Integrated Communications in the Postmodern Era

Every business, everywhere, faces challenges in the market spaces and places of the 21st century and no market is immune. Competitive forces are heightening and accelerating. Governments have intervened (often with little discernible effect), and customers – the lifeblood of any business – are not more demanding and more discerning of what businesses and brands are and what they stand for. Technological progress has opened up new horizons for innovation and communication, with social media transmitting news within seconds to different parts of the world. These shifting tectonic plates of communication overlay the gravitational economic forces which necessitate integration of on and offline communications. There are no invisible companies, and what happens in one market is transmitted instantly via global media to receptive consumer VDUs – computer, television, and cell-phone screens – or is almost immediately accessible. The world of information accessibility and the concomitant demise of corporate invisibility is today's world, and it is a communications reality in the 21st century.

This edited book enables readers to develop knowledge, insight, skills, and facility into integrated communications within the postmodern era – a topic of relevance everywhere. This book is based on the papers presented at a conference hosted in Turkey, a rapidly developing nation and one enjoying significant growth in the global marketplace.

Philip J. Kitchen, PhD is Research Professor of Marketing, ESC Rennes School of Business, France. His research interests lie in the fields of marketing and corporate communications, marketing theory, and applications of marketing as seen from a consumer as compared to an organizational perspective. He has published academic papers in the Journal of Advertising Research, Journal of Business Ethics, European Journal of Marketing, and in many other marketing and communication journals. His latest books include: Marketing Metaphors and Metamorphosis (2008), Palgrave-Macmillan; Integrated Brand Marketing and Measuring Returns (2010), Palgrave-Macmillan; The Evolution of Integrated Marketing Communications: The Customer-Driven Marketplace (2011) Routledge, (with Schultz, D. and Patti, C.). and The Dominant Influence of Marketing in the 21st Century: The Marketing Leviathan (2013), Palgrave-Macmillan. 
 
Ebru Uzunoglu, PhD is Associate Professor in Izmir University of Economics in Turkey and works as the Head of the Public Relations and Advertising Department. She teaches courses on Marketing Communications, Campaign Design in IMC, IMC Projects, and Brand Management. Her research interests include integrated marketing communication, brand communications, and recently interactive characteristics of new media. She has published research in many journals such as the Journal of Marketing Communications, International Journal of Human Sciences, and Public Relations Review. Prior to her academic career, Ebru worked for over a decade in several national and international companies as a marketing communication specialist and product manager.

1. Introduction: Integrated Communications in the Post Modern Age; Philip J. Kitchen and Ebru Uzunoglu
2. Integrated Marketing Communications: A Contextual Approach; Philip J. Kitchen and Marwa Tourky
3. Integrating Communication at Tourism Destinations: Meeting the Needs of Tourists; Enrique Ortega, Beatriz Rodríguez , and María J. Such-Devesa
4. Webcare as an Integrative Tool for Customer Care, Reputation Management, and Online Marketing; Guda Van Noort, Lotte M. Willemsen, Peter Kerkhof and Joost W.M. Verhoeven
5. Stakeholder Engagement - Fad or the Real McCoy? The Attempt of IMC Paradigm Shift via Online Media; Klement Podnar and Urša Golob
6. The Effects of Marketing Communications and Social Interactions Through Virtual Communities on Consumer-based Brand Equity; B. Zafer Erdogan and Tolga Torun
7. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Communication: A Turkish Exemplar; Selin Türkel and Aysun Akan
8. Fostering Interactivity through Responsiveness: The Case of Turkish Environmental Non-Profit Organization Websites; Ebru Uzunoglu and Sema Misci Kip
9. The Making of Gender and Culture in Commercials: Snickers Advertisements; Yesim Kaptan and Burcu Öksüz
10. The Changing Paradigm of Public Relations in Turkey: From Past to Present; Serra Görpe
11. Rethinking the Role of 'The Idea' in Integrated Communications; Pinar Umul Ünsal, Burcu Yaman, Burak Amirak, and Serçin Sun Ipekesen