I. Read the text and write down two interesting things you remember. Compare with other students.

Marketing communication theories

Marketing communication is, not surprisingly, the most visible part of marketing, and is therefore often assumed to be the whole of marketing by non-marketers. It overlaps a great deal with consumer behaviour, because it impacts on the information-processing activities of people and it has an input at every stage of the decision process. A large amount of marketing communications is aimed at reminding people about a need, or helping them to recognise a problem: an even greater amount is aimed at informing and persuading people so that the brand is included in the evoked set and (with luck) in the consideration set.

Marketing communications are often divided into the promotional mix, as follows:

1. Advertising: this is defined as the paid insertion of a message in a medium.

2. Personal selling: this is any direct person-to-person communication.

3. Public relations: this is any general communications intended to improve the public image of brands or companies.

4. Sales promotion: this is any activity intended to generate a temporary boost in sales.

There are now several new techniques which deserve inclusion in the marketing mix. These are:

1. Internet and online marketing.

2. Direct marketing (telephone selling, mailings, etc.).

3. SMS marketing (texting of messages to mobile phones).

4. Ambient advertising – messages on T-shirts, on petrol pumps, and so forth.

Usually, the promotional mix is taught as are ingredients in a recipe. The ingredients must be added at the right times, and in the right quantities, if the recipe is to work; also, one ingredient cannot be substituted for another. This view of the marketing mix has led to the concept of integrated marketing communications, or IMC. A key writer about IMC is Professor Philip Kitchen. The argument behind IMC is that, as the number of elements in the promotional mix grows, there is an increased risk of consumers receiving different messages from each medium. The barriers between the elements of the promotional mix are far from fixed, and there is even some debate about whether sales promotion and personal selling belong in the mix at all.

For IMC to work, the company needs to recognise every point at which the brand and the consumer interact. This means that companies need to ensure that every impression anyone receives of the brand is not only positive, but also reflects the brand’s values.

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