Integrated Marketing Communications for Australian Medical Association

This report discusses the integrated marketing communication program of the Australian Medical Association, including communication strategy mix, media mix, creative approaches, budget concepts, and evaluation metrics.

RUNNING HEAD: Integrated Marketing Communications
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Australian Medical Association
Integrated Marketing Communications

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Executive Summary
The purpose of this report is to discuss the integrated marketing communication program of
the Australian Medical Association. It identifies the communication strategy mix and media
mix. It also comprises the implementation of the creative approaches such as advertisement
on the social media such as Facebook. The report also includes the budget of the integrated
marketing communication program. The evaluation metrics measures the success of the
campaign.
It can be concluded from the report that the budget decided by the association is not only
going to help in increasing ales but maximizing profits as well.

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Contents
Executive Summary...............................................................................................................................1
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................3
Communication strategy mix.................................................................................................................3
Media mix.............................................................................................................................................5
Implementation of creative approaches.................................................................................................6
Basic budget concepts...........................................................................................................................8
Evaluation metrics.................................................................................................................................9
Conclusion and Recommendations......................................................................................................10
References...........................................................................................................................................11

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Introduction
The integrated marketing communication (IMC) makes sure that all the forms of
communications and messages are associated with each other. It incorporates all the
promotional tools in order to work in coordination. IMC blends various promotional tools and
communications to maximize profits. The IMC is helpful in increasing profits through
increased efficiency.
The Australian Medical Association is a specialized association for the Australian doctors
and medical students. It’s headquarter is located in Barton. The association has various
representatives and scientific committees. Its aim is to develop and promote alternative
policies to the government policies by leading health policy debate. The association reacts to
the issues in the health discussion by a wide range of proficient resources and guiding
research on the health issues. The AMA works with the government to continue and increase
world-class medical care to all the Australians. It tracks and reports government performance
on the health and challenges the government procedures which can harm the attentiveness of
patients. It conducts research and provides proficient advice on the health issues. This report
develops the IMC program to achieve the objective and the creative strategies. The IMC
program includes the communication strategy mix, media mix and the implementation of
creative approaches. The report also covers the basic budget concept and the evaluation
metrics.
Communication strategy mix
The communication strategy mix is the specific method which is used to promote the
company to target customers. It is the precise mix of advertising, sales promotion, personal
selling, direct marketing and public relations used by the company to pursue its objectives of
advertising and the marketing.
Advertising: It is the most prominent source of the communication mix. The advertising and
the marketing often misinterpreted as the same thing. The advertisement comprises messages
that a company wants to convey to reach a targeted audience (Porcu, Del Barrio-Garcia &
Kitchen, 2017). The advertisement covers the majority of paid messages so the company
allocates a significant amount of budget for the promotion function. While it can be
expensive, AMC has vital control over the messages delivered. The company can pay to the

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print publication, radio station and the websites for the placement. The advertising is helpful
in identifying brand (Batra & Keller, 2016). The organization can advertise on the social
media such as Twitter, Instagram or Facebook for its medical consumables and equipment.
Sales promotion: The sales promotion includes short-term incentives such as coupons,
contests, rebates and more. It supplements the advertising and sales efforts. The sales
promotion components are developed to get customers and the potential customers to take
into action (Šerić, Gil-Saura & Ruiz-Molina, 2014). The sales promotion methods are useful
for APA in making larger and repeat purchases of medical supplies. The sales promotions can
be used by the AMA to target members who conduct business or trade with customers
(Brotherton, 2015). The sales promotions are also known as trade promotions. It includes
trade shows and special incentives provided to the retailers to market specific products and
services. It is an effective method to be used by the AMA like educational events for its
members.
Personal selling: The personal selling includes two parties like AMA can associate with the
doctors or medical committees face to face, via telephone or other technologies (Patel, Asch
& Volpp, 2015). It aims to develop a relationship with the buyer in order to enhance medical
care for all the citizens. It can be used by the AMA for the purpose of generating sales and
building customer relationships. AMA can even use salespersons to promote medical care.
The AMA can directly meet the interested parties and can influence them for the membership
and can sell diagnostic products and consumables (Thaichon & Quach, 2016).
Direct marketing: It includes features of both sales promotions and the personal selling. It is
an interactive communication where the AMA can seek a reaction from the targeted
customers. The email and direct mail are the communal methods of the direct marketing.
These messages can be sent by the AMA with special offers on the equipment and the
membership. These messages often promote to the limited time deals. The surveys and the
commercials are other examples of the direct marketing communications (Ots & Nyilasy,
2015). The online surveys and commercials are other examples of the direct marketing.it can
help AMA in getting an immediate response from customers and cultivating relationships
with them.
Public relations: AMA can build up a relationship with the public by attaining favorable
publicity and by building up a good image. The public relations is helpful to the AMA in
improving and promoting its image and products. This form of promotion includes publicity,

