Integrated Marketing Campaigns – The Key Building Brand Awareness

Source: HiTechNectar

With so many different channels and touch-points available to consumers in present time, it is important for businesses to have a unified and consistent message across all communication efforts. IMC helps to create a seamless and cohesive brand experience for customers, increasing the likelihood that they will remember and recognize the brand.

The ultimate goal of IMC is to create a strong brand image and effectively connect with customers across all touch-points. While some brands have successfully implemented IMC, others have faced challenges or missteps in their efforts.

Brand 1 – Coca Cola

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Coca-Cola is a brand that has used IMC to build a strong and recognisable brand image. The company’s advertising campaigns, sponsorships, and social media presence all reflect its core values of happiness, joy, and togetherness.

Source: Marketing Mag

For example, the company’s “Share a Coke” campaign, which featured personalized bottles with people’s names on them, was highly successful and helped to reinforce the brand’s message of sharing and togetherness.

Brand Example 2 – Pepsi

Source: IndianFood

“Pepsi was trying to project a global message of unity, peace and understanding. Clearly, we missed the mark and apologise”. Are you able to guess the advert through this statement?

Source: The New York Times

In 2017, a highly expensive and poorly thought-out Pepsi commercial featured reality TV star Kendall Jenner. The ad suggested that the gift of a single serving of Pepsi could bring about world peace, and showed Jenner calming a racially-charged protest by handing a can of Pepsi to a police officer in riot gear. This commercial was widely criticized for being insensitive to victims of police violence and the Black Lives Matter movement, as well as to supporters of law enforcement. Even Jenner herself later apologized for her participation in the ad.

In conclusion, Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) is an essential strategy for building a strong brand image and connecting with customers across all touchpoints. Positive examples like Coca-Cola show how effective IMC can create a consistent and compelling message that resonates with customers. Negative examples like Pepsi show how poor execution and lack of sensitivity can undermine the effectiveness of IMC. It is important for businesses to carefully plan, execute, and monitor their IMC efforts to ensure they are effective in achieving their marketing objectives.