Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) is not ...

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Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) is not just for the big boys – part of the future of IMC lies in SME marketing strategy Dr Paul Copley Senior Lecturer Marketing and Travel & Tourism Management Subject Group Newcastle Business School Northumbria University City Campus East 1 New Bridge Street Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 2SW UK Tel: 0191 2274357 Fax: 0191 2273682 e-mail: [email protected] Abstract Objectives: To use discursive practice around SME marketing communications to illustrate how barriers to achieving integration in marketing communications are being broken down by SMEs and how relationships and networking are instrumental in affecting change that is driven out of the necessity to use limited resources as effectively and efficiently as possible. Prior Work: Recent literature has dealt with issues around the implementation of IMC, in particular how a strategic rather than tactical approach to marketing communications can be implemented. There is, therefore, interest in how integration can be achieved and measured for related reasons of limited resources and achieving effective and efficient IMC activities. It is thought that their very nature and the nature of their (entrepreneurial) principals, SMEs might lead the way to achieving this goal. This paper suggests ways of achieving a transition from the tactical to the strategic and integrated. Approach: The research undertaken for this study falls within the social constructivist paradigm. Discourse Analysis was employed to make sense of data generated from a small sample of SMEs and support agency participants. The study employed the semi-structured interview that, when transcribed, provided research texts that were then analysed through a Discourse Analysis lens. Results: Support the view that relational marketing (in particular forms of networking) and critical marketing (in particular critical and reflexive practice in marketing) sit along side traditional marketing in SMEs. Moreover, some of the discursive practices that emerged in the study underline the importance of networking. But this does not negate the use of traditional marketing communications activities. Rather, the results show that SMEs, particularly those with entrepreneurial principals, are engaging with the IMC concept in terms of the different kinds of marketing they practice from that of bigger businesses with more resources. Implications: This paper underlines the importance of relational and critical SME marketing and of the ability to create IMC rather than a collection of marketing communication activities. The importance of achieving integration of marketing communications activities for effective and efficient performance should not go unnoticed by organisations, regardless of size. The main implication is that SMEs can lead the way in achieving this. Value: This paper should be of value to those involved SMEs and entrepreneurship, especially those interested in the SME marketing arena and those interested in achieving effective and efficient IMC and increased performance. Keywords: SME Marketing; Entrepreneurial marketing; Critical Marketing; Relational Marketing; IMC; Discourse Analysis; Discursive Practice.

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Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) is not just for the big boys – part of the future of IMC lies in SME marketing strategy Introduction Much is written about successful and not so successful Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) campaigns. There is clear evidence that IMC is desirable but difficult to achieve in practice. The problem is compounded for smaller firms because of the additional barriers that exist due to the very nature of smaller firms and not least the nature and personalities of their ownermanagers and principals. There are therefore benefits of IMC to SMEs but also barriers that exist to implementation of an IMC approach to communications. This has been made more complicated due to the changes that have and are taking place with the Internet and other technologies. Such change might be the way forward in breaking down barriers to the development of SME IMC. Background to IMC IMC, and Integrated marketing for that matter, are not new concepts. Integration has been around for years with good practitioners; although it is the case that textbooks began to make the case for IMC in the early 1990s, Holm (2006) suggests that academics and professionals did not originally consider integration as a realistic approach, with much activity being anchored in little more than tactical co-ordination of promotional mix elements. Holm echoes Schultz and Kitchen (2000) and others in suggesting the need for financial consideration and a strategic approach to IMC, which goes beyond the simplistic view of how IMC works i.e. to concentrate solely on communications elements working together with a ‘unified message’, where below the line supports above activity and vice versa. This is the drive toward cost-effectiveness and where 'careful planning creates marketing communications synergy which reinforces a consistent message or image in a cost effective manner' (Smith 1993). This was a good start, but has been taken further. IMC can be described as a process that involves various forms of communications that attempt to achieve tasks such as to persuade, inform, remind, educate or entertain customers and prospects i.e. affecting and influencing behaviour of target audiences. The IMC process also includes anything and everything that an organisation, company or its people and brands do with targets and publics, either deliberately or not. To make good use of all forms of relevant communication makes sense. All in all the IMC process, like the more general marketing process, should start and end with the customer or prospect. Like the marketing process the IMC process has been affected greatly by changes in technology whereby cost structures, communication effectiveness and client-agency/communication company relationships have been improved (Hughes and Fill, 2007). IMC has been defined as being a cohesive mix of promotional and other activities and tools that delivers a coordinated and consistent message to target customers and consumers synergistically to achieve organisational objectives (Kitchen and Schultz, 1999). There have been numerous studies during the past decade or so, all of which add to what is a fluid