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Twenty years of IM C

A study of C E O and C M O perspectives in

the Asia-Pacific region

Jerry G. Kliatchko

University of Asia and the Pacific Philippines

Don E . chultz

Northwestern University

Th is article examines the understanding and practice of integrated m arketing comm unications

(IM C) in organisations since its inception 20 years

ago.

It analyses a survey conducted among

chief executive officers (C FO s) of marketing comm unications agencies, chief marketing offi-

cers (CMOs) of client companies, and other senior leaders ofthe industry in the Asia-Pacific

region. It then looks into the similarities and differences between

academics

and practitioners

understanding and practice of IMC.

ntrodu tion

Twenty years after its inception, integrated marketing communications (IMC) continues

to stir debate, discussion and, in some cases, confusion. In the b eginning, I M C was con-

troversial because it challenged the planning and operating principles of advertising, sales

prom otion, direct mark eting and public relations. It encouraged a customer first , rather

tha n a tool first , approach, and suggested coordination and alignment am ong various

functional dep artme nts and groups. A natural resistance to I M C developed amo ng func-

tional managers because it appeared to make obsolete many generally accepted marketing

principles and practices.

W it h the advent ofthe internet, however, integration began to gain grudging su pport.

The concepts of consumer multi-tasking with media forms, simultaneous media

consumption, media synergy and the like quickly became the focus of the entire field

of marketing communications. As the idea of consumer or customer control became

more accepted, a whole new range of research topics materialised. The emergence of

social media outlets, such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, offered opportunities for

customers and com panies to comm unicate about products, brand s, commercials and

m ore. Th ese advances have opened a wh ole new range of research and practice tha t is

stiU developing.

International Journal of Advertising, 33(2),pp. 373-390

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INTERNA TIONAL JOURNAL OF ADV ERTISING, 2014,33(2)

suite

challenges

U p un til recentiy, I M C was considered the d om ain of the agency or the mid-level manager

in the m arketing com mun ications organisation. In today's business environm ent, however,

functional m anagers simply don't have the authority or expertise to make necessary I M C

decisions. Marketing communications and integration are now too important to the

various organisations and require more than simply looking at the tools and techniques,

definitions and heritage of the concept. IM C issues have become 'C- suite ' challenges

that require senior managers to make decisions about m ajor changes, both structural and

practical, in order to integrate and align the firm's marketing communications activities.

T he study discussed here moves IM C research to the next level, tha t of senior m an-

agem ent. T h e future of IM C is in the ma nagem ent of processes that are currendy being

developed. W e believe this stud y helps identify a research agen da for further analysis.

Study parameters

In order to gather relevant views of 21st-cen tury I M C , three things were necessary:

1. T h e research should be do ne 'with senior managers - that is, C-level executives w ho are

actually dealing 'with the issues and have the authority to develop or im plem ent changes.

2. The data collection had to be based on an executive-level approach (i.e. one that could

not be captured in a survey or questionnaire). Further, the data needed to be gathered

by individuals w ho h ad know ledge of IM C and were experts in the field.

3. The research should be done in an area of the world where rapid growth and changes

in economics, marketing and marketing communications were occurring. It was

believed tha t a better view of the future of I M C could be gained in an area of grow th

and change, rather than in one of established and rigid communication systems.

T h e study that follows is essentially a form of ground ed theory research (Strauss Co rbin

1997; D enz in Lincoln 2005 ). Th us , it does not contain the traditional analytical or me th-

odological approaches th at have appeared in mu ch of the previous I M C literature. It does,

however, follow the research stream th at has gone before. M os t im portan t, it meets the three

requirements listed above. T h e d ata were gathered primarily throug h face-to-face or other

personal interview me thods. T he respondents werea employed as senior managers in m ar-

keting communications firms, their agencies or media organisations. The respondents were

all located in Southeast A sia, one of the m ost rapidly developing marketplaces in th e w orld.

In addition, each respon dent ha d at least 15 years or more personal experience with I M C .

eview of related literature

T he practice of I M C w ithin companies (m ainly those based in the United States) has

been a subject of academic research since the early conceptualisation and development of

the concept in the late 1980s and early 1990s (Kliatchko

2008).

Tow ards the latter half of

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TWENTY YE RS OF

IMC

the 1990s, studies on the spread, strategic imp leme ntation and practice of IM C globally

began to emerge (Grein G ould 1996; Eagle et al 1999; Gould et al 1999; Kiteben

Schultz 1999). From 2000 onw ards, more studies on I M C perceptions and practice in

various countries like South Africa, Thailand , the Philippines, Japan , Australia, So uth

Korea and China have been initiated (Kliatchko 2008).

Eagle and Kitchen (2000) conducted a two-phase study among advertising and mar-

keting practitioners in New Zealand on the im plem entation and usage of I M C in organi-

sations. A m on g othe r objectives, tbe study sought to identify and evaluate problems tha t

have impeded the development and implemen tation of I M C programm es, and examined

ways to resolve such obstacles. Ewing et al (2000) did an exploratory study on Australian

companies and looked into tbe relationships between perceived agency politics, possible

conflict of interest and I M C orientation. T he results show tha t conflict of interest was

more evident between tbe fields of advertising and public relations. Reid (2003) also

examined the relationship between an I M C perspective in m anaging mark eting com m u-

nications and brand performance among Australian small and medium-sized service and

consum er goods firms. H is study suggests tha t highe r levels of integration tend to produce

higher brand-related performance.

A study on the development of I M C in the South African m arket was conducted by

KaUmeyer and Abratt (2001) among senior executives of advertising agencies. Their study

shows tha t advertising agencies were practising I M C strategies on beh alf of their clients,

and that clients were rapidly looking at integrated solutions to create competitive advantage.

