The bottom line is that nonprofits can communicate more effectively if they combine their efforts into one central campaign. In fact, we don’t even necessarily suggest outsourcing the IMC - there are so many simple tools you can use to create a more effective organization who is in touch with all publics and potential donors.

In simple terms, integrated marcoms is about conveying a promise while integrated marketing is that plus the delivery of the promise, which is a far bigger subject. In fact, coms is just a tool that we use in the marketing process.

I’m in the middle of a discussion on another blog about this subject. The point being raised there is that client organisations are turning their backs on the integrated marketing proposition because it hasn’t worked for them. The reason, as I see it, for the failure is that the proposition has been made by marketing services firms such as advertising agencies who also have misrepresented the subject. Clients have been buying “integrated marketing” and when they got it home discovered that they only had “integrated marketing communications”.

To make matters worse advertising agencies aren’t equipped to provide marketing, integrated or any other kind.

See “Integrated marketing - if you don’t know what it is you probably aren’t doing it” and some of the other posts on my blog.