The most common representation of an organization is a multi-tiered diagram that segments each department and its associated contributors (see Figure 1).

Modern management theories, however, challenge this design and advocate an improved model that places marketing at the core of the organization, with each functional department merging in contributions to create the most value (see Figure 2).

Integrated Marketing incorporates many modern management theories, including positioning, brand management, customer relationship management (CRM) and organizational design, to name a few. Ultimately, an Integrated Marketing approach involves the entire organization coming together to identify and execute a common vision of creating value for its customer base from initial communications, to actual transactions, to product usage.

This article outlines the principles behind Integrated Marketing, the affect it has on an organization and the practical application of this strategy – creating the optimal intersection for a company to maximize value.

What is Integrated Marketing?
A common misconception is that Integrated Marketing is synonymous for integrated communications. In truth, although communications is certainly one element, Integrated Marketing is a much broader strategy, encompassing all corporate messaging and actions, and aligning them to ensure a coherent customer experience.

Integrated Marketing, therefore, extends beyond the traditional marketing communications discipline and involves an organization-wide approach to optimizing the entire customer experience, with the ultimate goal of enhancing value for all stakeholders. In this view, marketing is not an independent activity or simply one of many organizational departments, but is, instead, an overall purpose of a company that all systems, processes, actions and communications align to support and achieve.

To validate this concept, the Centre for Integrated Marketing conducted research on the benefits of Integrated Marketing and found that those companies adopting it realized a 10 to 25% enhancement in business performance. Evidence of its success can also be illustrated by the companies that adopt it -- Harley Davidson, IBM, Amazon and others.[1]

How does Integrated Marketing affect an organization?
Integrated Marketing is a strategy that requires the alignment and focus of an entire corporate organization to create the most value.

In a case study, Jenkinson and Said featured Harley Davidson as an example of a company employing Integrated Marketing. As a company in trouble in the 1980s, Harley-Davidson embarked on a transformational journey to “unite [stakeholders] around a collective vision of value that connects to the identity and purpose of the organization/brand.” Harley-Davidson accomplished this objective by reorganizing the company, breaking away from the traditional hierarchical design and moving to what they termed a "circle organization" by aligning the company with three overlapping departments: creating demand, producing products and providing support. In the central intersection resided the leadership and strategy council formed from representatives of the three overlapping departments. The result of this restructuring? By the end of 1998, an original investment of $100 of Harley-Davidson stock in 1986 was worth more than $7,000.[2]

How do you implement Integrated Marketing?
The process of implementing Integrated Marketing includes managing three primary business drivers:

1. Defining the corporation’s identity or key differentiating factor
2. Aligning the entire organization to focus and execute on the identity -- from the corporation’s systems and processes to its communications and actions
3. Implementing integrated contact management, where the full customer experience from initial communications to product purchase and usage is consistent. In other words, what a company touts must be what the customer experiences.

In determining a company’s identity and helping to realize its vision, organizational design and processes, technology, quality, operations, human resources, marketing, communications and leadership are all important contributors. One key ingredient to Integrated Marketing is alignment; initiatives only reach their full potential if they support the overall purpose or vision of the corporation.

Another key to Integrated Marketing is the leadership to establish a vision and implement organizational change. The ultimate success of Integrated Marketing and an organization as a whole depends on consistent commitment and vision at the leadership level.

IBM is another example of a company with influential leadership dedicated to Integrated Marketing. The company continually invests in new services, systems, technology, R&D, business partnerships, employee development and internal/external marketing to ensure integrated contact management.[3]

In a nutshell, the Integrated Marketing structural model may seem revolutionary at first glance, but once a company begins to look at itself in this new strategic light, the pieces often seem to create a new and natural flow that spells success.

References
1. Jenkinson, A. and Mathews, B. (2007) Integrated Marketing and its implications for personalized customer marketing strategies. J Direct, Data and Digital Marketing Practice. Vol. 8 No. 3. pp. 93-209. Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke, UK.
2. Jenkinson, A. and Sain, B. (2005) Harley Davidson: Organisation-led Integrated Marketing. The Centre for Integrated Marketing. University of Luton. pp. 1-8.
3. Jenkinson, A. (2006) IBM in the City. The Centre for Integrated Marketing. University of Luton. pp. 1-8.