Broad Consistency

To be successful, an integrated marketing campaign must cover all of the bases, but at the same time maintain a unified message.

If you've ever seen an episode of “Mad Men,” you may have been surprised at the massive quantities of alcohol the characters consume during the course of the day. Every executive seemingly has a bar in his office, the contents of which are raided regularly, starting well before lunch.

While this might be a bit of creative license on the part of the show's creators, stories of five-martini lunches and in-office bars are legion in the ad world. The question is: How on earth did anyone get any real work done with all of that booze clouding their minds?

One answer is that life was much simpler back then. Urgent matters were handled in days or weeks, not minutes. Memos were a primary communications tool. And the media outlets were minimal: newspapers, outdoor, radio and television with its three channels that could reach nearly 100 percent of the market in one evening.

Today, all of those media outlets remain, but many others have cut into the pie. Mobile, online, targeted direct mail, social media — the list goes on and on; ad budgets have grown, but overall, no single medium gets the lion's share of spend the way newspapers and television did back in the day.

Not only have the media outlets expanded since the era of “Mad Men,” but the idea of a target customer has changed as well. There was a time when “women, ages 18-49” was a valid target market. More than a few supermarkets called that their core customer. Now there are myriad subsets to that target, and each of those subset markets expects to be communicated with in a relevant, engaging manner.

That's the other twist since the halcyon days of Madison Avenue: The consumer has become more sophisticated, better-informed and more cynical than ever. She'll do her own research before buying, and she's more likely to be influenced by product reviews from other customers she's never met than by info provided by the manufacturer or retailer.

All of this means that the marketer's world is more complex than our counterparts from the 1960s can imagine. But our tools are better. Where once “spray and pray” was a viable strategy, today it's “slice and dice,” focusing on ever-narrower markets and using insights gathered from shopping behavior.

A New Integrated Ballgame

Enter integrated marketing. The idea behind integrated marketing isn't new — it's been around since the “good old days,” at least in concept. Where once this meant using the same creative, starting with TV and building out, today, it's — surprise — much more complicated than that. Even a marketing neophyte understands that using the same creative across all media isn't the right approach.

What works for television won't work on Facebook or in an e-mail. Not only are the media different, the audiences are different, if only in mindset. Those are just tactics, anyway. The tactics need to be consistent but must work within the medium.

Let's use the example of television and Facebook. Why not just run that same 30-second spot online that we spent a half-million dollars on? For starters, few people will watch 30 seconds of video for a product online. Ten seconds is more likely, and only if it's really engaging, or at least entertaining. And it still needs to deliver the message. People watch television differently today as well. We tend to multitask, with a smartphone or tablet, while watching television. We're less engaged with TV than we are with Facebook, which is more immersive and more likely to keep our full attention, albeit for shorter periods. The message must take these differences into account.

This means that consistent tactics are an ongoing challenge. When one group handles television and radio, another online, a third direct mail — and let's not forget the social media and mobile mavens — suddenly, internal communication to align the message gets really complicated. Clearly, tactical integration presents obstacles. Who's in charge? Where does the buck stop?

The real opportunity is the integration of the intended message, i.e., what the marketer wants the viewing audience to take away from the advertising, along with the intended action.

This approach means integration of things like relevance, recognition and intended response. This means that the Facebook page not only must support the creative, it must also support the intended goal of the campaign, whatever that might be.

Tackling this monster requires shopper insights — good ones, rich in history and able to predict response rates. It takes a clearly defined strategy for the campaign, e.g., what constitutes success? It may also require investing in the right software or the right partner to make it happen. Ultimately, however, it requires a willingness to take some chances. Call it a test, but be willing to fail, and learn through that failure. There aren't a lot of models out there to use for best practices yet. There are simple things, like making sure the website you're directing a shopper to via that too-cool QR code is actually mobile-optimized. That concept still evades the majority of marketers.

If all of this gives you a better appreciation of the “Mad Men” way of coping, you're not alone. True integrated marketing isn't for the meek; it requires commitment, courage and an ability to see what could be. But there's never been a better time to be a marketer, as long as you've got the stomach for it. It might be tougher sledding than just running a roadblock on the three major networks and buying a full page in the Times. But success here will be longer-lasting because it's as much science as art, and success will go to those with vision, humility and the desire to succeed.

The author is VP of marketing and strategy for Vestcom International Inc., a Little Rock, Ark.-based provider of integrated shopper marketing solutions. He can be reached [email protected].