The Interdisciplinary Debate Over IMC: Implications for PR Practitioners,
Scholars and Educators
 
 
 
 
The Interdisciplinary Debate Over IMC:
Implications for PR Practitioners, Scholars and Educators
 
 
 
 
 
Rhenda Meiser, Graduate Student
American University School of Communication
8700 Lothbury Court
Fairfax, Virginia 22031
(703) 560-7153
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TitleThe Interdisciplinary Debate Over IMC:  Implications for PR Practitioners,
Scholars and Educators
 
 
Abstract
Integrated marketing communications is the practice of coordinating messages
from public relations, advertising, direct response, and sales promotion.  This
paper reviews the scholarly debate and professional experiences with IMC from an
interdisciplinary perspective. Scholars from the communication, marketing and
advertising professions probe the advantages and shortcomings of IMC.
Implementation strategies and practical experiences with IMC are also reviewed.
The paper concludes with major implications from the debate for PR
practitioners, scholars and educators.
 The Interdisciplinary Debate Over IMC:
Implications for PR Practitioners, Scholars and Educators
        During the 1990s, many businesses have sought to foster relationships with the
public through integrated marketing communications (IMC). Integrated marketing
communications  is the practice of coordinating messages from advertising, sales
promotion, direct response, and public relations.  Traditionally, marketing and
public relations departments have kept their activities separate, maintaining
distinct roles and operating in different branches of an organization.  IMC,
however, offers the opportunity for various departments to support each other.
For example, public relations may help promote retail stores by issuing press
releases, or through special events which place products in prominent view of
consumers. Conversely, marketing may support public relations by developing
products or packaging which reinforce the company image. While IMC represents an
opportunity to some, to others it poses a threat. Some scholars have even raised
the issue of "imperialism," concerned that one department may seek to dominate
another.        In this paper I review the debate about IMC among scholars and
practitioners from the fields of public relations, marketing and advertising.
The paper concludes with major implications from the debate for PR
practitioners, scholars and educators.
DEFINING IMC
        Several scholars have offered a definition of IMC. The American Association of
Advertising Agencies defines IMC as "a concept of marketing communications
planning that recognizes the added value of a comprehensive plan that evaluates
the strategic roles of a variety communication disciplines--for example, general
advertising, direct response, sales promotion, and public relations--and
combines these disciplines to provide clarity, consistency, and maximum
communications impact" (Belch and Belch, 1995, p. 7).  Schultz (1993) stresses
that IMC requires a "big picture" approach to planning communication programs,
and should involve all sources of brand or company contact that a customer or
prospect has with a product or service. Consumers develop their perception of a
company by synthesizing the bundle of messages received through vehicles such as
advertisements, price, publicity, direct marketing, and the retail environments
offering the product.  Duncan (1994) defines IMC as selling with a consistent
voice and look, while emphasizing interactivity as the key to
relationship-building.          Scholars suggest several factors which have spurred the
trend towards IMC. Many companies have begun shifting marketing dollars away
from mass media advertising, claiming that traditional media has become too
expensive and is ineffective (Belch & Belch, 1995).  Additionally, audiences are
more segmented and sophisticated in their reactions to advertising, so marketers
are turning to alternative approaches like special events promotion, direct
mail, and database marketing. Another major reason for the move towards IMC is
that companies, in the ongoing climate of downsizing, are intent on economizing
and maximizing personnel efforts.  Finally, there is the increasing capability
of technology (Schultz, 1996).
THE DEBATE BEGINS
     Is IMC a win-win strategy for organizations, or is it simply a turf battle
between public relations and marketing? Scholars and professionals from the
communication, marketing and advertising professions have probed the benefits of
IMC. Others have bypassed the debate, to begin describing practical applications
and implementation strategies which achieve integrated communication and
marketing objectives.   Early in the discussion, Lauzen (1991) identified the
dangers of integration from the public relations viewpoint. "As a result of
perceived power differences, turf wars often develop with one department
intruding on the activities held in the domain of the other. Termed
'imperialism,' this behavior has important consequences for public relations"
(Lauzen, 1991, p. 245).  Lauzen argues that when marketing overlaps activity
with public relations, marketing tends to encroach on public relations by taking
over management of the department. Through a study, Lauzen found that marketing
imperialism led to encroachment on public relations. Lauzen also asserts that
public relations departments which operate with a vacuum of power are likely to
experience imperialism from multiple departments simultaneously.        Lauzen argues
that public relations departments are susceptible to imperialism by marketing,
legal, personnel, and human resource development departments. Lauzen defines
imperialism as the takeover or overlap of activities traditionally done by one
department. Imperialism may occur for several reasons. First, it may occur when
a weaker department does not have a senior practitioner in a manager role.
