Abolfazl Masoomzadeh Zavare

Abstract

Integrated marketing communication (IMC) is a model for better understanding the target audience and introducing the firm, its products and services, as well as its brand. The major goals and programs of IMC include informing, encouraging and influencing the target audience in the market.

This research project, after reviewing the theoretical framework in the first phase, examined the experiences of Iranian and foreign banks in implementing IMC in the second phase.

In the third phase, through interviews with senior executives and bank experts, the processes of planning and marketing and communication activities of the bank were reviewed.

In the fourth phase, the internal environment of the bank was analyzed, which included its promotional programs in previous years, as well as the structure of its Promotion Division. The external environment in recent years was also investigated in light of the actions of domestic rivals of the bank.

In the fifth phase, using the results of a survey of 2500 clients (natural and legal entities), the communication process in the bank and its performance from the perspective of customers in this area were examined.

 In the sixth phase, the current status of the bank's communication budget and the way it is allocated to various activities were analyzed using the documents made available to us.

In the seventh phase, the most important strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats faced by the bank in the field of communication were enumerated and then the bank's strategies were identified in this filed and classified according to six components of the integrated marketing communication system.

In the eighth phase, we explained the programs of the bank in detail and determined what activities are needed for them to be implemented and which divisions must cooperate in order to operationalize each program.

In the ninth phase, we proposed a directive to assess results and evaluate the effectiveness of communication activities in the bank. The directive includes a number of forms to monitor the programs, with specific measures, objectives, officials in charge of monitoring, the divisions in charge of evaluating the data, the duration of monitoring and sources of data needed for monitoring each individual program identified. The tenth phase was focused on main points to be considered in the execution of programs in the bank and finally a flowchart was devised to show how to implement the programs proposed.

KEYWORDS: Promotional mix; Integrated communication; Marketing; Advertising; Public relations.