Integrated Marketing Communication

This report discusses the importance of integrated marketing communication in enhancing organizational success. It explores different communication channels such as public relations, sales promotion, advertising, and personal selling, along with their strengths and limitations. The report also evaluates the marketing communication plan of Barclays, including current communication objectives and recommendations for improvement. It provides insights into the situational analysis, target markets, communication strategy, and budget for an integrated marketing communication plan. The report concludes with a discussion on monitoring and controlling mechanisms for effective implementation of the plan.

Integrated Marketing
Communication

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
ACTIVITY A...................................................................................................................................2
Overview of organisation.......................................................................................................2
Current communication objectives along with their critical evaluation.................................2
Channels of communication along with their critical evaluation...........................................4
Critical evaluation of the overall marketing communication plan.........................................6
Recommendations..................................................................................................................9
ACTIVITY B...................................................................................................................................9
IMC Situational analysis......................................................................................................10
Target Markets and SMART Communication Objectives...................................................11
Critical Evaluation of Marketing Channels..........................................................................12
Integrated Marketing Channels............................................................................................13
Development of Appropriate Content..................................................................................13
Evaluation of Communication Strategy, Channel Choice and Creative Contents...............14
Estimated Budget for IMC Plan...........................................................................................14
Monitoring and Controlling Mechanism..............................................................................15
Conclusion............................................................................................................................16
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................16
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................17
.......................................................................................................................................................18
.......................................................................................................................................................18

INTRODUCTION
Marketing communication is important aspect which help in proper disbursement of
information about the different offerings of an organisation. The importance of this can be
ascertained from the aspect that this will provides an opportunity to attain competitive edge in
market. There are large number of channels are available that enhance the communication aspect
within the organisation. The different kind of channels which are present and can be used by the
organisation are named as Direct marketing, personal selling, sales promotion, public relation,
advertising, sponsorship, advertising and social media (Andrews and Shimp, 2017). All these
have their own strengths and limitations and simultaneously provide help to the organisation in
betterment of their communication services which ultimately improve their market presence.
Communication is the aspect which not only help in building connection with the consumers but
also provide assistance in determination of their needs. This will provides an opportunity to the
organisation to gain the trust of existing consumers and persuade their buying behaviour. The
main objective of this report is about determination of the different communication tools and
importance of their integrated functioning towards development of the disbursement process.
Barclays is the reputed multinational investment bank and financial services organisation and
having their operations worldwide. This organisation also have their operations in Canary Wharf
but lack in communication that results in proper disbursement of information about their
products and services and redressal of consumers complaints. This will have negative impact
over their customer relationship management (Blakeman, 2018).
This report covers overview of the chosen organisation, current communication
objectives, different channels of communication and demonstration of the overall marketing
communication plan which help to enhance organisational revenue and to meet business
objectives. Also, this report covers IMC situational analysis, development of SMART
communication objectives for given organisational situation, integration of various marketing
channels to maximise organisational resources, budget required for IMC plan and monitoring &
controlling mechanism for overall development of IMC plan.
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ACTIVITY A
Overview of organisation
Barclays is British multinational investment bank and financial services organisation
which operates their function in all over the world. This organisation is founded in 1690 around
328 years ago in the city of London. The main services which are provided by this bank includes
personal banking, corporate banking, wealth management and investment management. Number
of employees working in this organisation at world wide level are more than 80000. Also, this
has many divisions which are operating under the ownership of Barclays are named as
Barclaycard, Barclays investment bank and Barclays Wealth. This organisation have primary
listing on the London Stock Exchange (Bruhn and Schnebelen, 2017) .
According to the paper released in 2011, Barclays hold the most powerful transitional
corporation in terms of ownership, financial stability and corporate control and market
competition. Also, they hold 2nd and 3rd position at world wide level in banking industry.
Currently in this report, major focus is provided upon their operations in Canary Wharf
and the struggle they faced during the marking of their products and services. Also, they lack in
redressal of client complaints that results in reduction of their brand image in market. As
marketing consultant, some of the major aspects are undertaken and defined below to address
challenges and increment of the competitive edge of the organisation in market.
