Marketing Communications

What we call marketing communication (MARCOM for short) involves the use of a variety of tools and functions, such as advertising, public relations, sales promotion, direct response, events and sponsorships, point of sale, digital media, and the communication aspects of packaging, as well as personal sales and a number of new forms of online communication that have emerged recently. All are parts of a planned effort to deliver specific messages used strategically to promote a brand or organization, that is one of the P’s in the marketing mix which contains Place, Product, Price, as well as Promotion. They deliver a complex system of brand messages we refer to as brand communication—all the various marketing communication messages and brand experiences that create and maintain a coherent brand.

In other words, Marketing communications are the means by which firms attempt to inform, persuade, and remind consumers—directly or indirectly—about the products and brands they sell. What we can understand is that marketing communications represent the voice of the company and its brands; they are a means by which the firm can establish a dialogue and build relationships with consumers. Marketing communications also work for consumers when they show how and why a product is used, by whom, where, and when. The management challenge, then, is to manage all of the messages that all the various types of marketing communication are delivering so they work together to present the brand in a coherent and consistent way. In other words, advertising is merely one element in a coordinated basket of messages.

Marketing Communication Mix

As you read above, there are so many types and modes in communicating with a firm’s targeted customers. All in all, the marketing communications mix consists of eight major modes of communication:

1. Advertising—Any paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods, or services by an identified sponsor via print media (newspapers and magazines), broadcast media (radio and television), network media (telephone, cable, satellite, wireless), electronic media (audiotape, videotape, videodisk, CD-ROM, Web page), and out of home (OOH) media (billboards, signs, posters).

Advertising reaches geographically dispersed buyers. It can build up a long-term image for a product (Barbican ads) or be incentive to sale quickly (a Digikala ad for a seasonal sale). Certain forms of advertising such as TV can require a large budget, whereas other forms such as newspaper do not. The mere presence of advertising might have an effect on sales: Consumers are likely to believe that a heavily advertised brand must offer “good value.” Because of the many forms and uses of advertising, it’s difficult to make generalizations about it. Yet a few observations are worthwhile:

Pervasiveness—Advertising permits the seller to repeat a message many times. It also allows the buyer to receive and compare the messages of various competitors. Large-scale advertising says something positive about the seller’s size, power, and success.