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European Journal of Marketing
Implementing Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) through major event ambassadors

Paul Turner
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Implementing Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) through Major Event
Ambassadors
Introduction
Marketers face many challenges from increased saturation within markets, the
overwhelming availability of substitutes and the reduced opportunities for differentiation
(Prakash and Sharma, 2010). These (and other) challenges require marketing and
communication managers to recognise and deal with a multitude of markets, marketplaces,

customers, channels and media (Schultz and Kitchen, 2000). Media proliferation, audience
fragmentation, advances in information technology and the Internet, consumer empowerment,
increased advertising clutter, shift in channel power, and the desire for more accountability,
all underpin a sizeable shift in Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) (Semenik,
2002).
These challenges require changes to the way in which marketing and communication
management are practised (Seric et al., 2014). Developments in communication technology,
an increase in delivery channel options, and a customer-oriented approach towards
communication, ensure that one single communication tool is not now able to achieve the
marketing communication purposes of most organisations (Kitchen et al., 2004; Kitchen and
Schultz, 2009; Kliatchko, 2009; Seric et al., 2014). Integrated Marketing Communication
(IMC) has been identified as an approach that offers a more efficient and sophisticated
communication discipline that enables a quicker response to this increasingly challenging
marketing communications environment (Seric et al., 2014).
The changing marketing communications environment extends to all marketplaces,
and the major event and sport sector is no exception. Prakash and Sharma (2010) identified
that event marketing, in particular, has more challenges to be faced as the sector expands and
1
marketing communications options continue to evolve. The challenges are connected with
increasing awareness, creating an event brand identity in the case of multiple events taking
place in one location, gaining sponsors for an event and attracting a targeted audience for the
event.
While sport tends to be blessed with strong brand association and fan loyalties (Funk
and James, 2001), it is not immune to the vagaries of communication fragmentation. This
research focuses on a major sporting event, the Asian Cup 2015. The event brought together
16 nations from the Asian region, and event organisers were faced with the challenge of
communicating with consumers from a wide range of multicultural communities. The way in
which IMC was approached is examined and reported on with respect to this event.
To overcome the multicultural communication barriers, the Local Organising
Committee (LOC) made a major effort to appoint community and business leaders as event
ambassadors. The purpose of this study is to examine how IMC was integrated across the
event, and how the ambassadors assisted in facilitating the event communications. Attention
on how these ambassadors assisted the IMC progress is viewed from the perspective of
Kliatchko’s (2008) four pillars of IMC. The four pillars represent the distinctive attributes
associated with stakeholders, content, channel and results applied to an IMC program. The
ambassadors became fully immersed within the Organisation communications program, from
communicating the event to major stakeholder (cultural) groups, developing culturally
specific content, and identifying relevant (cultural) channels in which to communicate this
content in order to achieve greater interest and awareness (results) within their cultural
groups.
The concept of employing ambassadors in a marketing context is not new, as
exemplified by the ‘brand’ ambassadors represented by high-profile personalities
2
(Schimmelpfennig and Hollensen, 2014), personal influence groups through word-of-mouth
(WOM) or other mechanisms such as brand communities or brand ambassador programs
(Kimmel and Kitchen, 2014), social media networks (Fuduric and Mandelli, 2014) or
destination ambassadors in tourism or place marketing (Rehmet and Dinnie, 2013). Most of
the previous research reflects a predominantly singular-focused approach. Little research has
been undertaken to examine the role of ambassadors in marketing from a more holistic
integrated marketing communication (IMC) perspective. This research views the role of
ambassadors with respect to their overall IMC contribution, from the perspective of
Kliatchko’s (2008) four pillars approach. Discussion of IMC, the four pillars approach to
IMC, and details of the Asian Cup 2015 event, including the integration of event
ambassadors, follows.
Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC)
Understanding how the many and varied communication activities work together or in
combination is a critical feature of IMC. How the communicator can understand, explain or
manage the synergies between the various communication alternatives and how the
communication campaigns overlap, be that advertising, public relations, sales promotion,
personal selling or similar processes, is of significance to the marketing manager. This
understanding holds true for all delivery systems such as broadcast, print, on-line, events and
sponsorships. Traditionally, these elements have been considered separately from their
development through to implementation and measurement. Thus, synergy in connecting the
elements that are applied across an IMC process is required (Kitchen and Schultz, 2009).
IMC is gaining in importance given the environment is characterised by clutter,
complexity, turbulence and economic turmoil (Palakshappa et al., 2010), while, in addition,
the marketplace is becoming increasingly commoditised. Historically, marketers have had
some product or service advantages that could be achieved through communication programs.
3
However, it is no longer the case that promotional elements can be bundled in a way that they
look and sound the same to all target markets (Palakshappa et al., 2010). IMC requires
communicators to understand all forms of communication, and how they align the brand with
the customer. All message delivery channels, customers and prospects need to be considered
when planning and implementing a marketing and marketing communication strategy
(Kitchen et al., 2004). Marketers need to know how to use the different communication tools,
and understand the importance of each contact with a stakeholder (Moriarty, 1994).
Kitchen et al. (2004) suggest that one single marketing communication tool is no
longer suitable to achieve marketing communications processes, therefore, an IMC approach
would seem to offer a more efficient, sophisticated and responsive communication approach
to the increasingly changing market conditions (Kim et al., 2004; Seric et al., 2014). A major
change in the communication process is that consumers are taking greater control of when
and how they receive the message (Kitchen and Schultz, 2009; Kliatchko, 2009; Seric et al.,
2014).
IMC has evolved from a purely customer-centred concept into a concept that takes
into consideration all stakeholders and the communication activities of a company (Einwiller
and Boenigk, 2012). The drivers of IMC have continued to revolve around growing
globalisation, digital technology, brands and branding, stakeholder demands, and rising
expectations by management for performance and accountability (Einwiller and Boenigk,
2012; Kitchen et al., 2004; Schultz and Schultz, 2003). IMC aims to meet more complex
communication needs, and to overcome fragmentation problems and contradictory messages
in order to retain trust and reputation, provide competitive advantage, and enhance
performance (Eagle and Kitchen, 2000; Einwiller and Boenigk, 2012; Schultz and Kitchen,
2004; Schultz and Schultz, 2003).
4
For IMC to be implemented successfully a number of issues need to be considered.
Planning of campaigns must be considered holistically, employees must be given new skills,
and staff in the organisation need to understand the contribution each communication element
can make and understand how these elements affect the communication process (Zvobgo and
Melewar, 2011). Organisations should not look at the marketing communications as separate
elements, with separate planning and implementation, but rather take a unified approach, with
each communication tactic working to reinforce the other parts of the communications
program (Zvobgo and Melewar, 2011).

