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Abstract

As products and distribution channels become more homogenised, and competing on the basis
of price more difficult, integrated marketing communications (IMC) has been identified as the
‘new frontier’ for effective differentiation (Kitchen and Schultz, 2003). IMC has been
advanced as a strategy for differentiation by which a firm sends consistent messages from all
contact points resulting in constant message reinforcement, thus maximum impact on the
target audience with minimum promotional expenditure (Kliatchko, 2005). Previous research
has determined that in the face of global pressures, firms within industry clusters exhibited a
natural convergence toward standardised communication practices, thus supporting the
efficacy of the broader IMC perspective in the business-to-business context (see Hall and
Wickham, 2004). In order to understand how multiple firms within an industry cluster
managed their combined IMC functions, this paper explores the roles (and the associated
function) adopted by key individuals within the cluster. In total, this research found evidence
of three distinct roles (IMC Champion, Government Lobbyist, and Cluster Ambassador) that
served to gather, analyse and disseminate marketing information on behalf of the clustered
firms.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Authors/Creators:	Wickham, M and Hall, L
Keywords:	Business-to-business, IMC roles and functions, industry clusters.
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