The Marketing Review 2001, 1, 409-425 www.themarketingreview.

com

Chris Fill
University of Portsmouth

Essentially a Matter of Consistency: Integrated

Marketing Communications1
Despite the growth and popularity of the term Integrated Marketing
Communications (IMC), there has been little consensus about what it is or
what needs to be undertaken in order to establish IMC in organisations. This
paper does not seek to offer a definition but looks at one of the key
underlining characteristics that appear in the majority of definitions, namely
harmonization or consistency.
Consistency within IMC is considered not just from a promotional mix level
but from both an internal/external and strategic perspective. The term
consistency is then disaggregated into two main components; structural and
attitudinal. The structural view considers the client and agency positions and
also reviews the marketing communications industry. The attitudinal
component is examined from the basis that for dialogue (often quoted as a
key part of contemporary marketing communications), all parties need to be
willing to share information and want to build relationships based upon
openness and trust. It is argued here that this propensity to share
information is a culturally determined issue and is a key aspect of an
organisation’s orientation towards IMC.
From this analysis the author develops an incremental approach to the
way in which IMC might develop in organisations. This is then demonstrated
through a small case study which uses the example of a medium sized
engineering company which has developed IMC with a very strong strategic
foundation.

Keywords: Integrated marketing communications, consistency, promotional

mix, information sharing and dialogue.

Introduction

For many, Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) is concerned with the

harmonisation of customer orientated promotional messages. Duncan and
Everett (1993) suggest IMC has been referred to variously as orchestration,
whole egg and seamless communication. It is regarded by some as a means

1 rd
This paper is partly based on material in the 3 Edition of Chris Fill’s book,
Marketing Communications : Contexts, Strategies and Applications, Harlow: Pearson
Education.
ISSN 1472-1384/2001/040409 +17 £4.00/0 ©Westburn Publishers Ltd.
410 Chris Fill

of combining the tools of the promotional mix in a more efficient and

synergistic manner. To some extent this is true but the literature reveals no
agreed view of IMC (Stewart 1996, Reich 1998, Cornelissen and Lock 2000)
and there is much to suggest that a contemporary understanding of IMC runs
much deeper than just the unification of marketing communication tools and
campaigns. Increasingly IMC is seen to include all consistent interactions a
stakeholder has with an organisation (Shultz and Schultz 1998) and therefore
any definition needs to include or refer to concepts such as added value,
relationship marketing, corporate branding and with it, the blending of internal
and external communications.
It appears difficult to identify examples of IMC and those that are hailed as
shining examples of the concept are invariably just a demonstration of co-
ordinated promotional activities or partial integration. One reason for this
failure is that IMC means different things to different organisations. Gayeski
and Woodward (1996) suggest that integration is difficult because
organisations do not regard communication as important. Even if this remains
an uncomfortable truth for too many organisations, those that give it a higher
priority need to treat it not as a single, static form of communication but one
which is dynamic, which develops with knowledge and experience, political
intention and resource availability.
What runs through most definitions of IMC is the notion of harmonization
or consistency. The aim of this paper is to explore the idea that consistency
is an integral and pivotal characteristic of the IMC concept and to attempt to
understand the process by which IMC might develop in organisations.
Through this it might be possible to offer a sufficient foundation for others to
move towards this strategic approach to marketing communications. First
however, a brief consideration of the marketing communication industry
structure may shed light on the current unease about the nature of IMC.

Industry Structure and Development

The view that IMC is about the delivery of consistent messages through the
co-ordination of the tools of the promotional mix is both plausible and
perfectly understandable in the light of the context in which marketing
communication services have been provided.
For a long time suppliers of promotional services saw specialisation as the
principal means to achieve communication effectiveness. This resulted in a
proliferation of advertising agencies and the development of sales promotion
houses. Public relations specialists stood off from any direct association with
marketing. Personal selling had already evolved as a discrete function within
organisations. This specialist approach was further emphasised by the
development of trade associations and professional management groups (for
example the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (UK) and the Institute of
Sales Promotion (UK)) which seek to endorse, advance, protect and
legitimise the actions of their respective professions and members.
It is not surprising therefore, that these promotional tools are often
 Essentially a Matter of Consistency: IMC 411