Mass communication has tended to revolve around the use of various mass media
outlets to reach a wide audience. Currently, a largely fragmented and multicultural audience
drives much of the mass communication around the world. There is a strong emphasis on
audience segments that are more often than not diverse and multicultural (Beaudoin, 2009).
Kitchen, Kim and Schultz (2008) highlight the various stages of IMC application in different
countries, further supporting the multicultural aspects of IMC undertaken by this research.
Duncan and Caywood (1996) suggest that IMC develops in stages, incorporating
awareness, image, functional, coordinated consumer-based, stakeholder-based, and
relationship management. Later, Schultz and Kitchen (2000) described four stages of IMC
development (i.e., tactical coordination, outside-in, IT-based, and management level) based
on a five-country comparison study. However, in both studies the stages mentioned are
neither sacrosanct nor sequential. Ilchul et al. (2004), for example, argued that the
development of IMC must differ according to the socio-cultural circumstances and market
environments, which differ according to market factors, media segmentation and information
technology.
Kliatchko (2008) provides a revised definition of IMC and introduced four pillars as
distinctive attributes of IMC. The distinctive attributes are identified as stakeholders, content,
5
channels and results. Kliatchko (2008) proposed that these four pillars represent both
antecedents and consequences. Antecedents reflect the requirements for planning and
execution of a new IMC program, and consequences feature in terms of the improvements,
changes and adjustments derived from the analysis following the completion of the program.
The current research focuses on the four pillars in terms of their antecedent qualities,
whereby a specific IMC program is assessed from how the planning and execution aspects
were managed. Analysis is provided briefly as it applies in relation to each of the pillars.
The Four Pillars Approach to IMC
Stakeholders
“The term stakeholders refers to all the relevant publics or multiple markets with
which any given firm interacts” (Kliatchko, 2008, p. 145). The relevant publics with which an
organisation interacts may be both internal and external (Schultz and Schultz, 1998). External
audiences include those entities outside the organisation such as customers and consumers,
while internal audiences refer to those within the organisation, such as employees and
managers (Kliatchko, 2008). Adding ambassadors as an additional stakeholder dimension
further adjusts the context of this research.
Kliatchko (2008) indicates that building and developing positive relationships, not
only with the firm’s external markets but also with its internal audience, is paramount, as it
fosters a sense of loyalty and business ownership. Linking the external audiences and the
marketing activities directed to them with internal marketing efforts within the organisation is
a powerful force in motivating employees to effectively implement corporate and functional
strategies that ultimately create customer-oriented employees (Rafiq and Ahmed, 2000). The
impact of stakeholders is not just at the lower levels of the organisation but also at the
corporate level, where senior management need to instil a culture of marketing across the
6
whole organisation, including areas such as human resources and finance, so that they are all
working together to achieve a common goal (Kliatchko, 2008).
Content
Content requires developing a deep understanding of consumers, and attempting to develop a
connection between the brand and the customer (Schultz and Schultz, 2004). Kliatchko
(2008) refers to content in IMC being differentiated between messages and incentives.
Messages include the ideas, concepts, associations and values that marketers transmit to
customers, while incentives are short-term offers or rewards offered to consumers (Schultz
and Schultz, 2004). Given the proliferation of messages, channels of communication and
consumption options, consumers are often now the determiner or even creator of messages or
content that will be received. IMC managers must acknowledge that the timing, message and
media form are not completely within their control or domain any more. Kliatchko (2008, p.
149) indicated that “problems related to suitability, propriety, decency and good taste,
consistency of consumer-created content with the brand vision and strategic considerations,
piracy and copyright, and trustworthiness of content, are but some of the pressing concerns
that IMC managers would have to contend with in utilising such media channels”. Delivery
of relevant content to a variety of diverse multicultural audiences brings with it even greater
challenges that need to be addressed by marketers (Beaudoin, 2009; Kitchen et al., 2008).
Channels
A fundamental concept in IMC is the expanded notion of marketing communication
channels, including those that may not have been considered or strictly classified as
communication channels in the past (Schultz and Schultz, 1998). The integrated view
provides a broader understanding of channels to include not only traditional tools such as
7
radio, TV and print, but all other possible options where customers experience a brand and
make contact with it.
New media has changed the consumption patterns of audiences from a few choices
and passive consumption, to now being in control of the content they receive, or even create,
at their own convenience (Kliatchko, 2008). IMC managers need to understand the
simultaneous media exposure and usage that is affecting the media consumption habits of
audiences today. IMC managers must choose between the many traditional and new media
options available, and the ways in which consumers wish to access these options.
Results
The integrated approach to planning and implementing marketing communications
programmes usually incorporates a drive for results or effectiveness. While the concept of
measuring results is not new, it presents a major challenge for organisations, particularly
within the complexity of the current marketing communications landscape. Results tend to
reflect that “IMC’s ultimate goal is to produce measureable results for a company” (Reinold
and Tropp, 2010, p. 114).
Using these four pillars in addressing a major event platform is undertaken here.
Crowther (2010) indicates that the marketing attention to event platforms tends to be
inconsistent, due to the diversity and differentiation associated with special events. The
suggestion is that special events provide certain characteristics, such as cross-departmental
involvement, planning and management. Crowther (2010) believed that events can be
delivered by both individuals and teams within the organisation, as well as by external
agencies, each with their own structures, processes, priorities and even brand interpretation.
Major events provide a participative and collaborative marketing space that enables ongoing
conversations with customers to occur (Kumar, 1997). The result is that event management
8
can facilitate a more customer-centric and participative environment, allowing the
organisation to more readily achieve its marketing objectives (Crowther, 2011).
Major Events and IMC
With its existing diversity of cultures and impressive history of sporting success,
Australia has a long history of hosting major international sporting events. These often one-
off occurrences, classified as special events, mega-events, hallmark events, exhibitions and
festivals, tend to be limited in duration (Hede and Kellett, 2011; Getz, 2005). Roche (1994)
identified special events as sporting, cultural, political, historical, religious and
commercial/business events, referring to the memorable experiences (Getz, 2005), social
capital impacts (Chalip, 2006) and income generation (Carlsen et al., 2008) they provide.
Marketing communications have been identified as a factor in achieving success through
special events (Hede and Kellett, 2011; Getz, 2005; Masterman and Wood, 2005). With
respect to the communications impact of special events, Hede and Kellett (2011, p. 988)
identified that “very little attention has been directed towards examining marketing
communications for special events”, while many larger special events have sought to
“customise product features, and develop selling techniques tailored to local customs and
cultures” (Maguire et al., 2008, p. 71). Getz and Fairley (2004) identified that special events
are successfully marketed via participants (i.e., consumers) through word-of-mouth (WOM)
recommendations. The results from Hede and Kellett’s (2011) work support the importance
of WOM for raising awareness of special events. This extends to developing an
understanding of the target markets’ lifestyles and consumer characteristics, developing
community networks and infrastructure and distributing information. They concluded that as
special events are not regular occurrences but are aimed at bringing people together, social
networking tools such as Facebook and Twitter seem most suited to technology-oriented
customers.
9
A special event - the Asian Cup 2015
The AFC Asian Cup commenced in 1956 with seven of the 12 founding member
countries competing. Since this time, the AFC Asian Cup has grown into the Continent’s
biggest football event, equivalent in status to other major international competitions. It brings
together Asia’s top national teams every four years (AFC, 2014). The region’s major
powerhouse nations (which also qualified for the FIFA World Cup in 2014), represented by
Japan, Australia, Iran and Korea Republic (South Korea), were joined by DPR (North) Korea,
Kuwait, Oman, Uzbekistan, UAE, Bahrain, Saudia Arabia, Jordan, China PR, Iraq, Qatar, and
Palestine for the 2015 event (AFC, 2014).
The vast cultural divides, coupled with nations representing one of the most turbulent
global regions, brings forth its own unique set of problems. Adding to these cultural
divisions, Australia as host of the 2015 tournament, while maintaining strong interest in the
sport does not consider football (soccer) its predominant football code. The final 16
qualifying nations represent communities with many differences in culture, religion, language
and political diversity (AFC, 2014). Communicating with this broad cross-section of cultures
and communities brings a unique set of issues to consider.
Five Australian cities hosted the Asian Cup in January, 2015. Games were played in
Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra and Newcastle (Asian Cup 2015, 2014b). With more
than two million people of Asian heritage calling Australia home, many of the visiting teams
could tap into fervent support from their expat communities. To enhance that support, more
