ABSTRACT
The Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) concept has been largely
regarded as an important marketing management issue. This is because to survive
in the competitive marketing environment of today many companies try to adopt
IMC to improve the management and integration of the marketing communication
programmes. But the term and concept of IMC is so recent and “modern” that it is
not known and accepted by all which can explain the lack of a generally accepted
definition and common understanding of the whole concept. While some marketing
managers are aware that marketing communications is an important resource of
their business performance, others are very ignorant of the efficacy and prospects
inherent in its application for effective business performance. This study therefore
examined the relationship between Integrated Marketing Communications and
companies’ sales and profits; examined the IMC tools commonly used by the
selected companies under study in boosting their sales performance; established
how Integrated Marketing Communications save time, money and stress; found out
the indicators the marketing executives and managers use in measuring the
effectiveness of overall IMC programmes.
The study had a population of Eight
hundred and three staff of the five selected companies, out of which a sample size
of 267 top management officers was determined using Taro Yamane formula. The
top management staff and middle managers were used because they have the
adequate and relevant knowledge of the subject matter. The study made use of
primary and secondary data. A total number of 267 copies of the questionnaire
were distributed while 240 copies were collected. The descriptive research design
was adopted for the study. Content validity and test-retest of reliability was done
with coefficient of 0.96 indicating high degree of consistency. Four hypotheses
were tested using Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Coefficient, Chi-Square
(X2) and Z-test statistical tools. The result of the analysis revealed that there was
significant relationship between Integrated Marketing Communications and
companies’ sales and profits. The study further showed that Integrated Marketing
Communications save time, money and stress. Also the result revealed that there
were suitable indicators such as sales growth, market share growth, profitability,
sales income, price premiums, brand awareness, channel cooperation, customers’
satisfaction, brand loyalty among others, the marketing executives and managers
used in measuring the effectiveness of overall IMC programmes. It is concluded
that IMC is more than the coordination of companies’ outgoing message between
different media. To this end, the study recommended that firms should develop
their IMC programmes in association with changes in order to cover the gaps
created by changes.