process as the IMC concept mutates. This includes studies of the relationship between specific element of the IMC mix such as public relations to those of the relationship between IMC and internal marketing issues. There have been numerous studies concerned with measurement and with media integration. All in all, for Kliatchko (2008), the concern has been to do with ‘definitions, perceptions, understanding and theoretical foundations surrounding the IMC concept’. There is now interest in global perspectives but also those of IMC and branding, media synergy and internal marketing. This kind of approach can be viewed as a useful addition in understanding IMC. The notion that a drive toward IMC and branding without consideration of the customer would be short sighted, the customer being a key stakeholder. Many have written about what IMC is and Pickton and Broderick (2010) pull together the various attempts to model IMC but also advocate the measurement of integration success. In practical marketing communications terms, the future 2

was thought to lie not with outdated constructs that relate to mass communication, but rather with the increasingly fragmented mass into one-to-one situations involving digital technologies (Kliatchko, 2008). Client-agency relationship difficulties were potentially the biggest area of concern. Agencies, or communications companies, needed to understand and serve clients’ needs better in this fragmented rather than mass world and, of course, the marketing communications industry has responded massively. IMC drivers have long been establish by writers such as Schultz, Tannenbaum and Lauterborn (1994) who have highlighted financial factors (especially in recession), the increasingly sophisticated client, disillusionment with the brand, advertising and agencies and a power shift to retailers. There is concern over financial measurement and effectiveness of IMC programmes. This has been applied to other programmes such as brand development with ROBI, or return on brand development, which is part of the attempt to measure the less tangible aspects of assets such as brands (Kliiatchko, 2008). The benefits and beneficiaries of IMC have also been long established and include creative integrity, where theme and style are consistent throughout. This can lead to many practical things such as the development of the key message or better use of all media (Linton and Morley, 1995). Clients, who are constantly trying to make their budgets work harder for them, will benefit but there is a recognised need for client leadership from the top of organisations (Kitchen and Schultz, 1999, Swain, 2004). The barriers that inhibit IMC and its future are being broken down, if gradually. Organisational culture and conflict has been cited as a barrier in terms of resistance to change. For example the culture of the organisation may dictate that advertising on television or it may be that sales promotions have been the norm, linked to bonuses. Any change would be accompanied by conflict. There may be action to protect territories or create a power base through control of budgets (or 'turf battles', Sheenan and Doherty, 2001). A deeper dimension is provided by Cornelissen (2000) who points to the failure of academia to provide an adequate managerial approach to IMC and suggests the notion of integration should be rephrased into 'the more operational constructs of interaction and coordination between areas'. Some argue that it is the drive toward integration that, ironically, restricts its attainment. For example restricted creativity may occur because of need to operate within the tighter integrated creative brief. Timescales may be shorter which becomes conflicting with longer term realities so that there is a need for careful planning to cater for objectives within time frames. There are single discipline agencies where coordination experience, a lack of management know-how in achieving integration and/or a lack of commitment to do so may exist. Whiting, 2010, suggests that there may now be an over-emphasis on communications in marketing while conceding that marketing communications is part of successful brand building, playing a vital role both strategically and tactically and that social media offer a ‘game-changing challenge' that engages with and empowers consumers. Whiting still worries that marketing is seen as a function that is charged with 'building sales tactically via communications platforms' – in other words, marketing is seen as selling. However in practice, many communications companies have seized the opportunity and now add value beyond media buying and creativity. New structures have emerged and continue to do so. Many clients now understand the importance of continuity and the depth of the relationship will remain or get even stronger as relationships develop. This has implications for the role of senior management since integration is desirable at all levels where the goal is consistency across the organisation. IMC is wrapped around the buying process and is tailored for each stage of a campaign while building relationships and brand values. Kliatchko (2008) suggests the transition from IMC as a process that is a limited view of communication tools being coordinated to a strategic process. Kliatchko purposively revisits ‘the IMC construct’ and discusses the ‘four pillars of IMC’ which are stakeholders, content, channel and results. Kliatchko builds upon these pillars provide interplay between them and the four levels of IMC development as provided by Schultz and Schultz (1998) and Kitchen and Schultz (1999) in the following way: 1. Tactical coordination (to achieve synergy, consistency and integration) focuses on pillar 2 (content) 3