than 150 leaders representing these Asian-Australian communities were appointed as
Community Ambassadors for the 2015 Asian Cup (Asian Cup 2015, 2014a). Community
Ambassadors included business, community and sporting leaders with heritage from across
the Asian continent. These people were appointed to work to build awareness and interest in
10
the 2015 Asian Cup among their communities. As ambassadors for the event, these
community leaders held events, appeared in their local media, co-ordinated fan bays to
support their teams, and provided language and ticketing support.
Method
A qualitative approach was adopted using in-depth semi-structured interviews,
conducted with 14 people who were involved in various activities associated with the Asian
Cup. These people were representatives of the Local Organising Committee (LOC), state
(local) football federations, state government, or the community ambassador program. The
interview approach was undertaken in order to gather greater levels of detail and to gain the
insight necessary for assessing and examining the communication surrounding the Asian Cup
2015.
Data were collected using structured and semi-structured lines of questioning in the
interviews which focused on the communications undertaken around the event. Interviews
utilised a funnelling technique (Minichello et al., 1995), which started with a broad focus
before targeting more specific areas. Interviews lasted for between 35 and 70 minutes and
were transcribed verbatim. Memos were recorded by the interviewer during and immediately
following each interview.
Analysis of the data occurred initially through a line-by-line coding of the transcripts
in order to identify themes and categories (Corbin and Strauss, 1990; Esterberg, 2002). The
first stage involved detailed analysis of each interview and allowed “unique patterns of each
case to emerge before the investigator pushed to generalise patterns across cases”
(Eisenhardt, 1989, p. 540). Following the initial phase, a focused coding process was
employed (Esterberg, 2002) to develop “deeper patterns, strategies, categories and concepts”
(Smith and Stewart, 2001, p. 6). This process involved the use of memos and detailed line-
11
by-line readings of the transcript and documentation to gain a “general familiarity of the
contents” (Smith and Stewart, 2001, p. 8). Initial codes were revised and coding categories
were verified using a check-coding process (Miles and Huberman, 1994) involving two
coders reaching agreement on the placement of information (Hede and Kellett, 2011). Miles
and Huberman (1994) suggest creating a provisional ‘start list’ of codes prior to fieldwork, a
method that was undertaken in this research. This initial list comes from the conceptual
framework, a list of research questions, hypotheses, problem areas and/or key variables that
the researcher brings to the study (Basit, 2003). This method of coding and analysis allowed
for the data collected, including multiple interview transcripts, to be organised into a useful
and accessible format comprising broad and specific levels.
Results and Discussion - IMC and the Asian Cup 2015
A broad range of communication activities were initiated by the event organisers for
the Asian Cup 2015. More traditional programs of advertising, publicity, public relations and
sales promotions were employed, alongside digital communications in the form of mail-outs
to email addresses (the Football Family associated with Australian football has “in excess of
500,000 recipients” [R1]). Regular Facebook and Twitter posts also featured. As R1
indicated, in terms of the ‘normal’ IMC process being followed by the event, “the bulk of
what we do is building awareness, so you start off… we start our formal advertising
campaign kicks off toward the end of the month – television, radio, billboards, shopping
centres, so there will be a massive drive”.
While the approach to communicating with the public occurred through recognised
channels with mixed attributes, the event organisers recognised early on that in order to
access those people in the community who might be interested in the event but may not be
part of mainstream communication channels, other considerations were needed. It was
identified that, potentially, the event could attract interest from more than 2.5 billion people
12
living in the region, with a potential television audience for the event estimated in excess of
800 million, and it was estimated that there are over 2.5 million people living in Australia
with Asian heritage (Asian Cup 2015, 2014c). The question of how to communicate with
these 2.5 million people living in Australia in a way that would encourage attendance or
interest in the event was raised. One answer, as stated by R1, was “… and projects came up
whereby we decided that we needed to start doing some work on engaging the communities
of obviously the participating nations particularly, because we realised that was a huge
market for us and it was something that’s going to require a little bit of different work to the
general mainstream marketing”.
The solution identified was to engage people from within multicultural communities
as ambassadors, with a remit to engage people associated with their own cultural heritage in
the community. In excess of 150 Community Ambassadors were appointed to assist in the
promotion (and ticket sales) associated with the Asian Cup 2015. These ambassadors were
recognised leaders in their community, representing different cultural groups, business
interests and media outlets specific to the nation of their heritage. As one respondent
explained, “there is an opportunity being created by the establishment of these ambassadors
to get the message into the (specific cultural) community (R5)”.
Having identified and engaged these people to liaise with their cultural communities,
the approach and outcomes achieved are presented here. The results are aligned with the four
pillars approach to IMC proposed by Kliatchko (2008). Figure 1 broadly depicts the
outcomes that emerged, enabling each of the four pillars to be described in turn.
<<< Insert Figure 1 about here
13
Stakeholder Approach to IMC
Stakeholders were classified into three categories. Quotes by respondents applicable
to these categories are presented in Table 1. The first category identified the internal
stakeholders which include the employees within the organisation. Kliatchko (2008) advised
that the way in which people interact internally with each other and then with external
consumers is important to the effective functioning of the organisation. This comment refers
to interaction across the whole organisation, not just at the lower levels of the organisation,
but at the corporate level as well. Senior management need to instil a culture of
communication throughout the organisation, including areas such as human resources and
finance, so that everyone is working together to achieve a common goal (Kliatchko, 2008).
<<< Insert Table 1 about here
It is clear that the employees were encouraged to become immersed in the event, and
especially with respect to contributing to the community ambassador program. As stated by
R1, “We have been present at … 80 or 90 events doing different things at a community level
to make sure that the community feels comfortable”. The employees were being encouraged
to “live the brand” in order to fully engage in the communication process and interact with
the various multicultural communities (Fill, 2009). This supports previous research which
states that employees need to be recognised as brand ambassadors and not just subsumed as
part of the organisation (Harris and de Chernatony, 2001).
While the emphasis on internal marketing was important, by focusing attention on the
community ambassador program, essentially, this group emerged as a separate stakeholder
category. The group represented by the community ambassadors themselves are introduced
here as a ‘quasi’ internal group. These people identified as community members who, by
14
virtue of a strong interest in the event and their associated cultural heritage, were in effect
‘seconded’ by the event organisers to communicate the event to their respective cultural
communities. This ‘quasi’ internal group was represented by many highly-motivated and
supportive cultural community leaders. The community ambassadors were community
representatives who displayed high levels of motivation, a strong sense of whole-of-event
support, had strong ties to their cultural community and gained a significant level of trust in
managing the role.
The motivation to ‘be involved’ with the event played a crucial role in the community
ambassadors not just seeking to get people to attend games, but to actively participate in
bringing people from within their various cultural groups together. Given that these
ambassadors were in essence ‘engaged volunteers’ with a strong passion for the game and
their own community, the role of communicating and engaging saw these people become a
crucial conduit between the internal event organisers and the external cultural communities.
While motivation played a strong part in ensuring success, the networks within their
own communities as well as in other cultural communities, were also important. The way in
which all ambassadors interacted with each other, with the internal employees of the local
organisation and with their communities, was important in facilitating strong links and
achieving communication objectives.
The role of the ambassadors was considered instrumental in “bringing together many
disparate groups of people within a (specific) cultural group (R13)”. It was also felt that the
groups had been able to come together “with little or no trouble or conflict (R8)”. The fact
that many of the nations from the region do not have cohesive internal political, religious or
cultural frameworks created an even greater challenge. This suggests that the ‘strength of
ties’ was important in managing the outcomes of this event. Granovetter (1973; 1983)
introduced this concept with respect to WOM communications and social network analysis,
15
where the amount of time, emotional intensity, intimacy and reciprocal services characterise
the ties.
Finally, included in the ‘quasi’ internal aspect is the concept of trust. While the
ambassadors were responsible for communicating with a specific cultural group, they were
also independent (albeit highly-motivated) volunteers. As a result, the event organisers placed
enormous trust in the communications they engaged in within their various communities.
This trust extended to their translation of messages from English for the materials and
messages disseminated to media and consumers. Ambassadors even extended their

