IN SERVICE INDUSTRY

INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATION

I M C

IMC is the coordination and integration of all marketing communication tools, avenues, functions and sources within a company into a seamless program that maximizes the impact on consumers and other end users at a minimal cost

Marketing efforts incorporate the "marketing mix". Promotion is one element of marketing mix. Promotional activities include advertising (by using different media), sales promotion (sales and trades promotion), and personal selling activities. It also includes internet marketing, sponsorship marketing, direct marketing, database marketing and public relations. Integration of all these promotional tools, along with other components of marketing mix, is a way to gain an edge over a competitor.

The goal of selecting the elements of proposed integrated marketing communications is to create a campaign that is effective and consistent across media platforms.

Integrated marketing communications(IMC) is not just merely a piece of advertising, a piece of public relations and a piece of direct marketing that all look the same. Rather, IMC is the management of all brand contact points through an integrated, consumer-driven strategy.

It means realigning your communications from your customer’s perspective so that your public relations are indistinguishable from your advertising, your direct marketing is indistinguishable from your promotions and so on. The idea is to create a communications plan that integrates the same message and brand image throughout all of the customer’s brand contacts with the company. IMC also includes creating synergy throughout the organization so that all divisions of the company are working toward a common brand image that is consistent for the consumer.

Why do smart companies go to great lengths to ensure consistency in their brand marketing messages across all marketing channels?

Winning the battle of perceptions and generating sales.

Thirty years ago, all Proctor & Gamble had to do to reach well over 70% of the homemaker market segment was run a few TV commercials on a few different daytime TV shows (usually soap operas). Today, with the proliferation of now hundreds of TV stations and programming options, and with fewer stay-at-home spouses, P&G would reach a mere fraction of that with the same method. Add to that the the many other mediums and modes of communication we have today and you can see why company executives scratch their heads about how to best reach their target audience. The number of people with computers, Internet access (to millions of "channels"), cell phones, portable media receivers, etc, between 25-to 45-year-olds is staggering compared to just five years ago-and it is still growing.

Examples – Cadbury

Airtel

The customer of services is the target of two types of communication. First external marketing communication includes traditional channels such as advertising, sales promotion and public relations. Second, interactive marketing communication involves messages that employees give to the customers through such channels as personal selling, customer service interactions, service encounter interactions, and servicescapes. A company must ensure that these interactive messages are consistent both among themselves and with those sent through external communications. To do so, the third side of the triangle, internal marketing communications, must be managed so that information from the company to employees is accurate, complete and consistent with what customers are hearing and seeing.

Figure 15-1

Communications and the

Services Marketing Triangle

Internal MarketingVertical Communications

Horizontal Communications

Interactive MarketingPersonal Selling

Customer Service Center Service Encounters

Servicescapes

External Marketing CommunicationAdvertising Sales Promotion Public Relations

Direct Marketing

Company

CustomersEmployees

Source: Parts of model adapted from work by Christian Gronroos and Phillip Kotler

KEY REASONS FOR SERVICE COMMUNICATION CHALLENGES

Discrepancies between service delivery and external communications, in the form of exaggerated promises can powerfully affect consumer perceptions of service quality. The factors that contribute to these communication problems include:

Inadequate management of service promises.

Elevated customer expectations

Insufficient customer education

Inadequate internal communications

Inadequate management of service Promises

A discrepancy between service delivery and promises occurs when companies fail to manage service promises- the vows made by salespeople, advertising and service personnel. One of the primary reasons for this discrepancy is that the company lacks the information and integration needed to make fulfil able promises. Sales people often sell services, particularly new business services, before their actual availability and without having an exact date of when they will be ready for market.

Inadequate management of Customer Expectation

Appropriate and accurate communication about service is the responsibility of both marketing and operations. Marketing must accurately reflect what happens in actual service encounters; operations must deliver what is promised in communications. For ex- when a management consulting firm introduces a new offering, marketing and sales departments must make the offering appealing enough to be viewed as superior to competing services. In prompting and differentiating the service, however, the company cannot afford to raise expectations above the level at which its consultants can consistently perform. If advertising, personal selling, or any other external communication sets up unrealistic expectations, actual encounters will disappoint customers.

