Conditions and barriers of using integrated marketing communications in Hungary

Abstract

The main goal of this research was to define the meaning of integrated marketing communications and to conclude the attaching attitudes and practices. Based on our literature researches we can confidently say that the practice abroad doesn’t show a unified picture of IMC either. This is interesting, since one of the main messages IMC is trying to transmit is unity. We tried to expose this dissonant with the help of a qualitative method, the grounded theory. On the advertising side there is an ever-growing demand for integrated solutions because of increasing ad noise, media pluralization and increasing competition. These trends completely changed marketing communications’ former scene. We examined Hungarian communications experts’ attitudes towards IMC. We were curious not just about their interpretation, but also about everyday practice, the delays in IMC campaigns, or oppositely, the factors that engendered it. We found our in-depth interviewees using the snowball method. At the agencies we mainly spoke with executive representatives, or with brand managers at corporations.