Integrated Marketing Communication: Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA)

Running head: INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS, CBA 1
Integrated Marketing Communication: Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA)
Student’s Name
Institution Affiliation

INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS, CBA 2
Executive Summary
CBA bank is one of the biggest banks in Australia providing high-quality banking services.
However, the company has come under attack over allegations of impropriety in it operations
which have dented the bank’s public image. The proposed integrated marketing
communications plan proposes the use of various marketing tools to recreate the brand and
cultivate a positive impression on the minds of its existing and prospective customers. The IMC
plan includes a discussion on communication strategy mix, the media mix, the implementation
of the creative approaches and provides a basic budget estimate. The bank can mitigate the
effects of the challenges through integrated marketing communications which involve the
proper application of all the promotional strategies available to the bank include
advertisements on billboards, social media television and through digital marketing. The bank
already has most of the suggested promotional tools in place, and all the management needs
are to adjust accordingly.

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Table of Contents
Company Background.................................................................................................................................4
Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC)...........................................................................................4
Communication Strategy Mix/Focus of Campaign.....................................................................................5
Advertising..............................................................................................................................................5
Personal Selling.......................................................................................................................................6
Sponsorship and Events Marketing........................................................................................................6
Public Relations.......................................................................................................................................7
Sales Promotion......................................................................................................................................7
Internet Marketing/ Digital Marketing...................................................................................................8
Direct Marketing...................................................................................................................................10
Media Mix.................................................................................................................................................12
Implementation of creative approaches..................................................................................................13
Television..............................................................................................................................................13
Radio.....................................................................................................................................................13
Print.......................................................................................................................................................14
Billboards..............................................................................................................................................14
Digital marketing/ Internet marketing.................................................................................................14
Social media..........................................................................................................................................15
Evaluation metrics/ How to measure success..........................................................................................15
Communication assessment.................................................................................................................15
Marketing Assessment.........................................................................................................................15
Basic Budget concepts..............................................................................................................................15
Conclusion/Summary/Recommendations...............................................................................................16
References.................................................................................................................................................17
Appendix...................................................................................................................................................20

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Integrated Marketing Communication: Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA)
Company Background
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) is arguably one of the biggest banks in Australia,
providing local and international entities with a variety of banking serves. The bank provides
banking services to individual and corporate entities in its various locations of operations
including Australia, New Zealand, Britain, Asia, and the United States. The banking services
provided by the bank include superannuation, funds management, institutional and individual
banking, and insurance services. In the FY 2017, CBA Bank earned an estimated revenue income
of $26 billion. The bank first opened its doors to its customers in the year 1911 as a
government-owned bank, but the government later sold its stake in the bank and thus
privatized it in 1996 (Commonwealth bank, 2018). For years the bank has carefully cultivated
an image as one of the best banks in Australia in serving its customer’s needs both at the
personal and institutional level. However, in the recent past, the company’s brand image has
suffered a severe attack with allegations of fraud, and the company faces stiff challenges in
maintaining its market position. CBA bank’s management after a thorough analysis of the
effects of the customer sentiments decided to engage the services of M&C Saatchi (Australia) to
provide an integrated marketing communications plan (IMC) to shore up its brand image.
Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC)
Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) is one of the most important aspects of
Branding in a company. Branding is a tool used by organizations to differentiate themselves
from the myriad of organizations dealing with similar products on the market (Keller, 2008).

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American Association of manufacturers define a brand as a symbol or a term that identifies the
organization’s goods and services as distinct from the ones produced and provided by the
competitors American Marketing Association, 2009). The brand represents the experiences
and perceptions of the customers on the business’ products (Kotler, 3009). Through branding,
a company establishes its symbol, name or image in the customers’ mind and it is achieved
through the extensive use of various marketing tools. According to Kotler and Armstrong
(2010), the marketing processes principal aim is to create value for the customers in a bid to
create a strong relationship with the consumers which boomerang back as value for the
business (Estaswara, 2010).
Communication Strategy Mix/Focus of Campaign
Marketing involves all the processes and tools employed by the company to provoke
conversations and increase engagements with the audience with the express of converting
them to potential consumers of the firm’s products (Fill, 2011). There are many marketing tools
at the disposal of companies to progress their branding and marketing campaigns including
advertising, personal selling, internet marketing, direct selling sponsorship, and event
marketing, and public speaking.
Advertising
Advertising is one of the most ubiquitous forms of getting a firm’s products and services
through paid non-personal communication. Marketing paid advertisement is done through
various forms including television newspapers, magazines, and radio. Advertising is the most
commonly used form of marketing because it can reach a large audience and cost-effective
prices (Fill, 2011). Advertising is used in many instances in brand awareness and in promoting

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positive brand perception in the minds of the consumers. Also, it attracts public attention and
can drive sales to the company’s products.
Personal Selling
Personal selling involves the application of a direct contact method. In personal selling,
the vendors communicate directly with the customers either through face-to-face contact or
contact over the phone (Riley, 2012). The main strength of this method is that the seller
receives immediate feedback on their products and can make the right modifications or the
content of the marketing message. Also, Feedback provides the vendor the opportunity to
tailor the information in such a way that it serves the customers and increases engagement
with potential and existence. The main drawback of personal selling is that it is capital and labor
intensive, and has a limited scope of reach. Personal selling thus increases the expenditure and
might drive up the cost of the company’s products. Also, personal selling requires specialized
skills and training the salespeople on new skills is costly and makes the cost of doing business to
sky-rocket (Hampf & Lindberg-Repo, 2011).
Sponsorship and Events Marketing
In event marketing, the company sponsors events such as sports, a fundraiser for social
causes and entertainment, and makes sure the brand images and messaging are prominently
displayed. To reap maximum benefit from events marketing and sponsorship, the company
needs to align its branding strategy with the objective of the event that it is sponsoring and the
target audience (Clow & Baack, 2012). Event Marketing works through partnerships with events
that support some social causes or entertainment. The funding of social causes campaigns not
only brings business to a company, but it also exhibits the company’s concern for the wellbeing