Integrated Marketing Communications: An Overview
Integrated Marketing Communications: An Overview Organizations utilize integrated marketing communications (IMC) to brand and coordinate their communication efforts. IMC is defined by the American Association of Advertising Agencies as "a comprehensive plan that evaluates the strategic roles of a variety of communication disciplines and combines these disciplines to provide clarity, consistency, and maximum communication impact." The main goal of an IMC strategy is to provide consumers with a consistent experience across all aspects of the marketing mix. Each marketing communication channel reinforces the brand's fundamental image and messaging by working together as part of a coherent whole rather than in isolation. The Growth of Marketing Communications from Fragmented to Integrated Prior to the 1990s, mass communications—the process of delivering information to wide sectors of the population via television, radio, and other media—ruled marketing. Marketing