Anan tachart (2001,20 03) publisbed two studies on the practice of I M C in Tha iland

in the proceedings of the American Academy of Advertising Asia-Pacific conferences in

2001 and 2003. Both studies show that Thai companies have positive attitudes towards

the I M C concep t, and claim th ey have been pra ctising certain aspects of it, albeit at the

initial stages.

The study of Kim

et

al (2004) on the difEision of I M C in Sou th K orea reveals a pos i-

tive outlook for I M C and is viewed as a valuable m arke ting appro acb am ong advertising

agencies and clients. Agencies, however, seem to be taking the lead in the integration

process, perhaps as a result of the agencies' higher level of understan ding of IM C over

clients, at least at the time the study was conducted nine years ago. Other studies indicate

that I M C implem entation is largely client-led rather than agency-driven. Adv ertising

agencies can only practise integration in so far as their clients desire and implement it

(Laurie M ortim er 2011).

Einvidller and Boenigk (2011) present a framework of integrated communication

management incorporating corporate performance measures that possibly demonstrate

the link between I M C and business performance, thus reducing the scepticism in some

quarters about the effectiveness of imp lem enting IM C program mes .

Lu ck and Moffatt (2009) posit that the emphasis of I M C on message consistency,

focus on target segments and two-w ay com mun ication could have man y benefits to

a

wide

range of organisations, and is not just limited to the product or consumer goods market.

The study of Kitchen et al (2008) on the practice of I M C in the Unite d States,

U nited Kingdom and Sou th Korea shows that IM C is not just a ma nagem ent fad but is a

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discipline taken seriously and implemented by advertising and PR agencies, largely driven

by client organisations. Th ey no te that mea surem ent of I M C programm es stUl remains

a major concern.

Reid 2003) affirms th at there is a positive relationship betw een the imple m entatio n of

the I M C process amo ng consumer goods and consumer services organisations and bran d

outcomes, such as brand awareness, brand loyalty and sales. H e posits, however, that I M C

is more likely to exist in larger consumer goods companies due to more established plan-

ning processes and better systems for gathering and analysing customer data. Similarly,

the relation between im plem enting the I M C approach and marketing performance in

terms of sales, market share and profits appears to be strong, according to the research

findings of Lo w 2000).

Kitchen an d Li 2005) report that, in a study am ong advertising and P R executives in

Beijing, Chin a, IM C is an accepted concept and is taken seriously by bo th m arketers and

advertising and public relations agency practitioners. However, its practice among local

companies might take a long time because of cultural differences.

After a brief review of research studies done o n I M C in the Asian context over the

last decade, we pro pose th e following research objectives below, to ascertain the extent by

w hich I M C has been accepted across organizations in A sia-Pacific.

Study objectives

This study has three objectives. First, find out how marketing communications leaders

in the Asia-Pacific region und erstand I M C . Second, look into ho w these leaders practise

I M C with in their organisations according to their point of view. Th ird, identify nuances

and similarities between how academics define and propose to practise IM C , and ho w

practitioners understand and practise it in their organisations.

ethodology

A total of 22 intensive, one-to-one in-depth interviews were conducted for this study,

am ong chief ma rketing officers C M O s) from client companies with both local and

regional roles, and among heads of advertising and media agencies with regional func-

tions across the Asia-Pacific region. AH interviews were conducted face to face, with the

exception of

two:

one opted for a phone interview and another responded via email. The

interviews were underta ken in two waves due to availability of bo th the researchers and

the interview ees, and th e associated costs of travel). T h e first wave of interviews w as

conducted between January and March 2011, and the second between January and AprU

2012. Each interview lasted approximately between 60 and 90 minutes.

In order to explore with greater profundity the perspectives of the respondents on the

unde rstanding and practice of I M C within their organisations, in-d epth interviews using

a semi-structured questionnaire were conducted in a free-flowing manner. Unlike most

previous studies, this research does not seek to pre-empt respondents on the supposed

tenets of the I M C construct or on what I M C ough t to be, based on academic literature.

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The questions were designed to cover the necessary issues related to the study and were

framed using open-ended questions to aUow more latitude for respondents to express

their views on various issues.

Respondents

Re spo nde nts for this study were selected deliberately, and the re is no a ttem pt to generalise

the conclusions to a bigger population. In order to preserve the confidentiality of infor-

mation shared by the respondents, neither they nor the corporations they represent have

been identified.

In tota l, 13 foreign res pond ents in the region and e ight locals from the Ph ilippines took

pa rt in the study. Today, aU m ultinationa l com panies are globally and regionally aligned,

foUowing matrix-like organisational structures tbat necessitate a lot of interaction among

offices worldwide. AU respondents, including those from the PhUippines, were shown to

be deeply imm ersed in regional issues related to m arketing com m unicatio ns, as weU as the

global business process in general.

Tbe youngest among them had at least 15 years of work experience in marketing

communications, whUe the most senior had spent 37 years in the field at the time of the

interview. T h e majority of resp onde nts ha d sp ent an average of 20 years in the field and

wo rked in various markets across the Asia-Pacific region, including C hin a, Japa n, India,

Fiji Islands, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, Th ailand , the Philippines, New Zealand,

Vietnam and the Un ited States. Some ha d cross-posting experience in other m arkets such

as western and eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Twelve of the respondents

had regional purview from client corporations coming from categories such as food, bank-

ing, bealtbcare, beverage, nutritio n and hospitaUty, and nin e senior executives ha d regional

roles from advertising, media and digital agencies.

iscussion and finding s

The interview questions were divided into two main parts: the first part sought to

contextualise current practices in marketing communications in general, whUe the second

focused m ore specifically on the under stan ding and practice of I M C in the Asia-Pacific

region.

