INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATION IN BUILDING CUSTOMER-BASED BRAND EQUITY: A REVIEW PAPER

Abstract

This study examines the impact of integrated marketing communication in building customer-based brand equity for firms and its customers. In today’s dynamic and technological -driven marketing environment, traditional advertising media such as TV, radio, magazine and newspaper seem to be losing grip on consumers. This changing media landscape brought about by the dynamic marketing environment has forced marketers to re-evaluate how they should communicate with consumers and increase brand equity for the firm and to its customers, employing the concept of integrated marketing communications became a promising option. Understanding the needs and wants of consumers and organizations and devising products and programs to satisfy them are at the heart of successful marketing. Marketing communications are the means by which firms attempt to inform, persuade, and remind consumers directly or indirectly about the existence of a brand. Integrated marketing communication tries to mix and match communication options –that is, how to employ a range of communication options in a coordinated or integrated fashion to build customer –based brand equity. According to the customer-based brand equity model, marketing communication can contribute to brand equity by creating awareness of the brand; linking pointsofparity and point -of – difference association to the brand in consumers’ memory, eliciting positive brand judgements or feelings ;and facilitating a stronger consumer brand connection and brand resonance. In this study, the main focus is on the influence of IMC in customer-based brand equity. However, a number of factors such as brand knowledge, brand awareness, brand image, brand association has influence on this work. We considered the importance of IMC .The paper also presents the customer-based brand equity model. We consider how the relationship between IMC and customer-based brand equity and components of brand knowledge.