INTRODUCTION Over the past decade, product marketing and the ways in which communication between producers and consumers takes place has changed enormously (Belch & Belch 2004). Due to technological revolutions and the spread of innovations such as mobile phones and the Internet, control over information has seemingly shifted from the hands of producers to those of consumers (Belch & Belch 2004). The market environment has also changed due to globalization of marketing strategies, loss of trust in media advertising, increased reliance on targeted communication methods, media fragmentation, and so on (Belch & Belch 2004). Given the changing market environment, the need for more efficient and cost-effective marketing strategies have prompted changes in the way marketers conduct their marketing activities and have led to the adoption of more integrated approaches (Dewhirst & Davis, 2005). The consequence has been the adoption of a more holistic, customer-focused approach to conducting marketing communications activities, a process often known as Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) (Dewhirst & Davis, 2005). IMC CONCEPTA A large number of studies have attempted to define the term Integrated Marketing Communications. One of the most concise and widely accepted definitions of the IMC concept is that defined by the American Association of Advertising Agencies. That is, "a marketing communications planning concept that recognizes the added value of a comprehensive plan that evaluates the strategic roles of a variety of communications disciplines (e.g., general advertising, direct response, sales promotion, and public relations) and combines these disciplines to provide clarity, consistency, and... central part of brand equity in an organizational purchasing context Journal of Product & Brand Management, Vol. 6(6), pp. 428-437 .Kitchen, P.J Schultz, 1998. IMC – the perspective of a UK advertising agency, Journal of Marketing Management, vol. 14, pp. 465-485. Related of Integrated Marketing Communications Journal ofAdvertising Research, vol . 40, pp. 27-39. Peltier, et al., 1992. Direct response versus image advertising, vol. 6 (1), pp. 49-66. Reilly & C. James, 1991. The role of marketing communications integrated into brand management, The Advertiser, Vol.1 (Fall), pp.32-35.Schultz, D.E., 1996. The inevitability of integrated communications. Journal of Business Research, Vol. 37, pp. 139-146.Schultz, D.E., et al., 1994. The new marketing paradigm: integrated marketing communications. NTC company books, pp. 105-156.
tags