It's All about Organization
MC professionals often ask why IMC is so hard to do. Integration poses an organizational challenge because so many participants are involved in creating and delivering brand messages—the company, its agencies, the media, distributors and retailers, and the many MC support services. A rigid structure of corporate departmental silos and specialized MC agencies—each working in its own area of expertise—is one of the barriers most brands face when striving for integration.
No company can build relationships externally until it builds them internally and with its MC partners. Thus, IMC requires cross-functional planning and is most successfully practiced in small companies. Nevertheless, large companies that recognize the value of integration are working to become more focused through better internal integration.
This chapter discusses the major players who need to be integrated as partners in brand-relationship building. It closes with a discussion of cross-functional planning and monitoring, tools that managers use to create integration within the organization.