communications role to selling tickets to games (see ticket sales in section below). Trust in
IMC is recognised as an important requirement, to the extent that Varey and Ballantyne
(2005, p. 17) stated, “this dialogical sharing of control requires mutual trust”.
Kliatchko (2008) recognised the importance of the internal stakeholders in
successfully implementing a true IMC programme and that was certainly the case in this
instance. This indicates that the internal mechanisms associated with the stakeholder
perspective are extremely important in managing IMC. Laurie and Mortimer (2011, p. 1470)
refer to the importance of internal stakeholders by stating that, “integration works best when
there is a unifying thought driving the whole business, not just the marketing”. This statement
indicates a whole-of-organisation approach to IMC is required, and having the community
ambassadors be part of the internal stakeholder group occurred here.
The third stakeholder category extends to the external groups. While external groups
can be categorised as any group outside the internal workings of the organisation, there was a
significant emphasis on all business, political, religious and media interests from within the
cultural groups. A whole-of-culture identity was sought by the community ambassadors.
While this is not without its difficulties, as stated by one respondent, “… a country like Iraq
is not united, even that presents a challenge (R11)”, it was still seen that the communication
16
from the ambassadors would be the best mechanism to attempt to bring people from these
communities together to embrace the event.
While the event organisers and community ambassadors worked to bring their own
communities together, they were tasked with attempting to bring as many different cultures
together as well. This presented the enormous challenge of galvanising very disparate cultural
groups. As one respondent noted, “How do you bring the Eastern part of Asia, such as China,
Japan, Korea together with the Western part, which has Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and all are
culturally miles apart… even within the East and West parts (R1)”. The ambassadors
personally were responsible for working with the event organisers to develop a
communication strategy which extended to a range of content and distribution channels.
The ambassadors, through representing a vast array of cultures, acted to communicate
separately and collectively with their community groups, with a view to supporting their
existing cultural ideals, and, at the same time, facilitating a mainstream approach to galvanise
interest. As stated by R2, “That’s why we’ve got such a large number (of ambassadors)
because we’ve tried to cover off different groups and to try and match different groups”.
Content Approach to IMC
The ambassadors sought to spread the message about the Asian Cup as widely as
possible into their respective communities. A range of business, media and community
outlets within their own culture were targeted, while also acknowledging programs in other
cultural communities. While this occurred through many channels, a crucial issue with
respect to the content (message) represented was the need to overcome the language barrier.
The event organisers very quickly realised that they would be ineffectual in overcoming the
language challenges that this multicultural event posed. At least six different primary
languages were represented within the qualified nations, and this did not even consider
17
additional regionally-specific dialects. This reintroduced the concept of trust in the way in
which the ambassadors interacted with their communities. Table 2 introduces some quotes
linking the main concepts. The trust in the community ambassadors to present uniform
message content across the range of communities required a ‘leap of faith’ (Jiang and Chia,
2009). Whatever the end result, it was important for the event organisers to be comfortable
that the content of any messages was part of a ‘controlled’ form of communication
(Kliatchko, 2008).
<<<Insert Table 2
In excess of 150 ambassadors presenting information and advice across a range of
cultures required that the message had some consistency to it. While it could be argued that
the message was simple – it was about attending and engaging with the event – if not
delivered or received well, the final impact could have been extremely negative. An example
of how the language barrier was managed was having the ambassadors assist in the writing
and placement of advertising about the Asian Cup 2015. This extended to placing
communication with respect to ticket purchase advice into various Asian language
newspapers. As stated, “… advising people in their own language in the newspaper they read,
hopefully, will give them greater access to tickets (R2)”.
While it would be simplistic to state that the ambassadors were presenting a message
to their communities, the communities represented more than just a singular dimension.
Business leaders, media groups, religious groups and community interests all present a range
of subtleties in their cultural groups. Engaging and communicating content to these groups
was problematic enough, without attempting to link them back into the broader mainstream
communication programs for the event. Schultz and Schultz (2004) indicate that content
18
requires the development of a deep understanding of consumers, while also attempting to
develop a connection between the brand and the customer. This is further compounded when
content in IMC is being differentiated between messages and incentives (Kliatchko, 2008).
Given the proliferation of messages, channels of communication and consumption options,
where consumers are often now the determiner or even creator of messages or content that
will be received, the ambassadors acted as the disseminators of content on behalf of the event
organisation. In this situation, where it is stated that IMC managers need to acknowledge that
the timing, message and media form are not completely within their control or domain any
more (Schultz and Schultz, 2004), the role of the ambassadors became a key component in
the content creation and dissemination process.
Channels Approach to IMC
A traditional approach to IMC including advertising, publicity, public relations, direct
mail and sales promotions, represented the main channels implemented by the event
organisers. The presentation of communications through mainstream media outlets such as
television, radio and newspapers occurred throughout. While each channel offered the
capacity to engage some of the main cultural groups, the community ambassadors were able
to extend the message beyond the traditional approach. While advertising in Korean, Chinese,
Japanese and Iraqi language newspapers in Australia to target these communities was
undertaken, ambassadors assisted in overcoming language and cultural barriers. The
ambassadors assisted in both creating the message and disseminating it into culturally-diverse
media outlets. Often this included providing their own contact details as an information
source for questions and advice about the event. Some examples of the way in which
ambassadors supported the channels of communication are presented in Table 3.
19
The traditional IMC approach, incorporating advertising, WOM, direct marketing and
personal selling, supported by a cultural emphasis, enabled the message to be disseminated
across a range of groups. A strong feature associated with communication of the event was
not only about getting the message out to different cultural groups but also to integrate it
within the wider community and “especially the already known members of the football
family (R6)”. It was also felt this event would enable communities to interact and “…
probably be less afraid of each other (R11)”.
