Integrated Marketing Communications – 2nd Pillar in Reinventing Marketing

As I mentioned in my previous posts, continuous marketing reinvention contains four key pillars. Last week I discussed brand building – this week I will focus my post on integrated marketing communications.

I believe the most fundamental changes in marketing have been influenced by the development of new media which have shifted power from the marketer to the consumer.

These profound shifts have created enormous opportunities -- but have also complicated the lives and practices of marketers. The opportunities are embedded in the enhanced ability for marketers to connect with consumers directly – and, in many instances, on a one-to-one basis. The ability to target audiences provides enormous advantages in focus, marketing efficiency, research, and marketing effectiveness.

Additionally, by leveraging a broader swatch of marketing communications vehicles, marketers can reach targeted consumers in places and locations not previously possible.

However, marketers’ frustrations and concerns emanate from the challenge of effectively integrating this wide body of communications vehicles. Specifically:

• What is the right marketing mix to support brand building efforts?

• How much should be invested for the total brand and by media type? How does this get recalibrated over time?

• How do companies tie the marketing messages together across the marketing spectrum?

• What are the core measurements?

• What is the effectiveness of each medium individually and how does the media mix get evaluated in total?

A reinvented marketing model is necessary -- and must embrace two fundamental principles:

1. The first is that marketers must approach marketing disciplines and media choices in a completely agnostic fashion. There can be no bias towards television over other media – or for that matter towards advertising over other communications disciplines.

2. The second principle is that marketers must approach the entire spectrum of marketing choices – including the new, emerging ones – with a far more disciplined strategic planning process.

Today, leading companies are beginning to employ sophisticated analytics as a way to more precisely plan and track the performance of their marketing initiatives and ensure integration. Not unlike designing a financial portfolio, they are building a marketing mix model that allocates weights to different marketing investments, then tracks and adjusts those investments based on performance against predetermined metrics.

This approach brings a much needed degree of discipline to marketing planning and execution. And it recognizes that campaigns need to be constantly monitored and ‘rebalanced’ based on performance.

So who really “gets” what integrated marketing communications is all about?

One company that does is Daimler-Chrysler. They’ve recognized that the traditional demographic approach to marketing planning is outmoded in today’s fragmented marketplace. So they’ve transitioned to a lifestyle approach – deeply integrating their brands into the popular culture through a breathtaking array of experiences: sports, fashion, entertainment, music, technology … and an equally breathtaking array of innovative channels: video-on-demand, event marketing, gaming, IPTV, text messaging, pod casting and webisodes, not to mention sweepstakes and public relations.

This highly integrated and diverse approach recognizes the fundamental change in consumer behavior from yesteryear – namely that people aren’t passively sitting at home watching their TVs. Rather, they’re actively engaged in and controlling their media experiences. To connect with these consumers, Daimler-Chrysler’s lifestyle strategy is seeking them out, wherever their heads and hearts might be.