Abstract:
After almost 20 years of existence an
agreement on the definition and scope of
integrated communication (IC) has not been
reached, and furthermore, the concept of IC
is still seen as difficult to implement. The
authors argue that in the stakeholder-centric
twenty-first century, integrated
communication (IC) is the evolved offspring
of integrated marketing communication
(IMC), the no longer valid customer focus of
the twentieth century. For this reason,
definitions and assumptions of integrated
communication were subjected to critical
scrutiny and divided into four eras of
evolution to arrive at a clear understanding
of integrated communication (IC) as a
concept. Qualitative in-depth interviews were
conducted with the top 10 marketing and
communication agencies in South Africa to
determine their understanding of the concept
of IC; to assess if IC principles are
implemented in the South African
marketplace; and if not, what the barriers
preventing them from doing so are.
