The IMC Way

Originally, I was asked to volunteer for the Lauderdale House Society as a marketing assistant. The General Manager needed someone to help with evaluating and implementing the activities the house was doing. Since joining Lauderdale House almost ten years ago, she has helped it get to the turnover it makes today as well as make the activities held there possible. However, she is only one person and many things can change in a decade. We started with the website, and moved to publicity, strategy, and distribution. While it may have been called mailings or a "to-do" list, in a sense she was scratching the surface of what I perceived to be an interdependence of her resources. Through this, I ended up here. Almost 5 months in to my volunteering project and the conclusion that what I will need is a take on an integrated marketing strategy. This could not have come at a better time since my Current Issues in Integrated Marketing Communication class is conducting a project, which entails creating an IMC plan for a business. Combining an analysis of activities and suggested marketing strategies, this plan is meant to enhance the business through the possible use of social media, personal selling, advertising and public relations (Moustakas, 2010). While some concepts may not appeal to the Lauderdale House, there's no harm in observing as part of some qualitative research. It is said that observation gives the chance for an unbiased or undetermined way of seeing how an organization is run (Kent, 2007). This gives me a chance to see where IMC strategies may be applied or avoided, perhaps giving way to beginning a proposal for the final project for Lauderdale House. Only time and observation will tell.

Kent, R., 2007. Marketing Research: Approaches, Methods and Applications in Europe. London: Thomson Learning.

Moustakas, E., 2010. Integrated Marketing Communication Plan. [Lecture] (Personal Communication 15 February 2010).