Bare Bones Introduction to Integrated Marketing Communication

Integrated marketing communication (IMC) focuses on communicators employing the correct message, being able to place it in the most appropriate media, and using the most advantageous communications approach. Advertising in today's economy crosses communication boundaries as well as societal and cultural norms, making accurate targeting, media selection, and consistency of message more critical than ever before. Marketing and advertising are no longer separate entities-they are the results of all parts working as a cohesive whole. Integrated marketing communicates using one tone-of-voice or message that is successfully delivered through multiple media and disciplines. The Bare Bones Introduction to Integrated Marketing Communication is an in-depth yet concise discussion of the business and structure of integrated marketing communication. This brief, inexpensive text focuses exclusively on introductory issues concerning IMC as both a communication device and as a profession. Robyn Blakeman's step-by-step approach offers an extensive and exclusive look into how agencies work, the areas of specialization that make up IMC, how advertising affects our lives, and the diverse arsenal of media options that give IMC its visual/verbal voice. Both integrated marketing and varied media vehicles are dissected-one topic at a time-creating an invaluable reference tool that students, professors, and small business people alike will refer to time and again for information on the field of advertising/integrated marketing communication.

Robyn Blakeman is professor of advertising design at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. She is the author of The Bare Bones of Advertising Print Design (2004) and Integrated Marketing Communication: Creative Strategy from Idea to Implementation (2007).