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Critical to the success of any business is establishing strong communications and profitable relationships with key customers and other influential stakeholders in the marketplace.  The ability to communicate the true value of offerings, to gain a unique position in the customer’s mind, to focus investments in communications to produce (short and long term) results are all a very important part of marketing practice.

Often the most valuable intangible assets a firm owns, brands play an important role in building relationships with customers, prospects, and other stakeholders for a firm. The effective and profitable management of brands involves the careful and strategic manipulation of all of the ways your key audiences connect to the firm. This involves management of tangible assets – product strategies, features, benefits etc., as well as the deployment of the tools and techniques of market communications. These tools and techniques are often relegated to specialists: those in advertising and communications agencies.

The wise general manager, brand manager, project manager or senior executive needs to understand the language, tools, techniques, and strategic approaches involved in building and deploying powerful Integrated Market Communications programs and campaigns. 

The tools of Integrated Market Communications can be expensive to use, and, practice shows, have a wide spectrum of effects. (A general rule of thumb--built on experience-- is that the best market communications have 10 times the effect of the least-effective market communications!)

Managers who know how to effectively direct this process, and who perform as strong "clients" of advertising and communications agencies, and who understand the “ins and outs” of brand management, stand to bring great leverage in building growth and profits for their firms. Understanding those tools, techniques, frameworks for thinking, are an important element of what this course is about.

This course will cover:

An introduction to the concept of  “Integrated Market Communications” a bit on it’s history, origins, essential features, descriptive elements, and - importantly - the impact of communications on the marketing process.

An 8-step process for the design and implementation of an Integrated Marketing Communications program, designed to produce:

·         Profitable short-term sales for a firm, as well as…

·         An ongoing long-term build of brand equity.

MBA's will work in teams on “Campaign Plan Outlines” to enable them to get familiar with the steps in the process, and some of the information, data, and assumptions involved in putting an IMC campaign together.  Brands as a critical element of “Integrated Market Communications” will be discussed and demonstrated.

At the end of the course, students will better understand the language, key tools, do's, don'ts, tips, traps, and tricks involved in getting more return on their time, effort, energy, and cash investment in Market Communications

Together, we’ll review a spectrum of cases, spanning business-to-business and business- to-consumer market communications examples, through both "Case Insights" assignments, as well as a full team case presentation.

At the end of this course, students will be able to better…

• Describe, manage and coach the concepts and realities of Integrated Market Communications, working with their teams, agencies, and other supporting groups in their business.
• Implement an 8-step process for the development and execution of an Integrated Market Communications program, to better drive sales, build brand equity, and achieve financial objectives.
• Get better, more effective, creative results from their advertising and support agencies, whether they're managing, influencing, or consulting to the process.
• Understand and apply the basic elements of law involved in implementing a communications program, and …
• Know where to look for more information…

Of necessity, some of what we cover in a 13-session course will be implemented as an overview –providing future “IMC Coaches” with familiarity with the area –but not attempting to build detailed knowledge in specialty areas –such as media planning or advertising design –which are the stuff of complete curricula in themselves…

This site is for educational purposes and for the advancement of Business to Business Practices. © Ralph Oliva, 2003