The power of synergy to reinvent IMC education

In Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC), the power of synergy has been demonstrated across disciplines, media types, multi-platforms and multi-tasking and across the customer journey. However, this paper uses synergy to demonstrate how collaborative thinking can produce even greater value for IMC. Bringing together the insights of IMC leaders from the US, Europe, Asia and Australia, plus the collaboration of IMC academics in a thought-provoking ideation session, we harness the power of synergy to reimagine and reinvestigate IMC education. With all the changes in technology, business and consumers, it was felt that IMC needs to find a new direction and greater clarity of purpose. And perhaps this purpose is greater than communication alone. Maybe it is a management discipline. Or a fundamental part of university education as a core unit. Our vision for IMC was driven by its technology focus and customer-centricity. IMC is integrated, people-focused, and purposeful communication, based on management practice, and evidenced in academic research. Or as one participant described it, ‘IMC rises from the ashes of other disciplines’.