Integrated marketing communication (IMC) and brand identity as critical components of brand equity strategy: a conceptual framework and research propositions.

For practitioners, integrated marketing communication (IMC) has (1) become widely accepted, (2) has pervaded various levels within the firm, and (3) has become an integral part of brand strategy that requires extensive brand development activities within the firm before beginning any external

brand communications efforts. Regarding academics, Vargo and Lusch (2004) argued in a recent paper that marketing is evolving toward a dynamic and evolutionary process--one that is based on a service-centered view. In keeping with this evolution, Vargo and Lusch (2004) suggest that (1) IMC should replace diverse, limited-focus promotional tools, and (2) brand management should be used for initiating and maintaining a continuing dialogue with the customers and for enhancing relationships.

Kitchen et al. emphasize that "strategically oriented integrated brand communications can help businesses move forward in the highly competitive world of the 21st century" (2004, p. 28, italics added). For Schultz (1998), brands are central to this integrated marketing communication. Keller (1993) points out that customer-based brand equity emanates from the consumer's familiarity and strong, favorable associations with the brand. For Keller, "marketing communications represent the voice of a brand and the means by which companies can establish a dialogue with consumers concerning their product offerings" (2001, p. 823). That is, marketing communication may provide the means for developing strong, customer-based brand equity (Keller 2003). Furthermore, marketing communications help the firm in eliciting favorable responses from customers (Duncan and Moriarty 1998). Although a number of factors influence customer-based brand equity, including product, price, and distribution, in this paper, we focus on the influence of IMC on brand equity.

Recently, Kitchen et al. (2004) observed that IMC has evolved from being a mere "inside-out" device that brings promotional tools together to being a strategic process associated with brand management. Further, Naik and Raman note that IMC emphasizes "the benefits of harnessing synergy across multiple media to build brand equity of products and services" (2003, p. 375). In this paper, however, by taking the works of several researchers (e.g., Duncan and Moriarty 1998; Jap 1999; Reid 2003), we conceptualize interactivity, strategic consistency, and complementarity as synergy constructs. Therefore, noting the intricate relationship between IMC and brand management, this paper aims to explore IMC as an integral part of a firm's overall brand equity strategy.