Current communication objectives along with their critical evaluation
Communication objectives are those which help an organisation to achieve their overall
organisational objectives through effective disbursement of their offerings in market. It is the
duty of the management of the organisation that frame communication objectives and align all of
them properly with organisational objective to gain consumers interest towards their offerings.
The main communication objectives which are required to adhere by the management of
an organisation includes stimulate interest of brand, establish product image, increase market
penetration and development of repeat purchase behaviour (Camilleri, 2017). All these
communication objectives along with ascertainment of their strength and limitation is elaborated
below:
Stimulate interest of brand: This is one of the objective behind the development of the
communication aspect of the organisation that build positive image of brand in market. The main
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aim of this objective is about building the trust of consumers towards the services of an
organisation and create image as they always ready to help their clients and consumers.
The major strength of this objective in accordance to the adopted communication channel
of public relations is that it help in aligning the interest of different parties in organisational
offerings. The limitation of this objective in accordance to one of the selected communication
channel of social media is that rumours and negative feedback of consumers have some negative
impact over the brand value of organisation.
Establish product image: This communication objective have work of improving the
image of particular product of an organisation. In context to Barclays, the objective is regarding
the improvement of retail banking services through bring changes in service structure. The major
strength of this objective in accordance to the communication channel of advertising that it
provides an opportunity in disbursal of information at large area which need better banking
services. The drawbacks in accordance to one of the adopted communication channel of personal
selling that it increases the chance of fraud (Chenini and Cherif, 2016).
Increase market penetration: This communication objective having the work of bring
improvement in their existing services in the same market through usage of better
communication tools. The major strength of this objective in accordance to the adopted
communication channel of advertising and public relation that help banking organisation and its
products and services to be in notice of each and every category of society. The drawbacks that
can be ascertained by this objective due to the usage of the marketing communication channel of
social media is that not only the positive news and offerings are disbursed to consumers but also
they get all the knowledge of flaws and mistakes associated with providence of existing services.
Develop repeat purchase behaviour: Communication help in disbursement of
information with objective of building log term relation with consumers. This objective is based
upon the same concept about development of repeat purchase behaviour of consumers towards
the products and services of Barclays. The major strength of this objective on the basis of the
selection of the communication tool of advertising and personal selling that it help the consumers
to know all the offerings and associated changes on time which saves their time and money both
(Chitty, D'Alessandro and Gray, 2019). The Drawbacks which can be associated with this
objective due to use of communication tool of advertising is that common in nature and each and
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every competitor is used the same. So, not having any extra feature or characteristic which help
in retention of consumers.
Channels of communication along with their critical evaluation
Marketing communication channel and its importance
The modes of communication through which an organisation deliver their message to
target customers is known as marketing communication channel. Whenever an enterprise starts
their marketing campaign, communication channel become its important part. It should be
creative and consist of well combines messages in order to assure that customer provide business
to the company. Social media, television, personal selling, trade fairs, billboards etc. are some
example of marketing communication channel (DIACONU, OANCEA and BRINZEA, 2016).
These modes of interactions help company in increasing brand awareness. It play crucial
role in developing strategic vision and allow firm to express their competitive advantage. Buying
space in mind of customers is not an easy task, this can be considered as the prime reason that
most of the enterprises use more than one marketing communication channel.
Four different communication channels are required to adopt by the organisation to bring
improvement in their communication and same are defined below along with their strengths and
limitation on the basis of their their impact upon organisation:
Public relations
Stimulate interest a brand as a main communication objective. In order to achieve this
objectives public relation is best communication channel. This communication channel is used
for developing positive image of an individual or organisation. It is basically unpaid mode which
also involve traditional as well as social media. PR professionals charge money for improving
image of their client but they do not pay anything to media houses or other platform like in the
case of advertisement. Customer consider messages sent through PR are more reliable as it
comes from objective source. Main reason behind using this communication channels is it is
cost-effective i.e. does not eat much share from Barclays revenue. The biggest flaw with public
relations is that is cannot be control by anyone. It does not guarantee delivery of desired message
and, in past, Barclays has faced public humiliation because they failed to communicate correct
information (Duralia, 2018).