considered to be separate, individualistic techniques that offer particular

benefits and only through the use of each promotional tool, or minor
combination, are clients able to achieve specific communication impacts or
effects on audiences. Consequently, clients have been required to deal with
a variety of functionally different and independent organisations in order to
communicate with their various audiences.
One further result of this functional and structural perspective of the
development of the marketing communications industry has been the
inevitable opposition to the desire for change, and an in-built resistance to
notions of integration and sharing. As if to defy this situation IMC has
emerged as a reaction to the structural inadequacies of the industry, partly
fuelled by the realisation by some clients that their communication needs can
(and should) be achieved more efficiently and effectively than previously.
Clients demand that they be able to create and sustain a dialogue with
buyers and whilst the structural inadequacies of the marketing
communication industry may have restrained the means by which client
organisations can achieve their marketing and marketing communication
objectives, so forces for change are driving a call for integration. What is also
clear is that client and supplier needs are far from being consistent with one
another.
What is IMC?
One of the prime motivations for a move towards IMC is the reduction in
costs that it is possible to realise through this approach. The rise in some
media costs, most notably television through the 1990s, the proliferation of
media opportunities and the splintering of audiences has led to a reappraisal
of the communication strategies used by organisations and a reformulation of
their promotional and media mixes. By reducing their reliance on above-the-
line media and by attempting to move towards the use of media-neutral
mixes to deliver consistent messages that cut through the increasing clutter,
many organisations (e.g. Kellogg’s, Unilever and Proctor and Gamble) have
moved, if unintentionally, towards some form of integrated marketing
communication activity.
Agreeing a definition of IMC is proving elusive but one of the more
popular, simple and intrinsically satisfying views of IMC is that the messages
conveyed by each of the promotional tools should be harmonised in order
that audiences perceive a consistent image of a product or organisation. One
interpretation of this perspective is that the key visual triggers (design,
colours, form and tag line) used in advertising should be replicated across
the range of promotional tools used, including Point-of-Purchase (POP) and
the sales force. At another level IMC is about the integration of some of the
promotional tools. One such combination is the closer alliance of advertising
with public relations. Increasing audience fragmentation means that it is
more difficult to locate target audiences and communicate with them in a
meaningful way. By utilising the power of public relations to stimulate word-
of-mouth communication about brands and advertisements (e.g. Benetton,
412 Chris Fill

Wonderbra and Barnardo’s) so a form of communications consistency, or

even integration, becomes possible. A further interpretation, at a deeper
level, is that the theme and set of core messages used in any campaign
should be determined and then deployed across the promotional mix
(sometimes referred to as synergy). One of the differences is the recognition
that mass media advertising is not always the only way to launch consumer
or business-to-business promotional activities, and that a consideration of the
most appropriate mix of communications might be a better starting point
when formulating campaigns. What all of these interpretations allow for is a
perpetuation of the current structural configuration of the industry, with the
emphasis still on clients demanding greater levels of integration. As if to
amplify this view, Duncan and Moriarty (1998) state that stakeholders
(including customers) automatically integrate brand messages. In other
words, integration is not an issue for the supply side.
If marketing communications are to be used effectively then there is a
need to communicate aspects of the direction in which the organisation
intends moving and how it intends to achieve this. In other words, the
business philosophy and its aims and objectives, often expressed formally
through mission and vision statements, need to be communicated to
particular audiences in a way that is synchronised and co-ordinated with the
organisation’s other communication activities. At a strategic level IMC has at
its roots the overall business strategy of the organisation. Using Porter’s
(1980) Generic Strategies, if a low cost strategy (e.g. ASDA) is being
pursued then it makes sense to complement the strategy by using messages
that either stress any price advantage that customers might benefit from or at
least do not suggest extravagance or luxury. If using a differentiation focus
strategy (e.g. Waitrose) then price should not figure in any of the messages
and greater emphasis should be placed on particular attributes that enable
clear positioning.
There can be little doubt that the elements of the marketing mix, however
configured, also communicate (Smith 1996). The price and associated
values; the product, in terms of the quality, design and tangible attributes; the
manner and efficiency of the service delivery people, and where and how it is
made available, for example the location, retailer/dealer reputation and
overall service quality, are brand identity cues with which recipients develop
associations and images, which in turn through time may shape brand
reputations. It is suggested, therefore, that IMC cannot be achieved just by
saying the same message through a variety of promotional tools. Effective
communication underpins the stability and quality of relationships. While the
origins of IMC might be found in the inadequacies of the prevailing structural
conditions, an understanding of what IMC is or should be, is far from being
resolved and is evolving as the industry matures.
The elements involved in IMC are many and numerous. Depending upon
the perspective an individual might adopt, those elements might range from a
simple configuration of the promotional mix through to a fully integrated and
culturally driven mission and corporate strategy. These are set out in Figure
 Essentially a Matter of Consistency: IMC 413

1.

