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One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware matchIntegrated marketing communications (IMC) is a way to plan and manage communications so that the messages people encounter across selected channels feel relevant to them and coherent with one another. It is not a requirement to use every available channel: the right mix depends on the audience, objectives, resources, and evidence of performance.
What is integrated marketing communication?
IMC coordinates communication disciplines and audience touchpoints around shared objectives and a coherent central promise. OpenStax defines it this way: “The method of using various forms of the promotional mix to send the same message to the target audience is called integrated marketing communications.” (OpenStax, Principles of Marketing, section 13.3.)
A second formulation emphasizes the experience of the audience. The American Marketing Association definition quoted in Murali Manohar Bhupathi’s 2016 chapter describes IMC as “a planning process designed to assure that all brand contacts received by a customer or prospect for a product, service, or organization are relevant to that person and consistent over time.” The wording is reproduced in Bhupathi’s chapter in Strategic Marketing Management in Asia; it is a secondary reproduction, rather than the AMA’s original definition page.
The definitions share a focus on relevance and coordination but highlight different aspects: one foregrounds a consistent message across promotional tools, while the other emphasizes planning for relevant, consistent brand contacts over time. Academic and professional literature has not settled on one universally accepted definition; the concept has evolved as communication practices have changed. (Oxford Bibliographies in Marketing; Wiley reference article by Philip Kitchen.)
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How to create an IMC plan
IMC is a planning and management process, not a checklist of channels. A practical plan links what the organization wants to achieve to what it knows about its audience, what it can deliver, and how it will assess results. Planning models reviewed by Wiley move from market position and audience understanding through objectives, resources, tool selection, and evaluation.
- Assess the market and audience. Clarify the organization’s position, the audience segments it needs to reach, and the contexts in which those people may encounter communications.
- Set communication objectives. State the intended outcome—such as awareness, trial, lead generation, or demand—and connect it to broader marketing goals.
- Review resources and allocate a budget. Account for available funds, staff, capabilities, and coordination needs before choosing an ambitious channel mix.
- Select relevant disciplines and channels. Choose the tools that suit the audience and objective. Using more channels is not inherently better if they add cost or complexity without serving the plan.
- Coordinate the central message and adapt execution. Keep the core promise and objective coherent while shaping the format, detail, and delivery for each channel.
- Evaluate outcomes and revise. Compare results with the objectives set at the outset, learn from the evidence, and adjust the plan.
Consistency does not mean repeating identical creative everywhere. OpenStax illustrates this distinction with a Taco Bell limited-time offer communicated through television and radio ads, email, Instagram, billboards, and location-based notifications. This is a textbook illustration, not a report of a current campaign. The channels can express the offer differently while retaining the same underlying message and objective. (OpenStax, section 13.3.)
What IMC can achieve—and what it cannot guarantee
When coordination works, IMC can help make messages clearer, improve collaboration among teams, reduce avoidable waste, and make better use of specialist skills. It may also support awareness or response. These are potential benefits, not guaranteed outcomes; they depend on the quality of the strategy and execution as well as the audience and market conditions. (OpenStax, section 13.3.)
Integration also has organizational costs. A review by Kitchen identifies barriers such as power and control disputes, coordination problems, centralized structures, limited time, resources or skills, resistance to change, weak strategic vision, functional silos, fragmented media, and difficulty measuring the contribution of the integrated mix. These are reported barriers in reference literature, not quantified estimates of how often organizations encounter them today. (Wiley reference article by Philip Kitchen.)
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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsThat is why a campaign cannot become integrated through a slogan or a collection of matching assets alone. Teams need shared objectives, clear responsibilities, and enough leadership support to coordinate decisions across functions.
How to measure an integrated campaign
Choose measures that match the campaign’s stated objective. The sources do not establish one standard metric for IMC, and the measures below answer different questions rather than serving as interchangeable scores.
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- Awareness: whether the intended audience recognizes or recalls the campaign or brand.
- Attitudes: whether perceptions or preferences change in the intended direction.
- Behavior: whether the audience takes the action the campaign sought, such as responding or making a purchase.
- Cost per impression or cost per lead: what it costs to generate a particular exposure or lead, where those outputs are relevant to the objective.
- Return on investment (ROI): whether the campaign’s returns justify its costs under the organization’s chosen accounting approach.
- Customer lifetime value: a longer-term customer-value measure that may be relevant when the objective concerns enduring customer relationships.
OpenStax names ROI, cost per impression, cost per lead, and customer lifetime value as typical considerations; Wiley discusses evaluation of awareness, attitudes, and behavior. Neither source makes one measure a complete account of campaign effectiveness. Decide what evidence would demonstrate progress before launch, then interpret it in light of the objective and the limits of the chosen measure. (OpenStax, section 13.3; Wiley reference article by Philip Kitchen.)
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Further reading
For a textbook-length treatment, Springer lists the second edition of Philip Kitchen and Marwa Tourky’s Integrated Marketing Communications: A Global Brand-Driven Approach, published in 2022. The publisher page describes it as an IMC textbook and lists softcover and ebook formats; availability can vary by retailer. (Springer Nature book page.)
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