ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors look at some of the considerations a manager must take into account in developing an Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) plan. The first consideration in strategic planning for IMC is to review the marketing plan to understand the market in general and where a brand fits relative to its competition. Direct marketing, while it is generally thought about in terms of delivering a promotion-like message because it is usually looking for a specific, short-term response, is much more than that. The key is that, regardless of the medium used to deliver the message, the target audience is database driven. Direct marketing also uses the delivery medium as the marketplace, whereas with traditional advertising distribution is used to define the marketplace. Although the reflects a relative use of advertising-like and promotion-like messages in IMC during the product lifecycle, there are absolute cost considerations here as well.
