At Mott MacDonald we provide a broad spectrum of consultation and market research

services from focus groups and stakeholder interviews to surveys and mystery
customer research.

Fieldwork and recruitment

We use experienced interviewing staff from our list of Market Research Interviewers who
have had extensive experience in interviewing consumers, members of the public and
hard to reach groups.

Our skilled interviewers can also recruit for you for your own research purposes.

Qualitative research

Focus groups and mini groups

Our approach enables clients to obtain in-depth information about particular issues with specified groups of people,
relatively quickly and inexpensively.

In-depth and stakeholder interviews

Interviews are conducted by telephone, face-to-face, via email or using a chat room facility. An interview is a good way
of highlighting individual experiences and allows ‘follow up’ on questions where greater, more in-depth meaning can
be probed.

Our skilled researchers conduct all of our interviews according to Market Research Society (MRS) guidelines.

Accompanied journeys and accompanied shopping

Understanding how consumers see a product, make a purchase or use a service via accompanied journeys and shopping
can give great insight to the purchase decisions of a consumer or service user.

Other methods include:

• mystery customer research

Quantitative research

Attitudinal and behavioural surveys

We have a long history of performing postal, on street and household surveys and small scale telephone surveys. We
can offer a full or part service ranging from survey design to the presentation of results.

Internet and email surveys

We can provide surveys that allow users to complete their surveys on the internet or by email in their own time. This
approach reduces printing costs and completion errors plus can process a large volume of data where a fast turnaround
is required.
Data preparation

We use a bespoke software package for questionnaire design which allows completed questionnaires to be scanned
using OMR software.

Data analysis

We conduct descriptive analysis, counts and frequencies, cross-tabs and more bespoke analysis for use in presentations
or reports. We strive to make these accessible to non-research staff through clear and concise explanations of results.

a bank might ask its customers to rate its overall service as either excellent, good, poor or very poor.

This will provide quantitative information that can be analysed statistically. The main rule with quantitative
market research is that every respondent is asked the same series of questions. The approach is very
structured and normally involves large numbers of interviews/questionnaires.

Perhaps the most common quantitative technique is the 'market research survey'. These are basically
projects that involve the collection of data from multiple cases - such as consumers or a set of products.
Quantitative market research surveys can be conducted by using post (self-completion), face-to-face (in-
street or in-home), telephone, email or web techniques. The questionnaire is one of the more common tools
for collecting data from a survey, but it is only one of a wide ranging set of data collection aids. Web
development is a broad term for the work involved in developing a web site for the
Internet (World Wide Web) or an intranet (a private network). This can include web
design, web content development, client liaison, client-side/server-side scripting, web
server and network security configuration, and e-commerce development. However,
among web professionals, "web development" usually refers to the main non-design
aspects of building web sites: writing markup and coding. Web development can range
from developing the simplest static single page of plain text to the most complex web-
based internet applications, electronic businesses, or social network services.

For larger organizations and businesses, web development teams can consist of hundreds
of people (web developers). Smaller organizations may only require a single permanent
or contracting webmaster, or secondary assignment to related job positions such as a
graphic designer and/or information systems technician. Web development may be a
collaborative effort between departments rather than the domain of a designated
department.

Contents
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INTEGRATED MARKETING
STRATEGY:Optimizing the
marketing
mix and improving campaign
Integrated Marketing Communications is a simple concept. It ensures that all forms of
communications and messages are carefully linked together.

At its most basic level, Integrated Marketing Communications, or IMC, as we'll call it,
means integrating all the promotional tools, so that they work together in harmony.

Promotion is one of the Ps in the marketing mix. Promotions has its own mix of
communications tools.

All of these communications tools work better if they work together in harmony rather
than in isolation. Their sum is greater than their parts - providing they speak consistently
with one voice all the time, every time.

This is enhanced when integration goes beyond just the basic communications tools.
There are other levels of integration such as Horizontal, Vertical, Internal, External and
Data integration. Here is how they help to strengthen Integrated Communications.

Horizontal Integration occurs across the marketing mix and across business functions -
for example, production, finance, distribution and communications should work together
and be conscious that their decisions and actions send messages to customers.

While different departments such as sales, direct mail and advertising can help each other
through Data Integration. This requires a marketing information system which collects
and shares relevant data across different departments.

Vertical Integration means marketing and communications objectives must support the
higher level corporate objectives and corporate missions. Check out the Hall Of Fame
later for more about missions.

