The concept of a company speaking with one voice in all communications is just one of the ideas first introduced to college students in Integrated Advertising, Promotion, and Marketing Communications. The seventh edition of the textbook has just been released by Pearson Publishing.
The text was penned by primary author Dr. Kenneth Clow, the Biedenharn Endowed Chair in Business at the University of Louisiana at Monroe.
The book was coauthored by Donald Baack, a professor at Pittsburg State University where Clow began his academic career.
According to Clow, the concept of the text is that all communications generated by a company or brand should convey a single, unified message. Called integrated marketing communications, or IMC, the concept was used in the business world in the latter part of the 20th century, but Clow and Baack were the first to write a college textbook promoting the concept.
“The first couple of editions were pioneers in the IMC concept because professors taught classes in advertising, not IMC,” said Clow. “It wasn’t until the third edition that universities began modifying their advertising courses to the IMC concept.”
Each edition has gained greater acceptance and is now used in over 400 universities and colleges in the United States and is printed in several languages. Clow says many who work in the advertising and marketing field learned basic concepts from his textbook.
“In writing the textbook, the goal was to reflect current practices in the advertising and marketing fields,” said Clow. “For instance, past editions mentioned digital marketing and social media, but it was not until the sixth edition that an entire chapter was devoted to the topic. With the seventh edition, a new chapter was introduced that focused entirely on social media and how brands use it for marketing and customer engagement.”
“The chapter on digital marketing was expanded to include modern practices, such as mobile marketing and geo-targeting of ads based on a person’s location. It is essential that students studying marketing understand the way brands use digital and social media. Many of the future jobs in advertising and marketing involve the digital and social media sphere.”
Clow does not only write about social media, he actively utilizes it for textbooks as well as his digital marketing class. Clow authors a blog with regular posts with links to videos and articles about advertising and marketing. The blog is designed for professors using his textbook to keep them current with what is happening.
“Every day news articles and videos are produced that relate to advertising and marketing,” he said. “The blog allows me a venue where this information can be posted. Professors using the textbook can utilize the blog to enhance their classroom lectures or for student assignments.”
Clow is an avid believer in digital and social media marketing. He requires students to develop websites and to become active users of various social media platforms.
“Reading about social media is not nearly as effective as actively learning through using it,” he said.
In addition to two class websites, Clow maintains a number of other websites for non-profit organizations, authors three blogs, and actively posts to various social media platforms.
Clow obtained a Ph.D. from the University of Arkansas in 1992.