While traditional channels of distribution were employed, there was also a focus on
new media and social media communication. The event organisers had a strong email
distribution presence of over 500,000 football supporters (those involved in the game
domestically), which enabled the content to be received by this wider community of football
fans. The community ambassadors were able to enhance this distribution of information
through targeting those more difficult-to-reach cultural groups. While traditional email or
Facebook and Twitter distribution was utilised, the problem experienced by the event
organisers was that someone from within the Chinese community (for example) may be more
likely to use Weibo or Renren than Facebook (Mei, 2012), in their own language and with
associated cultural idiosyncrasies. The capacity of the community ambassadors to distribute
language and culturally sensitive messages to engage their communities through social media
options was important in communicating with these groups.
The ambassadors were successful in establishing networks in their communities to
engage through internal social network sites. The contacts these people had, coupled with
their standing in their respective communities, was a key focal point of the promotional
20
activities, as stated by Respondent 11: “We are leaders within our communities and can get
information out to people”.
Most standard promotional mix elements were included in the IMC program. An area
that proved to be immensely successful involved a focus on the supplementary events
(beyond the ‘main’ Asian Cup football event). Creating and supporting peripheral community
events became a key feature of the role of ambassadors and an important component of the
event, supporting the internal and external stakeholder contributions referred to previously.
One of the ways this occurred was through the Asian Cup stimulating interest in cultural
groups to establish new, or add to, existing football competitions (i.e., through formation of
their own Asian Cup competitions, which occurred in the cities of Melbourne and Sydney; a
multicultural 5-a-side competition in Canberra; and a local Japan v Korea annual charity
match in Brisbane which attracted over 1000 spectators). As stated by one respondent
referring to these ‘mini-cup’ competitions, “… we have teams entering now where they
actually hold trials to pick the best representative team… one ‘country’ had over 100 players
try out (R4)”.
Links to existing and new multicultural events enabled information to be disseminated
to these groups. These events incorporated the distribution of language/dialect specific flyers
and messages about the Asian Cup, and even extended into the direct sales of tickets. Strong,
culturally-specific communication emerged at these events incorporating direct marketing,
personal selling and WOM opportunities. The close link with community groups to social
football gatherings and competitions through the ambassadors was highly sought after and
extremely valued by the event organisers (as previously indicated, the internal employees had
attended in excess of 80 of these types of events). As R1 stated, “… it’s taking the game out
to those people and saying, ‘get involved’. My assistant has run a program in the Sutherland
Shire in Sydney which is the biggest – they have got 18,000 participants … run a series of
21
programs … also with kids with disabilities … it’s terrific stuff, so it’s about stretching out to
the very parameters of your communities”.
Varey and Ballantyne (2005) refer to the importance of events engaging network
participants from both the perspective of the organisers and the customers, enabling for more
frequent and consistent conversation. These planned events enabled consultation, engagement
and relationship building with important stakeholders to occur. The integration of the
community ambassadors with their community events, with attendance and involvement of
the event organisers, played a large part in achieving the IMC outcomes.
Results Approach to IMC
Results can be encapsulated by the final outcomes achieved, be that sales, ROI or
even measuring Facebook ‘likes’. The outcomes considered by the event organisers could be
identified in two ways – the immediate response to the event by different communities with
respect to attendance, and the medium to longer-term involvement of these communities with
both the sport and other aspects of the mainstream society. Table 4 presents some information
supporting this.
One of the first aspects identified by the event organisers through discussion with the
community ambassadors was that many members of their communities would not purchase
tickets in the traditional way. Accessing an Internet or phone ticketing service, where the
response would only be in English, and a ticket would then be sent through the mail at a later
date, was not considered to be the most conducive ticket purchasing mechanism by many of
these people. The expectations of many of the people in these cultural groups is that they will
22
receive some tangible evidence of their ticket at purchase and not a “promise” (R4) of a
ticket. This concern was supported by R5 who indicated that, “… people had to take on trust
they would receive a ticket. This is hard for some of these people to accept”. Ambassadors in
some communities actually received a block of tickets to on-sell within their communities,
linking the trust, culture, communication and channel effects strongly together. As stated by
the Local Organising Committee CEO, Michael Brown (paraphrased), ‘We gave 8000 tickets
to the Melbourne Iranian community to sell – and they accounted for every one of them’
(BOSS Summit, 2015). This approach also enabled the people in those communities to sit
together at the games rather than be separated by a randomised computer seating
arrangement.
While the ticketing element represents a more immediate communication aspect of the
event, the medium to longer-term aim was to engage these communities and make them feel
more comfortable in mainstream society. While Australia prides itself on its multicultural
heritage, many cultural groups still tend to live, work and socialise together. The event
organisers hoped the event would bring these communities closer to the football family and
into their mainstream communities. “This Asian Cup has been a nation-building exercise in
every sense of the term”, commented Local Organising Committee CEO, Michael Brown
(Hill, 2015). Some of the measured outcomes are presented in Table 5. This table clearly
displays the level of community engagement in terms of attendance, interest and
involvement. While obviously wanting to measure or identify the success of the community
ambassador program, it is a difficult task. The concept of measuring results is not new and
continues to be a major challenge for organisations given the complexity of the marketing
communications landscape.
23
Conclusion
Football is still establishing its place in Australia and, traditionally, has been seen as
an ethnically (culturally) diverse game, and this diversity has tended to be mostly European
in its emphasis (Skinner, Zakus and Edwards, 2008). The Asian Cup 2015 presented an
opportunity for the establishment and integration of a different cultural approach which
embraced the Asian region. While there is a significant group of people with Asian heritage
residing in Australia, ensuring that these people can be included in the local football
community is not without its own problems and issues.
Initially, a major problem the event organisers for the Asian Cup identified was
communicating with the different cultural groups represented at the event. Applying the four
pillars approach to IMC, as identified by Kliatchko (2008), a review of how the IMC was
approached was undertaken.
Given the complexity of the task faced by the event organisers, they attempted to
