Integrated Marketing Communications

Integrated Marketing Communications  is a strategic business process used to plan,develop and execute co-ordinated and persuasive brand communication programs with consumers and customers. The main goal of IMC is to build a long term brand value.

The following are the various components of  IMC called the Marketing Mix Elements:

Kissan Jam uses a mix of all these elements to create it’s brand image.

While it’s advertising in print and TV was  already well known, the brand realized that it had to increase it’s digital presence. It came up with #kissantiffinrecipes campaign that gave interesting recipes using Kissan Jam. Consumers could download videos and text recipes based on Kissan Jams. This led to consumers promoting the recipes by sharing it on friends’ walls or by recommending it,thus encouraging consumers to use the product. This campaign was targeted mainly at mothers who had to think of new and nutritious dishes to make for the kid’s tiffin. With the increasing use of internet,more and more mothers are there on facebook and twitter, thus making the campaign a success.

This is an interesting example of how interactive marketing can be incorporated for a product.

Also, on children’s day,2011, the brand introduced itself into the Limca Book of Records. On this day it organized a Kissan Jammy Art Carnival as an online activity in which children food art using the paint application on the website: jammyart.com.

Most of the ads by Kissan are targeted at mothers and to an extent the kids,by including the fun factor in the ads.

In order to develop an effective communications plan, the following steps must be followed.

We take the example of Kissan to explain these steps:

1) Identify the target audience: The target audience in this case would be mothers as they are looking to give their kids, exciting and nutriritous dishes to eat.

2) Determine Objectives: The objective in this case is to solve a category need i.e give mothers new and exciting recipes for tiffins .

3)Design the communications: Buyers expect one of the four types of rewards form a product-rational,sensory,social or ego satisfaction and they might visualize these rewards from results-of-use experience,product-in-use experience,or incidental-to-use-experience. For Kissan, it is a rational reward i.e following results-of-use experience for mothers.

Also, for Kissan Jam, the messages are more of an informational appeal i.e the messages elaborate on product attributes or benefits  rather than transformational apeal that elaborates on non product-related benefit or image.

4)Select the communication channels: Kissan uses a mix of personal communication channels(face-to-face,person-to-audience through a phone or e-mail) and non-personal communication channels(directed to more than one person i.e advertising,sales promotions,events and experiences,public relations)

5) Establish the total marketing communications budget:

Industries and companies vary considerably on how much they spend on marketing communications. For Kissan, the percentage of total expenditure on various promotions has been low for the last five years.

6)Deciding on the marketing communications mix:

The various elements of the marketing communications mix can be decided by the brand based on it’s objective and the budget decided.

For example, when the objective is to develop an interactive and customised experience for the customer, direct and interactive marketing could be used.

7)Measuring Communication Results: It is important for brands to know the outcomes and revenues resulting from their communications investments.

8)Managing the Integrated Marketing Communications Process: Co-ordinating media across all media types and implementing the plan.