Some ideas on integrated marketing from the academic literature

Some ideas on integrated marketing from the academic literature

1. Tsai, S.P. 2005. "Integrated marketing as management of holistic consumer experience" Business Horizons (2005) 48, 431 - 441.

1.1 ".... if IMC [integrated marketing communication] refers to nothing more than tactically delivering commercial messages through a mixture of advertising, public relations, special events, product placement, and sales promotion activities, then it does not deserve to include the term "integrated", the connotation of which goes beyond a mere mixture of everything without strategic discretion";

1.2 ".... IMC is capable, through the comprehensive orchestration between communication factors and brand management, of managing effectively the mediated impression of and the direct encounter with the brand. What results is a holistic brand value structure, fully reflecting the mental and physical spaces of the consumer, relevant to his or her sensory, emotional, social, and intellectual experiences";

1.3 "A strategic axis focusing on the holistic consumer experience ought to run through the units of research and development, manufacturing, marketing management, and marketing communications. This brings out the synergy of interrelated elements in these units to cohort the IMC practice, which leads to a sustainable driving force of the brand usage";

2. Sheth, J.N. 2001. "From international to integrated marketing" Journal of Business Research 51 (2001) 5 - 9.

2.1 "In my opinion, international marketing will be replaced by integrated marketing and in the process, will result in two-dimensional shifts. The first shift to integrated marketing will focus more on cross-functional integration and coordination and less on functional adjustments across national boundaries. The second shift will focus more on transnational similarities for target markets across national boundaries and less on international differences";

2.2 "One of the major drivers for integrated marketing on a global basis is the productivity improvement potential through integrated marketing";

2.3 "As operations get organized around global customer accounts, it becomes increasingly necessary to deploy quality consistency across all functional units. For example, the six sigma or zero-defect concept is no longer limited to manufacturing or to line operations, but is extended to all functions, line, and staff. A theory of consistency becomes a very viable concept for integrated marketing";

2.4 "Cross-functional integration required coordination and communication. While functional adjustments are dependent upon contextual determinants, cross-functional integration and coordination is capable of transcending ad hoc, context-driven issues to a higher plane of conceptual theory. ....  it is becoming increasingly evident that we can use well-accepted concepts of economic and social sciences to develop a theory of integrated marketing";