Public relations must have someone acting in a managerial role in order to
retain power for the department.  Public relations practitioners working simply
as technicians do not have organizational power.  Second, imperialism may occur
when departments appear to share the same domain of goals, skills and tasks.  A
department retains its power when the organization perceives that the
department's service is unique and "unsubstitutable." Often public relations
departments are perceived as highly substitutable, because practitioners use
common skills and may lack a specialized educational background. When
departments begin to assume the activities previously performed by a weaker
department, the organization begins viewing the new department as the "expert"
of those activities. Eventually, top management asks the new "expert" to manage
the less powerful department.   Lauzen indicates that public relations is
vulnerable to imperialism by the marketing department.  Marketing is perceived
as a company's least substitutable function. Also, marketers have actively tried
to incorporate public relations into its practice. Scholars have developed
concepts like "megamarketing", whereby marketers add power and public relations
to their traditional focus of product, price, place and promotion. Marketers
recommend using public relations practitioners to plan and implement
megamarketing programs, thereby assuming public relations under their auspices.
In another example, advertisers now promote "The New Advertising" as the
practice of integrating media advertising with sales promotion, direct
marketing, product design, public relations, and directory advertising. Lauzen
also contends that public relations is vulnerable to imperialism by the legal
department. Legal and public relations functions overlap when there are labor
contract negotiations or other legal or publicly explosive situations. Examples
include when an organization faces an antitrust suit, campus uprising, boycott
threat, accusation of discrimination, or military court-martial. Legal
departments may increasingly claim the public relations role as its own domain,
threatening the management autonomy of public relations.        According to Lauzen,
public relations is also vulnerable to imperialism by the personnel department.
Personnel overlaps with public relations because employees are considered a
"public" of public relations. Personnel's domain may include employee suggestion
systems, bulletin boards, new employee orientation, exit interviews, and
recruitment programs. Public relations' domain typically includes annual
reports, open houses, news releases on labor negotiations, and maintenance of
biographical data on key employees. Both public relations and personnel may be
responsible for employee publications, employee newsletters, and conducting
career days. As personnel departments become more familiar with public relations
activities, the threat exists that personnel could be viewed as the
expert. Human resources development is another area prone to imperialism over
public relations, suggests Lauzen. Human resources and organizational
development departments are responsible for maintaining organizational
relationships, aspects of employee communication, writing reports, speeches and
articles, and communication with government and community agencies. These
activities are potentially shared domain with public relations. Lauzen found
that only marketing imperialism evolves into encroachment. She found the
encroachment occurs when top management promotes, transfers, or hires someone
from another profession to manage the public relations department.  According to
Lauzen, further research should assess whether imperialistic departments are
targeting managerial or technical public relations activities, and whether
encroachment increases the more a domain is shared by two departments.  Also
writing from the communication perspective, Moriarty (1994) argues that public
relations makes valuable contributions to IMC and can use principles of IMC to
improve its practice.  She posits that IMC is an amalgamation of many
disciplines and has become a new field with independent theories and practices.
        Moriarty contends that IMC planners view every contact point between an
organization and its stakeholders as a communication opportunity. Moriarty
presents an IMC Message Typology model, stating that an organization must be
able to influence four types of messages. The four messages are planned,
inferred, maintenance, and unplanned. Planned messages are deliberate
communication activities such as advertising, packaging and public relations.
Inferred messages are created by the impressions a company makes on people, for
example, through product pricing and employee benefits.  Maintenance messages
are communicated through customer service and employee relations. Unplanned
messages include media investigations, product recalls, disasters, and issues
management.     According to Moriarty, a new organizational structure must be
designed to oversee all four message types. Public relations is challenged
because many communications are controlled by other departments including
marketing, human resources, and finance. Cross-functional teams may be a
solution to managing communication across departments, or one person should
monitor all unplanned communications.   Moriarty describes an IMC Synergy model
which integrates an organization's communication messages via three components.