Sales promotion
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Sales promotion is a way of convincing potential customers to buy products/services
from company. It is generally for short term and it cannot help organisation in building long
lasting relationship with consumers. Another aim of this channel is to motivate buyers for buying
more goods/services. Barclays use sales promotion because it increases customer engagement
and loyalty. It is easy to develop and can be adopted in no time. It improves profit of company
in less period of time; this work is done without disturbing long term goals. The promotion
element relies on effective communications to bring more awareness in the market of the service
offered by Barclays.
Like of all communication channels, sales promotion also has some limitation. Offers are
not perceived in a good way by service users. They understand that company is in a weak spot
because of which they are ready to give them something in addition. Another problem with sales
promotion is that it cannot be used on continuous basis.
Advertising
Advertisement is a paid form of communication with potential/current product or services
users. It deliver the ideas or message of the organisation and generally is a creative way. It can be
personal or non-personal but it is always one sided communication. Barclays also spend huge
amount of money in advertising because it assist them in reaching millions of customers.
Attracting and educating new buyers is another advantage of advertising (Gabrielli and Baghi,
2016). More service user means increased profit, it also improves brand value. But advertisement
also have some limitations. In case of continuous and numerous advertisements, customers get
confuse. Barclays has many advertisements which sometime, instead of educating customer,
confuses service users. Increased cost is an inherent drawback of this marketing communication
channel. Another limitation which is associated with this method of communication is that it is
costly in nature. So, at some point it decreases its effectiveness.
Personal selling
It is a method where face to face communication is done by seller and buyer; where prior
one try to convince later one for buying goods/service. Barclays use this communication channel
in retail banking, it assist them in ensuring higher level of customer satisfaction. Customized
message can be delivered through this approach and it assures better opportunities for closing a
sale. These advantages make a positive impact on organisation by reducing customer turnover.
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Personal selling also have some weaknesses, it does not has wide reach and it is very
expensive (Heller, 2016). It is a labour intensive techniques; these are not considered
sustainable. This marketing communication method affect Barclays in negative way as it add
more burden of cost.
Difference between personal selling and sales promotion
Personal selling Sales Promotion
Personal Selling refers as an effective
marketing tool in which the sales person
presents the services to the investors and
instigates them to use it.
Sales Promotion introduces as a range of non-
personal marketing activities that are executed
on to initiate sales service.
This way of communication channel helps
Barclays to increase their sales in long term.
This way of communication channel helps
Barclays to increase their sales in short term.
Critical evaluation of the overall marketing communication plan
Marketing communication has immense importance within an organisation. If an
organisation lacks in the same then required to build with immediate effect for betterment of the
organisation. The aspect which help in its effective development in proper manner is termed as
marketing communication plan. This will includes different steps which provides an opportunity
to improve each and every aspect of communication to attain the overall goal of organisation.
The different steps which are covered under communication plan are defined below:
Research analysis: This is the point which includes situational analysis of an
organisation to understand the internal condition of an organisation i.e. strength and weakness.
This will further contributes in achievement of opportunities and identification of threats. The
tool which is used to carry on the situational analysis is named as SWOT. This is used in respect
to determination of the strengths and weaknesses of the organisation from communication
aspect. Also, analysis of the opportunities and threats by considering the same (Hsu, Lin and
Tsai, 2016).
Strengths
 Availability of higher number of communication resources in front of organisation is the
strength of organisation.
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 Trained and developed personnel in respect to handling of communication aspects is also
one of the strength of the organisation.
Weakness
 Lack of team behaviour in all the personnels is one of the weakness of an organisation in
respect to the communication because it hinders their capacity about the usage and
selection of available resources. Majorly it lacks in retail banking section of Barclays.
Opportunity
 Large number of opportunities are present in front of an organisation as they have
sufficient amount of resources and personnel. This will allows them to effectively
improve their communication aspect by creating team behaviour in all of them (Juska,
2017).
Threat
 Technological up-gradation is one of the threat in respect to the communication as this
involves emergence of new communication channels.