Elements Involved in IMC

Promotional The Organisation

Mix

Business
Strategy

Marketing
Mix Outsourced
Providers

Figure 1: Elements Involved in Integrated Marketing

Communications

The author of this paper believes that IMC needs to be strategically

determined but it is recognised that IMC is a dynamic state and that
multidisciplinary approaches are required to achieve marketing and business
objectives. Therefore, IMC can take a number of different forms, some of
which will be particular to the stage of development an organisation has
reached, the resources available, the environment within which it operates
and the degree of maturity the industry has reached. It is interesting that the
rapid development of direct marketing initiatives since the latter half of the
1980s and the impact the Internet has coincided with a move towards IMC. A
further significant development has been the shift in marketing philosophies,
from transaction to relationship marketing.

Consistency and IMC

If integration is to be achieved then it makes sense to understand the integral

characteristics associated with the concept and to then encourage the
formation of these characteristics within client and supply side organisations
associated with the marketing communications industry. From these various
interpretations of IMC comes the notion that consistency is a central and
414 Chris Fill

enduring characteristic.
As stated earlier, one of the more popular and intrinsically satisfying views of
IMC is that all the messages conveyed by each of the promotional tools
should be harmonised in order that audiences perceive a consistent set of
messages. As Beard (1997) states, IMC messages communicate a
consistent theme, position, tone, look or personality. Similarly, Phelps and
Johnson (1996) refer to a school of thought that regards IMC as messages
with “one voice” or “one personality”. While these views are intrinsically
acceptable, what they fail to address are the associated and deeper
elements that are needed to support and maintain IMC. Consistency needs
to be rooted in the underpinning of the messages, in the strategic,
behavioural and structural elements that all organisations need to manage if
performance consistency is to be achieved.

Customer Focus
For there to be consistency of message content and delivery there needs
to be an agreed direction and a focus for shared values. In many
organisations this can be achieved by a move towards a strong(er) customer
orientation. In many cases this requires a cultural shift of values and beliefs,
whereby customer, organisational and brand identity issues become
paramount. To make this feasible, the internal systems and procedures may
need to be reviewed and the communication infrastructure adjusted to the
needs of key audiences. For example, the current interest in CRM and
associated software systems are a manifestation of the need identified by
some organisations to directly assist all those employees who interact with
their customers.
Integrated marketing communications needs to involve the whole
organisation, because it requires internal and external communications to be
blended so that it is strongly identified with the strategy and direction of the
organisation. The importance of internal marketing communications and the
need to involve employees consistently in positive communication activity,
appears to be recognised increasingly, by many organisations, as an integral
part of their overall communication programme. IMC cannot be sustained
unless it is supported by all employees adopting a customer focus and who
‘live’ the brand. For example, the household and garden products retailer
B&Q use their employees consistently in their television advertisements to
make and deliver brand promises.
Once the internal reorientation has begun (not completed) it is then
possible to take the message to external audiences. As long as audiences
can see that employees are acting (starting to act) in different ways and do
care about them as valued customers and do know what they are talking
about in support of the products and services offered, then it is likely that
customers (and other stakeholders) will be supportive. Encouraging
employees to behave in such a way that they are perceived to support brand
promises, provides a vital form of consistency. Gilly and Wolfinbarger (1998)
concluded that an organisation’s advertising can have both a positive and
 Essentially a Matter of Consistency: IMC 415

negative effect on the employees of an organisation. Employees use three

main criteria when evaluating the advertising used by their employers,
namely accuracy of the message, value congruence and effectiveness. They
argue that such advertising can serve to clarify roles, make promises that can
be realistically delivered and demonstrate that the organisation values its
employees. These positive outcomes can be seen in terms of improved
morale and commitment.
IMC is about blending internal and external messages so that there is
consistent clarity and reinforcement of the organisation’s (or brands’) core
proposition.