The goal of the Synergy model is for the sum of an organization's messages to
create a greater impact than the individual messages by themselves.  The first
component is that messages must be consistent, despite the diversity of
audiences.  Message consistency should occur in advertising and promotion as
well as in customer service, employee programs and business communications. The
second component is interactivity with audiences. Technology is creating new
two-way communication systems with a variety of stakeholders.   The third
component of message synergy is to have a clear organizational mission, which
explains what the company stands for beyond products and sales.  A mission
invites commitment from stakeholders, and motivates employees and investors to
feel good about the  company. A mission influences an organization's long-range
planning, and permeates communications and corporate culture. Mission strategy
"calls for a change agent specialist, and that is an opportunity for public
relations or corporate communications managers to extend their sphere and make
an important contribution to the organization" (Moriarty, 1996, p. 42). Public
relations practitioners may be instrumental in mission development and buy-in,
since they have the knowledge to nurture relationships, motivate people, and
elicit behavior change.         Moriarty recommends Zero Based Planning as a process
for IMC. Zero Based Planning occurs when an organization conducts annual
evaluations of the company's communication objectives, and allocates a budget
and resources to the communication area which can best deliver success. By
clearing departmental budgets to zero each year, all the communication areas
start planning on equal footing.  If one area is chosen to dominate in message
dissemination, then other departments provide support to reinforce the message.
During Zero Based Planning, public relations can be instrumental in determining
target audiences, message crafting, and timing of the communication strategy.
Communication audits and consumer behavior research are also parts of IMC
planning.       Moriarty contends that IMC requires leaders with cross-discipline
management skills, knowledge of marketing strategy, appreciation for the
contributions of all departments, and leadership ability. Public relations
practitioners are well-suited to play a role as change agents for an
organization and as experts on relationships, motivation and involvement.
Through this knowledge, public relations has much to contribute to IMC.
        Scholars from the advertising profession are also advocating for IMC. Belch and
Belch (1995) argue that public relations, publicity, and corporate advertising
should be integrated into the promotional mix to market products more
effectively. While these three components are typically used to change public
attitudes and not to sell products, they should be coordinated with marketing as
a way of preventing miscommunication.   Belch and Belch highlight several benefits
to public relations collaborating with marketing.  Traditional public relations
tactics are useful to marketing because they raise awareness by informing and
educating. They also help build trust, motivate consumer acceptance, and give
consumers a reason to buy. Benefits of public relations activities for marketing
include building consumer excitement before media advertising breaks. A second
benefit is creating advertising news where there is no product news. A third
benefit is introducing a product with little or no advertising. A fourth benefit
is providing a value-added service to customers. A fifth benefit is building
brand-to-customer bonds. A sixth benefit is influencing opinion leaders by
providing them with information. A seventh benefit is defending products at
risk.   Belch and Belch state that a barrier of public relations is the problem
of clearly linking public relations' efforts to the organization in the public's
mind. Because of the challenge, public relations should be evaluated in order to
demonstrate its achievements to management.     Belch and Belch recommend
publicity, a subset of public relations, as another promotional  tool. Publicity
is the process of generating news about a person or product through the media.
They view publicity as a short-term strategy, and public relations as a long
term strategy. Publicity also differs from public relations because coverage
about the organization by the media may be negative or is less easily
controlled, whereas public relations messages are always positive. A drawback to
publicity is that the planner cannot control the timing or accuracy of the news
release.        Corporate advertising, according to Belch and Belch, is another
promotional strategy which shapes an organization's image while positioning it
in the marketplace. General advertisements and sponsorships may be used to
recruit investors or employees. Advocacy advertising is used to state a
company's position on a social issue. Cause-related marketing is yet another
method, which links companies with charities or nonprofits. A benefit of
corporate advertising is that it reliably gets a message out, whereas publicity
is not guaranteed through public relations. Problems with corporate advertising
are that few studies prove it actually works, and the public may distrust it
because they see the strategy used only by large companies who can afford it.
