Question 1.

1. An integrated communication program is a good tool for promoting a plan, program, or product. Promotional tools, of which there are traditionally four, can be used within an integrated communicational program. What are these tools and how effective are any of them separately or collectively in strengthening marketing communications?

The promotional mix consists of Advertising, Personal Selling, Public Relations & Sales Promotions. Advertising is paid-for promotion which in non-face-to-face; personal selling if of a face-to-face nature; public relations captures public opinions and executes a program of action and information to earn public acceptance; sales promotions tempt consumers to buy now instead of later. The ICM is the unifying effort to pull together the promotional mix to create a consistent message for all stakeholders. During promotional activities, the importance of all promotional activities sending a consistent message cannot be understated.

Question 2.

2. Should one of the intended objectives of a marketing communication program be effective word of mouth promotion? If so, how? If not, why?

I think a word of mouth campaign would work only if the message never became skewed but remained consistent with the marketing objective. This might be difficult to manage, but a possible way to measure the effectiveness is by soliciting feedback to determine if the message is being communicated as intended.

Question 3.

3. Is there a danger in a mature organization such as Hopkins Printing in using one type of system for its knowledge management needs? Why or why not?

I have seen this many times with various organizations. Companies do get set in their ways with the managing of knowledge, never realizing how confining the system really is. The Hagen system they mentioned appears to format data into reports so decisions can be made. But what if the decisions are made the same way every month, every year… etc. Alternate methods of thinking could enhance their decisions and ultimately improve their competitive advantage.

Question 4.

4. What significant use would knowledge management provide during the Mature stage of the lifecycle of an organization?

So much data is available that proper management is needed. As a mature company attempts to go after market share, each percentage point earned is hard to acquire. Therefore the quality and completeness of the knowledge is just important as the type of information.