Concretely, the first part of the study, as discussed here, delved into the respondents

views on: (1) the most important challenges they face in the practice of marketing

communications across the Asia-Pacific region; and (2) the marketing philosophy

espoused by the corporation (for client companies only).

T he second pa rt of the study sought to investigate the p oints of view of the respondents

on three key areas of IM C : (1) understan ding of the I M C concept; (2) practice of I M C in

their organisations; and (3) barriers to overcome for the effective im plem entatio n of I M C

in organisations . T h e discussion concludes by com paring findings from the respo nden ts

on the understand ing and practice of I M C vis--vis the IM C tenets put forth in academic

literature.

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Challenges in the practice of marketing communications in

sia

li nt

respon ents

The practice of marketing communications in the Asian context presents nuances peculiar

to this part of the world, whUe still sharing several that are prevalent in western markets.

Client respondents made the foUovidng observations on the challenges they face in the

Asia-Pacific region:

Wh Ue no t only peculiar to the Ea st, several respondents acknowledged the growing need

for C M O s to keep abreast of, and constand y monitor, global business trends and, more

specifically, issues across the Asia-Pacific region. Issues such as the economic health of

the region; weather conditions such as typhoons and monsoon rains that might affect

production and distribution, logistics and supply chain; constraints on legislation; and

bad press on bran ds could impac t local business w ith positive or negative consequences.

Breaking local habits while building new ones is a key factor tha t m arkefing has to

contend w ith in introduc ing brands in Asian m arkets. Transporfing ideas and pracfices

fi-om the West for adoption in the East provokes certain challenges. For example, some

celebrations - such as Ch ristm as, Chine se N ew Year or Ram adan - typically have ma r-

keting campaigns associated with them, are culture bound and are not celebrated in all

markets in the same way. As far as product usage is concerned, some cultures in A sia, par -

ficularly in rural areas that are huge poten tial markets for consumer brand s, have different

approaches to personal hygiene and do not use products such as nappies, deodorants,

sham poo, shaving cream or shaving blades. Some markets also do no t have a tradifion of

drinking

soda.

Transporfing pracfices across other parts ofthe world might not seem as

problemafic as doing it in Asia because, as one res pondent pointed out, there seems to be

greater homogeneity among cultures in Europe or Latin America than there is in Asia.

The interviewee opined:

Th ere is a N or th Asia and South A sia divide. If anything, this is a less hom oge ne-

ous region tha n any othe r reg ion I ve worked in. It s actually bizarre especially no w

perhaps wdth the econom ic success, it seems to put toge ther as a region mu ch more

than any other region. I guess success breeds closeness. Europe is disintegrafing.

But culturally there is a much greater affinity in Europe or Lafin America than

there is in Asia.

lientm rketingdirector

Asia-Pacic

person linterview January 2011

A corollary issue in relafion to dealing with m ultiple cultures in Asia, and certainly also in

the global context, is wh at on e C M O responden t called the difficulty of travelability of

an adverfising message across markets. Tb ere is a need to ad apt th e so-called b ig idea in

creafing adverfising messages to suit cultural realifies and social, as well as moral, norm s.

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It is also difficult to achieve synergy in communication considering the varying levels

of brand penetration and acceptance in the different markets within the region. Global

directions and strategies mandated from head offices mainly from the West cannot be

implemented in Asia unless the local markets are given sufficient leeway to get out of

fixed temp lates and customise tho se strategies to achieve relevance an d local acceptance.

Respondents posit that global brand architectures have to be locally relevant for them to

succeed and take off. O ne respon dent shares some views on this issue:

Global co-creative ideas from the central theme that is based firom our corporate

office ... So they would outline the brand strategy... We would then take off ...

and do th e localised int erp reta tion s... It s the right balance between th e two. Right

balances, we take th e best of the th inkin g th at the central them e produces, take it up,

and then do it at the Asia level... And then finding the right hot buttons, finding

the right n uances, finding the rightthemes, right context, that would make the work

relevant and consistendy go od across multiple m arkets has no t been an easy task.

lient

m rketingdirector for

Asia

person l interview January 2011

Varying levels and degrees of technological penetratio n are evident in several markets

in the region. In large pockets of rural areas in several developing Asian nations, digital

and mobile technologies are less developed and utilised than those in more advanced

economies across the region.

A clear advantage, rather th an a challenge, of multinational companies operating in a

global en vironment today is their abUity to readily share innovation capabilities an d

resources, technologies and expertise across the region. In particular, developing markets

in the region benefit fiom a structure th at facilitates the exchange and sharing of resources.

gency respondents

T h e cost of failure is still relatively small in the Asia-Pacific region (w ith th e excep-

tion o f Japan and, increasingly, C hin a and India) comp ared to developed markets like

the U S and E urope, where the cost of media and o pportunity costs are tremendously

high. For the most part, experimentation is low-risk and relatively inexpensive. The

advantage of having greater flexibility for experimentation in Asia is that it allows

com panies to test un kn ow n waters m ore aggressively and en courages greater creati vity

in approaching solutions to m arketing comm unications p roblems.

Clien ts and agencies bo th observed the disparity across markets regarding the practice

of marketing communications and levels of sophistication in the use of digital and

mobile m edia, wh ere natural clusters seem to form am ong cou ntries like the South east

Asia cluster, the Japan -Ko rea cluster and the A ustralia-N ew Zealand cluster. O n the

wh ole, however, the rise of social med ia and mob ile technology as a means of engag ing

with consumers and customers is evident in the region. As one interviewee observes:

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W he re digital media was in the fringe, it very rapidly became th e he art of every-

thin g. Th at s wha t people are realising no w bu t still very slowly in som e m arkets,

that it underp ins everything that we do in commu nications. Everything - from

guerrilla marketing to direct marketing - it should touch and underpin every-

thing that we do.

reative

agency

digital director

Asia

personal interview January 2011

T V ad vertising is still do mina nt in Asia, even w ith the rise of digital me dia. Un like the

U S or Europ e where the rise of digital brou ght forth a decline in traditional m edia, the

rise of digital in Asia continues to drive TV as a relatively strong medium due to the

large pocke ts of people still living in poor c onditions w ith limited access to th e intern et.

