Communications at a crossroads: what place for integrated marketing communications in a post-Covid-19 landscape?

Authors

  • Philip Kitchen ICN-Artem Business School (Nancy)
  • Dr. University of Exeter Business School (UK), Tanta University Faculty of Commerce (Egypt)

Keywords:

Comunicación Integrada de Marketing (CIM); Pasado Presente Futuro; Revisión crítica; Contextualización., Comunicación Integrada de Marketing (CIM), Pasado Presente Futuro, Revisión crítica, Contextualización

Abstract

Integrated marketing communications (IMC) are a core part of business success in the 21st century, but are facing exceptional challenges, some of which predate the devastation wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic. The various stages of IMC offer rich potential to enhance marketing techniques, harness the power of data analytics and build brand success. However, while most firms would claim to be deploying IMC, many are offering little more than sales-orientated mass marketing, having failed to move beyond the most basic form of its operation (Stage 1). Amid shrinking economies and slashed marketing budgets, even the minority of firms that has moved into Stage 2 (targeted marketing exchanges), Stage 3 (the application of information technology), Stage 4 (information-led communication planning), or even the putative Stage 5 (fully integrated marketing) now risk reverting to Stage 1. It is therefore critically important to develop an advanced understanding of IMC and its potential. Equally significant is the need to address the global trend towards focusing on attracting customers while neglecting post-purchase experience. A twin approach of successfully harnessing all the stages of IMC while also paying full attention to customer retention will maximise the chances of building brand success in the current challenging climate.

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Author Biographies

  • Philip Kitchen, ICN-Artem Business School (Nancy)

    Philip J. Kitchen is Professor of Marketing at triple-accredited ICN-Artem Business School, Nancy, France, where he served formerly as Affiliate Professor. He is a member of CEREFIGE  - Centre Européen de Recherche en Economie Financière et en Gestion des Entreprises based at 25 rue Baron Louis - 54000 NANCY. There he teaches and carries out research in marketing communications, corporate communications, branding, globalisation, and marketing theory.  Editor – Journal of Marketing Communications. He holds Emeritus Chairs at Brock University, Canada and Salford University, UK. In addition to 21 books in various facets of marketing and communication, he has published widely in leading scientific journals since 1984.

  • Dr., University of Exeter Business School (UK), Tanta University Faculty of Commerce (Egypt)

    Marwa Tourky, PhD, is Senior lecturer of Marketing at Exeter University Business School, UK and Vice-Chair of South West Federation of Museums and Art Galleries, UK. Her research is focused in areas such as corporate brand, identity and reputation, communications and CSR. Her research has appeared in leading scientific journals such as Journal of Business Research, European Journal of Marketing, Corporate Reputation Review,  Qualitative Market Research, Journal of Marketing Communications, Management and Organization Review, and Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing.

References

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Published

2020-12-22

Issue

No. 2 (2020): Número 2/2020, Época 2

Section

SPECIAL SECTION

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How to Cite

Kitchen, P., & Tourky, M. E. (2020). Communications at a crossroads: what place for integrated marketing communications in a post-Covid-19 landscape?. Revista De Estudios Empresariales. Second Era, 2, 7-17. https://revistaselectronicas.ujaen.es/index.php/REE/article/view/5855