An Early Implementation of IMC in Turkey
Although the terminologies "integrated marketing" and "integrated advertising" had emerged in the Marketing literature earlier, in the eighties in Turkey, Integrated Marketing Communications was not yet recognized as a distinct field of study. At that time solutions to the problems of Marketing were offered mostly in the form of advertising campaigns.
This article will introduce an exemplary implementation of IMC in late ‘80s in Turkey, developed with the aim to launch and promote a new product throughout the country in such a way that a leading and lasting brand would be built.
Production of PVC window systems started in Turkey in 1985. The leading manufacturing company (herein called the Company) had set up a dealers' network throughout the country and a few thousand PVC windows had been installed by 1988.
However, the majority of the window-buying public did not know the particular advantages of the new product. On the contrary, because they were made of ‘plastic’, it was impossible to regard them as strong and resistant as window frames were supposed to be. Consumers regarded PVC –translated to the common term plastic- as a generic name of a material from which simple household objects like washtubs, cups, picnic forks and such were produced. The impression had no connection to durability or resistance to tough weather conditions.
Aluminum window manufacturers were already spreading the word to link plastic windows to cancer. Other pvc products manufacturers recognized the advantages of the product and had been preparing to produce their PVC window-systems.
The Company had the advantage of a good reputation for the quality of the PVC sewer and pressure pipes and irrigation systems that they had introduced a decade ago, which were very well known and widely used. A substantial advantage of the pvc window systems was that in addition to long-term cost effectiveness, they were to bring an end to common...