Marketing philosophy espoused by client companies

The client respondents were asked to identify what the authors of this study call the

philosophy

of marketing espoused in their organisations that best describes the framework

or approach the ir com panies employ in the practice of m arketing. T h e following findings

were uncovered:

T he majority of respondents claim their companies do not have a fixed institutional

framework or philosophy of marketing. Quite a numher are dependent on the system

introduced and put in place by the chief mark eting officer (C M O ).

Exam ples of ma rketing frameworks introduced by C M O s in tbeir organisations

include: fusion mark eting , insight-driven m arketing , holistic marketing , marketing

is customer experience and integrated business planning .

On ly two of the companies represented in the study claim that the I M C framework

is the global marketing philosophy espoused across all their markets. Another two

respondents affirm their companies employ a global proprietary approacb to mark eting.

Still a couple of them claim the ir approach to m arketin g takes off from their overaU

business plan, corporate tbrust or mission.

Understanding of IM

T he majority of study respondents claim they do not use the term I M C within their organi-

sations. M ore agency respondents said they did no t use it compared to clients. In fact only

one agency and four clients said they use the term I M C . M os t respondents (especially agen -

cies) said they use other terms , such as integrated thinking, integrated plann ing, integrated

mark eting, iU service, 360 or simply integration. W h u e only a few com panies included in

the study actually use the term , all interviewees were in agreement that, no matter wh at it is

called, they all practise I M C in their organisations. I M C is something expected, and is an

indispensible and standard practice in all organisations today, albeit in varying degrees. An

interviewee provides his viewpoint on why I M C is desirable today:

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OF IMC

Because the old, traditional method of intrusion is a large waste of money, and con-

sumers now have the ability to shut irrelevant, boring, unengaging messages

off

I

thin k it s a necessity to survive. Unless all brands truly look at practicing I M C , their

ability to survive gets extremely limited.

Agency regionalpresident Asia-Pacific personal interview January

2011

Both client and agency respondents were unanimous in identifying the top four notions of

wha t I M C meant for them . Th ese were as follows:

1. Use of multiple cha nnels touchpoints or contact points to deliver a message to

a

target audience.

This presupposes an understanding of the consumer journey, their path to purchase,

communication pathways and media spaces in order to deliver effective communica-

tions. T his also includes the notion of media neutrality, employing only the m ost relevant

media, thus avoiding biases towards certain media like television. The use of multiple

touchpoints also implies the ability to generate creative ideas that may be implemented

across multiple channels.

2. Con sumer centricity

that is the need for deep consumer understanding consumer engagements

and ongoing

connections

and

conversations

asa basis or ma rketing comm unications planning

and execut ion.

Consumer centricity means, for the respondents, being outward-looking,

understanding consumer mind-sets and their issues, inspiring behavioural change (for

the better) in people, understanding consumer behaviour, and extracting meaningful

consumer insights to drive marketing strategy and communications. One respondent

posits that a consumer focus brings about a shift of perspective from the integrated

campaign me ntality of marketers to th at of integrated conversations and engagem ents

with consumers.

3.

Coordination and

consistency

of 360 or total communications solutions.

T hi s involves

th e

coordination of messages and m edia channels to create and deliver one-sight, one-s ound ,

clear messages to achieve synergy. Thi s also extends to coo rdinatin g different elements

to work together aside from media and communications, such as packaging, pricing,

distribution and product design. Coordination also implies the process of thinking

about the big idea (or creative idea) that wdll work across various media channels and

contexts, and amplifying this idea to maximise effectiveness. O n e respon den t stresses

the need, however, to go beyond simply the look and feel to being m ore strategic abou t

communications:

W e re moving today from impac t to consumer engagem ent ... Integration is

not just part of communication. Integration bas to go down all the way to how

we answer the phone, how we greet customers who walk into a branch, how we

fulfil requests, how easy is it, or what process you go through when you redeem

rewards, or when you have to open an account ... all those things need to be

integrated ... Everybody is in charge of integration ... even if it is something

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O

ADVERTISING, 2014,33(2)

very hard to do especially because of our size and diversity of our business ...

So there s com munica tion integration, custome r experience, and service deHvery

integration .. . there s the integration of the customer experience.

Client, m arketing director Asia-Pacific,

person l

interview, January 2011

4. Involvement ofover ll businessprocess, not just marketing commu nications. This presup-

poses under standing the business and th e integration n ot only of ma rketing and sales,

but also of aU functions within the organisation, encompassing both horizontal and

vertical integration across business platforms within the firm; everyone in the organ-

isation is a steward of integration. At the core of the business process is the consumer.

Practice of IM

It is interesting to n ote tha t the interviewees descriptions of bow I M C is practised are in

congruence with their conceptual understan ding of IM C . Th ere are three key features of

IM C practice com mon to both agency and client responde nts, namely: (1) use of multiple

med ia in planning a nd delivering marke ting comm unications messages; (2) primacy of con-

sumer understanding as the kernel of marketing communications planning and execution;

and (3) use of proprietary frameworks or processes for I M C planning, including m easure-

ment tools, by botb clients and agencies. A brief discussion of these features follows:

It is com m on practice for bo tb agencies and clients to be more med ia neutral and

use a wide range of contact points otber than traditional m edia to deliver m arketing

communications messages. Although TV continues to be prevalent in less developed

markets, other channels, especiaUy digital, that aUow greater interaction and engage-

m ent w ith consum ers have grown in im portance. T he use of more varied channels is

also clearly refiected in the budget aUocations of cUents for the different media they

utilise. Clients do a lot m ore coordination w ork am ong the various agencies they wo rk

with (i.e. media agencies, creative agencies, digital agencies and activation agencies)

in planning and delivering relevant messages and content to targeted audiences using

multiple touchpoints.