approach IMC by first embracing community ambassadors from the different cultural
communities in Australia. The ambassadors represented a specific identifiable stakeholder
group, in effect, acting as a conduit between the internal and external stakeholder groups.
This group was, therefore, referred to as a “quasi’ internal stakeholder group in this research.
The emphasis on internal stakeholders, and by definition this ‘quasi’ internal
stakeholder group represented by the community ambassadors, suggests that internal
stakeholder motivation and commitment was very important in achieving the organisational
objectives (Ferdous, 2008; Reid, 2005). Madhavaram et al. (2005) suggest that truly
integrated marketing communications requires adopting an internal marketing orientation
before even engaging in external communications. A commitment to IMC activities targeted
at both internal and external stakeholders is important (Ressler, 2013), and the impact of
24
community ambassadors in facilitating the communication between internal and external
groups was found to be a crucial approach in achieving success in this situation.
For an event organisation to cede a high level of control in communication to, in
essence, what was a sophisticated ‘volunteer fan group’, required enormous trust, faith and
goodwill from all parties involved. While this approach may be appropriate for a sport culture
given the sense of ownership fans can feel towards their sport or team (Funk and James,
2001), it may be that this opportunity could extend to other product types as well. While not
addressed in this research, this approach is certainly something for organisations which
engage with cross-cultural groups to consider.
As there was a clear emphasis on communication within and between stakeholder
groups, an examination of the content and communication channels followed. Ambassadors
played an integral role in supporting the content through overcoming language barriers
connected to the event, and developing culturally-appropriate messages for their
communities. The channels chosen for the dissemination of cultural communication were a
mixture of traditional and digital, but also involved accessing the most appropriate channel
through which culturally-specific communication could occur. Thus, the content, channels
and communication impacts of ambassadors suggest that the role extends beyond that of
simple WOM dissemination and into the realm of a major IMC contribution.
While commendable for the approach undertaken with the stakeholder, content and
channel aspects, there was no guarantee of success given the immense cultural diversity that
existed. Javalgi, Cutler and Young (2005) have expressed the view that even grouping
cultures together is problematic for many communities and especially in the European Union.
These authors identified that, although the nations of the European Union now share a formal
market, marketing research shows they do not share identical tastes for many consumer
products, and that language, religion, climate and centuries of tradition divide the nations of
25
the European Union. This is similar to the case for the Asian nations represented at the Asian
Cup 2015, where even within nations such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine many internal
as well as external divisions exist.
Cultural elements such as social institutions, gender roles, language, religions,
aesthetics, education, and time orientation are closely intertwined with national culture
(Javalgi and White, 2002). Such cultural elements have a major effect on the acceptability
and adoption of new products and services (Javalgi, Cutler and Young, 2005). The
ambassadors, however, played a significant role in trying to break down some of the barriers
that were present. The barriers were not only reflected in the content (i.e., language and
message) issues, but also in the channel (traditional and digital delivery) options
implemented. There was also the necessity for the community ambassadors to embrace a
sales role over and above the communication aspects of their positions. Strong reliance was
placed on the ambassadors being able to galvanise their communities and encourage people
to attend, and this included ensuring access to tickets was as simple as possible for some of
the cultural groups. Providing direct access to the purchase of a ticket at an event or through
personal communication, seemingly, takes this approach beyond even the context of IMC.
This presents a positive message for encouraging cultural alliances to be formed (Javalgi and
White, 2002).
The LOC and the ambassadors wholly embraced the IMC process to ensure the
success of the event. This approach integrated the ambassadors into the organisation as being
important to both the internal and external stakeholder groups. The ambassadors assumed a
level termed ‘quasi’ internal stakeholders as a result. The ambassadors supported the
development and facilitation of content, identified appropriate channels for delivery and then
actively participated in achieving the outcomes, both short and medium to longer term. This
holistic IMC approach extends previous attention on local communities/citizens as ‘brands’
26
(Braun et al., 2013; Freire, 2009; Rehmet and Dinnie, 2013), and attention on selected
ambassador support through one or more of WOM, social networking or impression
management (Schau et al., 2009).
While the smaller sample group of fourteen respondents cannot definitively represent
all events or industry types, it does provide an insight into the role ambassadors can play
beyond just that of providing WOM support, or simply through celebrity endorsement. The
implications for other industries suggest that engaging ambassadors in a broader IMC context
can offer distinct advantages in accessing expertise and overcoming cultural and
communication barriers. The ambassadors in this case were individuals with strong
community links, and their IMC contribution played a major role in the success of the event.
The role of the ambassadors supported the Kliatchko (2008) four pillars model as a feature of
stakeholder relationships, supporting the development and dissemination of content through
multiple channels, and thereby enabling the achievement of a comprehensive and successful
communication process. Future research could address the impact of the role of ambassadors
across a wholly-integrated marketing communications process.
When reviewing the way in which the stakeholders approached IMC, through content
and channel mechanisms, a comment following the Tournament from the Asian Cup 2015
CEO, Michael Brown, highlights the integrated aspects of the four pillar model, where
stakeholders, content and communication channels provided a great result: “The LOC took
great efforts to engage Australia’s diverse multicultural communities, and I’m glad to say
they have embraced the event in turn. A number of teams have commented that the crowd
support in Australia made them feel like they were playing at home, which is great feedback
for us and a real measure of success” (Hill, 2015).
27
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Figure 1: Four Pillar Approach towards Ambassadors Integrating Marketing Communications in a Major Event
Stakeholders Content Channels Results
Internal Language Traditional Immediate - Ticket Sales
Employees Advertising Direct sales
WOM Sections
Direct Marketing
‘quasi’ Internal Message Personal Selling
Community Ambassadors Community Events
Motivation Business Medium / Long-term -
Incentive / Support Media Community and Sport
Integration
Strength of Ties
Mainstream Participation
Trust Digital / New Media
Engagement
Social Media
Email
External
Multicultural Consumers
36
Table 1: Stakeholder Approach towards Ambassadors Integrating Marketing Communications in a Major Event
Stakeholders
Internal
Employees – ‘Live the Brand’