2. Redefining scope of marketing communications which is concerned with the nature and relevancy of channels (pillar 3, channels) 3. Application of IT for data base building and as deeper knowledge of audiences gives prominence to stakeholders (pillar 1) 4. Financial and strategic integration is concerned with return on investment (pillar 4, results). The final pillar and level are the latest and most discussed among academics and practitioners alike. Swain (2004) for example, links measurement to the basis upon which agencies might be compensated for IMC services but points out that there is a difference between activities being conducted and actual achievement. The old goal of achieving exposure is being replaced by measuring actual results Kliatchko (2008) recognises that 'business process' is important because it suggests integration not just among functional areas of marketing but across the whole business (after Schultz and Schultz, 1998). SME IMC A key question is ‘can smaller businesses use the IMC concept in the same way that larger companies do?’ The answer to this question is not just a simple yes. It is proposed here that because smaller firms, more so than larger ones, can ill-afford to waste money on marketing generally and more specifically in the communications arena. As Hills (2006) suggests, a small business owner might be tempted to focus on only one aspect of marketing, but if this fails then marketing as a whole fails. Hills provides practical tips such as making sure the web has the same key words as (say) radio advertising or making sure the frequency of impacts of three hits the target with the target with the same message rather than three different messages. This is in line with an IMC plan that delivers a consistent message through all media used, both on and off line and indeed through other forms of communication that are interpersonal. Hills’ suggests that the small business ‘integrate all aspects of the company into a single, cohesive plan’, just as a larger business would. This means the SME has to have the ability to understand the situation or context before setting goals and devising strategy in order to achieve those goals. The firm has to have the means to be able to put an IMC plan into action. Research conducted by Gabrielli and Balboni (2009) with Italian SMEs suggests that while SMEs have the intent they do not necessarily manage the internal processes required for marketing communications planning. There are gaps in a range of activities and of message and goal definition so that structural characteristics are important as is internal dynamism. Gabrielli and Balboni (2009) call this a gap between theory and practice in IMC. Despite there being ‘a virtuous marketing communication behavioural profile in firms we name as active firms’ that has ‘an articulated communications mix’ aspects of marketing communications could be improved, for example public relations. Outside of these virtuous firms there were others in this study that focussed on one activity, often interactive activities or trade shows, and opportunities are not being adequately exploited. There is ‘scant communication awareness and a short-sighted outlook’ which is ‘evident in content and goal definition’. Nor do such firms go beyond the behavioural i.e. actual buying response having concentrated on transferring technical information about products, whereas those firms with a wide range of activity use look at attitudes, self-identification with the brand and diffusion of brand elements. These latter firms are able to integrate and therefore there is the possibility of a ‘strategic approach aimed at increasing the relationship value for the customer’ rather than a simple ‘operational focus on products’. However, even these firms in Gabrielli and Balboni’s study have gaps in the process. In particular content formulation, goal definition and budgets being determined ‘ex post, after having fixed which kind of activities the firm intends to implement, or when it is fixed in advance it is calculated as a percentage of the total turnover are identified as gaps in the strategic process’, which is retrospective rather than goal driven. External ‘others’ are not involved strategically, but are used for mere execution or implementation, this finding of the Gabrielli and Balboni (2009) study fitting in well with what is known about the rather secretive nature of SME owner-managers and lack of consistency in internal communications and decision-making – paradoxically given the evidence of internal 4

dynamism, but not so given the nature of owner-managers who may only feel the need to communicate during critical incidents such as managing relationships with different kinds of customers or when attempting to penetrate new or unfamiliar markets. Gheorghe, Gardan and Geangu’s (2009) study of Romanian SMEs looked at the relationship between management and marketing communications highlighted the importance of internal communication and organisational culture development and its effect on being able to develop strategic marketing communications. This study recognised the importance of the owner-manager’s managerial communications skills, communication style and personality. This study concluded, in a similar way to that of Gabrielli and Balboni’s (2009) study, that in order to develop marketing communications strategically there was a need for a good (internal) communications infrastructure ‘at every level of the organisation’ and also ‘to get the group of subordinates to work for a common goal’ in order to ‘develop a good managerial culture’. Many other studies have arrived at a similar conclusion, if expressed in variously different ways i.e. that IMC could be hugely beneficial to SMEs but it is the inherent nature and personality of the people who create and run SMEs that is the key barrier to developing strategic and integrated approaches to marketing communications. It is known that SME owner-manager approaches are more intuitive than strategic. Rather than a strategic perspective ’SMEs are often focussed on the tactical need to maximise short-term sales opportunities’ (Spickett-Jones and Eng, 2006). However, these researchers, looking at UK SMEs, add a different dimension to the discussion in the form of a perspective on market relations, competitive performance and an enterprise performs the ‘management of associations in its business network’, which is crucial to ‘enterprise stability’. Relationships are personal and critical but staff as well as the principal need to actively network and it is this perspective that can “provide additional insight with implications for managing relationships needed for relative stability in the network that supports an SME”. The advantage an SME might have over its larger counterpart – having ‘the right people in the right places in the right networks’. Spickett-Jones and Eng (2006) call for a synthesis between planning and intuition that could make ‘communication activity more than just tactical’. A study in the UK by this author (Copley, 2008) suggested that networking as part of relational marketing was an integral part of SME marketing along side traditional and more critical forms). As such networking and building relationships within personal relationship networks were found to be a principle component of how SMEs communicate, albeit along side more traditional forms of marketing communications such as trade