An Analysis of Challenges to Integrated Marketing Communication: A Case of Banking Industry in Kenya.

Abstract

The emergence and the development of integrated marketing communication (IMC) has been determined by a number of evolutionary trends in various areas of marketing — the increased fragmentation and segmentation of markets, relationship marketing and direct marketing and information technology on the development of new communication technologies and database applications and communication - increased fragmentation of media audiences, multiplicity and saturation of media channels. The new paradigm of IMC can represents a strategic answer to commercial bank. This was a descriptive survey study aimed at establishing challenges to integrated marketing communications in the banking industry in Kenya. The population of interest of this study was the forty six commercial banks operating in Kenya with their Head offices in Nairobi. The researcher used structured questionnaires as the main data collection instrument. A content analysis and descriptive analysis were employed for data analysis. The content analysis was used to analyze the respondents' views about various challenges to integrated marketing communication among commercial banks in Kenya. The data was then coded to enable the responses to be grouped into various categories. Descriptive statistics such as means, median mode and standard deviation were also used to help in data analysis. Tables and other graphical presentations as appropriate were used to present the data collected for ease of understanding and analysis. Various marketing communication strategies that affects the adoption of integrated marketing communication include ; promotion through advertising, tool of marketing communication, promotion through personal selling, strategic planning of promotion, financial analysis of promotion, sales promotion and promotion through public relations. The study also found that there were of internet marketing strategies in the banking sector which were; product strategies; coordination; framework and relation marketing. The effect of internet technology on the adoption of integrated marketing communication in the banking sector was rated to great extent. On the advancement in the internet technology that affects respondent banks integrated marketing communication they were; internet being slow, vulnerability of internet with risk. The study found that most of the respondent rated integration and coordination of complex information flows between the organizational intranet and the internet as very highly affecting and integration and coordination of communication modes. Integration and coordination of various types of information was rated as highly affecting. From the discussion and conclusion the study recommend that in order for banking industry to implement integrated marketing communication it must address the various challenges that affects the adoption of integrated marketing communication.