Inadequate Customer Education Differences between service delivery and

promises also occur when companies do not sufficiently educate their customers. If the customers are unclear about how service will be provided, what their role in delivery involves, and how to evaluate services they have never used before, they will be disappointed. When disappointed, they will often hold the service company, not themselves, responsible.

Inadequate Internal Marketing Communications

Multiple functions in the organization, such as marketing and operations, must be coordinated to achieve the goal of service provision. Because service advertising and personal selling promise what people do, frequent and effective communication across functions- horizontal communication- is critical. If internal communication is poor, perceived service quality is at risk. If the company advertising and other promises are developed without input from operations, contact personnel may not be able to deliver service that matches the image portrayed in the marketing efforts.

Approaches forIntegrating Services Marketing Communication

Goal:Delivery

greater than or equal topromises

Improve CustomerEducation

ManageService

Promises

ManageCustomer

Expectations

ManageInternal

MarketingCommunication

Figure 15-3

Goal:Delivery

greater than or equal topromises

OfferService

Guarantees

Create EffectiveServices

Communications

MANAGING SERVICE PROMISES

MakeRealisticPromises

Coordinate External

Communication

Figure 15-4

Approaches forManaging Service Promises

Use Narratives to demonstrate the service expectations:

Many services are experiential and uniquely effective approach to communicating them involves story based appeals. Research has concluded that consumers with relatively low familiarity with a service category prefer appeals based on stories to appeals based on lists of service attributes.

Present Vivid Information:

Effective service advertising creates a strong or clear impression on the senses and produces a distinct mental picture. One way to use vivid information is to evoke strong emotion such as in AT&T’s classic, Reach out and Touch someone.

Use interactive imagery:

One type of vividness involves what is called interactive imagery. Imagery is defined as a mental event that involves the visualization of a concept or relationship, can enhance recall of names and facts about service.

Focus on tangibles:

Another way that advertisers can increase the effectiveness of services communications is to feature the tangibles associated with the service, such as showing a banks marble columns or gold credit card.

Feature service employees in communication:

Customer contact personnel are an important second audience for service advertising. Featuring actual employees doing their jobs or explaining their services n advertising is effective for both the primary audience and the secondary audience because it communicates to employees that they are important.

COORDINATE EXTERNAL COMMUNICATION

For any organisation, one of the most important yet challenging aspects of managing brand image involves coordinating all the external communication vehicles that send information to customers. These communications vehicles include advertising, websites, sales promotion, public relations, direct marketing and personal selling.

MAKE REALISTIC PROMISES The expectations that customers bring to the

service affect their evaluation of its quality. The higher the expectation, the higher the delivered service must be to be perceived as high quality. Therefore promising reliability in advertising is appropriate only when the reliability is actually delivered. It is essential for a firms marketing or sales department to understand the actual levels of service delivery before making promises about reliability.

Communicate Criteria for Service

Effectiveness

Figure 15-8

Approaches forManaging Customer Expectations

NegotiateUnrealistic

Expectations

Goal:Delivery

greater than or equal topromises

Offer Choices

OFFER CHOICE:

One way to reset expectations is to give customers options for aspects of service that are meaningful such as time and cost. With the choice, clients can select the aspect of the trade-off that is most meaningful to them. Making the choice solidifies the client’s expectations of the service

COMMUNICATE THE CRITERIA AND LEVELS OF SERVICE EFFECTIVENESS:

At times companies can establish the criteria by which customers access service. Consider a business customer who is purchasing market research services for the first time. Because market research is an expert is an expert service, it is high in credence properties that are hard for customers to judge.

Goal:Delivery

greater than or equal topromises

Prepare Customers

for the Service Process

Clarify Expectationsafter the Sale

Figure 15-9

Approaches forImproving Customer Education

Teach Customers

to Avoid Peak

Demand Periods

andSeek Slow

Periods

Confirm Performanceto Standards

Goal:Delivery

greater than or equal topromises

Figure 15-10

Approaches for ManagingInternal Marketing Communications

Create EffectiveVertical

Communications

Align Back Office Personnel

w/ External Customers

Create EffectiveHorizontal

Communications

CreateCross-Functional

Teams