Each of the member federations or nearly all the member federations have provided a resource or located our staff in their offices, so there’s interaction between
their staff … and our staff. We have great access to A-League clubs who are the community, if you like, football clubs. So we talk regularly to the 500,000
participants of the game – football is a centrally-managed database (R1).
Every weekend one of us is at something or other, whether it is a community football day or just a community festival or whatever it is, we (employees) always sort
of turn up and say a few words and get to know people (R2).
‘quasi’ Internal (Ambassadors)
Community Ambassadors
Their point at the start was always if we just run ads then you will, you know, not get the same results as if we actually go out and attend events and, you know,
appoint these ambassadors and get people actually moving, and I agree with them. I guess it’s like anything that if you engage people and they feel like ownership,
the ambassadors with responsibility then they will go out and try and make things happen (R2).
The key thing… is identifying the opinion leaders or the engagement leaders within the communities themselves (R12).
Motivation
We spent a long time searching for these people and we found people that are leaders in sports, leaders in business, leaders in community groups, leaders in political,
you know, sort of activity groups – just community leaders, people who are out there and want to spend time also helping their community be part of something. We
don’t pay them so we’re looking for people with a passion (R2).
It did take a lot to get this through people because obviously this is an international event and we’re basically giving… like, letting these people be our
representatives who aren’t employed by us… (R2).
So the Asian Cup means really very much to me. That is a uniting… unite for different cultures, all man’s cultures (R7).
It’s an honorary role and it always has been (R11).
Incentive / support
I quickly found out that it wasn’t just one ambassador, but there was a number of different ambassadors around the country (R11).
We sourced people we knew had strong community links, but were also passionate about the game (R14).
37
‘quasi’ Internal (Ambassadors) contd.
Strength of Ties
And it is a difficult process because obviously you know some communities are more divided than others. That’s why we’ve got such a large number because we’ve
tried to cover off different groups and to try and match different groups (R2).
We see community ambassadors, the 150 plus that have been essentially recognised as community ambassadors for the Asian Cup are resources, we need to invest
better in those resources and celebrate their role in marketing football better (R3).
Yeah. I think it’s just galvanised people’s thinking, that this is a good thing to do and that the Asian Cup was just yet another example of how communities can join
together, so when the Asian Cup rolls around I do expect that the Asian communities will be represented strongly (R8).
Trust
Yes. I can vouch for them but my commercial manager is looking at me, going, “So you’re just asking me to trust you that some Korean guy that I don’t know”
… and that’s why we’ve appointed these ambassadors because we’re ultimately saying it’s in your hands. And we are, we are putting a lot of faith in them, but yeah
we don’t have the resources to go and do everything (R2).
External
Multicultural Consumers
… no, it's more our registered players and our fan base at A-League is our football family and then we engage with those other multicultural groups separately (R10).
Of course, some of the communities are quite small, Uzbekistan the community here is very small, the Iraqi community is quite strong, so you get that variance in the
size of the communities (R8).
38
Table 2: Content Approach towards Ambassadors Integrating Marketing Communications in a Major Event
Content
Language
So when you get people who perhaps go to a game of football who have never gone before because of their community or their language or they’re not feeling
comfortable getting outside, but we’ve made it easy (R1).
… like, we have these sorts of ads that are in language and in the Iraqi papers … (R2).
Message
Community
So the idea is that we wanted to broaden our communities’ involvement rather than just say the Chinese or Japanese, and Vietnamese and so forth, we said, well, why
don't we just open it and invite... (R4).
Without the diversity amongst the ambassadors it would be very difficult to engage the community around the tournament and the event (R11).
But once you identify the right people, it’s about empowering them and educating the community to be self-sufficient in terms of engaging in the game where possible
(R12).
Business
We've asked those particular business leaders and ambassadors to come up with ideas and create opportunities that we can come and present or talk to groups of
people, local media that they have in the Chinese market has been good (R10).
We've worked quite closely with our local stakeholders around government to engage with particular businesses that may be across more so, the Japan and China and
Korea markets. So that's… we've been able to invite them to different functions and have ambassadors within each of those areas to help drive tickets for us and
awareness. That's been a pretty important part (R10).
Media
Obviously your media partners are really important to that (communication) (R1).
39
Table 3: Channel Approach towards Ambassadors Integrating Marketing Communications in a Major Event
Channels
Traditional
The bulk of what we do is building awareness, so you start off… we start our formal advertising campaign kicks off toward the end of the month – television, radio,
billboards, shopping centres, so there will be a massive drive (R1).
We decided that we needed to start doing some work on engaging the communities of obviously the participating nations particularly, because we realised that was a
huge market for us and it was something that’s going to require a little bit of different work to the general mainstream marketing (R2).
Advertising
You know, for me, if we just put these ads in these newspapers, like this is a Korean newspaper and they run these ads and then they will run some content on another
page which we provide to them, through our ambassadors (R2).
… (Community ambassador steering groups determine) who should be on the ads that we have in newspapers (R2).
We have increased our above-the-line advertising, so we're seeing more TV ads, more ads in radio, more ads in newspaper with news and the content as well because
it's 50 days away. This includes ads targeted at specific cultural groups (R10).
WOM
And then he (sic) who bought tickets, he will tell about Asian Cup to the next people, (his) friends (R7).
Direct Marketing
We passed out information … flyers … to people in the community at events we ran. (R13).
40
Traditional Contd.
Personal Selling
I formed the ambassadors’ community, Ambassador Council, and … we exchange ideas and experience to promote the Asian Cup in the local community. So the
members from … Korea, Japan, China, Kuwait, Iran, Iraq, Palestine - and what else? – Qatar… (R7).
… not just (flyers), but we also spoke to people about the Cup (at events) (R13).
Events
We’ve sponsored probably 80 or 90 events across the last couple of years, and many of those… (for example) we sponsored a mini-Asian Cup in Melbourne where
the communities got together and played a game and the final was before another game (R1).
There is a festival coming up and, like, we should be at this festival because that’s where all the Iraqi’s go to and so we go there and hand out flyers and these sorts of
things. So the ambassadors are the people that ultimately inform (the community), and they go out and deliver it a lot of the time as well, in that they will go out and
man the stalls or they will go out to whatever it is and talk about it. So we’re in a way become just a facilitator of them (ambassadors) doing the work (R2).
I was organising Japan select team versus Korea select team (for a football game) (R9).
Digital / New Media
Social Media
… we’ve been sort of pushing it out through our digital media channels (R6).
Yeah, and the ambassador program has been a great component of that. There is a network of ambassadors, we do communicate with each other, we do make sure
that we are aware of each other’s profiles, so social media’s been a good tool in that. LinkedIn, obviously Facebook, so they’ve been key media for us to talk or to
interact with each other (R8).
Yeah, and I will have Facebook page as well (R9).
Email
… so I have a good collection of (networks)– they agree to give me email address, they know what I’m doing and they did not – (restrict) decision to receiving
emails, information emails from me (R7).
41
Table 4: Results Approach towards Ambassadors Integrating Marketing Communications in a Major Event
Results
Immediate - Ticket Sales
Direct sales
You know, the obvious thing to buy a ticket is to go on a website. Many people in multicultural communities wouldn’t have a computer. So now they deal in cash, for
example, so we have a sales agent who will sell to that community and they know that they will sit together. Things as simple as that that are really important (R1).
There are three of our community ambassadors, one in each city, who we’ve put as the local contact for ticket sales, because we realise if we just put (the Ticket
Agents) phone number on there and we’ve done an ad in Korean and they ring up say (asking in Korean for tickets) … (R2).
(We want to) encourage the community to join in. And then at the end of the day, of course, (it) is ticket sale (R4).
… so at last ambassadors’ meeting we argued very strongly with the Local Organising Committee that people want to purchase a physical ticket (R7).
Sections
So these people (ambassadors) can facilitate ticket sales in those cities, which is good. So we’ve done that for each of the countries where we’ve got someone local
that they can talk to, and those people, you know, we’ve given them allocated bays and we give them incentives for the numbers that they get through and so on. So
then all the Koreans in Canberra can all sit together to try and create that atmosphere and obviously encourage people to come along (R2).
Medium / Long-term - Community and Sport Integration
Mainstream Participation
I am hopeful that the crowds that we’ll get in January will show people the potential perhaps so that if, you know, there is 10,000 Chinese supporters at a China game
in Brisbane, then maybe Brisbane Roar (A-League club) might click and go, “Hold on, there is 10,000 people that we know love football here, and we never talk to
them maybe…” I don’t know. I’m hopeful about that (R2).
Engagement
We want to make sure we do have a partnership with the ambassadors beyond the Asian Cup, and we recognise that it's playing a key role in driving football
outcomes, not just selling tickets to the games for the Asian Cup, but are actually playing an active role in promoting and marketing football within their communities
beyond the Asian Cup. So there's greater participation taking place, but also becoming fans of the A-League, becoming fans of the W-League, really just celebrating
and recognising the beauty of the game (R3).
42
Table 5: Asian Cup Outcomes
Attendance Pre-event target 500,000; Actual attendance 650,000 (avg. 20,000 per match)
380,000 attended non-Australian (host nation) games
3 sold out (non-Australian games)