shows and more critical forms such as reflexive practice. In a survey of small businesses in New Zealand, Fam (2000) found that while being aware of the IMC concept, barriers do exist to its implementation, principally in terms of lack of manpower, knowledge and specialist skills allow integration of their marketing communications. Owner-managers in Fam’s study appear reactionary, preferring promotional tools that have ‘worked well in the past’, even though the merits of an IMC approach are recognised. In a more specific study in the UK, one that involved inventors, researchers found that barriers to the adoption of new ideas by the business community included stereotypical view of independent inventors held by potential business adopters but also weak marketing communications and interpersonal skills possessed by the inventors (Wright and Nancarrow, 2001). A logical extension to the argument above is to include the adoption of website and other electronic activities in the marketing communications arena where engagement, interaction and integration are critical, where the barriers alluded to above could be broken down. Not surprisingly there is much research being conducted in this area. For example Simmons, Armstrong and Durkin (2008), in a UK study, have worked on small business website adoption while Bengtsson, Boter and Vanyushyn (2007) in a study of Swedish manufacturing firms adopting the Internet for advanced marketing operations have worked on internal and external factors of size, willingness to cannibalise, entrepreneurial drivers, management support and market pressure. Research by Jensen (2008) on Danish firms and advertising agencies suggests that it is firms who leading the adoption of online communications in a diverse manner but with an emphasis on the potential for online interaction and relationship building. Agencies were found not to have holistic competencies when it comes to both offline and online communications and

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Jensen’s research suggests that there is much scope for online interactive communication development and use of tools such as games or coupons where there is room for improvement. Methodology A social constructivist approach In a similar way to that advocated by Lindgren and Packendorff (2009:25-26), I am interested in social constructs. These authors are interested in social constructionism and the development of phenomena where ‘concepts, methodology and outcomes of entrepreneurial research are linked to hidden and taken-for-granted views of reality, knowledge and ideology’ which provides insights not rights and wrongs. In the entrepreneurship field there is scientific discussion without questioning the assumptions behind problems. For Lindgren and Packendorff (2009:34-35), entrepreneurship is socially constructed and is an organic not mechanistic process involving original richness and ambiguity as opposed to a narrow set of variables in a strategic analysis reality. In the study, I as researcher took a place at the table in the socially constructed arena (the interview) with the participants and through a qualitative, subjective, and social constructive approach I encountered a more rounded version of them. In these social arenas, perceptions of marketing phenomena involved shared SME socio-cultural artefacts. Research design The research involved fourteen participants (seven SME principals and seven support agency practitioners) located in the North East of England. It employed a semi-structured interview that, when transcribed, provided the bulk of the research texts that were then analysed through a Discourse Analysis lens. This allowed themes and discourses to emerge from the texts that illuminated aspects of marketing in an SME context, as well as aspects of education, training and development. The conceptual framework for the study therefore placed the concept of discourse at the centre of understanding practice in SMEs. This article reports on some of the SME marketing findings of the study where I used preceding talk, not just quotations and brief explanations, to create a sense of flow and a good view of the ‘show’ or proceedings. I recorded what I could see from the data within the framework of the necessary subjective judgement and interpretation in order to develop a holistic understanding of the research texts and the narratives within them. Discourse Analysis and understanding In the study I was looking for beliefs and meanings and therefore what metaphors, metonyms or concepts are used to describe behaviours and how participants use context or community meanings to subvert dominant or orthodox meanings and values in terms of wider society. Thus, expressions that emphasise, for example, practicality, industriousness, or conservatism were evident and tied in with aspects of everyday life and the social dynamics that drive it. Hence anti or pro marketing or training narrative allowed discourses to emerge, such as the socially constructed necessity of having training or paradoxically that of training being a waste of time (unless useful for a secondary purpose such as to obtain a grant). The narrative might glamorise or trivialise, display a critical stance toward some issue, or have familial influence. My task was then, as far as I could within the limitations of the research, to take the themes that emerged and then adapt, combine, or transform to arrive at shared themes that fit the participants’ circumstances. Depending upon what they wanted or were prepared to divulge this might include their social setting, their sense of history, beliefs, interests, aspirations or goals and make interpretations that localise social distinctions, boundaries and archetypes. There are folk theories of managing generally, motivation, managing interpersonal dynamics within broader social dynamics or how best to promote products, the business and of brand development possibilities. There are also many non-marketing ideas such as self-worth, the pursuit of freedom and individuality, the dynamics of social relationships, gender roles and sexuality, taste and decency 6