Audience and identification: This will includes selection of target upon which focused
is provided in respect to the development of communication. As, from the above situational
analysis clear that organisation lacks in retail banking communication. So, their targeted group or
audiences includes all the stakeholders who have interest in retail banking transactions.
Objectives: There are many objectives are set by the organisation on the basis of the
aspect of communication development. The main objectives which an organisation want to
achieve through bring improvement in their communication aspect incudes Stimulate interest of
brand, Establish product image, Increase market penetration and Develop repeat purchase
behaviour. The main change that can be ascertained in the communication aspect of an
organisation is about adherence of all the standards and norms of communication along with
timely redressal of complaints (Keller, 2016).
Strategy: This is the aspect which includes about the determination of the activities
which is going to perform in future for successful accomplishment of objectives. One of the main
strategy of the organisation in respect to the achievement of communication objective is about
adoption and usage of different communication channels like personal selling, sales promotion,
public relation, advertising and social media in different situation in accordance to the need arise
within an organisation.
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Tactic: This is the aspect which help an organisation in difficult times to overcome from
the typical situations. Tactics are short in nature and provide opportunity to the organisation to
succeed in their operations. The tactic which is decided by the organisation for future
incumbencies is about usage of integrated marketing communication channels. This includes
about the combination of more then one communication channels to effectively deal with the
situations arise with the organisation. This will provides an opportunity to the organisation attain
success in shorter period of time. A pull marketing strategy introduces to a strategy in which a
Barclays increases demand for its services and draws consumers to the service. It is a best way
for Bank to attract large number of customer for their effective services. By using this strategy,
company need to use different ways which are social media networks, word of mouth, sales
promotions and discounts etc.
Budget and control: The total amount required to spend in effective application and
arrangement of the all different communication tools and channels is around £5000. The
percentage of sales method introduces as a financial forecasting method that Barclays use to
predict their sales growth on yearly. They use this data to predict the amount of finance they
want to acquire to assist accomplish their goal.
Implementation: This is the stage which includes implementation of strategies in
accordance to the situation (Key and Czaplewski, 2017). As defined above, the strategy build by
the management is about the use of different channels in accordance to the situation arise in the
market. Right now, organisation lack in marketing of their products and services of retail
banking and redressal of the complaints of consumers. In this regard, the best approach which is
implemented by an organisation for marketing of their operations is advertising. Also, the
approach which is used for redressal of the problem of consumers includes personal approach
and social media platform. In accordance to the situation both are very effective and help an
organisation to attain success within less period of time. Usage of thee approach help an
organisation to improve their function and effective attain competitive edge in the market.
Evaluation and control: It is a last step of plan which will helps manager of Barclays to
evaluate and control each activities of plan in effective manner. With the help of effective
communication, company become more able to accomplish competitive advantages easily. In
this phase, business evaluate which strategy is more essential in reduction of communication
barrier. As these will support manager to control excess of fund and other impact that have
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negative effect on business performance and productivity. Bank must also control complaints of
their customers and gain better advantages within given time duration (Manser Payne, Peltier
and Barger, 2017).
Recommendations
As per the provided case scenario, there some recommendation provided to manager of
Barclays bank through which they can easily improvise their marketing communication in order
to provide effective and satisfactory services to customers. Some of the core recommendation
provided to the manager of this company are presented as below: CO
 At first, it is recommended to manager of this company to approach social media
channels for promoting products and services offered by the bank to its customers.
Adoption of this channel will allow company in approaching maximum number of
customers which will directly influence their sales performance in rightful manner in
future.
 At next, it is advised to HR manager of Barclays bank to hire highly skilled staff who are
expertise in financial aspects and its associated zone. This will help out Barclays bank in
satisfying customers in more effective manner as their complains will going to be
addressed by this new staff in rightful manner. As a result, with the passing time number
of complaints will decline in future.
By following these recommendations, Barclays Bank can easily improvise its
performance in the industry. This will also contribute in gaining in competitive edge with
effective support of employees.