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product placement and press releases (Manser Payne, Peltier & Barger, 2017). The
techniques such as product placement and sponsorships are helpful in generating PR. The
importance and the expenditure of sponsorships are considered critical, this is the reason
companies create a separate component in the communication mix. AMA can create PR
departments to create such opportunities. PR is a part of the organization’s promotion budget
and IMC (Chaudhary, Khan & Ali, 2017).
Media mix
The media mix is the combination of the communication channels which can be used by
AMA to meet marketing objectives. There are several options of media to determine which
type of media will deliver a message to the targeted customers in an effective manner. The
focus can be given on TV, radio, mobile and online advertising. All these choices keep the
campaign objectives in mind.
Television: Television has been regarded as the most popular channel of media. It is helpful
in demonstrating the usage and effect of the medical equipment and consumable in the real-
life situation. It is an important media channel for AMA as 99% of the population has
penetration on the television. It has been considered that people watch approximately 22
hours of television in a week. It can allow the company to use various combinations of audio
and videos to make ads more sensible in order to attract the target audience (Luxton, Reid &
Mavondo, 2015). AMA is suggested to select a time slot and plan a unique ad campaign.
Radio: It can help AMA to focus on the target group. The AMA can maintain it’s positive
brand image by using program, soungs and built-in advertising over the radio. The broadcast
made on the radio helps AMA to differentiate its brand. It is the universal and traditional
source of media. The radio ads are enjoyed at least one time during the day. The ads are also
inexpensive on the radio in comparatively (Kitchen & Proctor, 2015).
Print: The print media such as magazine, newspapers, and posters is one of the oldest but
useful methods to convey a message to the consumers. AMA can use it to reach a wider
target audience. AMA can connect to the people by print media (Costanzo, 2018). The article
or the information published by the organization helps to generate interest in the mind of the
public. The newspaper is the most popular form of the print media. It has a wider reach. The
print media is advantageous as it showcases more information.

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Digital: The digital technology can be used as written, verbal, visual or audible
communication. It includes text conversation. The email, SMS, MMS, voice-over-internet
protocol, chat and instant messaging are popular methods of digital (Kitchen & Burgmann,
2015).
Social media: There are 2.8 billion social media users globally. It represents that more than a
3rd of the world’s population is some procedure of social media in order to communicate. It is
the most common platform for communication. Facebook is the most predominant social
media platform. It is helpful to the company in connecting to a large segment of customers.
ASA can connect to people by sharing thoughts, images, videos, and links. The additional
service, Facebook chatbots have enhanced customer service and digital marketing (Killian &
McManus, 2015). There are some other social media platforms such as Twitter, Snapchat and
Instagram in attracting viewers. These platforms provide additional information to the
customers.
Implementation of creative approaches
The creative approaches can be used by the AMA under the IMC campaign. It can include
sample advertisements for the social media. For instance, AMA can put posts and videos on
the Facebook page and can spread awareness about the career advisory services,
consumables, and the diagnostic products. Time to time posts put by the association helps to
generate customer who is looking for the online medical supplies and the educational event
for its members. The association fights for the medical students and the members by
conducting medical events. The AMA also reflects the poor outcome of the Australian
society due to lessening medical services.