        Belch and Belch write that public relations, publicity, and corporate
advertising are all promotional elements which help achieve marketing
objectives. These three areas differ from marketing, however, because the
consumer cannot clearly make the connection between the message and the source.
Public relations, publicity and corporate advertising are also unique because
they do not promote a specific product or service.      From the marketing
perspective, Stewart (1996) contends that IMC is ineffective because it remains
an ill-defined and ambiguous concept based on several inaccurate
assumptions.Stewart argues that organizations should use a market-back approach
when designing IMC programs. A market-back approach results in programs which
are based on consumer feedback and are constantly evolving.     Stewart asserts
that IMC has been adopted by many organizations, but each is defining it
differently.  Some organizations define IMC as selling with a consistent voice
and look, while relationship-building through interactivity. Others add
marketing practices such as personal selling to the IMC marketing mix.  Yet
other IMC advocates argue that organizations should completely redefine their
business in terms of customers served rather than products and services offered.
Stewart states the issue of IMC is that "what requires coordination, then, is
not just the communication function, but the business" (Stewart, 1996, p. 148).
Stewart warns that merely coordinating the communications function may not
succeed, citing Polaroid staff's resistance to change and several advertising
agencies which dismantled their integrative services in the 1990s. In Stewart's
view, IMC has become an ideal that is proving difficult to implement.   Stewart
argues that IMC has been unsuccessful because organizations make four inaccurate
assumptions. The first assumption is that organization-wide change is best. In
the context of IMC, this has not worked because organizational structural
changes do not automatically change behavior. In fact, they often foster
resistance to change, because the changes are not "owned" by those asked to
alter their behavior. Instead, Stewart suggests that IMC should focus on putting
communications personnel into new situations where they are can establish
relationships with customers and other departments. Relationship-building will
reap better results than a more formal integration in the organization. Stewart
states that IMC's second inaccurate assumption is that formalized organizational
coordination creates positive synergy. To the contrary, he cites evidence that
organizations who formally try to coordinate functions have actually produced
negative synergy. Research also shows that negative synergy, known as
X-inefficiency in economics, is found less in workers who are closely tied to
customers and are aware of how change in the market affects their own and their
firm's well-being. Therefore, Stewart suggests that communications should become
more of a line-function in organizations, so that those communicating have more
familiarity with all the company practices as well as a first-hand understanding
of the customer.        Stewart's describes IMC's third inaccurate assumption as the
idea that marketing communications can be managed separately from the rest of
the business. Communications is added too often as an afterthought once the
products are planned and produced. Instead, Stewart argues that marketing
communications should be involved early and throughout product design and
delivery, and that communications professionals must understand the firm, its
products and services, and its business strategy. These skills are typical more
of a general manager, rather than a functional specialist.      Stewart defines IMC's
fourth inaccurate assumption as the notion that marketing communication is a
powerful force on consumers. Professionals believe this because "the last 100
years have been the advertisers' century. Advertisers controlled the message."
(Stewart, 1996, p. 150). Similarly, communication scholars have touted the
enormous power of the mass media to create public outrage or sympathy and define
values.  Stewart argues that era is finished, and that with increasing media
alternatives like the computer, consumers are better able to hide and seek
information anonymously. Consumers will become addressable only to the extent
they want to be, whereas the companies are more easily addressed by the
consumers. Therefore, communications should not be about controlling messages to
the consumer, but helping consumers find the information they need, at their
convenience and in their own preferred form. Marketers may manage and
coordinate, but they cannot make consumers process communications.      To counter
these assumptions, Stewart recommends using a market-back approach to design
successful IMC programs. The market-back approach is based on four principles.
The first principle is that value for the customer should be analyzed and the
primary goal of communications is to add value, not to influence consumers. The
second principle is that planners should not replicate successful programs from
the past but should constantly learn new solutions. The third principle is to
use a bottom-up strategy, where employees closest to implementing the strategies
with the customer provide creative solutions and generate better buy-in. The
fourth principle is that continuous feedback from the market should influence
structures, systems procedures and information flows with the goal of adding
value to the customer. The market-back approach to IMC suggests that "IMC will
be most successful when it accepts the dominant role of the consumer in the flow
and control of information" (Stewart, 1996, p. 150).    According to Stewart, a
market-back approach to IMC has significant organizational implications.