ACTIVITY B
In Barclays plc, there is one of the main issue is communication which will negatively
impact on its business performance and profitability. Lack of marketing communication have
direct impact on customer relationship management and also on market image of bank. In order
to overcome this issue, the preparation of IMC plan will be more appropriate and suitable. This
plan includes different stages which will be explain as below in detailed manner (Naumovska
and Blazeska, 2016).
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IMC Situational analysis
Lack of communication is main situation that arised in Barclays plc. With the help of
IMC plan, bank become more able to follow communication channels and handle complaints of
customers on daily basis. As it will support them in managing strong relationship with customers
and also assist them to accomplish overall marketing and business objectives within given time
duration. It will further assist them in achievement of competitive advantages. Along with this,
SWOT analysis is an effective structured method that will be apply by Barclays plc in evaluation
of its strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats that can impact on brand of Bank. Therefore,
SWOT analysis will be explain as below:
Strengths Weakness
 Highly skilled employees via
successful training and learning
programs are main strength of Barclays
bank. They investing large resources in
training and development program of
its employees. As it will support them
in its growth and success.
 Barclays Bank has strong free cash
flows that give different resource in the
hand of the organisation to expand into
new projects (Patti and et. al., 2017) .
 Lack of customer relationship
management is main weakness faced by
retail banking i.e. Barclays plc. It has
negative impact on business
productivity and performance.
 Insufficient Advertising is another
weakness of Barclays plc. As it will
also have direct and negative effect on
its Brand image in customer's mind and
in marketplace.
Opportunities Threats
 The development of market will lead to
dilution of competitor’s benefit and
enable Barclays bank to maximise its
competitiveness compare to the other
challengers.
 Stable free cash flow gives an effective
chances to invest in adjacent product
sections. With maximum amount of
 The Bank can face lawsuits in different
markets given - various laws and
continuous fluctuations about product
service standards in those marketplace.
 One of the main threat for Barclays
bank is highly competitive environment
from other banks. It can directly affect
on market share of business.
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capital in bank an organisation can
invest more in new products segments
as well as in new technologies. This
must open a window of possibility for
Barclays bank in other product or
service categories.
 Growth and expansion changes in
emerging economies are a large
opportunity for Barclays bank. As it
will helps them in improving its brand
image in international marketplace.
 Barclays bank can face threat in form of
its customer service from other
challengers like if rivals are promoting
their customer services as well as their
care regarding the customers then
business can lose it clients and to retain
them, Barclays has to give higher level
of services or care than its competitors.
Target Markets and SMART Communication Objectives
For Integrated Marketing Communication plan to work effectively, it is highly essential that
appropriate target market is been chosen by an organisation, in order to appropriately and
effectively channelize their marketing efforts onto the customer groups within the target market
(Valos and et. al., 2016). In context with Barclays, one of the most prominent target markets for
its integrated marketing communications plan would be customers within Retail Banking. This is
because it would allow the firm in enhancing its customer base, along with develop better
relationships with groups, communities and families, which would ultimately enhance its
sustainability in the marketplace. Within this sector, the organisation is planning to launch a new
mobile application service, which would help the service users to appropriately access their
banking services through this application. Moreover, another prominent aspect which is inclusive
in its service is related to Facial Recognition and Advance Fingerprint Scanning as mediums to
access the mobile banking facility.
However, the new plan must have certain new and effective objectives that could help
Barclays improvise its marketing communications quite appropriately. Hence for this purpose,
there are several objectives that are mentioned below:
 With its new integrated marketing plan, Barclays aims at enhancing its sales volume by at
least 15% till the next 6 months.
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 Barclays emphasises on enhancing positive customer feedbacks by almost 8% within 1
year of implementation of its marketing plan.
 Through integrated marketing communication plan, the company also wishes to expand
its digital and social market reach by 20% by the end of 2 years.
Critical Evaluation of Marketing Channels
As mentioned above, there are several marketing channels which could be used by
Barclays in order to establish an appropriate communication network within the chosen market.
However, it is utmost important that each of the channels are critically evaluated against each
other to select the most effective and efficient one for achieving the communication objectives
discussed above.
