The perfect comms mix

Integrated marketing is not a theme often associated with inspiring insight. I can remember people tussling with how to achieve a well-integrated campaign 20 years ago. Some of the stumbling blocks still hold true today.

So it is all the more refreshing that this supplement contains some useful pointers on how to plan activity that is truly greater than the sum of its parts. The properly integrated campaign might still be a rare beast, but this offers a competitive advantage for those who can sort out the necessary reporting lines and financial incentives to encourage their teams to play nicely.

Much of the planning then comes down to tailored and ongoing research. PR is increasingly recognised as the glue within the mix - as British Gas' Will Orr observes, it amplifies a message and ensures that the paid elements 'land' in the right environment.

Claire Murphy, consultant editor, PRWeek

claire.murphy@haymarket.com

Integrated communications, at its heart, recognises the potential power of aligned comms through multiple channels to reach a single audience with one voice. Yet PR often ploughs a lonely furrow, divorced from other activity.

In this supplement we'll look at some of the integrated campaigns in which Blue Rubicon is involved and hear from Age UK about how it is using an integrated approach. We'll talk about our partners in our unique Exchange programme, which works to improve the capability and broad understanding of all participants so we are better able to join up to deliver integrated campaigns for our clients. And we'll propose just a few reasons why our industry struggles so much to get its head round a concept which almost everyone recognises is right and yet which still, at times, stumbles and struggles to make progress.

Gordon Tempest-Hay, CEO, Blue Rubicon

gordon.tempest-hay@bluerubicon.com