Meanwhile Internal Integration requires internal marketing - keeping all staff informed
and motivated about any new developments from new advertisements, to new corporate
identities, new service standards, new strategic partners and so on.

External Integration, on the other hand, requires external partners such as advertising and
PR agencies to work closely together to deliver a single seamless solution - a cohesive
message - an integrated message.

The many benefits of IMC are examined in the section called, 'Benefits of IMC'.

Benefits of IMC

Although Integrated Marketing Communications requires a lot of effort it delivers many

This 'Relationship Marketing' cements a bond of loyalty with customers which can
protect them from the inevitable onslaught of competition. The ability to keep a customer
for life is a powerful competitive advantage.

IMC also increases profits through increased effectiveness. At its most basic level, a
unified message has more impact than a disjointed myriad of messages. In a busy world,
a consistent, consolidated and crystal clear message has a better chance of cutting through
the 'noise' of over five hundred commercial messages which bombard customers each and
every day.

At another level, initial research suggests that images shared in advertising and direct
mail boost both advertising awareness and mail shot responses. So IMC can boost sales
by stretching messages across several communications tools to create more avenues for
customers to become aware, aroused, and ultimately, to make a purchase

Carefully linked messages also help buyers by giving timely reminders, updated
information and special offers which, when presented in a planned sequence, help them
move comfortably through the stages of their buying process... and this reduces their
'misery of choice' in a complex and busy world.

IMC also makes messages more consistent and therefore more credible. This reduces risk
in the mind of the buyer which, in turn, shortens the search process and helps to dictate
the outcome of brand comparisons.

Un-integrated communications send disjointed messages which dilute the impact of the
message. This may also confuse, frustrate and arouse anxiety in customers. On the other
hand, integrated communications present a reassuring sense of order.

Consistent images and relevant, useful, messages help nurture long term relationships
with customers. Here, customer databases can identify precisely which customers need
what information when... and throughout their whole buying life.

Finally, IMC saves money as it eliminates duplication in areas such as graphics and
photography since they can be shared and used in say, advertising, exhibitions and sales
literature. Agency fees are reduced by using a single agency for all communications and
even if there are several agencies, time is saved when meetings bring all the agencies
together - for briefings, creative sessions, tactical or strategic planning. This reduces
workload and subsequent stress levels - one of the many benefits of IMC.

Barriers to IMC
Despite its many benefits, Integrated Marketing Communications, or IMC, has many
barriers.

In addition to the usual resistance to change and the special problems of communicating
with a wide variety of target audiences, there are many other obstacles which restrict
IMC. These include: Functional Silos; Stifled Creativity; Time Scale Conflicts and a lack
of Management know-how.

Take functional silos. Rigid organisational structures are infested with managers who
protect both their budgets and their power base.

Sadly, some organisational structures isolate communications, data, and even managers
from each other. For example the PR department often doesn't report to marketing. The
sales force rarely meet the advertising or sales promotion people and so on. Imagine what
can happen when sales reps are not told about a new promotional offer!

And all of this can be aggravated by turf wars or internal power battles where specific
managers resist having some of their decisions (and budgets) determined or even
influenced by someone from another department.

Here are two difficult questions - What should a truly integrated marketing department
look like? And how will it affect creativity?

It shouldn't matter whose creative idea it is, but often, it does. An advertising agency may
not be so enthusiastic about developing a creative idea generated by, say, a PR or a direct
marketing consultant.

IMC can restrict creativity. No more wild and wacky sales promotions unless they fit into
the overall marketing communications strategy. The joy of rampant creativity may be
stifled, but the creative challenge may be greater and ultimately more satisfying when
operating within a tighter, integrated, creative brief.

Add different time scales into a creative brief and you'll see Time Horizons provide one
more barrier to IMC. For example, image advertising, designed to nurture the brand over
the longer term, may conflict with shorter term advertising or sales promotions designed
to boost quarterly sales. However the two objectives can be accommodated within an
overall IMC if carefully planned.

But this kind of planning is not common. A survey in 1995, revealed that most managers
lack expertise in IMC. But its not just managers, but also agencies. There is a
proliferation of single discipline agencies. There appear to be very few people who have
real experience of all the marketing communications disciplines. This lack of know how
is then compounded by a lack of commitment.

For now, understanding the barriers is the first step in successfully implementing IMC.