Evolution of IMC

History of IMC

Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC), a term coined in 1989, arose from the need to focus advertising efforts across a variety of promotional methods. Businesses discovered that by integrating communications across multiple marketing platforms, each individual brand message was reinforcing the others. According to Avocet (2023), businesses realized there were more efficient and costeffective ways to reach customers. More focused advertising efforts became necessary for business growth, but some quickly realized that consistency and integration between those efforts was just as important

By the 1990s, the need for collaboration had resulted in the introduction of IMC and the incorporation of more promotional tools that communicate directly to consumers. The advertising community realized that IMC wasn’t just a fad and was here to stay. Initially, traditional marketing consisted solely of public relations, advertising, events, and direct marketing. However, as technology advanced, electronic media became an increasingly important component of integrated marketing. Integrated marketing allowed businesses to more easily shift their marketing strategy as technological advances occurred. As a result, IMC became an essential marketing method (Avocet, 2023).