MKB1700 · Fundamentals Of Marketing
Promotion & IMC
Promotion is the conversation between a brand and its market — and the job is not 'more ads' but one consistent message sent through the right mix of tools so the receiver actually decodes what you meant. MKB1700 frames this as Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC): coordinate everything so every touchpoint carries the same on-positioning message. It is built on the communication model (sender encodes → message through a channel → receiver decodes, fighting noise, with feedback), and aimed up the hierarchy of effects / buyer-readiness ladder — the unit's six-step model (awareness → knowledge → liking → preference → conviction → purchase), which maps onto cognitive, affective and behavioural response realms. Where the audience sits on that ladder decides what the message must do. The chapter contrasts push vs pull strategy, sets out the six-tool promotion mix (advertising, sales promotion, public relations, personal selling, direct marketing, digital/social), and applies it all in the flagship Garnier at the Australian Open IMC case.
What this chapter covers
- 01Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC)
- 02The communication model (encode → decode, noise, feedback)
- 03P.3 The hierarchy of effects / buyer-readiness ladder
- 04The three response realms (cognitive / affective / behavioural)
- 05Push vs pull strategy
- 06The six-tool promotion mix
- 07IMC applied — Garnier at the Australian Open
Worked example: matching the message to the buyer-readiness ladder
- +1(a) The six steps: awareness → knowledge → liking → preference → conviction → purchase.
- +1(b) The rung: an unknown brand sits below awareness — so the first objective is to build awareness, not to drive purchase.
- +1(b) Why it matters: where the audience is now decides what the message must do; you cannot ask for the sale before they know you exist.
- +1(c) Push vs pull: advertising aimed at end consumers to create demand that 'pulls' the product through the channel is a pull strategy (push aims at intermediaries instead).
Key terms
- Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC)
- Coordinating every promotional tool and touchpoint so they carry one consistent, on-positioning message. The aim is not more ads but a single message decoded the same way wherever the receiver meets it.
- Communication model
- The framework for how a message moves: a sender encodes a message, sends it through a channel to a receiver who decodes it, fighting noise (anything that distorts the message), with feedback closing the loop. Encoding/decoding mismatch is why messages fail.
- Hierarchy of effects
- The unit's six-step buyer-readiness ladder — awareness, knowledge, liking, preference, conviction, purchase — mapping onto cognitive (thinking), affective (feeling) and behavioural (doing) response realms. Where the audience sits decides the communication objective.
- Push vs pull
- Two promotion strategies: push aims promotion at intermediaries to push the product down the channel; pull aims promotion at end consumers to create demand that pulls the product through the channel. Most campaigns blend both.
- Promotion mix
- The six tools a marketer blends: advertising, sales promotion, public relations, personal selling, direct marketing and digital/social. None is 'best' — each trades reach against cost, control and credibility, chosen by communication objective and the target's media habits.
Promotion & IMC FAQ
What is Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC)?
IMC is coordinating all promotional tools and touchpoints so they carry one consistent, on-positioning message. The job is not to produce more ads but to make sure advertising, PR, sales promotion, personal selling, direct marketing and digital all say the same thing, so the receiver decodes the meaning you intended wherever they meet the brand — exactly what the Garnier at the Australian Open case demonstrates.
What is the hierarchy of effects / buyer-readiness ladder?
It is the unit's six-step model of how buyers move toward a purchase: awareness → knowledge → liking → preference → conviction → purchase. These map onto three response realms — cognitive (thinking), affective (feeling) and behavioural (doing). Where the audience currently sits decides what the message must do; an unknown brand needs awareness, not a hard sell. (The unit teaches this model, not AIDA.)
What is the difference between a push and a pull strategy?
Push aims promotion at intermediaries (wholesalers, retailers) to push the product down through the channel. Pull aims promotion at end consumers to create demand that pulls the product through the channel — consumer advertising and sales promotion are typical pull tactics. Most real campaigns combine both, but exam answers should name which dominates and why.
What are the six tools in the promotion mix?
Advertising, sales promotion, public relations, personal selling, direct marketing and digital/social media. None is universally best — each trades reach against cost, control and credibility. You choose the blend by your communication objective (which rung of the buyer-readiness ladder you are targeting) and the target segment's media habits, then integrate them so the message stays one message.
Exam move
Lead with IMC's core discipline: one consistent message through coordinated tools. Memorise the communication model and the six-step hierarchy of effects, and practise the move examiners reward most — read where the audience sits on the ladder, then choose the communication objective and tools to match (awareness for the unknown brand, conviction/purchase for the nearly-decided one). Keep the push-vs-pull distinction and the six promotion tools as quick lists, and use the Garnier at the Australian Open case to show IMC as a web of touchpoints rather than a single ad. On your concept map, link Promotion back to positioning (every touchpoint carries the position) and to buyer behaviour (the ladder mirrors the decision process).