T h e need for deeper consumer und erstanding as a pivotal and necessary elemen t of

effective marketing communications planning is also widely understood today among

agencies an d clients. A consum er-centric approach involves, am ong o ther thing s, being

respectful and culturaUy sensitive to wbat consumers need and want, conducting ongo-

ing research on consum er trends, unders tanding the entire customer experience and its

integration in the context ofaUbusiness decisions, and understan ding the consum er

journey or path to purchase.

A bou t half of the client respondents and a few from the agency side claim th at they use

their own proprietary frameworks of imp lem enting IM C w ithin their organisations.

These frameworks correspond to the philosophies of marketing purported by client

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interviewees described earlier. Some common features contained in these firameworks

include consum er und erstand ing, business scenario and analysis, bran d fundam entals,

marketing and communications strategies and tactics implemented at all levels and

functions within the organisation, budget allocations and measurement metrics.

Clients and agency respondents also reported certain differences in their practice of

I M C .

Agencies singled ou t the increasing need to train their staff to thin k abou t total com m un i-

cations, and develop talen t and experfise in various m arketing com mu nications disciplines

othe r than advertising, particularly in digital technology. Some agencies also have had to

undergo structural changes within their agency networks to become more integrated and

aligned with the new d emand s of the m arketplace.

Clie nt interviewees high lighted a few oth er ways by wh ich they claim to practise I M C

tha t did no t surface am ong agency respon dents. Th ese features of integration in clude

(1) utilising metrics to m easure effectiveness of integrated m arketing p rogram s; (2) co ord-

ination , plan ning and execution of integration across all functions of th e organisation, and

no t just limited to marketing communicafions; (3) need for co mm itmen t and buy-in of

top m anagem ent to make integration work; and (4) appointing an IM C director or head

of marketin g comm unicafions at local and regional levels.

arriers to effective im plem entation o f IMC

T h e agency and client responden ts identified resistance to change, lack of I M C training

am ong existing talent pool, and inade quate financial measu rem ent tools as the three fore-

mo st barriers hinderin g the effective practice of I M C in organisafions.

Agency respo ndents claim th at clients tradifional m ind-sets , their resistance to change

(especially top management), and slowness to adapt to new realifies in the digital age are

major barriers to integration. Some clients share this observation within their organisations

as well. Ma ny clients also seem to b e risk-averse and still invest heavily in trad itional med ia,

even as they struggle to understand the benefits and effectiveness ofthe digital space.

One respondent highlighted the widespread industry practice among media agencies

and th eir clients of buying m edia space in bulk

a

year in advance (to take advantag e of large

discounts and cost efficiencies) even before clients have decided on their marketing plans

for th e nextyear Th is practice goes against IM C thin kin g because it forces television buys

even w hen this m igh t n ot be th e best med ium for a given brand . T hi s practice also sfifies

the fiexibility to experim ent in oth er m edia. A few respo ndents have also pointed out that

the traditional, time-b oun d approach of the so-called campaign m entality in prom oting

brands is yet another indication of traditional thinking. Th is poin ts to the need to shift to

today s reality of eng aging consumers in o ngoin g, always-on, conversations.

The lack of well-trained industry talent wdth the necessary sldU sets to drive integration

is the second most important barrier identified by both agency and client interviewees in

the study. T he y poin ted to a regional need to train agency and client managers to have a

better appreciation o fth e total mark eting mix in the context of digital technology, creating

a breed of both creative generalists and craft specialists. One agency respondent claims

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tha t creative people in agencies also have to learn how to be more business min ded - to

thin k abo ut sales, business and consumers.

Inadequate methods of measuring the effectiveness of integrated programmes emerged

as yet another b arrier to advancing the practice of IM C in organisations. T h e majority of

clients today, however, scan be drawn from the interviewees, have enhanced their capabili-

ties in analytics and quantitative measurement models and tools to track results of market-

ing communications programmes. One interviewee believes, however, that more needs to

be done as far as I M C measurem ent tools are concerned:

One of the bartiers is [a lack of] quantitative measurement ... Nobody has a

measuring model that allows you to play with three or four factors, one being

context of media, one being the channels, one being the messages, to dictate impact

on consumers. Currently what most marketers or most researchers do is look at

independent parts of the mix to then form a considered opinion of the success or the

probability ofsuccessofth at mix. W he n you just look at IM C , I think if there was a

quantitative modelling available that allowed you to play with certain parameters to

dictate what is the most ideal optimum mix, and with that high level of accuracy, it

wiU give clients far m ore reassurance to practice this as a ritual and a necessity, rather

than an experimentation and a nice to have.

Agency,

regional president

Asia-Pacific,

personalinterview, January 2011

W hil e a few other barriers were mentioned by the respondents, the ones cited highlight the

need for clear, consumer-based and well-grounded strategic directions for brands in order

to originate compelling creative ideas and consistent brand messages for eflFective practice

of I M C .

Industry perspectives vs academic literature on IM

nderstanding of

IM

The results ofthis study indicate that, in the more than 20 years since academic literature

began to examine the subject of IM C , there seems to be a general consensus between

industry practitioners and academics on the understand ing and practice of I M C in

organisations.

