What you’ll learn to do: Explore the concept of integrated marketing communications and retail promotions

As we begin, we need to emphasize the relevance of integrated in our discussion of Marketing Communication. As you know, the emergence of digital technology, social media and mobile devices has led to significant changes in how consumers shop for and engage with brands—the emergence of an omni-channel, i.e. the varied interactions in the shopping process that consumers have pre-, during and post-purchase. The resulting proliferation of channels and fragmentation of target audiences means that firms must work hard to be present and relevant wherever and whenever consumers engage. Further, it means that outbound advertising must be integrated together to ensure that it is consistent, complementary and customized for the appropriate channel to have maximum impact on the target audience.