Integrated Marketing Communication

 Integrated Marketing Communication

Introduction
Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) is a concept that links together messages and all forms of communication (Percy 2014). Promotion is a critical aspect of marketing and by ensuring a good synchronization, the tools give better results when combined. There are various levels of integration of the marketing communication including vertical, horizontal, internal, external, and data integration (Yeshin 2012). All the integration levels work differently in strengthening integrated communications. Horizontal integration takes place across the marketing mix as well as in the business activities. This implies that all the functions such as finance, production, communication, and distribution have to work together of because their decisions usually send a form of a message to the consumer. Collecting and sharing departmental information is a function of data integration. Subsequently, vertical integration upholds various aspects of the corporate mission including both marketing and communication. Lastly, internal integration involves internal marketing whereby all the staff in the organizations has to be informed and motivated about the new corporate identities, advertisements and new service standards (Shimp and Andrews 2012). Finally, external integration entails partnering with external bodies including PR agencies and advertising. Integrated Marketing Communications is beneficial in that it creates a competitive advantage, saves money and time as well as boosts sales and profits on behalf of the organization (Yeshin 2012). By ensuring integration of all marketing communication, the consumers are able to move through all the stages of buying and at the same time consolidating the image of the organization and improving customer relations. Subsequently, consolidated customer relations protect the organization against the inevitable onslaught of competition hence improving on their competitive advantage. The following paper explores the aspects of Integrated Marketing Communication on Coca-Cola Company which introduced a new product to its long-standing line of soft drinks known as Coca-Cola Life. The paper analyses the current market situation of the product and seeks to determine their integrated marketing communications objectives. In addition, the paper also seeks to develop an Integrated Marketing Communication program for the Life brand of Coca-Cola.

Product Summary and Integrative Marketing Campaign Employed
Coca-Cola Life fits in the same category of other Coca-Cola brands such as Coke Zero and Diet Coke. The primary goal of introducing the Life brand was to add into the healthier options since most of the company’s previous products are heavily sugary (Wawrzak-Chodaczek, Zeligowski, and Kowal 2015). After the launch of the product, the marketing campaign was rolled out across 7,000 outdoor locations mainly on buses, digital screen ads and billboards across cities (Mitchell 2016).  Also, social media marketing indicated a positive response from the consumers. Another form of integrated marketing campaign used for the Life brand was the introduction of a competition which was launched on 20th September 2014 (Roderick 2016). In this competition, Coca-Cola gave its customers opportunities to win various prizes via pop-up shops in London. Online users also had a chance to participate in the competition by sharing Coca-Cola Life moment’s pictures under the hashtags #comp and #Cocacolalife. Two years since the launch of the campaign, it has proven to be a successful Integrating marketing communication tool which as has seen a considerable growth for the Life brand and the Coca-Cola Company in general. The strategy has satisfied all the aspects and specifications of Integrated Marketing Communication in that it mixed up the media outlets used marketing. However, in mixing the media outlets, Coca-Cola Company ensured a brand consistency when in the entire roll out (Strausbaugh and Parente 2014). The effectiveness of an integrated marketing campaign can be altered by the way in which the message is being communicated. This can be done by ensuring that the media platform leading the campaign is well selected. The driving factors behind the strategy must be well outlined. By striking this balance, it is possible to come up with a successful Integrated Marketing Communication and ensuring consumer loyalty to the brand.

Analysis of the Current Market Situation
 Coca-Cola Life is a new product from Coca-Cola Company which was launched and introduced into the market in August 2014. Since its launching, the product has built up a loyal group of buyers. The company introduced a ‘one brand’ marketing strategy to the product earlier in 2015. However, the need to offer more healthy products was the motive behind the introduction of Coca-Cola life in 2014. Compared to the other soft drinks, Coca-Cola life has a third fewer sugar and calories. Marketing records a