Sharing Information
An organisation’s attitude towards communication can be a reflection of
the degree to which organisations are willing and motivated to enter into a
dialogue with their various audiences. The common assumption is that
organisations are always prepared and able to enter into two-way
communications but, as many researchers have reported (Grunig and Hunt
1984), communication is often used as a one-way propaganda device. Even
if two-way communications are observed, it is unusual that an organisation
will listen to and then adjust their position in the light of what they hear.
A willingness to share information is an organisational cultural issue which
is a reflection of the prevailing structure and the attitudes of individuals and
communities towards communication. A willingness to share (or not share)
information is rarely temporal, it is an attitude, and attitudes are normally
consistent. The factors associated with a willingness to share information
can be considered to be structurally determined on the one hand and an
attitude of mind on the other. These are considered in turn.

Structure
Hierarchical structures, so common in many client organisations have
delivered a management structure through which delegated authority is
compartmentalized into particular units, such as the brand management
system. This structural approach can act as a straitjacket and only give
partial authority to incumbents. Responsibility for pricing, channel
management, personal selling and public relations activities are split off and
allocated to others. It follows from this that the likelihood of internal
integration is hampered by the structure of the organisation and the way in
which structural units were assembled. For example, the creation of separate
employee relations, public relations, public affairs, advertising and
information systems departments, are referred to by Gayeski (1993) as
“islands of communication”. She says these structurally isolated units often
give rise to fragmented, redundant or even contradictory communication
campaigns which in turn can result in wastage, loss of credibility and
information overload.
There has been a move in many organisations to correct this difficulty and
the consequent restructuring process has resulted in organisations that are
416 Chris Fill

delayered and leaner. This means that the gap between senior management
and those within the operating core (Mintzberg 1996) is smaller and the
organisation is now capable of sustaining viable internal communications that
are truly two-way, supportive and more consistent.
Increasingly organisations are operating in overseas or cross-border
markets. However, as organisations develop structurally, from international
to multinational to global and transnational status, so the need to co-ordinate
internal communications becomes ever more vital to sustain integrated
marketing communications (Grein and Gould 1996). Internal marketing has
become more popular with clients (and agencies) as it is realised that
employees are important contributors to corporate identity programmes and
invaluable spokespersons for the products they market. Internal marketing
communications can help not only to inform and remind/reassure but also to
differentiate employees in the sense that they understand the organisation’s
direction and purpose, appreciate what the brand values are and so identify
closely with the organisation as a whole. This is a form of integration and in
turn this facilitates internal consistency.
The use of outside agencies who possess the skills, expertise and
purchasing advantages which are valued by clients, is common practice.
However, the way in which these outsourced skills are used and how they
are structured has been changing. For example, Gronstedt and Thorsen
(1996) suggest five ways in which agencies could be configured to provide
integrated marketing communications. Their models denote a continuum, at
one end of which is a highly centralised organisation that can provide a high
level of integration for a variety of communication disciplines. These are
staffed by generalists with no particular media bias, and are structured
according to client needs, not functional specialisms. Total integration is
offered at the expense of in-depth and leading-edge knowledge in new and
developing areas.

Increasing level of MC Expertise

Network of One highly
Independent integrated
Experts IMC provider
Increasing level of Integration

Figure 2 : Outsourced Providers and IMC : A Continuum of Trade

Offs.

At the other end of the continuum are those providers who group themselves
in the form of a network. Often led by a main advertising agency which has
divested itself of expensive overheads, the independent yet interdependent
network players each provide specialist skills under the leadership of the
main contractor agency. One of the two main weaknesses associated with
 Essentially a Matter of Consistency: IMC 417

this interpretation concerns the deficiency associated with communications

across the players in the network. This horizontal aspect means that
individual members of the network tend to identify with their own area of
expertise and advance their specialism, possibly at the expense of the
client’s overriding requirements. The other main weakness concerns the
transitory or temporary nature of a member organisation’s involvement within
such networks. Therefore, the level of potential integration is possibly
weakest in this model, although the level of expertise available to clients is
highest at this end of the continuum.
One of the essential points emerging from this research is that there
seems to be a trade-off between levels of integration and the expertise
provided by different agencies. (See Figure 2.) Clients who want to retain
control over their brands and find an integrated agency, where all the
required services are of the exact level and quality demanded, may be
expecting too much. The inevitability of this position is that clients may
choose to select marketing communication expertise from a variety of
sources and attempt to impose their own integrative values, all at the
expense of the integrated agency.

