From integration to convergence- the management of marketing communications

This chapter will explore the implications of convergence for the management of marketing communications. Marketing communications is a catch-all term common in the managerial literature, embracing the entire scope of mediated promotional communication. The term suits our purpose here since we are looking at the implications for managers, consumers and society of convergence between media channels, which, driven by technology, constitutes not only an increase in the reach of marketing as a sales tool, but also an increase in its scope as a form of social communication (Leiss et al. 2005). As social communication, advertising and promotion are far from neutral and have promotional intent encoded into them (Kelly et al. 2005) at many levels. In addition, the genres, grammar and syntax of promotional culture have become embedded in many wider discourses as carriers of market ideology into many domains of public and private life (Mautner, 2010: Hackley, 2001a: 2003a; 2009a). In a convergent media era, this broadening influence of the language and genres of the market amounts to a consolidation and extension of Wernick’s (1991) ‘promotional culture’. The chapter will review research issues in the management of integrated marketing communication before concluding with a focus on the practical aspects of two key domains which lie at the heart of promotional culture: advertising, and product placement.