What Exactly are Integrated Marketing Communications Examples?

Would you like to create a memorable, influential, and successful brand awareness campaign? Incorporate integrated marketing communications.

Integrated marketing is the creation of a strong singular message through storytelling and brand identity.

All of us know brands that have a unified message to them.

What comes to mind when you think about Coca-Cola, for instance? A brand that spreads happiness, right?

Exactly! Through their integrated marketing strategies, the brand has created a single message, happiness that is almost synonymous with it.

How do they do it?

While creating campaigns, Coca-Cola thinks about you.

What is most important to you? What do you dream about? What do you want? You get the point.

The answer is always something that brings you joy. This became a marketing goal for the global corporation.

Through multiple communication platforms and tools, Coca-Cola shared its message widely.

The Coca-Cola campaign is one of the integrated marketing communications examples.

In this article, we will breakdown how integrated marketing communications (IMC) work. You will then learn about world-class IMC examples whose execution will take your breath away.

What is Integrated Marketing Communications?

Integrated marketing communications, also known as IMC, is the concept of linking all forms of promotional tools together to create a seamless consumer experience.

Think of how all the parts of a car work together. They reinforce each other to enable the full functioning of the vehicle.

If the wheels decided to work in isolation, the car would not get very far without being able to steer in the right direction.

Similarly, IMC meshes various communication disciplines like social media, public relations, advertising, and direct marketing. This ensures you have an easy time interacting with the brand.

The aim is to create uniformity, clarity, and consistency across all platforms you will access as a consumer.

Mind Blowing Integrated Marketing Communications Examples

Always #LikeAGirl

For years Always dominated the industry for their quality products and excellent campaigns centered around confidence.

However, competitors caught up, and Always no longer resonated with the younger consumers.

Growing up Always adverts were among the favorite ones. I, however, remember feeling disconnected from the brand at some point.

The idea of pads giving me confidence felt farfetched. That was the case for so many other young girls.

A case study by Design and Art Direction (D&AD) found an opportunity to support girls transitioning from puberty.

The study found that although the message of confidence worked before, they needed to pursue a more emotional one.

The research found that girls going through puberty felt less confident, hence the #LikeAGirl campaign.

I am sure you are familiar with the derogatory phrase ‘like a girl’.

You have often heard people say you do this or that thing like a girl. It often insinuates weakness and inferiority.

Through an integrated marketing campaign, Always transformed #LikeAGirl into a phrase of empowerment. The campaign aired on television, social media, and print.

The player that took this campaign to the next level was a video made by filmmaker Lauren Greenfield.

In the video, young girls and adults were asked to perform several activities: run, fight, and throw like a girl.

This portrayed how perceptions of girls change as they grow older.

The video has over 69 million views and has been broadcasted in 150 countries generating global awareness.

The Man Your Man Could Smell Like Campaign

Integrated marketing communications examples can amaze you.

Let’s talk about the Old Spice campaign.

It is one of those things you see that leave you so immersed and drawn in.

The campaign titled, The man your man could smell like, was the most successful IMC by Old Spice.

They combined public relations, social media, advertising, and television to create a powerful IMC.

The centerpiece for the campaign was a viral video that featured Actor Isaiah Mufasa. He became widely known as the Old Spice man.

Before the campaign, people associated Old Spice with older people.

They aimed to change that by capturing the younger demographic.

The 30 seconds video performed exceptionally well on YouTube.

Old Spice then uploaded more videos in a bid to keep the younger people on the platform interested.

Similar television ads featuring Old spice man aired, bringing the experience to peoples’ living rooms.

Do you see how effective television ads and online video can team up so beautifully?

As the success of the campaign grew, the Spice team added another element to the game.

To tap into the immense online engagement, the team had Old Spice man directly answer comments from fans.

He even proposed on behalf of a fan on Twitter. How cool!

This accelerated the engagement by adding a charming twist to the Integrated Marketing Campaign.

GoPro: Be a Hero

One of the most impactful integrated marketing communications examples is GoPro: Be a Hero campaign.

The video camera brand was looking to create content that related to people no matter who they were.

The initial idea, however, was targeted at extreme professional athletes. You know, the Usain Bolts of this world.

They hoped to capture the most crucial moments of an athlete and inspire others by it.

Over time, GoPro expanded their consumer market capturing a larger audience of photographers, hikers, tourists, and many others.

That right there is a trait of a strong marketing strategy. It is the ability to reinvent and rebrand.

If you are rigid and slow to embrace change, you will not succeed in IMC.

The Be a Hero campaign appealed to the emotions of the audience. GoPro blew up.

The message spread across multiple platforms, social media, advertising, television, billboards, and even in-store displays.

All the platforms share one message only. Everyone is a Hero.

The messaging ranged from a group of surfers, friends walking on the beach or playing basketball.

Soon people began sharing their own experiences continuously.

Consistent communication and repetition is, therefore, a key player in IMC campaigns.

The combined efforts of the GoPro campaign built a lasting relationship with people.

Wrap up

You can use these integrated marketing communications examples to see how to best connect with your audience. Create a single yet powerful message that will connect emotionally with your audience.

Repeatedly share the campaign message through social media, online media, public relations, print, and others. With time you will increase your brand awareness and build a community that resonates with you.