Communications design and implementation must be carried out closer to the
customer by individuals who understand how the firm delivers value to its
customers.  This requires a more decentralized approach. Furthermore, general
managers should direct communications programs, because they understand the
customers, products and services, partners in the value chain, as well as the
economics of their programs. Finally, a market-back approach requires changes in
marketing communication research. Research is currently dominated by measuring
customer response to communications. Instead it should observe how
communications can reply to customers and add value, by measuring what
customer's preferred models are for obtaining information and how they relate to
their goals and purposes. Communication research must focus on what consumers
want to know, in what form they want the information, and when they want it.    The
literature reveals a healthy discussion about the merits and weaknesses of IMC,
but some scholars argue the debate is unnecessary. According to Schultz (1996),
the IMC debate is moot because integrated communication is inevitable. He cites
two major forces driving integrated communications. The first is the changing
concepts of advertising. The second is the shift of information technology in
the marketplace.  Information technology helped evolve the "Historical
Marketplace" to the "New Marketplace" and towards the "21st Century
Marketplace."   According to Schultz, the mass production model of advertising is
evolving into a one-to-one model. Historically, mass media advertising created
singular messages about a product to consumers. Mass media advertisers assumed
that consumers were all the same, and crafted their message to differentiate
their product rather than the audience. Similarly, products were distributed in
a linear one-way process, moving from the producer to wholesaler to retailer to
consumer. Therefore the manufacturer or marketer dominated the distribution
system. Now, however, technology has rendered the globe one interconnected
marketplace.  All audiences are no longer the same, and the distribution process
is no longer linear. Also, the customer, as a result, has become a more active
player in the purchasing process.       Schultz asserts that technology has
revolutionized how advertising is evaluated. Historically advertising was
evaluated using models evolved from the Hierarchy of Effects, which depicted
consumers as passive players in the purchasing process. These models were linear
and one-way, while communication messages were "acted on consumers."  Most of
the research measured consumers' attitudes rather than their actual behavior.
Now though, tools such as Universal Product Code barcoding and Point of Purchase
systems are used on products in almost every retail location. By linking
consumer purchases through these systems, consumer behavior becomes an actual
measurable unit. Individual consumers also become identifiable, turning
marketing communications into a closed-loop system rather than a linear one-way
system.  Scanner data has replaced the old ways of conducting evaluations, with
a focus on behavioral data rather than on attitudes.    Schultz also contends
that current marketing communication research is flawed because researchers
break down the communication process into small parts. Hence, trying to isolate
and study the role of public relations or sales promotion is impractical,
because purchasing situations are extremely complex. In today's interconnected
world, Schultz believes promotion occurs at all levels.  Accordingly, it is
unrealistic to create uncontaminated situations where one singular communication
element, such as advertising, can be studied in isolation. Instead advertising
and other communication strategies must be considered holistically, and in
combination with each other, as activities which influence consumers.   Schultz
contends that information technology moved from the Historical Marketplace to
the New Marketplace, and now towards the 21st Century Marketplace. In the
Historical Marketplace, manufacturers or marketers dominated the system because
they controlled all the resources of the marketplace. These resources included
money, raw materials, plants and equipment, and information. Because the
manufacturer controlled the information technology, it controlled the
marketplace until the 1970s. During the New Marketplace in the 1970s, retail and
distribution organizations consolidated and merged into cooperatives. Using the
new scanning technology, retailers gained valuable information about their
customers and the marketplace. Retailers began controlling the
marketplace--including the manufacturer, consumer and communication
media--because they held the important consumer information. Schultz contends
that information technology is now shifting to the consumer of the 21st Century
Marketplace. In this scenario, the consumer communicates and purchases through
the media with the retailer and manufacturer on an interactive basis. Typically
the consumer requests information, and the retailer and manufacturer send
messages. The consumer is active in the marketplace. For example, a consumer can
shop for a camera at many retail stores to collect information, and then
purchase through a less expensive distributor using technology such as the
telephone and credit card.      Schultz describes the communication flow of the 21st
Century Marketplace as an outside-in flow. Traditionally, communication flowed
inside-out, meaning the marketing organization sent messages out to prospective
consumers. With the outside-in scenario, consumers access the information they
need. Therefore, senders become receivers, while receivers become senders. The
market is interactive and communication flows in both directions. Furthermore,
the consumer may seek information not only from marketers but from other sources
including consumer reports and press reviews.   Therefore, debating the merits of
IMC is pointless, because "integration occurs whether the marketer or advertiser
plans it or not." (Schultz, 1996, p. 139). Instead he asks whether the
consumer's process of integrating messages is helpful or harmful to marketing
objectives. He contends that marketing communications managers must try to
manage all the information sources which might influence a consumer, and respond
to consumer requests for additional information. As messages become shaped by
requests from prospective customers, the drive for integrated communications
becomes necessary and inevitable.PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS
     While scholars probe the merits of IMC, practitioners in marketing,
advertising and public relations have been actually implementing the strategies.