standards in relation to values and beliefs, or notions of equality in the workplace and wider society. The tensions and paradoxes that result from the participants as individuals and as members of this particular social community and indeed wider society give rise to individual autonomy and conformity sensitivities. Participants therefore used countervailing meanings of SME marketing, business and learning discourse to address a series of tensions and paradoxes between themselves and sources of social pressure or prescription in their working and everyday lives. At the centre of this is a range of conformity pressures and expectations. Organisations are, in this sense, communities of meaning, not simply of life/people (Czarniawska, 1998). Talk is an essential part of everyday practice and marketing (such as the 4Ps model or networking) is discursive practice (Morgan, 1996). Discourse is at the centre of understanding and learning happens when one encounters new discourse. Discursive practice can be many things such as stories, narratives or rituals and these can exert influence on people in an organisation where collective meanings are institutionalised through social relational patterns (Rigg, 2005). The study explored the ways that participants use marketing-related discourse to inscribe their behaviours in a complex ideological system, immersed in social worlds. External influences such as a training workshop help establish discourses and discursive practices. The use of a semi-structured interview provided transcripts that, through the addition of other things such as observations noted during the interviews, became research texts that were then analysed using a discourse analysis lens allowing themes and discourses to emerge from the study. Findings related to marketing communications This paper uses aspects of the study from interpreted meanings that emerged through the employment of dialectical tracking, that is, discursive thematic interpretation from the texts that involve, among other things, salient conflicts, paradoxes, and strategies of resolution. In the study the standpoints that the participants combine, adapt, juxtapose or shape to fit conditions to their everyday lives were thus exposed. The research texts contain metaphoric and other references that negotiate key tensions leading to confrontation and resistance to the orthodox and relational marketing forms. Each discourse that emerged in the study provided a lens through which insights can be had into SME marketing. This paper deals with aspects of SME IMC and certain of the discourses relevant to SME marketing communications that emerged were housed in various themes. Insights were sought as to what the participants saw and what they expressed in narrative, which formed the basis of the research texts. The following are some of the discourses relevant to SME marketing communications: With the Tradition IV (communication, identity and branding but no 4Ps) discourse there is direct concern for the way communication works for SMEs as expressed by the SME participants. For example Ann, an SME principal who’s feels her business has a firm ethical base, recognises concepts such as the Marketing Concept from training courses she has attended but really only tolerates this. Maybe in the early days of the business she thought it was important but Ann’s view on communication goes beyond the reductionist models of marketing orthodoxy. One could read this as the entire orthodox marketing spectrum in Ann’s responses but when pressed a little further it is evident that Ann sees not the all-encompassing modernist marketing models but marketing in terms of impression or identity through communications and branding. Beth, a micro business partner but someone with extensive experience of running a sizable SME sees marketing in very basic terms for her current business but recognises differences in marketing approaches between very small businesses and ones that are much larger (in terms of turnover, number of employees and so on). Beth highlights in particular the image of the business, especially as a brand, and sees communications tools such as exhibitions, local advertising and networking as being important. Heather is a support agency participant but also as a business coach runs her own small business offering this service to private clients away from the agency. Heather also views marketing primarily in communications terms. Heather sees that transferring orthodox marketing models would be very problematic in the micro business/one-man-band/sole trader context that she works with as a business coach. Peggy is another of the support agency participants but who is involved with the traditional funeral sector with her partner and who runs 7

what she calls a ‘postmodern funeral service’ also. Peggy sees sales and communication as the essence of business. Peggy sees ‘theory, frameworks, systems, as the ‘u n d e r p i n n i n g’ and then ‘practitioner skills that lie on top’ as the way marketing works but that sales and communications are stand alone subjects. With the Opportunity - the small ship and the super tanker discourse Sid, now a support agency adviser but someone with extensive experience of owning and running manufacturingbased SMEs, combined orthodoxy with entrepreneurial opportunism in his response but eventually moved towards a more relational approach. It becomes apparent that Sid was talking about developing the business over time and it is building a reputation that matters. Sid then went on to extol the virtues of employing a marketing consultant to aid non-marketers i.e. buying expertise in and in a sense this is another expression of Sid’s opportunism to facilitate more agility and consequently more opportunities. A slightly different discourse on opportunity can be seen in Piggybacking and speed dating where Jane, a support agency adviser, sees small businesses being able to seize the opportunity through bringing people together fast, or on the back of something else. This is a different kind of relational marketing that can also be slotted back into marketing orthodoxy as spotting gaps through a swot-type approach. For Jane it is about orthodox customer need and strategies (academic things that come to MIND) but it is also about relationships and still further about using what one can find, such as piggybacking on the activities of others and more tactical promotion. In the ‘relationships are crucial’ discourse Ann is used as an example because the ethical base to her business makes relationships with others, suppliers as well as customers, crucial because of the ‘fit’ necessary for that base. We discussed relational approaches in terms of all ‘stakeholders’ and Ann said that ‘marketing was at the core’ but thought there to be ‘a marketing/relationship …thing there’ and there is a specific reference to relationships with suppliers where ‘we wouldn’t do something like……have pieces of ivory for example’. This goes ‘across the board’ and when I ask what she would like