Customers typically avoid companies that have communicated confusing messages about their brand.
Integrated marketing is about consistency and coordination. Companies try to build marketing strategies that consistently reinforce key messages about their brand or product, and coordinate their efforts in all the media and marketing tools they use in a campaign. By applying the four C's of integrated marketing, companies can create a memorable and impactful message.
Coherence
All the messages in a marketing campaign should work well together to present a broader message about a company, its brand and its products -- a message that customers can understand easily. When customers have encountered this coherent message, they are likely to be aware of what a company can offer. In "New York" magazine, Simon Dumenco discusses the simple but highly effective message behind the popular Budweiser "True" ad campaign, which depicts a group of friends in a series of commercials. The word "Whassup" drives the dialogue and the message that Budweiser is an unpretentious brand.
Consistency
Consistency is a central tool of integrated marketing. Companies must know exactly what they want to communicate before developing a marketing campaign. Otherwise, the campaign comes across as fragmented, random messages. One of the worst things a company can do is leave consumers wondering exactly what it sells. Consistent reinforcement of core messages helps establish a clear identity for a brand. For example, discount retailer Kmart has been criticized for many years for sending an inconsistent message. At times, the company has taken on Wal-mart as a low-cost retailer. At other times, Kmart has tried to compete with Target's "Expect more, pay less" model with the Martha Stewart line and marketing centered on value-oriented branding.
Continuity
The website Sales and Marketing for You says it's important for a company's marketing messages to evolve over time as the brand and its products evolve. This requires carefully planned strategies to maintain continuity in marketing messages throughout a campaign and over time. For example, Coca-Cola and Pepsi both try to stay connected with a changing marketplace and popular culture trends by continually reviewing their brand slogans and ad messages. Coke used at least five distinct ad slogans during the first decade of the 21st century, according to the website Will It Change You?
Complementary
Sales and Marketing for You notes that the complementary facet of integrated marketing centers on the synergy created by the strong relationship between messages in a marketing campaign. When marketing messages work well together, the cumulative effect on customers over time is much greater than the impact of any one marketing message or ad. Sometimes companies craft messages with similar themes or elements that play off each other or help to develop a deeper message. Though somewhat similar to coherence, the complementary trait is more about building stronger brand benefits over time, where coherence is about making messages that consumers understand easily.
Tags: over time, marketing campaign, marketing messages, their brand, about their