According to Armstrong and Kotler, what are the five elements of integrated marketing communication? How do organizations employ these elements to achieve their marketing goals?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Organizations that use the tools of the promotional mix in combination with each other in order to inform, persuade and remind consumers about products are said to be utilizing integrated marketing communication or IMC. IMC, according to Armstrong and Kotler, comprises five elements: 1. advertising, which is any paid form of nonpersonal promotion of ideas, goods or services by an identified sponsor; 2. sales promotion or the use of short term incentives to encourage the purchase of sale of a good or service; 3 . personal selling, whose purpose is to make sales and build customer relationships through personal presentations by members of a firm's sales force; 4. direct marketing, which is the utilization of such techniques as direct mail, telephone, direct-response television, the Internet and other tools to communicate directly with carefully selected target groups of consumers in order to obtain an immediate response and foster enduring customer relationships; and 5. public relations, which cultivates and maintains good relationships with a firm's various publics by generating positive publicity, enhancing corporate image, and managing crises and unfavorable communication about the organization.