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  • Essay / Using Integrated Marketing Communications in the Fast Sector...

    Several facts are changing in today's marketing communications. More and more companies are adopting the new concept of integrated marketing communications (IMC) to convey a consistent message about their brand and products. Therefore, IMC has played a powerful role and has become a useful strategy for the company to reach more customers and build good relationships with its customers. According to Herstein et al. (2008), IMC is part of a successful strategy that coordinates and integrates all marketing communication tools to effectively and economically influence between an organization and its existing and potential customers. Additionally, marketers may combine IMC tools (advertising, sales promotion, personal selling, direct marketing, and public relations) rather than separate practices to create values ​​and avoid potential conflicts (Duncan & Everett, 1993). In the fast food industry, fast food chains integrate advertising, sales promotion, sponsorship, packaging and the Internet to promote their products and build their brand image (Sperber, 2003; Story & French, 2004; Morrison, 2010). Advertising is the most used form of communication and the most frequently used media because it easily contacts the target market, especially on television (Story & French, 2004; Case, 2007). Additionally, toys and simple products are usually used by fast food chains in children's meals in order to attract children and adolescents. Fast food industry giant McDonald's has become the most famous fast food brand in the world. It uses advertising, sales promotion, public relations and sports sponsorship to promote the global image of McDonald's (Vignali, 2001). In the context of communication, the maxim "brand globally, advertise locally" (Sandler & Shani, 1993) is McDonald's promotion...... middle of paper ...... option frozen meal and the nutritional value of the meal offered (Teutsch, 2003). Due to these reasons, McDonald's brand image and sales were significantly affected. Therefore, McDonald's is using a new promotional strategy to deliver a clear and consistent message: "healthy eating" as well as to reestablish its image through IMC. The IMC strategy has become an effective and successful marketing model that has been adopted as a standard and achieved business objectives (Herstein et al., 2008). Furthermore, IMC strategy potentially improves the effectiveness of the firm's advantage and could also positively influence brand image (Madhavaram et al., 2005). Therefore, this project is useful for marketers to better understand IMC concepts and develop useful and available promotional strategies. Additionally, this will benefit McDonald's now or in the future, or other specialized sectors..