As per the critical evaluation in previous section, the most appropriate channel for Barclays is
advertising and sales promotion (Timofeeva and et. al., 2016).
. There are several reasons as to why these channels are better than all the other mentioned
above. Hence, critical analysis of these channels in comparison with others is discussed as under:
Product Usage:
One prominent factor associated while selecting most effective marketing channels is the
usage of product. Barclays’ new mobile application service would provide immense benefits in
retail banking sector, particularly in terms of security, where it would use facial recognition and
fingerprints in order to activate the accessibility. Moreover, such advanced technology must be
communicated appropriately to the target market through compelling promotional content, which
could not be achieved by channels like Personal selling and Public relations. Therefore, this
could effectively be achieved through advertisement. Moreover, through sales promotion, its
usage could appropriately reach wider ends which would help the firm in attaining new and
effective customers.
Market Penetration:
While personal selling is a long term process, and public relations would attract only existing
customers, advertising could be used by the organisation to reach to a farther extent, both
nationally and internationally. Moreover, sales promotion through social media to attract
millennial and newspaper to attract older generation would be very much convenient through
these channels, thus, making these appropriate for marketing (Thaichon and Quach, 2016).
.
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Integrated Marketing Channels
Both the channels, advertising and sales promotion are quite effective in context of
attracting more customers as well as ensuring better and more prominent sales of their service
within the retail banking sector. However, an integrated approach is quite necessary to be
adopted by the organisation in context of enhancing the scope of marketing communication.
Amalgamation and integration of both these sales channels would provide several benefits
to Barclays in relation to enhancing the scope of its reach. This is because; sales promotions
require an appropriate support of both traditional, as well as digital methods to advertise the
content within the target market. Thus, advertising is required by the other channel in context of
developing appropriate content which delivers the message effectively and appeal to customers.
In addition to this, advertising could help set a whole marketing campaign which would
particularly revolve around sales promotion. Moreover, this would give them appropriate
opportunity to attract potential customers towards their new service and enhance the scope of
accomplishment in relation to the marketing communication objectives set above.
Another effective reason of why the two channels should be integrated to enhance the
value and to ensure maximisation of organisational resources is that it could help Barclays in
directing its resources and strategies towards a unified plan (Shkurkin and et. al., 2016).
. Moreover, both these methods would effectively target customer buying processes, which
would attract more individuals towards adopting services provided by the organisation.
Development of Appropriate Content
After selection of channels, the next step requires Barclays to appropriately develop
effective and appropriate content, which aligns with the selected channels, along with meeting
communications objectives. Thus, below are some effective contents which the company could
use to ensure marketing and communicating its new service within the targeted market:
Compelling Videos:
This is one of the finest ways of sales promotion and advertising when a company wants
to enhance its customer base, along with provide information about their products and services to
their existing customers. Thus, Barclays could use proper advertisements or animations to
appealingly deliver their message in a very smooth and effective manner. Moreover, one prime
advantage of using this method is that a well developed content would allow the firm to attract
various new customers within an appropriate time frame (Saenko and et. al., 2016).
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.
Newspaper Advertising:
Another content which could be developed by Barclays to communicate with the market is
newspaper advertisement. This is a traditional advertising method, which could be used in sales
promotion in order to attract potential customers, which do not use digital or social media as a
medium to gather information. Furthermore, newspaper advertising would allow the company in
gaining a wider market attention, along with ensuring further accessibility of its message to
potential customers. This would be quite advantageous for Barclays to encourage the potential
customers to utilise their services to ensure facilities within retail banking.
Evaluation of Communication Strategy, Channel Choice and Creative Contents
The organisation is using digital marketing as its communication strategy, which would
help the company in enhancing the competence in context of ensuring attraction and
communication with a range of customer groups in relation with their new service. In addition to
this, this strategy would also help the company in formulating real time communication with
customers of the bank towards addressing their doubts and enquiries.
In relation with the channel choice, advertising and sales promotions have been used by
the firm out of all the other channels mentioned above. The reason for the same is that both the
methods would be giving the organisation with a farther choice, in relation with enhancing the
scope of its familiarity and marketing. Moreover, advertising is very much required in terms of
attracting more customers through animations, compelling content. Moreover, sales promotion
would help in enhancing the favouring from media.
