BM2504

INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS

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Course Description and Scope

This course is concerned with the development, implementation and evaluation of marketing
communication activities. The course primarily takes the marketers perspective, requiring you to
consider and critically evaluate factors influencing both the design and implementation of
comprehensive, integrated marketing communication (IMC) programs. In this course, we regard
IMC as a system of thinking, processes, approaches and coordinated activities driven by the
marketers objectives.
The course is designed to foster your logical thinking and creativity regarding IMC. Although this
course is oriented towards practice, we still cover theories and concepts essential to your
understanding of marketing communication (marcom) practices (e.g., how they work and their
applicability). Learning these theories and concepts is also important because they facilitate you to
choose and justify your choice and design of marcom activities.
Instead of treating IMC as a set of stand-alone tools or activities, the course regards it as a blended
mix of coordinated activities. The course put roughly equal emphasis on both traditional marcom
tools (e.g., advertising and sales promotion) and non-traditional tools (e.g., social media marketing
and mobile marketing), comparing their similarities and differences, and discussing how they can
complement each other and work together for achieving the marketers objectives. While nontraditional marcom tools catch marketers attention of, traditional marcom tools are indispensable
for particular purposes and under certain circumstances.

Course Learning Objectives

1. understand the nature, role and importance of marcom activities in marketing and the society;
2. understand the key concepts and theories in IMC management, and the contextual
considerations in applying them to practice;
3. appreciate the usefulness of both traditional and non-traditional marcom tools, and understand
their applicability, limitations and synergy;
4. practice the development of detailed marcom strategies; and
5. understand and practice the evaluation of marcom activities.
Course Assessments
Components

Marks

Individual/Group

Class participation

20

Individual, Group

Individual assignments

35

Individual

Team project

45

Group

Total

100

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Textbook
Semenik, Richard J., Chris T. Allen, Thomas OGuinn, and Hans Rudiger Kaufmann (2012), Advertising
and Promotions: An Integrated Brand Approach, 6th ed., Australia/Asia.: South-Western,
Cengage Learning.

Proposed Weekly Schedule

Week Topic
1
Introduction to IMC and the course
2

Essentials of IMC planning

Creative strategy

Media strategy

5
6

Branded entertainment;
point-of-sale communication
Sales promotion

Preliminary project presentation

Recess (Mar. 3 9)

Online advertising; search engine optimization

Social media marketing; mobile marketing

10

Viral marketing; global marcom (elearning week, Mar. 24-30)

11

Sponsorship; cause-related marketing; feedback on individual assignment

12-13

Final Project presentation

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Distributed by Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological University. All Rights Reserved.