesperson, an article in a newspaper or magazine or from what their neighbor is telling them. The marketer who presents non-integrated messages risks not having any of his or her messages processed because of the conflict that occurs in the consumer's information processing system. If for no other reason that the risk of confusion, marketers must integrate their messages or consumers will simply ignore them. Chunking and Networks Concepts are not isolated units. They are networked together into what we call categories. These groups of concepts are not only made up of chunks of information, but then in turn are also networked together in conceptual relationships. Key to understanding the relationships is understanding the cultural and life experiences that have created the existing network of information chunks that exist in the consumer's head. Models of Information Processing Two models of information processing have been proposed: The replacement model assumes that it is possible for the marketer to "replace" previously stored information chunks with new ideas. What is said does not matter as much as how often and how loud the message has been transmitted. With enough exposure, the new will replace the old. The accumulation model of information processing assumes that message consistency is critical since the consumer accepts, processes, and stores information about the product or service relative to what has already been mentally accepted. The judgment system (perceptual consistency) prevents consumers from having multiple concepts or categories for the same message. Information that does not fit is rejected and not filed. That being the case, the need for Integrated Marketing Communication is not only needed, but critical to marketing success.