Moreover, in terms of creative content, compelling videos would be helping the company
in inducing positive buying behaviour within the individuals. In addition, newspapers would be a
prominent channel to ensure familiarise their services with older age groups.
Estimated Budget for IMC Plan
Each plan is required to be backed up with a set budget, which would allow the
organisation in appropriately selecting their strategies which could align with the set budget and
ensure maximum returns. Moreover, estimated budget could also allow the firm in getting an
idea related to whether the firm could perform its marketing communication activities at its best
or would it require several modifications later.
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Thus, below is the estimated budget of the overall integrated marketing communication
plan for Barclays:
PARTICULARS AMOUNT (£)
Human Resources 50,000
Subscriptions and Software 70,000
Sales Promotion Campaigns 500,000
Newspaper Advertising 325,000
Social Media Advertising 415,000
Content Production 222,000
Creative Agency Fees 100,000
TOTAL 1,682,000
Thus, the budget would be mostly emphasising on the campaigns, content development and
advertising, which are prominent in communicating with the market in relation to the new
service of Barclays (Saenko and et. al., 2016).
.
Monitoring and Controlling Mechanism
After setting up the whole plan into position, along with the marketing channels,
campaigns and budgeting, it is highly important that Barclays implement several appropriate and
effective monitoring and controlling mechanisms which would judge and evaluate as to whether
the whole plan is being worked upon as expected. Having such mechanisms appropriately helps
the organisation in identifying the weak spots and monitors the root causes for any deviations.
Thus, there are several prominent mechanisms which Barclays could use in its Integrated
Marketing Communication Plan. These mechanisms are discussed as follows:
Key Performance Indicators:
One of the most appropriate and relevant methods is Key Performance Indicators. These
refer to the factors, which are used indicate the organisation regarding effectiveness of their plan.
For Barclays, all the communication objectives mentioned above would be acting as the
indicators. As an example, rise or decline in sales figure would be an indicator for the company
in relation to the performance of their overall IMC plan. The biggest advantage of implementing
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this method is that, it would allow the firm to focus only on the most important areas, saving the
time, as well as cost in relation to monitoring the performance on several irrelevant grounds.
Benchmarking Analysis:
This method could be utilised by the firm in setting up several benchmarks which are likely to be
achieved by the plan within a stipulated time frame. In context of Barclays, they could use
customer satisfaction, customer engagement, market share and profitability levels as a
benchmark, which would allow them to analyse as to whether the IMC plan is effectively
implemented or not (Place, Smith and Lee, 2016).
.
Conclusion
In relation with the overall plan, the situational analysis has been utilised to derive the
current situation of the overall organisation’s communication and market situations.
Furthermore, several objectives were made according to the situational analysis, along with the
target market. Moreover, the marketing channels were critically reviewed and analysed against
the set objectives, which eradicated any scope of error in context of deriving a pathway through
which the marketing communication would establish. An integrated approach in development of
content provided a better scope, along with benefits of both the chosen methods, which are very
essential to achieve the objectives above. Moreover, budgeting and control helped in
maximisation of resources, along with monitoring the effectiveness of plan against set objectives.
Hence, through this pathway these steps helped in achieving the marketing communication
objectives.
CONCLUSION
Thus, it is concluded from the report above, that integrated marketing communication is
very necessary for an organisation to adopt, in order to ensure sustainability and better customer
market. Analysis of the current objectives and its critical review allows assessing the loopholes
within a firm’s communication strategy. Moreover, critical analysis of several marketing
channels helps in figuring out the best channel which suits the purpose. Lastly, critical evaluation
of the overall IMC plan of the organisation, along with creation of a better one with aspects like
SMART communication objectives, integration of channels, budgeting as well as monitoring
allows a company to ensure enhancement of their marketing communication effectively.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
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Place, K. R., Smith, B. G. and Lee, H., 2016. Integrated Influence? Exploring public relations
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Thaichon, P. and Quach, T. N., 2016. Integrated marketing communications and their effects on
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