Attitudes
The cultural shift that organisations need to make in order to be more
customer focused requires a move towards relationship marketing and a
desire to want to enter into a mutually rewarding relationship with
stakeholders. Part of this process is an organisation’s attitude toward
communication and indeed, a defining quality of IMC is that all participants
acknowledge and want to actively share relevant information with customers,
supply chain partners and all other interested stakeholders. As Mohr and
Spekman (1994) suggest, partnership success appears to be a function of
many attributes, one of which is the partners propensity, or willingness, to
share information. It has been established that for IMC to work successfully,
a dialogue is necessary, a dialogue that is based on trust in the others use of
sensitive information. The willingness of organisations to share information
can be strongly related to the effectiveness of the dialogue between parties.
An interesting benefit of the development of the Internet and related
digitial facilities is the stimulus for integration. The Internet provides web site
access for everyone, whilst an Extranet platform enables an organisation to
restrict access to a number of selected organisations/people. For example,
end user customer organisations, intermediaries and suppliers all might use
an Extranet to share product and market information for mutual advantage.
An Intranet platform enables the use of the same browser based technology
but access is restricted to the employees of an organisation to provide
increased levels of information, clarity and motivation. The strategic choice
of platform requires consideration of the stakeholder groups (or
communities), with which the organisation wishes to interact. The
management of these communities is then necessary in order to ensure
optimum usage and the development of suitable relationships. Communities
418 Chris Fill

should be encouraged to grow and to interact with one another and this
requires that users be empowered, be innovative and be reviewed on a
regular basis. A community is formed by people who share an interest or
common cause and in that sense they have a natural propensity to share
related information. Whether the platform facility is an Intranet or Extranet,
participants make choices, often by giving their permission, because not only
does it help build dialogue and provide benefits such as speed, clarity and
reduced communication costs but because participants are enabled to share
information for mutual benefit which is thought to be of strategic significance.
The creation and establishment of trust and commitment (Morgan & Hunt
1994) is a manifestation of a willingness to share information. Through
interactive communications, relationships can be partly delegated to the
performance and capability of the technology. Customer satisfaction arises
through the consistent performance of the operations associated with the
technology. Commitment needs to be fostered through the development of
trust via all forms of offline and online marketing communications. In other
words, integrated marketing communications are required to build trust and
commitment.
Marketing communications also need to provide clarity and fast, pertinent
and timely information in order that decisions can be made. Through
marketing communications (and operational efficiencies and political
contingencies) the development of loyalty between organisations might be
observed. By targeting information and customising messages for the right
people within a partner organisation, via an Extranet for example, the
development of loyalty through trust and commitment might be possible.
Regularised, balanced communication which is embedded within the
operational interactions between organisations, is much more likely to lead to
higher levels of customer (intermediary) satisfaction than when absent. This
reflects a high level of information sharing which can help reduce the
frequency and intensity of conflict that is inevitable in interorganisational
relationships. The Internet, therefore, might be seen as a means of
increasing the propensity of organisations to share information and might
also provide higher frequency of information which is also perceived as an
indicator of high quality (and therefore satisfying) communication (Mohr and
Sohi 1995).

Incremental Development of IMC

The development and establishment of IMC by organisations has not been

as widespread as the amount of discussion around the subject. Recent
technological advances and the benefits of the Internet and related
technologies has meant that organisations have had a reason to reconsider
their marketing communications. Whatever the route taken, the development
of IMC requires change, a change in thinking, actions and expectations. The
changes required to achieve IMC are large and the barriers strong and
significant (Hartley and Pickton 1999). What can be observed are formative
 Essentially a Matter of Consistency: IMC 419

and experimental approaches to IMC as organisations try out various ideas

within their resource and cultural contexts.
As with many aspects of change, there is nearly always resistance to the
incorporation of IMC, and, if sanctioned, only partial integration has been
achieved. This is not to say that integration is not possible or has not been
achieved, but the path to IMC is far from easy and the outcomes difficult to
gauge with great confidence. However, it is the expectation (what level of
IMC) that really matters, as it signals the degree of change that is required.
IMC is not a static, one level concept. There are a variety of forms and
configurations, some of which represent a progression of sophistication. It
seems logical that moves towards the establishment of IMC should be
undertaken in incremental steps. See Figure 3.

Coordinated
Promotional Mix

Functional
Coordination

Cultural Shift

Full IMC

Figure 3: An Incremental Approach to the Establishment of IMC

(Fill 2002) Used with kind permission.

