Strategic Marketing Communications: A Systems Approach to IMC is a textbook written for advanced students (both undergraduate and graduate students) majoring in marketing, marketing communications, and advertising. This book helps students understand the art and science of strategic decisions in marketing communications by showing students how to make strategic marketing communications decisions using a systems approach. The system approach guides decision-making in a hierarchy: corporate, marketing, and marketing communications. Within each hierarchical level the decision-maker selects a strategy that is implemented by setting measurable objectives, developing tactics, and allocating resources. These decisions, in turn are managed by two processes: analysis/planning and monitoring/control. In this text, authors Joe Sirgy and Don Rahtz address societal issues and provide great detail about the various elements of the marketing communications mix, including advertising, sales promotion, reseller support, public relations, direct marketing, and word-of-mouth communications. Students are also provided with reader-friendly case studies, web exercises, and illustrations to bring many of the technical concepts to life.

Chapter 1 The World of Integrated Marketing Communications
Chapter 2 Macro and Societal Issues in Marketing Communications
Chapter 3 Building the Foundation of Strategic Marketing Communications
Chapter 4 A Systems Model for Integrated Marketing Communications

PART II The Marketing Communications Portfolio

Chapter 5 SMC Portfolio Element: Advertising
Chapter 6 The Buzz: Public Relations, Word of Mouth, and More
Chapter 7 Direct and Interactive Marketing
Chapter 8 Personal Selling, Sales Promotions, and other Reseller support

PART III Strategy Development: A Hierarchical Perspective

Chapter 9 Corporate Level Analysis and Planning: Developing the System’s Guiding Strategies and Tactics
Chapter 10 The Marketing Level: Developing the System’s Marketing Strategies and Tactics
Chapter 11 The Marketing Communications Level: Developing the System’s Marketing Communications Strategies and Tactics

PART IV Building Executing, and Assessing Your IMC Plan

Chapter 12 Setting Objectives and Assessing Performance: Setting Goals and Measuring Performance of the SMC System
Chapter 13 Analysis Guiding Objective Setting: Linking Strategies and Tactics to Objectives and Performance Measures
Chapter 14 Strategic Allocation of Resources: Budgeting in the SMC System
Chapter 15 Take Aways from the SMC Process: Lessons in Monitoring, Control, and Integration