For example, Southwest Airlines was effective in using an integrated
communications mix to enter new markets on the East Coast (see Lawrence, 1993,
p. S-10). Southwest combined advertising, community relations, public relations,
special events, direct marketing, and government relations to introduce
themselves to the Baltimore area.       Southwest first conducted research into key
issues that are important to the Baltimore community. The planners centered much
of their public communication around a baseball theme, which is a favorite
Baltimore activity.  Five weeks before the first flight, they held a press
conference featuring the Maryland governor and Southwest chairman. The two
leaders exchanged gifts of Maryland products and a Southwest water flotation
device, described as a "lifesaver" from high fares. The goal of the public
relations activities was to incorporate Southwest into the community before they
operated their first flight.    After entering the market, Southwest continued
conducting public relations activities which revolved around baseball. To
promote a new route between Baltimore and Cleveland, Southwest sponsored 49
children to fly to the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. Before takeoff, a former
Baltimore Oriole and Baseball Hall of Fame member joined the children and gave
them hitting lessons.   Other complementary strategies were used to introduce
Southwest to Baltimore.  Southwest sent a direct mail piece to short-trip
travelers in Baltimore, inviting them to join its frequent flyer campaign. They
also used promotions as a strategy, by passing out fliers and peanuts on
Baltimore streets.  Finally, they also placed ads in the Washington Post to
encourage Washingtonians to fly out of Baltimore on Southwest.  According to
Lawrence, Southwest's integrated marketing approach succeeded because
advertising people were able to appreciate the value of public relations.
Advertising was employed as a follow-up strategy to reinforce messages already
created by public relations. Southwest continues its integrated marketing
approach, by maintaining an area marketing manager and staff to plan local
promotions and events. Integrated marketing strategies proved successful for
Southwest in Baltimore, which set a company record for advanced bookings before
the start of service.   Warner (1992) also cites case examples to argue that
companies can effectively combine advertising and public relations to position
product brands in the market. According to Warner, advertising agencies must
stop regarding public relations as an inferior "value-added service" and more as
a full-fledged marketing partner. Companies may use multidisciplinary teams
representing advertising, public relations, media, research and the client, who
strategize the most effective brand position, regardless of which department
takes the lead. "Knowledge from each area of expertise goes into the evaluation
of the client's budget, goals, and personality." (Warner, 1992, p. 15). Warner
writes that guerrilla marketing, a form of product sampling, is one strategy to
generate consumer interest in a product. Smartfood Popcorn used guerrilla
marketing tactics, by employing college students to dress up as human popcorn
bags and distribute samples. The students were sent to youth-oriented locations
such as ski slopes, beaches, sporting events, concerts and college campuses.
