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8  Integration remains important

Although new media have distinct characteristics compared to traditional media, this does not 

mean we should necessarily concentrate our communications solely on new media. Rather we 

should combine and integrate new and traditional media according to their strengths. We can 

then achieve synergy – the sum is greater than its parts. Most of us still spend most of our time 

in the real world rather than the virtual world, so offline promotion of the proposition of a 

website is important. It is also important to support  mixed-  mode buying.

Similarly, inbound communications to a company need to be managed. Consider what 

happens if the customer needs support for an error with their system. They may start by 

using the on-site diagnostics but these do not solve the problem. They then ring customer 

support. This process will be much more effective if support staff can access the details of the 

problem as previously typed in by the customer to the diagnostics package.