Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC)
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IMC: A management concept that is designed to make all aspects of marketing communication such as advertising, sales
promotion, public relations, and direct marketing work together as a unified force, rather than permitting each to work in isolation. (Wikipedia) Integrated marketing communications is changing advertising, public relations and marketing.

In the traditional marketing/organizational model, the company is made up of different functional departments in which each department is dedicated to a specific discipline or function, e.g., the sales department, marketing department, manufacturing dept., distribution dept. Often, these departments operate differently on their own. Furthermore, the sales and marketing strategies can become fragmented across different modes of the communication mix because the advertising, sales promotion, direct marketing might fail to leverage each other or work together. This might result to a non-uniform message, confusion in the customers and might eventually lead to loss. In integrated marketing, all of the company's communication strategies are mobilized and implemented in concert by all of the organization's relevant departments. In this model, the organization becomes cohesive and have a single overall goal based on maximizing awareness and making sure that the target message are constantly distributed across all communication channels. Rather than operating remotely, all departments work hand in hand and together to make sure that the common goals are achieved.

IMC is a common-sense idea. Instead of dividing communications into several overlapping departments, organizations use one strategy for everything, making every communication consistent with one message and one strategy.

Integrated Marketing Communication is more than the coordination of a company's outgoing message between different media and the consistency of the message throughout. It is an aggressive marketing plan that captures and uses an extensive amount of customer information in setting and tracking marketing strategy. Steps in an Integrated Marketing system are:

A. Situation Analysis

This section evaluates the current situation that the organisation is currently facing. It takes Political, legal, market competitiveness and profitability into account amongst other sections. In a profit oriented organization, this is properly studied and analyzed as profit must be taken into consideration whereas in a non-profit oriented company, there is not much to lose so, even if there is a need for a situation analysis, it is not as much as in an organization built for profit.

B. Target Market Identification

An essential element to implementing Integrated Marketing that helps to segment and analyze customer buying habits. Profit and non-profit organizations both identify their target markets.

C. Strategies

Insight from analysis of customer data is used to shape marketing, sales, and communications strategies. There is much to do in marketing strategies for companies who are profit oriented than those which are not. However, a way to improve the organization's procedures in doing things can be done for non-profit organizations.

D. Tactics

Once the basic strategy is determined the appropriate marketing tactics can be specified which best targets the specific markets. Non-profit organizations can create their own procedures in serving their clientele.

E. Evaluate Results

Customer responses and new information about buying habits are collected and analyzed to determine the effectiveness of the strategy and tactics. For profit oriented organizations, this is very important as the effectivity of integrated marketing communications organization model is being assessed in relation to the customer's satisfaction.

Levi Strauss & Co. is a very good example of a marketer that managed to integrate its business activities to offer customers a product that fits them one-to-one. In the past, Levi's was known as the sportswear marketer that produced high quality jeans for the masses, the first product being the Levi's 501 for both men and women. Today, Levi's past marketing strategy is contrasted with the new Levi's Original Spin jeans, customers go to a Levi's store and choose from the basic jeans styles, five types of leg opening, two flies, as well as ten combinations of fabrics and colors. Then, a salesperson measures the customer's waist, hips, etc. and a pair of jeans is made to the customer's specifications. The customer can pick it up from the store or have it delivered to her residence for a fee. After this first in-store purchase, customers can then order several customized jeans either by phone or online. As an integrated marketer, Levi's does not only need/want for a custom-made pair of jeans, it also can match up easily to the customer's specifications and purchasing history, by having achieved a level of company department integration that enables it to do so. And this service is consistent with the message that the company delivers through its TV advertising and website.