T h e I M C definition introduced by Schultz and Schultz (1998), and the one proposed

by Kliatchko (2008) a decade later are bo th in agreement w ith the concepts put forward by

respondents in this study. As points of reference for discussion, both definitions are stated

below:

I M C is a strategic business process used to p lan, develop, execute, and evaluate

coordinated, measurable, persuasive brand com mun ication program s over tim e w ith

consum ers, customers, prospects, and other relevant external and internal audiences.

chultz

and

chultz

1998)

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TWENTYYE RSOF IMC

IMC is an audience-driven business process of strategically managing stakebolders,

content, channels, and results of brand communication programs.

li tchko

2008)

Bo th industry and academ e concur on the following key tenets of IM C :

I M C is a strategic process rather than a tactical one, encompassing the integration

of not only marketing communications, but of tbe entire business process as a wbole,

including all functional areas wdthin the organisation.

I M C is consum er-centric. T he whole process of planning and integration is anchored

on a deep consumer unders tanding, and aU decision points have the consum er as the

hinge and constant reference point. Moreover, although academic literature more

explicitly indicates tha t IM C goes beyond focusing solely on the co nsum er and should

look at all relevant stakeholders of an organisation for integrated planning, industry

practitioners acknowledge and imply that, in fact, the integration process involves both

internal and external publics of

a

given brand or firm.

I M C strategically uses and invests in relevant contact points or media channels to most

effectively deliver brand content or messages to target audiences in a coordinated and

consistent manner.

I M C involves measur ing and tracking effectiveness of prog ram mes and their financial

contributions to overall business success.

Practice of IMC

To exam ine the extent to which I M C is practised in the organisations represented in

this study, we use the four levels of I M C p ropo sed by Schu ltz and S chultz 1998) as a

framework.

Level :Tactical coordination

Focus on producing one-sight, one-sound, one-feel communications to achieve greater

synergy; create cross-functional team s am ong advertising agencies to provide fiiU service,

one- stop- shop services to clients.

Level

2:

Redefining the

s ope

of marketing comm unications

Con sider all the possible contact points by which customers get in contact with the brand

or their total experience with the brand, wbicb shapes customer perceptions and influ-

ences the buying-decision process.

Level3:App lication of IT

Harness technology to improve performance through data-driven marketing, by deliver-

ing m ore personalised and relevant content or messages to target audiences wdth the use of

databases tbat capture information about customers, consumers an d prospects. Tecb nology

provides empirical transaction data over time, customer valuation and analytical tools, etc.

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Level : Strategic and financial integration

Allocate resources and ensure organisational alignment; use measurement systems to bet-

ter rationalise and compare financial returns to financial investments; and measure return

on custom er investments and I M C as an approach to drive organisational and strategic

directions.

A s discussed earlier, all interviewees assert that the y do practise I M C vwthin their o rga ni-

sations. Us ing the four levels of I M C framewo rk as a take-off po int, the following may

be assumed:

All respond ents are definitely well with in levels 1 and 2 in the way they practise IM C .

Coordination, consistency, synergy in communications, use of multiple touchpoints,

and so on, are established marketing communications practices today.

N ow tha t the use of techno logy and databases is standard practice in most organisa-

tions, it may be said that all the firms represented in the study, to a greater or lesser

extent, also practise som e dimensions of level 3 of I M C . Perh aps th e aspect of level

3 that is more fiJly developed in large multinational companies, bu t not necessarily

so for small and medium-sized firms, is the use of sophisticated analytics and other

measurement tools to create closed-loop evaluation systems (Schultz 8c Schultz 1998).

It may alsobe inferred that only a few of the large global companies included in the

study are well vwthin the criterion for level 4 of I M C , and th at m ost com panies still

have to work towards a min d-set of using customer incom e flows as the key element of

measurement rather than isolated communication efforts to drive financial investment

decisions in marketing communications. On the other hand, the aspect of level

4 that

for the m ost part, more com panies seem to practise is the outside-in approach of I M C

(that of being consumer-centric) to drive organisational and overall strategic directions

and decisions for the organisation.

onclusion and next steps

Th is senior m anage me nt view of I M C and integration raises the level of discussion to

a m uch highe r org anisational level than previous research. T hu s, we believe it can add

substantially to the literature. Respondents seem to lay out clear directions for developing

and im plem enting I M C in today s interactive, one foot in the past and one foot in the

future marketplace. In term s of plan ning for the fiiture, previousIM C research is perhaps

interesting but not very helpil. The future is exciting, but there are few clear directions.

Clearly, senior managers are concerned about the rise of digital media and the frag-

m entation of previously mo nolithic marketer-controlled m edia systems. W h e n asked

about the changes they had observed, they highlighted a number of issues such as the

deluge of data, the speed of change, and the demand for transparency and authenticity

brou ght on by consum ers instantaneous access to external and third-p arty d ata. Yet these

senior managers c ontended that, in spite of all the changes a nd turm oil, some of the mar-

ketplace basics have not changed. Things such as product quality, customer service and

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TWENTY YEARS OFIMC

good-to-great storytelling stiU seem to provide a foundation for all forms of marketing

and marketing communications today.

W b a t is obvious, bowever, is the intensely local and even individual n ature of today's

marketplace. Clearly, each respon dent has a uniqu e view of

today s

marketplace and wh at it

is likely to be in th e future. T he concept of mass' no longer seems to be upperm ost in the

min ds an d actions of these senior manag ers. O ne can probably argue these are uniq ue views,

given the emerging markets fiom which they were gleaned. Yet, if these types of market

make up 80 or so of the world's population, it mayweUbe that today's established w estern

market approaches may be the taU wagging the dog. W h a t seems to be critically im porta nt

is that, often, in our search for best practices and discovery of commonalities among mar-

kets and marketers, we overlook the marketer's ability to create and implement individuaUy

focused marketing communications programmes that are unique and have the potential to

be incred ibly successful.