these relationships to be Ann shows concern about respect and trust and honesty that employees must have since they ‘act as consultants’ and ‘go out and advise customers and potential customers’. This is textbook relationship marketing for a business, despite being small and in reality embryonic but one which has vision involving ‘effective learning environments’ for young children that sees ‘mutual respect and trust’ as central with ‘an open, honest relationship’ where dialogue is essential to finding solutions to problems. Charlotte, an SME principal who’s business is supporting and advising other small businesses, on one level too sees relationships as central and appears to revel in the idea that technology has not taken over, having been involved with the dot com explosion at the end of the millennium and beginning of the ‘noughties’. Charlotte saw this as ‘bollocks’ because of relationships but this is part of Charlotte’s importance of people and as such is part of broader management that includes critical thinking and reflection. In terms of marketing though, choices are made on relationship bases since people ‘don’t just choose on the 4Ps’ but rather on relationships they have with key people in other organisations, this being a classical relationship marketing statement to make. In diagrammatically opposing fashion to Gordon (another of the SME principals who saw relationships in a different way but who was very definite about the 4Ps approach being simply background until an aspect such as pricing becomes crucial) Charlotte thinks that ‘you don’t buy just on price’ because for Charlotte’s business it is ‘not about …one-off sales, which is bloody hard’. It is really about a philosophy where you have relationships with customers and people who work for you. It is about ‘building a place in the community’ not just making money and even for bigger businesses, it is about ‘social responsibility’. For Charlotte ‘it makes better sense to doooo’ and puts this down to her family upbringing and has a strong sense of the ‘much BIGGER area of relationships’. Charlotte believes in the ‘strategic importance of relationships’ and it is Charlotte who believes there is a gender difference where she ‘thinks the thinking is different’. To Sean relationships are ‘Paramount’. Sean is a support agency participant who was an advocate of what he earlier called ‘enlightened SMEs’ (as opposed to unenlightened ones who see marketing as selling). Sean, like Charlotte, believed in ‘striking partnerships and relationships’ which are ‘the most influential part of any development’ and for Sean it is ‘all encompassing’. 8

In Relationships and cobbler’s shoes again, Peggy (the support agency marketing adviser but also involved in a small firm in the funeral sector) expresses the attitude that one can be so busy looking after external things that this tends to take precedent over internal things (cobbler’s shoes). This is the equivalence of the mechanics car where the mechanic is so busy looking after other people’s cars his own is a wreck. Still Peggy is expressing a central role for relationships in management and in marketing management in particular. Peggy’s organisation has a customer relationship management (CRM) system anyway and ‘it’s account management and it’s long term relationships’. Peggy has training needs analysis as central to her job and she explains the length she will go to service the client and provide added value. If the client needs advice on Timbuktu Peggy will go ‘find’ the expert and his ‘best mate who is the expert on my client’s product in Timbuktu and what network is there for him’. Peggy’s organisation has relationships also and she talks about her staff and ‘who’s who in the zoo’ as far as ‘stresses, pressures, motivations, ticky boxes, up times, down times, their expectations’. Internal workings are difficult and it’s ‘Very much harder to get it from one department to another department’, which is a ‘nightmare’ with ‘horrendous em internal communications’. The problem as Peggy sees it is all of the relationships (including partnerships with other agencies, Government projects and the like) that must be maintained at the expense of improvements internally so that the relationship strategy that ‘is developed with our partners…which is stronger than the four departments have with each other’. Discussion These discourses suggest that participants in the study are being shaped by (discursive) practices that are part of marketing communications but there is a lack of integrative thought as exemplified by Peggy’s ‘sales and communications are stand alone subjects’ comment. This seems to agree with the assertion of Holm (2006) who suggests that originally integration was not considered as a realistic approach, with much activity being little more than tactical co-ordination of promotional mix elements and with Whiting (2010) who suggests that marketing is still seen by many as selling. The discursive practices of Ann and Beth regarding communication and branding (Ann saw marketing as ‘impression’ of the business and Beth as ‘image’ of the business) are reflected in Kliatchko’s (2008) suggestion that IMC could be wrapped around the buying process and tailored for each stage of a campaign while building relationships and brand values. This may very well be illustrative of Kliatchko’s (2008) view that there could be a transition to IMC beyond the limited view of marketing communication elements to such tools being coordinated to a strategic process, especially since there is now interest in global perspectives and issues around media synergy, internal marketing and not least measurement, where there are attempts to measure the less tangible aspects of assets such as brands (Kliiatchko, 2008). This, it would appear, is a move away from early, simple definitions of IMC as exemplified by practitioners like Linton and Morley (1995) who suggest that IMC can lead to many practical things such as the development of the key message or better use of all media. These are laudable in themselves but not really integrative as such. Ann saw personal representation in a kind of interpersonal way rather than the more orthodox way some of Sean’s business contacts see marketing. In a similar way to Sean who thinks that most SMEs restrict themselves in what they think of in terms of marketing (marketing as sales), Hills (2006) suggests a small business owner might be tempted to focus on only one aspect of marketing, but if this fails then marketing as a whole fails. Gabrielli and Balboni (2009) also found that there are firms who focussed on one activity, often interactive activities or trade shows, and suggest that for these firms opportunities are not being adequately exploited. With such firms there is little awareness of communication, a short-sightedness in outlook, with poor content and goal definition and a concentration on the transferring technical information about products. However in contrast to the outlook of the likes of Sean, Gabrielli and Balboni’s study included those firms with a wide range of activity and who look at attitudes, self-identification with the brand and diffusion of brand elements, not just operational focus on products. These latter firms are able to integrate and therefore might well achieve an increase in the relationship value for the 9

