Integrated marketing
communication: from tactics to
strategy
Olof Holm
Stockholm University School of Business, Stockholm, Sweden
Abstract
Purpose – The emergence of integrated marketing communications (IMC) has become a significant
example of development in the marketing discipline. It has influenced thinking and acting among all
types of companies and organizations facing the realities of competition in an open economy. From the
beginning of the 1990s IMC became a real hot topic in the field of marketing. Four stages of IMC have
been identified, starting from tactical coordination to financial and strategic integration. However, the
majority of firms are anchored in the first stages and very few have moved to a strategic level. One
conclusion is that there are barriers to developing IMC from tactics to strategy. The main purpose of
this paper is to identify obstacles to further developing IMC.
Design/methodology/approach – A review of relevant literature during the 1990s and a study of
four large Swedish companies.
Findings – Results show that decisions concerning IMC are rooted on the advertising agency level
and have failed to appear on management level, whose communicative ability has remained
insufficient, mainly due to obsolete tradition.
Originality/value – Indicates a need for international research and a reconsideration of educational
programs regarding management, marketing and marketing communications.
Keywords Marketing communications, Marketing strategy, Competitive strategy, Sweden
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
The emergence of integrated marketing communications (IMC) has become one of the
most significant example of development in the marketing discipline (Kitchen, 2003). It
has influenced thinking and acting among companies but also authorities, state owned
companies and political parties, all facing the realities of competition in an open
economy.
Some 20 years ago academics and professionals discussed theory and practice of
business communication but without considering the idea of integration as a realistic
approach to reach a competitive strategic position for the company. Some early attempts
in the beginning of the 1980s initiated academic interest and articles appeared in the
academic literature (Dyer, 1982; Coulson-Thomas, 1983). From the beginning of the
1990s IMC became a real hot topic in the field of marketing (Caywood et al., 1991; Miller
and Rose, 1994; Kitchen and Schultz, 1997, 1998, 1999). Twenty years ago, 75 percent of
marketing budgets went to advertising in the US. Today, 50 percent goes into trade
promotions, 25 percent into consumer promotions and less than 25 percent into
advertising (Kitchen, 2003). The allocation of communication budgets away from mass
media and traditional advertising has obviously promoted IMC in recognition and
importance for effective marketing. The emergence of IT has fundamentally changed
the media landscape, contributed to an extensive deregulation of markets
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/1356-3289.htm
Integrated
marketing
communication
23
Corporate Communications: An
International Journal
Vol. 11 No. 1, 2006
pp. 23-33
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
1356-3289
DOI 10.1108/13563280610643525