Smartfood also launched a wacky, hip advertising campaign.  Both the product
sampling strategy and the advertisements generated press coverage and increased
sales.  Warner asserts that public relations and advertising strategies may also
be used jointly to reposition a brand against competing products. Veryfine
Products, a juice company, wanted to reposition itself against the soda
industry. The company used billboard advertising to promote the
"anti-carbonation revolution." They also used public relations strategies,
hiring local professional actors to portray anti-carbonation crusaders. These
"Burp Busters" provided entertainment at public events while handing out
Veryfine samples. Additionally, public relations planned an "instant-win"
sweepstakes, with a "Carbonation Vacation" in Florida. Veryfine's use of
advertising and public relations resulted in increases in sales, brand awareness
and brand preference.   Warner writes that integrated strategies may also be used
to expand a brand to reflect its corporate image.  The Timberland Company sought
to expand its Great Outdoors reputation for quality shoes, clothing and
accessories. It used advertising with the tag line "Boots, shoes, clothes, wind,
water, earth and sky." Concurrently, it used public relations tactics by
collaborating with The Wilderness Society on educational and lobbying
activities. Timberland sponsored a touring photography exhibit, published an
action guide on saving ancient forests, and produced a new corporate magazine
entitled Elements: The Journal of Outdoor Experience. Timberland also sponsored
the Iditarod, a grueling dogsled race in Alaska. By publicizing the Iditarod
through video news releases, Timberland increased audience viewership of the
race. Additionally, Timberland developed a new apparel line entitled the
Iditarod Collection.  Combining advertising with several creative public
relations strategies, Timberland increased its sales by 111% and has expanded
internationally.        As another practical approach, Englis and Solomon (1996)
propose using consumption constellations in the development of IMC strategies.
A consumption constellation is a cluster of complementary products, brands, or
consumption activities which signify a certain social role. Through consumption
clusters "laden with symbolic meaning, consumers can communicate their
affiliation with a positively valued or aspirational cultural category (a
reference group, idealized lifestyle, etc.) and its attendant values" (1996, p.
185). Like Moriarty (1994), Englis and Solomon write that IMC planners need to
manage every point of contact between the consumer and the product or
organization.  Planners must identify the best times and situations where
marketing communications will reach different target audiences.  The planners
can enhance message acceptance by learning the preexisting context of certain
products in the minds of audience.      Englis and Solomon contend that consumers
create consumption constellations by associating certain products with those
from other categories. People make these cross-category associations because of
functional complementarity, aesthetic complementarity, or sociocultural
complementarity.  Functional complementarity occurs if products can be consumed
jointly to facilitate an activity, such as combining athletic shoes and a
different brand of balls to play tennis.  Aesthetic complementarity occurs if
different products have pleasing or attractive relationships with each other,
such as modern furniture in a modern house.  Sociocultural complementarity
occurs when people use distinctive groupings of products or activities to
express different social identities.    Englis and Solomon present three strategic
domains for using consumption constellations in integrated communications.
Communicators may convey lifestyle messages through environmental positioning,
endorsement, and product ensembles.     The first domain they cite is placing
products in certain environmental niches which resonate with the customer and
show the product's use. The social category of a product may be reinforced
through an advertisement's scene or set design.  Sponsored events also
contextualize products in an environment, since the social aspects of the event
create associations to the company.  Lastly, marketers create environmental
niches by designing environments where people come into contact with the
products or perhaps observe consumption of the products.  Carefully engineered
retail stores, like Niketown in Chicago and Ralph Lauren in Manhattan, have
created distinct images about products.         Planners may also position products
through a second domain defined as endorsement. A distinct celebrity or social
type conveys associations for a product. Another example of endorsement is the
use of media plugs generated by public relations.  Yet another type of
endorsement is product placements in the movies, where viewers link a
consumption activity with the lifestyle and personality of the
character.      Finally, the third domain for consumption constellations is
presenting products as part of ensembles. This may be done through merchandising
decisions, where certain brands are grouped together in marketing materials or
advertising. Another method is to license company brands for products, such as
Coca-Cola clothing developed by Murjani. A final means is through collaborative
marketing, where several products are promoted through one campaign. To the
benefit of all the products, ensembles reinforce the lifestyle or social
identity behind consumption constellations. For example, Eastern Airlines and
Disney together promoted the advantages of flying to Disney World.      Englis and
Solomon argue that marketers must coordinate media decisions to convey lifestyle
imagery in traditional and emerging media forms. Planners should use consumption
constellations in the strategic planning for IMC.