customer. This is not to say such firms are perfect since there are still gaps in any attempted IMC processes such as in content formulation, goal definition and budgets being determined in a retro rather than goal-driven way. For Hills (2006) also small businesses should be capable of producing an integrated, cohesive plan just like a larger business, but this means having the ability to understand the situation or context, to set goals and devising strategy in order to achieve those goals i.e. the firm has to have the means to be able to put an IMC plan into action. The idea that SMEs will benefit from IMC financially comes with it a recognised need for client leadership from the top of organisations (Kitchen and Schultz, 1999, Swain, 2004). There is willingness to manage the communications process shown in this study (for example Sid who advocated orthodox marketing combined with entrepreneurial qualities as key but who later brought in the idea of building relationships) unlike that of research conducted by Gabrielli and Balboni (2009) that suggests that while SMEs have the intent they do not necessarily manage the internal processes required for marketing communications planning. The study by Gheorghe, Gardan and Geangu’s (2009) highlighted the importance of internal communication and organisational culture development and its effect on being able to develop strategic marketing communications. This study recognised the importance of the owner-manager’s managerial communications skills, communication style and personality. There is no indication in this study that conflict through change or ‘turf battles’ exists or create a power base through control of budgets (as suggested by Sheenan and Doherty, 2001). It is much more likely that there is a failure on the part of the business principals and support agency people themselves either to provide an adequate managerial approach or that there is a problem going beyond ‘operational constructs of interaction and co-ordination between areas' (Cornelissen, 2000). In a New Zealand study by Fam (2000), it was found that lack of manpower, knowledge and specialist skills did not allow integration of marketing communications. The owner-managers in Fam’s study appear reactionary, preferring promotional tools that have been seen to work, even though the merits of an IMC approach were recognised. Weak marketing communications and interpersonal skills possessed by the inventors were found by Wright and Nancarrow (2001). There is also the possibility that the ideal of IMC is, if not unattainable, then it is thwarted by its very nature, for example with IMC itself responsible for restricting creativity, putting up impossible timeframes or requiring support that simply does not (yet) exist in the areas of coordination experience or a lack of management know-how in achieving integration. Many would see solutions to this in the relationship area as suggested by Jane above in terms of piggybacking on the activities of others and is a form of relationship marketing in partnering that both enables and potentially speeds up the process. It is known that SME owner-manager approaches are more intuitive than strategic which might lead to a tactical need to maximise short-term sales opportunities (Spickett-Jones and Eng, 2006). These researchers suggest market relations, competitive performance and an enterprise performs the ‘management of associations in its business network’, which is crucial to ‘enterprise stability’. The ‘right people in the right places in the right networks’ is, for Spickett-Jones and Eng (2006), part of synthesis between planning and intuition that could make ‘communication activity more than just tactical’. The study used in this paper (Copley, 2008) suggested that networking as part of relational marketing was an integral part of SME marketing alongside traditional and more critical forms). As such networking and building relationships within personal relationship networks were found to be a principle component of how SMEs communicate, albeit in conjunction with more traditional forms of marketing communications such as trade shows and more critical forms such as reflexive practice. This can be seen in some of the above discourses, for example Heather, who relies on interpersonal relationships as a business coach and who sees no possibility of orthodox marketing being transferred to small (especially micro) businesses. Another example is Charlotte who appreciates orthodox marketing and the 4Ps but finds the idea of one-off sales ‘bloody hard’, preferring to build ‘a place in the community’ but recognises with this comes ‘social responsibility’. Peggy sees communication as the essence of business and although clearly trained and steeped in orthodox marketing frameworks that she relies on as a marketing adviser she still sees her role as account management in long term relationships. 10

