Marketing communication: principles and practice

T A B L E S
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Str ucture 
of the book
The discussion is predicated, in chapter one, on the need to adopt a particular
conception of the role of communication in marketing, and to understand
marketing communication as the mode of managing exchange.
In chapter two we reflect on the conception of communication that
pervades our daily discourses outside of our awareness, to recover marketing
as a social process in which people come first, and products follow. Marketing
communication is imagined as managed conversations and this approach is
compared and contrasted with the notion of designed messages.
Theory is applied, in chapter three, in examining consumer behaviour in
order to appreciate the problem of engaging people in value exchanges within
the context of market relationships. The nature and role of products in
fulfilling social needs in consumption communities are considered.
Next, in chapter four, the intentions of marketers in attempting communi-
cation with consumers and buyers and other people are examined. Marketing
communication programme design decisions are related to assumptions 
about communication styles, and it is shown that it is necessary to adopt 
a broader view of the role of marketing communication than is found in many
textbooks.
This shows, in chapter five, that we need to take a broadened view of the
role of marketing communication in contemporary management by
considering the whole system of relationships that provides the context for
exchange and communicative behaviour for marketing purposes.
We rightly identify contemporary marketing as an essentially intercultural
communication system, and go on to recognize aspects of culture that are
major intermediaries of meaning-making in contemporary society, and their

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significance in marketing communication management. Thus, in chapter six,
we come to appreciate the manner in which words, pictures, and products
have social value – their meaning is particular to the culture in which they
are apprehended.
Next we consider some important aspects of managing marketing
communication to realize the various facets of a product offering that are
attended to by managers, and by buyers and consumers. This requires that
we re-examine the marketing mix in a more holistic manner that identifies
marketing’s social functions. Readers of chapter seven are thus encouraged
to shift their thinking of marketing communication as mass communication
to a more relationship-oriented style.
In chapter eight we examine the nature and role of product brand
management to appreciate further the communicative nature of a brand.
We connect brand design with marketing communication objectives. Finally,
we suggest the value of thinking of a brand as akin to a product-provider
reputation.
The next step in constructing our management perspective on marketing
communication is to understand the range of media available, and to examine
ways of comparing media suitability. In chapter nine we take account of major
changes in media options, without losing sight of central marketing
communication objectives.
We move on to identify the relevance of the concepts of corporate identity,
corporate image, and corporate reputation to the management of marketing
communication. In chapter ten we distinguish and relate the concepts of
identity, image, and reputation, and distinguish and relate the respective roles
of marketing and public relations.
The organization of a business impacts on the ability of marketing
management to contribute to competitive performance through customer
satisfaction, so it is necessary to explore the concept of internal marketing.
In chapter eleven we consider internal marketing as a responsible, responsive
approach to managing communication for the management of marketing
communication, and connect communication and marketing through the
concept of exchange.
In chapter twelve we ask why relationship marketing has become of major
importance in marketing management. We connect the concept of relation-
ship to the concept of communication, and realize some implications for
marketing planners. We highlight the importance of planning for communi-
cating before, during, and after a value exchange.
Managers need to appreciate fully the development of the integrated
marketing communication approach and managerial approach to marketing
communication. In chapter thirteen we consider the added-value for provider
and consumer/buyer of an integrated marketing communication (IMC)
strategy, and identify some obstacles to practical IMC operation.
As advertising is the most prevalent practice in marketing communication,
we examine this in order to appreciate its contemporary use in its many forms.
In chapter fourteen we critically examine advertising as a corporate,
supposedly credible and creative phenomenon that pervades our lives in