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The above post is put by the AMA on the Facebook in the support of the medical students.
Such posts not only helpful to the students but doctors also. It promotes and advances public
health. AMA also protects the academic and professional independence and wellbeing of the
medical practitioners (Valos, et al, 2016). Such efforts are made by the association for the
welfare of the doctors’ community.
The association endorses and advances ethical behavior in the medical profession. It also
defends the reliability and freedom of the doctor-patient relationship. Such advertising made

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by the AMA is helpful in stabilising and defending the political and legal interests of the
medical specialists. The sample of the post shown above not only protects the interest of the
doctors but also take care of the health care needs of the patients and the communities.
Basic budget concepts
Huge expenses are requisite to incur to conduct a creative message. Since advertising is
selected as a method for the print. The costs given below are required to be conducted by
AMA.
Expenses Amount
Newspaper advertisements $25,000
Printing posters $45,000
Advertisements on the business $35,000
Channels and business magazines $5,000
Pay per click advertising $5,000
Appointment of marketing professionals $8,000
Website advertising $12,000
Social media advertising $10,000
Total $145,000
The table provided above states the amount required to spend on different methods of
advertising by AMA. The newspaper advertising assists in reaching a broader audience. So,
the organization has decided quite a good investment in the newspaper advertisements such
as $ 25,000. The posters are considered the most communal and traditional form of
advertising and endorsing seasonal offers and discounts. So, the amount spend on the posters
is $45,000. The advertisements for the business cost $35,000.
The expenses are also required to be done on the business channels and magazines and it will
cost $5,000. Pay-per-click is also added by the AMA in its creative approach (Key &
Czaplewski, 2017). The other website owners’ place the ads on the websites and when these
ads are getting clicked, the owners are paid as per the planned rates. The budget for the pay
per click is kept $5000. The business is going to hire special marketing professionals for this
campaign which is going to cost $8,000 to the company. The cost of the website advertising
is estimated to be $12,000. The website of the AMA is designed to offer the latest offers and
the discounts on the home page (D’amico, et al, 2015). The experts are hired by the company

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for the maintenance of the website. The social media advertising such as Facebook, Twitter,
Instagram and more costs $10,000 to the company as it is the latest and influencing method
of the advertising. At last the total budget required for the media is $145,000.
Evaluation metrics
The metrics are one of the ways to evaluate the return on the investment from the IMC
campaign. The metrics are merely a collection of numerical data which permits getting some
perception on the campaign to see if the goals are met by the organization which is
predefined. The success of the IMC Program of the AMA can be evaluated by the following
metrics:
Web content: The web content show how effective is the content retained on the website at
notifying the people who visit the website and accomplishing them to take action as a result
(Karjaluoto, Mustonen & Ulkuniemi, 2015). It represents the superiority of the content which
was good enough to be followed by the people to take the actions as set by the AMA.
Lead conversion: It is gathering data from the people who came in contact for the first time
with the IMC campaign and allows them over the various stages of the lead generation
process. It comprises the initial contact then being on the sales prospect and finally coming
all the way to becoming an actual customer. This metric is helpful in tracking where the
potential customers are lost in the lead process. It also helps to develop theories (Darley,
2016).
Page views: This metric processes the number of pages visited by the visitors. This metric
also evaluates the timing spent by each visitor on a web page to know which ones were
attractive. More times a page is observed and the longer people watched it helps to measure
the success of an IMC campaign even if the no action is taken by the user.
Search engine effectiveness: The search providers such as Google have a specialized way to
track the keywords used by the people on the website of AMA and which search engines
engaged those people to the company. The Google has tool known as Google analytics to
perform this task.
Social media effectiveness: The social media options like Facebook and Twitter have a role
in measuring effectiveness. The likes on the Facebook and tweets on the Twitter represent the

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value of the campaign. There are also some additional social media sites for the purpose of
tracking (Gray, et al, 2015).
Conclusion and Recommendations
The integrated marketing communication program allows to the AMA in achieving
objectives and the creative strategies. The integrated marketing communication plan links
communications and the messages carefully. It integrates all the promotional tools and
communication strategies in order to maximize profit. It is also helpful in yielding customer
satisfaction and loyalty. It also combines marketing and advertising concepts. The IMC
program discussed above is cost containment to the association. The organization is
recommended to use IMC plan more effectively as it is helpful to the organization in
increasing communication between all the departments of the organization. It results in
increasing sale of the products and the services. The communication strategy mix comprises
advertising, sales promotion, public relations, and direct marketing. The media mix
comprised a television, digital, radio, print and social media for the campaign of AMA. The
advertisement on the Facebook is a creative approach which is recommended to implement
by the association. The budget is also described for the IMC program. Finally, the evaluation
metric is defined to evaluate the success.

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