What is a little surprising is the lack of concern for exit strategies from relationships, especially where partnerships and other alliances had been formed. Also surprising is the lack of references to online and other related forms of marketing in the texts of the study. Clearly there is interest in the literature in this and some debate on the subject of IMC. Cost structures, communication effectiveness and client-agency relationships have been improved (Hughes and Fill, 2007), there has been cost reduction through unified message Holm 2006, Schultz and Kitchen 2000), there is interest in one-to-one rather than mass communication situations involving digital technologies (Kliatchko, 2008) and web site adoption for small firms (Simmons, Armstrong and Durkin, 2008, Bengtsson, Boter and Vanyushyn, 2007) and online communications generally (Jensen, 2008). Conclusions and implications The aim of this paper was to use discursive practice around SME marketing to illustrate how barriers to achieving integration in marketing communications are being broken down by SMEs and how relational marketing practices in particular are instrumental in affecting change that is driven out of the necessity to use limited resources as effectively and efficiently as possible. The approach taken using Discourse Analysis highlighted the inclusion of variability (how people’s descriptions change) where facts are humanly constructed and patterns emerge, the interpretive repertoire. The approach provided an insight into the oppositional and dominant stances. SME people are generally more likely to see elements of communication rather than the communications function as IMC. This is linked to the idea that until now SMEs operate in a much more short term, tactical way than the concept of IMC suggests firms ought to behave. There is a determination on the part of SMEs to resist the dominant orthodox marketing paradigm and to embrace relational and perhaps other more critical concepts that take many forms. The dominant paradigm for support agency people appears still to be marketing orthodoxy but this is changing and such changes will ultimately have an effect on the activities of support agencies. Pressure from SMEs themselves as to what they need will no doubt be part of such change. These are realities that become certainties in the SME principal participants’ world which is full of uncertainty. The discourses suggest that the kinds of people in the study are indeed shaped by discursive practices and this comes through in terms of the way they see marketing and marketing communications. Integration is not present in the discourses and on the surface there is the appearance of references to stand alone subjects such as selling or sales. However, the discourses reveal that there is more to it than this, communication being seen as image and impression of the business and the business as a brand. This could mean that it is perfectly possible that there is a transition phase from fragmented marketing communication to IMC i.e. much more than the use of the trade show here and local advertising there. Personal representation as part of interpersonal relations appears preferable to orthodox marketing approaches to selling but opportunities are not yet fully exploited. It would appear there is still a short sightedness on the part of SMEs but there are opportunities to achieve identity with the brand and not just an operational focus on products, providing relationship value for customers. This is seen as the basis of beginning to form an IMC plan. Leadership is required from the top of organisations in order to achieve the creation of IMC planning. However the problem still remains that while there is intent to manage internal processes, SMEs do not necessarily do this because of a lack of managerial communications skills and the imposition of communications style and personality of the owner-manager. This, however, can change and there is no indication from this study that organisational culture is what inhibits the transition to IMC. There is a need for an adequate managerial approach and a move away from a ‘what has worked before’ position of complacency. This is where support agencies and academia can help, especially in skills development, in an enabling role. 11

IMC by its own nature might inhibit its own development. For example the integrative process might inadvertently stifle creativity. Both relational and critical approaches to marketing and marketing communications, perhaps facilitated by support agencies, could offer a solution in terms of, for example personal relationship networks or critical forms of reflexive practice such as finding a place in the community or harnessing social responsibility. IMC could be hugely beneficial to SMEs but it is the inherent nature and personality of the people who create and run SMEs that is the key to developing strategic and integrated approaches to marketing communications which have been affected greatly by changes in technology in terms of cost, efficiencies, relationships and online activities. There is strong interest in the literature for online communications but aspects of this were noticeably absent in the study in terms of integration. It is expected that as online and related technologies continue to develop there will be more elements but also stronger relationships and an increase in critical perspectives. References Bengtsson, M., Boter, H. and Vanyushyn, V. (2007), Integrating the Internet and marketing operations, International Small Business Journal, Vol. 25, No. 1, pp.27-48. Copley, P. (2008), A Qualitative Research Approach to New Ways of Seeing Marketing in SMEs: Implications for Education, Training and Development, PhD Thesis, Northumbria University, February. Cornelissen, J. (2000), Integration in communications management: conceptual and methodological considerations, Journal of Marketing Management, Vol.16, No.6, pp.597-606. Czarniawska, B. (1998). A Narrative Approach to Organization Studies. Thousand Oaks: Sage. Fam, K. S. (2000), Differing views and use of integrated marketing communications – findings from a survey of New Zealand small businesses, Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, Vol. 8, No. 3, pp.205-214. Gabrielli, V. and Balboni, B. (2009), SME practice towards integrated marketing communications, Marketing Intelligence and Planning, Vol. 28, No. 3, pp. 275-290, available at http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1863340. Gheorghe, P., Gardan, D. and Geangu, P (2009), The importance of managerial communication in establishing the company marketing communication, The International Conference on Administration and Business, University of Bucharest, 14-15 November, pp. 316-322. Hills, J. (2006), Why Integrated Marketing Communications is essential for small businesses, Ezine@rticles, at http://www.ezinearticles.com/?Why-Integrated-Marketing-Communications-isEssential-for-Small-Businesses&id=373353. Holm, O. (2006), Integrating marketing communication: from tactics to strategy, Corporate Communications, An International Journal, Vol.11, No.1, pp.23-33. Hughes, G. and Fill, C. (2007), Refining the nature and format of the marketing communications mix, The Marketing Review, Vol.40, No.1, pp.45-57. Jensen, M. B. ((2007), Online marketing communication potential – priorities in Danish firms and advertising agencies, European Journal of Marketing, Vol.42, No.3/4, pp.502-525.

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