As established earlier, what has been achieved so far in the name of IMC
might best be recognised as forms of co-ordination. Different organisations
have co-ordinated various aspects of their communications activities. The
majority have focused upon their promotional activities and have tried to
bring together their communications to provide consistency and thematic
harmonisation.
If a customer orientation and a willingness to share information are to be
developed then a certain level of functional co-ordination is necessary. The
marketing mix provides a natural overlap with other functional areas (e.g.
production, finance or logistics) and so there is an increasing need to involve
other functional areas as integral parts of the communication process. As if to
link the internal communication and the willingness to share information,
420 Chris Fill

Lings (1999) refers to the internal learning that can occur between
departments and the stress that needs to be put on the open transfer of
information which in turn leads to “closer more co-operative relationships
between departments”. Therefore, it appears that a second stage of IMC is
characterised by a move from promotional co-ordination through to functional
co-ordination, where different parts of the organisation are introduced to the
notion of internal marketing relationships and where internal marketing
communications plays an important part of the process. The need to share
information internally becomes stronger.
The next stage is characterised by the organisation moving towards a
strong(er) customer orientation. This requires a cultural shift of values and
beliefs, whereby organisational and brand identity issues become paramount.
This can only be implemented at this stage, as the internal structures,
systems, procedures and employee mind set need to be in place if the
strategy is to be credible to customers and other stakeholders. Not only is
there a need to share information internally, but a need to share information
with external stakeholders and customers, especially in a b2b context,
becomes paramount.
Perhaps the final stage in the development of IMC can be identified when
an organisation displays a high propensity to share information with all of its
audiences, is structured to facilitate fast and flexible communication and is
perceived by its stakeholders to provide messages that have a high level of
consistency.

C o o rd in a te d
P la n n e d E m p lo y e e P r o m o tio n a l M ix
C o m m u n ic a t io n s

IM C
A r tic u la te d C o r p o r a te
P h ilo s o p h y & S tr a te g y
O u ts o u rc e d IM C
S up port C o n s is te n t
P o s it io n in g H a r m o n is e d
e .g .
M a rC o m M a r k e tin g S tr a te g y
A g e n c ie s

IM C
IM C

C u s to m e rs , C h a n n e l M e m b e r s a n d O th e r S ta k e h o ld e rs

Figure 4 : A Model of Integrated Marketing Communications. (Fill

2002) Used with kind permission.

Integrated Marketing Communications means different things to different

people. However, if it is to be a significant development for organisations
then the term should embrace the marketing mix, the promotional mix,
internal communications and all those outsourced providers who contribute to
the overall marketing communication process. As Figure 4 demonstrates, all
 Essentially a Matter of Consistency: IMC 421

of these elements should be linked to the overall purpose of the organisation,

normally encapsulated and framed in the strategy, philosophy and mission of
the organisation.
Some of these ideas about consistency and the incremental development
of IMC can be observed in CoServe Engineering.

CoServe Engineering

CoServe is a privately owned civil engineering company, employing

approximately 2500 people world-wide. The company specifies, designs,
implements and services the development of major civil engineering projects
in a variety of vertical market sectors. The company has recently embarked
upon a new business strategy, partly as a response to changing market and
competitive conditions and partly because of a need to grow the business.
Traditionally, the industry is characterised by market exchanges. A client
developed a project requirement, put it to competitive tender and those that
submitted the best value for money bid were appointed to design the project.
The problem with this approach is that the appointed civil engineering
company had limited input to the original requirement specification and as
soon as the project was completed their involvement was terminated and
they were effectively discarded. Perhaps even more importantly, the margins
earned on such projects are notoriously slim, so in order to grow the
business, higher margins needed to be generated.
The new strategy is based upon a relationship marketing approach,
referred to by CoServe as the 3C Approach: Clients, Culture and
Commercialisation. These are all inter-linked but this strategy refers to a
change in direction from a purely engineering/product focus to one which
centres on client needs and their total project requirements. The name
CoServe is new and replaces the previous company name which was based
on the name of founders of the original company. Strategy therefore has
changed substantially, and marketing communications needed to
complement the change in direction.
The company now views each project as a commercial activity and all
employees must adopt increased levels of customer awareness (e.g. project
risk assessment, the importance of working within budget and invoicing on
time). In addition, CoServe now offer a total engineering service. Rather than
provide just a civil engineering design service that represented their original
core business, the emphasis is now based upon providing added value by
shifting the offering both upstream and downstream. Therefore, CoServe now
provide three connected offerings:

a The Front-end work which involves undertaking the planning and risk
analysis work for their clients.
b The Core work which is about the design and build aspect of the
project.
c The Tail-end work which is essentially Facilities Management.
422 Chris Fill

