INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS IN US ADVERTISING AGENCIES - AN EXPLORATORY-STUDY

This paper reviews the development of the concept of Integrated Market ing Communications (IMC) in terms of its theoretical foundations throu gh an exploratory study of IMC within a judgment sample of U.S. advert ising agencies (total estimated billings-$20.4 billion). The paper con siders the arguments advanced from both academic and practitioner side s in relation to what IMC is and whether it offers significant value t o advertising agencies and their clients in the rapidly changing commu nications marketspace leading toward the next millennium.