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The purpose of this paper is to show the diversity within integrated communication and to demonstrate how its scope has been broadened to include virtually everything an organization says and does and everyone who is affected by the organization's existence and activities. In the most ambitious interpretations of the concept the integration endeavour extends from the external integration of visual design to the internal integration of the organization's culture and “soul”.

The paper is based on a critical and thematic reading of the integrated marketing communication (IMC) field. The review covers both theorists and practitioners and those who are in between: theoretical practitioners and practical theorists, since all parties contribute to the creation of the field and the phenomenon that are the object of analysis in this paper. The focus is on semantic and conceptual development in relation to the range and scope of integrated communication.

The ideal of integration in connection with marketing communication is not new. The analysis shows that the IMC field is marked by great diversity and disagreement. The ideal scope of integration has expanded. An attempt is made to “map” various approaches and perspectives within the IMC field, based on the distinctions between opponents versus advocates and theoretical versus non‐theoretical.

The paper makes the claim that in many interpretations of the concept integrated communication is focused on control. It does not seek to demonstrate how more dialogical perspectives might be developed within the framework of integrated communication.

The focus in this paper is on the semantic and conceptual development in relation to the range and scope of integrated communication. It usefully asks, how far does the organization's effort at integration extend, and how deeply is it supposed to enter the individual's life: what, in short, is the extent of integrated communication's intervention and influence and outreach.

Marketing organisations increasingly talk about the importance of integrating their communications, of aligning symbols, messages, procedures and behaviours across formal organisational boundaries. Often this implies tighter central control over communications and other organisational processes. This paper sets out to discuss potential negative consequences of such tight control in terms of organisational incapability to react to market changes in increasingly fluid environments due to a loss of sufficient corporate complexity and diversity.

In response, a flexible integration approach that draws attention to the handling of difference and variety within the context of an integrated communications project is articulated. The paper proposes a framework that balances centralisation and decentralisation through attention to dimensions of endogenous control, tight and loose couplings, networks, and common process rules.

The paper demonstrated that, in order to integrate its communications, an organisation needs to embrace diversity and variety and to balance the wisdom of its many voices with the effort to secure clarity and consistency in its overall expression.

The flexible integration approach advanced in this paper opens new avenues of research, practice and pedagogy, encouraging scholars, practitioners and teachers to explore the following dimensions of integrated communications: reception, variability, organisation, voice, couplings and transferability.

The paper contributes to the literature on integrated communications and corporate communications by addressing the organisational dimensions of integration and suggesting a new avenue of integrated communications research that is far more sensitive to the organisational context in which projects of integration exist and unfold.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the particularities of integrated marketing communication (IMC) in the online environment.

Both secondary and primary data (face‐to‐face interviews with 29 marketing or communication managers of UK online consumer retail firms) are analysed in order to identify the various meanings of the integrated online marketing communication, the opportunities and challenges raised by online communication, and the structure of an efficient integrated online marketing communication system.

The transparency, interactivity and memory of the internet force the organisation to adopt a proactive‐reactive attitude in online communication, and to combine consistency and continuity with flexibility and customisation.

The number of interviews used to collect primary data is relatively small; the use of the information collected is general and unstructured; and the findings are applicable only to online customer product retailers.

The messages sent by the company to its online audiences have to be transformed/adapted in a three‐stage process.

The paper identifies the specific opportunities and challenges raised by the internet for integrated marketing communication, and proposes an original model for the adaptation of online messages to core corporate values, communication strategy and tactics, and targeted audience/communication channels.

Integrated marketing communications (IMC) is regarded as an important marketing management issue because of increasingly dynamic market conditions, and the impact that this dynamism is having on the effectiveness of traditional marketing communications tools and planning approaches. IMC relates to me strategic management of marketing communications to achieve superior brand performance. This paper uses that Integrated Marketing Audit (Duncan and Moriarty, 1997) as a mechanism to analyse the degree of integration of marketing communications management and link this to measures of brand performance. The research employs the Australian and New Zealand wine industries as a context to consider this relationship. Analysis suggests that a higher degree of integration in marketing communications management results in better brand performance. As a result, managers of wine brands should consider how to adopt IMC principles and review their management of marketing communications.

The most marked example of progress in marketing communications is the emergence of Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC). Many organizations now consider IMC to be a key competitive advantage of marketing. This paper reviews the developmental progress of IMC. Now, just a few years into the 21st century, IMC is entering a critical period, with many businesses – and the agencies that service their needs – apparently enmeshed in the first stages of IMC development. The early promise that IMC offered seems to be fading, unless organizations start to take it seriously, even when faced by the realities of organizational exigency.

Integration is a key component within marketing‐ and corporate communication. Benefits include synergetic representations, increased credibility and transparency. However, integration may be problematic. With the purpose of re‐conceptualizing integration, this paper aims to discuss how organizational self‐understanding and self‐presentation are challenged by consumer resistance as integrative communication practices prevent organizations from fully engaging in meaningful stakeholder dialogue.

Framed by a cross‐disciplinary review of integration as a concept, Arla Foods' “ONE” is analyzed by way of a qualitative content analysis as an exemplary case of integrated communication. Subsequently, the case is approached from a critical consumer perspective, drawing on empirical studies of consumer responses to and conversations with Arla Foods.

An alternative approach to integration is presented replacing the notion of “one voice, one sound, one story” with an emersion of the organization into consumer narratives and market cultures. Integration is re‐conceptualized as moving from an intra‐organizational perspective towards a co‐creative perspective.

There is a need for further re‐conceptualization of integrated communication in order to develop a theoretical framework and definition that articulates a co‐creative view on integration.

Re‐articulating integration based on co‐creation carries different potential consequences for communication management, e.g. listening to consumer voices, self‐reflection and co‐development.

The original contribution lies in re‐conceptualizing integration as moving from an intra‐organizational perspective towards a co‐creative perspective with both practical and research implications.

The concept of integrated marketing communication (IMC) has now become an apparently integral part of the marketing and corporate communication strategies of many companies. Here, we seek to capture and evaluate perceptions of IMC derived from advertising and public relations executives who are developing integrated approaches and campaigns – as required and mandated by clients. Over and above this mandate, of course, they also have their own views as to what IMC is, and how it can best be operationalised. We commence the paper by reviewing the now extensive literature in this subject area, before tackling four research questions via an exploratory study within UK advertising and public relations agencies. The findings indicate that while IMC is here to stay – at least for the foreseeable future. Yet, there is still a significant developmental process that many businesses have to undertake. We conclude by suggesting that IMC development now needs to be researched in the domain of business practice. Certainly, more evidence needs to be provided concerning IMC and integrated marketing from within businesses.

This chapter aims to identify integrated marketing communication (IMC) in the context of business to business to consumer (B2B2C) and empirically test a number of hypotheses related to the selected constructs. A model of the IMC was tested in a survey conducted among stakeholders in the selected field. Professionals responsible for communication and branding activities need to evaluate the relative contributions of the IMC in the B2B2C perspective.

Much has been written about integrated marketing communications (IMC) but agreement on a precise definition is still lacking and, although interest levels seem to have reached fever pitch over the past few years, practical implementation, and evidence of the effectiveness of implementation, seem to be fairly rare. This paper sets out to investigate the sometimes confiding views of what the concept means and asks a number of related questions: what are the driving forces behind the growth of IMC, what is inhibiting its implementation, what is needed to make IMC a reality and what does the future hold for IMC?