This added value, competitive strategy seeks to free clients from the whole
range of tasks associated with the development of major civil engineering
projects. This should allow them to concentrate upon their core business of
retailing, ferry transport, road development/maintenance and railway
infrastructure management, respectively.
There are two significant benefits. The first is the substantially higher
margins that the front and tail-end work attracts. The second concerns the
reduced ‘resource’ wastage by being able to help accurately define the client
problem at the earliest possible stage in the project life cycle.
In order to develop and implement this strategy, CoServe had to evolve a
new skills mix and to do this they either bought or formed alliances with
companies that had the skills they required.
Whilst this might sound reasonably straightforward, CoServe have had to
address further issues. These concerned the development of a new
commercial culture for the established employees plus the grafting-on of the
newly acquired employees into the CoServe culture, including values and
corporate philosophy. Internal marketing communications needed to frame
the new values and communicate the strategy to external stakeholders. This
needed to be accomplished in such a way that the new message (identity)
was consistent and reflected the new customer orientated values.
The level of communication frequency between client and CoServe varies
across the life of a project. There is a great deal of communication at the
outset of a project as the brief is determined by all parties. As the project
moves to the design phase the level of communication tends to subside.
However, once the build phase is reached communication activity reaches its
greatest level of intensity, if only because a 3rd party, a contractor, is now
involved and required to interpret the design and specification previously
agreed by client and CoServe. Any communication analysis in project based
engineering work needs to take account of the critical issue of timescales.
Projects always run tight on their deadlines, hence inter-organisational, and
even intra-organisational, communication levels intensify in an attempt to
resolve onsite problems as quickly as possible.
Through this increased familiarity with a client’s business and the
reciprocal act of the client trusting CoServe with sensitive company
information, the newly formed partnerships enable CoServe to become more
knowledgeable and better acquainted with their partners’ needs and the
types of problems they are required to resolve. A willingness to share
information was consistent with the revised approach to communications.
CoServe has implemented a strategy that seeks to develop a relational
marketing strategy through the development of strong client relationships
(partnering). Through the new offer of added value services immediately
upstream and downstream from the typical infrastructure consultancy
services offered, the company hopes to be able to lock-in clients, improve
margins and improve company performance for their shareholders.
The introduction of IMC at CoServe was as a result of a change in
strategy. It was incremental and progressed through a number of levels as
 Essentially a Matter of Consistency: IMC 423

the organisation adapted to its new environment.

Conclusion

If IMC is to be developed in organisations then it seems necessary to accept

that there is no single formula and that IMC evolves at different speeds and
manifests itself in different ways. However, consistency is a key characteristic
of IMC. Messages need to be consistent, a customer focus needs to be
maintained by all people within an organisation and there should be a
consistent willingness to share information with a range of internal and
external audiences.
IMC can be identified as the strategic development, delivery and dialogue
of consistent, co-ordinated messages, between stakeholders who have a
willingness to share information for mutual long-term benefit. Ingrained
within this definition is a requirement that not only is there a necessity to
provide the right infrastructure but also that IMC normally develops
incrementally and consistently, regardless of the stage of development.

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About the Author

Chris Fill is Principal Lecturer in Marketing and Strategic Management at the

University of Portsmouth. Following his first degree in Business Studies and
then an MSc in Management Studies at Warwick University, he entered the
commercial world. After nearly 15 years working for a number of
organisations, some large, some small, he moved to the University of
Portsmouth and began to develop a specialist interest in marketing
communications.
He now teaches marketing communications at both undergraduate and
postgraduate levels and provides consultancy and training for managers in
commercial and not-for profit organisations. He has experience teaching
overseas in both Europe and Asia-Pacific regions. He is also the Senior
 Essentially a Matter of Consistency: IMC 425

Examiner for the Integrated Marketing Communications module offered by

the Chartered Institute of Marketing. This wide range of activities reflects his
interest in the subject, from the purely academic to the fully professional
application.
Chris Fill’s book, Marketing Communications, Contexts, Strategies and
Applications is now in its 3rd edition and is core reading material at a large
number of colleges and universities in UK, Europe and Asia Pacific. For
more information on this book visit www.booksites.net/fill.
His particular research interests include corporate identity and its role
within Integrated Marketing Communications and the pharmaceutical
industry. He has been published in a wide range of academic and
professional journals.