As one of the senior executives interviewed for the study said, 'The cost of failure is still

relatively low in the Asia-Pacific region.Therefore, this mayweUbe the best area to experi-

ment and test new ideas and concepts.'The abiUty to test, measure and learn in emerging

markets sbould be an important consideration for marketers, agencies, and others seeking

know ledge and researchable concepts that are easily tested and either confirmed or discarded.

O ne of the m ost interesting areas of the study came from the 'philosophy of marketing'

that was being implem ented by both clients and their agencies. In the research, I M C was

mentioned, but no preconceived definition was provided to respondents. Most respond-

ents clearly espoused an IMC-type approach to marketing communications through their

discussion, but they just didn't use this terminology. Instead terms such as 'fusion', 'insight

driven' and 'holistic' replaced I M C , much t o th e chagrin of the researchers.

T h e academic com mu nity thrives on clearly defined concepts, and tried and tested expla-

nations in wh ich the m essy world of actual marketing and m arketing com mun ications can be

codified. Such is not the case with these practitioners. Each seems to have a unique view of

integration, what it

is,

how it should be used, how it can be implem ented, and so on. Indeed,

from the client or marketing organisation view, each C M O seems to have brou ght his or

her own unique view and definition of the concept and how it should be played out in each

company and each country And, mostlikely,wh en th at C M O moves on, his or her replace-

ment wiU bring a new view of integration to tbe firm as well. Tbus, we can conclude that

a clearly defined and agreed up on definition of IM C may no t be possible, practical or even

useful. We probably should be dealing with broader concepts such as thinking and planning

at a mo re strategic level, being driven by customer focus, and using con tact points rathe r tha n

media forms or even the 'bright, new, shiny objects' that seem to define today's social media.

Can this study help provide direction for future research efforts in IMC? We believe it

can. Here are some clear initiatives that need to be undertaken, starting today:

AlmostaUrespondents agreed on the need for better measures and measurement ofinte-

grated programm es, whatever form they

take.

Clearly, if we couldn't successfliUy measure

the returns on individual media forms in the past, today's proliferation of media forms

complicates tha t question substantially. Perbaps s om ethin g th at is resident in the answers

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of responden ts provides a clue to ho w tha t m ight be done going forward. If the customer

tnily does control the marketplace

today,

wh at the marke ter does may well be less impor -

tant than w hat tb e custom er does. Alth oug h th is perspecfive may be viewed differently

by different academics and pracfifioners, we believe that, rather than trying to measure

the impact of what we are doing as marketers, it might be better to try to measure what

customers are doing .. . parficularly in terms of their media

usage,

purchasing behaviours,

how they are combining and consolidafinga the media forms available to the m, and so

on. So, maybe one of tbe key learnings is to focus on customer access and use of media

forms, rather than what media forms tbe marketer is using - consumer consumpfion

rather than marketer distribufion.

Financiis are crifical. Every resp ond ent interviewed stressed the critical nature of devel-

opin g strategic business approaches, no t jus t m to look at creafive execufions, no matter

how integrated they are . T h e future of marketing and m arkefing comm unicafions is

financial. I t s fime for both academics and professionals to focus on wh at is importa nt to

the firm - financial return s, no t just likes and loves and buzz and go od feelings.

Ru nning through out the study was a theme of change. W h a t has been developed and

codified both by the academic community and the senior markefing executives is nice

to know, bu t n ot terribly relevant today. T h at is clear firom the com me nts about the

resistance to change the senior marketing people found in their ovm organisafions and

amo ng their agencies. T he campaign nature of m arketing comm unicafions planning and

implementafion must clearly give way to more strategic, long er-te rm , financially viable

relafionship program me s th at buUd value for both the m arketer and customer over time .

W e simply need to re think wh at m arketing com municafions is all about in an interacfive,

informaon-lade n system where the customer probably knows as mu ch as, or perhaps

mo re tha n, the m arketer. Co ntro l is gone. Informafion sharing is likely to be the future,

and reciprocity for both parfies the goal.

As academicians, this study raises some im porta nt issues. W e can probably continue to

build glorious, stafiscaUy bulletproof models of how the wotld sbould b e. But how prac-

fical and valuable are they going forward? Simply creating more elegant m odels, wh ich

may

be

supp orted by and regaled by our associates, may have no lon g-term , applied value.

O ne of the academic challenges to IM C has been the inability of its proponents to pr o-

vide a widely agreed up on definifion. I t m ay well be tha t now, 20 years later, the C M O s

and agency execufives in th e Asia-Pacific reg ion have shovwi

us

just how irrelevant find-

ing an agreed up on definifion really is. M aybe I M C is really the concept of customer

focus,

contact points and measurable returns implemented in mulfiple ways by mulfiple

organisafions and directed to mulfiple audiences. Perhaps its only real value is that it is

relevant, authenfic and usefiil to the persons at the buying end o ft he confinuum.

Clearly, there is much work to do and many exdting new avenues to ptirsue. We hope this

studywi provide some insight into where to start.

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TWENTYYEARSOF IMC

eferen es

An antachart, S. (2001) To integrate or no t to integrate: exploring how T ha i m arketers perceive

integrated marketing communications.Proceedingso fhe2001 Special Asia-PacificConferenceo f

the merican cademyof Advertising,

6673.

Ana ntachart, S. (2003) In the eyes of tlie beholder: a comparison of Th ai mark eters'and

advertising practitioners' perceptions on integrated marketing communications.Proceedingso f

the2001 Special Asia-PacificConferenceof he merican cademyof Advertising,Al47.

Denz in, N.K. 6c Lincoln,Y.S.(2005)

TheSage Handbookof Q ualitativeResearch

(third edition).

Londo n: Sage.

Eagle, L. Kitchen,P.(2000) IM C , brand comm unications, and corporate cultures: client/

advertising agency coordination and cohesion.European Journal cf

Marketing

34(5/6) , 667-686 .