• China v DPR Korea (Canberra – 25,000 capacity)
• Japan v Jordan (Melbourne – 30,000 capacity)
• Korea Republic v Uzbekistan (Melbourne – 30,000 capacity)
Viewing Worldwide audience in excess of 1 billion (excluding the Final)

• Audiences: China 185 million (cumulative avg. 950 million total)
• Japan 21 million (quarter final)
• Korea Rep. (18.2 million – 37% popn. Semi-final)
Social Media #AFC2015 via Twitter, total 2.69 billion (pre final)
Infrastructure Millions of dollars of facility improvements
Education 50,000 Australian primary school children learnt about Asia
Economic Boost Estimated AUD$23 million contribution to Australian GDP
43

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European Journal of Marketing

Implementing Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) through major event ambassadors

(2017),"Integrated Marketing Communication – from an instrumental to a customer-centric perspective", European Journal of

*Related content and download information correct at time of download.

overwhelming availability of substitutes and the reduced opportunities for differentiation

communication managers to recognise and deal with a multitude of markets, marketplaces,

fragmentation, advances in information technology and the Internet, consumer empowerment,

all underpin a sizeable shift in Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) (Semenik,

management are practised (Seric et al., 2014). Developments in communication technology,

an increase in delivery channel options, and a customer-oriented approach towards

communication discipline that enables a quicker response to this increasingly challenging

marketing communications environment (Seric et al., 2014).

The changing marketing communications environment extends to all marketplaces,

To overcome the multicultural communication barriers, the Local Organising

communicating the event to major stakeholder (cultural) groups, developing culturally

The concept of employing ambassadors in a marketing context is not new, as

exemplified by the ‘brand’ ambassadors represented by high-profile personalities

(WOM) or other mechanisms such as brand communities or brand ambassador programs

Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC)

communication campaigns overlap, be that advertising, public relations, sales promotion,

personal selling or similar processes, is of significance to the marketing manager. This

development through to implementation and measurement. Thus, synergy in connecting the

IMC is gaining in importance given the environment is characterised by clutter,

the marketplace is becoming increasingly commoditised. Historically, marketers have had

when planning and implementing a marketing and marketing communication strategy

longer suitable to achieve marketing communications processes, therefore, an IMC approach

expectations by management for performance and accountability (Einwiller and Boenigk,

communication needs, and to overcome fragmentation problems and contradictory messages

2004; Schultz and Schultz, 2003).

program (Zvobgo and Melewar, 2011).

awareness, image, functional, coordinated consumer-based, stakeholder-based, and

The Four Pillars Approach to IMC

managers (Kliatchko, 2008). Adding ambassadors as an additional stakeholder dimension

further adjusts the context of this research.

a powerful force in motivating employees to effectively implement corporate and functional

working together to achieve a common goal (Kliatchko, 2008).

Content requires developing a deep understanding of consumers, and attempting to develop a

A fundamental concept in IMC is the expanded notion of marketing communication

make contact with it.

The integrated approach to planning and implementing marketing communications

and Tropp, 2010, p. 114).

suggestion is that special events provide certain characteristics, such as cross-departmental

organisation to more readily achieve its marketing objectives (Crowther, 2011).

Major Events and IMC

identified special events as sporting, cultural, political, historical, religious and

commercial/business events, referring to the memorable experiences (Getz, 2005), social

Marketing communications have been identified as a factor in achieving success through

of WOM for raising awareness of special events. This extends to developing an

understanding of the target markets’ lifestyles and consumer characteristics, developing

Palestine for the 2015 event (AFC, 2014).

and communities brings a unique set of issues to consider.

than 150 leaders representing these Asian-Australian communities were appointed as

support their teams, and provided language and ticketing support.

A qualitative approach was adopted using in-depth semi-structured interviews,

following each interview.

and accessible format comprising broad and specific levels.

Results and Discussion - IMC and the Asian Cup 2015

centres, so there will be a massive drive”.

part of mainstream communication channels, other considerations were needed. It was

general mainstream marketing”.

recognised leaders in their community, representing different cultural groups, business

explained, “there is an opportunity being created by the establishment of these ambassadors

to get the message into the (specific cultural) community (R5)”.