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Introduction
The emergence and the development of integrated marketing communication (IMC) has been determined by a number of evolutionary trends in various areas of marketing - the increased fragmentation and segmentation of markets, relationship marketing and direct marketing ([9] Durkin and Lawlor, 2001; [10] Eagle and Kitchen, 2000); information technology - the development of new communication technologies and database applications ([28] Kitchen and Schultz, 1999; [33] McGoon, 1999; [34] McKim, 2002; [44] Reich, 1998); and communication - increased fragmentation of media audiences, multiplicity and saturation of media channels ([15] Hackley and Kitchen, 1998; [59] Smith, 2002). From this perspective, the new paradigm of IMC can be represented as a strategic answer to the social and business conditions of the postmodern society ([42] Proctor and Kitchen, 2002).
Despite the recognised impact of the internet on integrated marketing communication, very few studies have investigated the specific requirements and opportunities for IMC in the online environment ([9] Durkin and Lawlor, 2001; [44] Reich, 1998), and the relation between IMC and customer relationship management ([14] Grönroos, 2004; [21] Johnson and Schultz, 2004; [52] Schultz, 2003).
The present paper attempts to investigate the particularities of implementing IMC in an online environment. The study starts from the premise that the specific characteristics of the internet transform the application of IMC principles from an alternative option to an absolute requirement ([51] Schultz, 1996). Based on an analysis of the specific characteristics of the online environment and audiences, and on the primary data collected through face-to-face interviews with 29 marketing or communication managers of UK consumer retail firms, the meanings of the integrated marketing communication in the online environment, as well as the challenges and the opportunities created by the internet for the implementation of an online IMC process, are identified and discussed. The contrastive elements of the integrated online marketing communication are then synthesised in a theoretical model that can be adopted by internet-active business organisations.
Integrated marketing communication - the evolution of a concept
The IMC approach has received almost instant recognition at the end of the 1990s, as a result of the existing trends to reduce the budget allocated to mass advertising campaigns and to concentrate on segmented or personalised communication with final consumers ([9] Durkin and Lawlor, 2001; [10]...