I must admit that I have not really laid out to much thought in any of my posts for IMC Society. I have been trying to keep up with my Google reader every night and make sure I am adding content to the site, so when new readers drop in they feel like there is something of value here to be had.
So tonight was a treat, as I found this gem written by Peter Gerritsen of Transworld Advertising Agency Network (TAAN). Peter really lays out some great ideas in the two paragraphs below that I clipped from his blog post. The main idea being that IMC should be a bigger idea than linking disciplines of communications together to disguise that your agency is something different than it was a month ago. What IMC should be is a revolutionary idea in marketing that breaks down the silos of singular focus. It should be about solving problems by not thinking you already know the answer.
From Peter’s Post
Do you consider options outside the traditional “advertising/PR” world that will produce results? Like customer service, display options, advocacy groups, web ordering procedures, how the company answers the phone. Do you think about the same sort of issues within your own agency? How often have you brought the client ideas that do not involve a spot, layout, or design?
The value in applying the real meaning of integration is the ability to understand the audience with enough clarity of vision to see opportunities to connect within each of them, in a way they need to be engaged, not the way you want it to happen. Then evaluate each and every interaction between audience and company. What’s a better way? Build your agency around developing strategic IDEAS, not production or media solutions. Then deliver a seamless set of interconnected activation points that will drive toward the required successes. And, yes, measure them all. Constantly adjusting according to what you learn. Integrate information, strategy, ideas, and connectivity.
To read the whole post and I suggest you do, please click here.