Eagle, L., Kitchen, P., Hy de, K , Fourie, W . ScPad isetti, M . (1999) Perceptions of integrated

marketing com munications am ong m arketers and ad agency executives in New Zealand.

InternationalJournal of Advertising, 18(1 ), 89119.

Einwiller, S.A. Boenigk, M . (2011) Exam ining the link between integrated comm unication

man agem ent and comm unication effectiveness in m edium -sized

enterprises. Journal of

Marketing Communications, DOI:10.1080/13527266.2010.530055.

Ew ing, M .T., D e Bussy, N .M . Car uana , A . (2000) Perceived agency politics and conflicts of

interest as potential barriers to IM C oentation. Journal of Marketing Com munications,6(2),

107-119 .

Gou ld, S.J., Lerm an, D .B. 8c Grein,

A.F.

(1999) Agency perceptions and practices on global IM C .

Journal of Advertising Research,39(1), 7-1 4.

Grein,

A.F.

8c Gou ld, S.J. (1996) Globally integrated m arketing com municadon s./owr/of

Marketing Communications,2(3), 141-1 58.

Kallmeyer, J.

c

Ab ratt, R. (2001) Perceptions of I M C and organizational change am ong agencies

in South Africa.InternationalJournal of Advertising,20(3), 361380.

Kim, I., Han , D. 8c Schultz, D . (2004) Und erstanding the diffusion of integrated marketing

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3145.

Kitchen, RJ. 8c Li ,T . (2005) Perceptions of integrated marketing com munications: a Chinese ad

and PR agency perspective.InternationalJournal of Advertising,24 (1), 5178.

Kitchen, P.J. 8c Schultz, D .E . (1999) A mu l-cou ntry comparison of the drive forWIC Journalof

Advertising Research,39(1) , 21-3 8.

Kitchen, P.J., Kim, I. 8c Schultz, D.E. (2008) Integrated marketing communications: practice leads

theory. Journal of Advertising Research,48(4), 531 -546 .

Kliatchko, J. (2008) R evisiting the I M C construct: a revised definition and four pillars.

International Journal of Advertising,27(1), 133-1 60.

Laurie, S. cM ortimer, K. (2011) IM C is dead. Long live I M C : academics'versus practitioners'

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Research,40{3 ,27-39.

Luck, E. 8cM offatt, J. (2009) I M C : has anything really changed? A new perspective on an old

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bou t the authors

Jerry G. Kliatchko is an Associate Professor of Integrated Marketing Communications

(IM C) at the University of Asia and the Pacific (UAScP) hased in M anila, Philippines. H e

is currently the De an of the School of Co mm unication at UAScP. H e w as also the Vice

President for Academic Affairs and Corporate Communications of the same university

from 2006 to 2010.

He has a doctorate in Public Communication from the University of Navarra in

Pam plona, Spain. H e began the graduate programm e in IM C at UA cP in 1997. In 2005,

he initiated the Asia-Pacific Tam buli Awa rds, an award-giving body on social good ma rket-

ing th at delivers business results for corporations in the A sia-Pacific region. D r Kliatchko is

also the A G O R A awardee in the Philippines for the Outstanding

chievement

in Marketing

Education

award in

2005.

H e has published books and academ ic journ al articles in in terna -

tional refereed journals over the last years. H e is on t he editorial board of the

International

Journal of Integrated Ma rketing Com mun ication.

Don E. Schultz is Professor Emeritus-in-Service of Integrated Marketing

Communications. He is also president of the global marketing consultancy Agora, Inc.,

located in Chicago.

Prior to his academic career, Schultz spent 15 years in media and advertising agency

man agem ent, the last ten at Tracy-L ocke Advertising and Public Relations, Dallas, where

he was a senior vice president and management supervisor on a number of national

accounts. He resigned from Tracy-Locke to pursue a career in academia.

Schultz lectures, conducts seminars and conferences and consults on five continents.

His current research and teaching focuses on communication integration, emerging mar-

kets,

branding and tbe financial measures of marketing and communication, social media s

impact on consumers, media synergy and intemal marketing. He also holds or has held

appointments as an adjunct/visiting professor at the Queensland University of Technology

in Australia, Cranfield School of M anag em ent in the U K ,Tsingh ua U niversity and Peking

University, Ch ina and the Swedish School of Econom ics, Finland.

H e is the author/co -author of twenty-six books and over 150 trade, academic and pro -

fessional articles. He is a featured columnist in

Ma rketing News and Marketing Insights.

H e

was founding editor

of xhe Journal of Direct Marketing

and is associate editor

of the. Journal

of Marketing

Communications

co-editor of tbeInternational Journal of Integrated Ma rketing

Communication and is on the editorial review board for many trade and scholarly publica-

tions. H e is a former me mb er of tbe N ational Advertising Review Board.

Address correspondence to: Jerry G . Kliatchko, De an, School of C om mu nication,

University of Asia and the Pacific, Philippines, Pearl Drive, Ortigas Center, Pasig City,

Philippines 1605.

Email: jerry.kliatchko@uap.asia

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C o p y r i g h t o f I n t e r n a t i o n a l J o u r n a l o f A d v e r t i s i n g i s t h e p r o p e r t y o f W a r c L T D a n d i t s c o n t e n t

m a y n o t b e c o p i e d o r e m a i l e d t o m u l t i p l e s i t e s o r p o s t e d t o a l i s t s e r v w i t h o u t t h e c o p y r i g h t

h o l d e r ' s e x p r e s s w r i t t e n p e r m i s s i o n . H o w e v e r , u s e r s m a y p r i n t , d o w n l o a d , o r e m a i l a r t i c l e s f o r

i n d i v i d u a l u s e .