     IMPLICATIONS FOR SCHOLARS AND PRACTITIONERS
 
     Several implications from the debate over IMC are noteworthy for public
relations practitioners. First, the literature clearly demonstrates the
contributions of public relations towards achieving marketing objectives (Belch
and Belch, 1995; Englis and Solomon, 1996; Lawrence, 1993; Warner, 1992).  Also
public relations practitioners have many skills to help create the interactive,
consumer-driven workplace of the future (Schultz, 1996; Stewart, 1996), because
of  their innate expertise in researching audiences, learning consumer attitudes
and needs, and fostering systems of audience feedback.  Clearly public relations
plays a valuable role in IMC.
     But what does public relations gain from integration? This appears to be
the central question for public relations practitioners and scholars alike. One
benefit is that public relations efforts may not necessarily be diluted by
competing messages from another departments in the organization. To the
contrary, through IMC, public relations messages can be reinforced by other
departments. This improves the chances that the target audience will receive and
correctly synthesize the desired message. Another benefit is that integrated
communications uses organizational resources efficiently and with synergistic
results.  Finally, PR has the potential to become more prominent in all
customer-based communication, and not exclusively the traditional public
relations activities.
     Another major implication of the IMC debate is the extent to which
integration should occur within an organization.  Organizational changes are
cumbersome and do not guarantee behavior changes (Stewart, 1996). However
several strategic methods for IMC collaboration have been proposed, including
Zero Based Planning, mission development and strategic planning, and
interdisciplinary brand teams (Moriarty, 1994; Warner, 1992). These methods do
not require radical changes in the structure of the organization, but do involve
public relations in collaborative processes that help achieve overall
organizational goals. Organizations can also foster integration by positioning
communication specialists closer to the consumer, and by motivating all
employees to communicate a consistent message.  Unwieldy changes in
organizational structure do not have to occur to use IMC.
     The downside of IMC for public relations is a loss of practice autonomy,
which coincides with the threat of "imperialism." However, for public relations
practitioners to reap the benefits of integration and participate in new
practice arenas, fear of "imperialism" from marketing or advertising may have to
be overcome.  Management scholars state that the future of business involves
"thinking across boundaries, and leading through partnerships, forming networks,
and managing collaboration" (Kanter, 1995, p. 93). Imperialism and
territorialism are old paradigms. Coordination and collaboration are the new
paradigms.  The more public relations familiarizes itself with the priorities
and challenges of  other departments in an organization, the more effective it
can become. This results in an informed, comprehensive dialogue between
consumers and organizations, which in turn allows the organization to
continuously position itself positively.
     This point parallels the implications for public relations scholars. Just
as the public relations practitioner is more effective by considering the "big
picture" of the organization, communication scholars can also benefit greatly
from studying IMC from a broader interdisciplinary perspective. Many principles,
such as the notion of consumption constellations, were developed for the
marketing and advertising community but are valid concepts for review in the
communication profession.
     Finally, the debate on IMC unfolds implications for public relations
educators.  The rising cost of education has made students more concerned about
learning practical applications of public relations alongside of the theory.
More and more communication textbooks are including chapters on practical
applications and career orientation (see, for example, Chen and Starosta, 1998;
Berko et al., 1998).  If IMC is a valid tool and part of public relations'
future, it needs to be integrated into the teaching curriculum. Students not
exposed to IMC may be caught unaware when they enter the "real world," and they
may be conditioned to think narrowly about the scope of PR practice. To prepare
students for an IMC work environment, degree programs in public relations should
raise the topic as a concept and provide practical skills. Curriculum should
include information on the purpose of IMC, models for practice, and case
profiles, as well as provide a broad-based knowledge of marketing, advertising
and management principles.
CONCLUSION
This paper has reviewed the scholarly debate and professional experiences with
IMC from an interdisciplinary perspective. Although IMC has been defined
numerous ways, it is generally recognized as a holistic systems approach to
coordinating all contacts and messages occurring with customers. From the public
relations perspective, imperialism and new opportunities for practice were
identified as dominant features. Viewpoints from the communication, advertising,
and marketing professions showed that public relations practice makes many
contributions to marketing objectives. Similarly, public relations may benefit
from collaboration with the business professions by adopting certain techniques
and by venturing into new areas of practice. Rather than providing definitive
answers, the implications raise important issues for future discussion and
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