A little strategy in your IMC

There are parts of Integrated Marketing Communications that are easy to understand. Advertising and PR are fundamentally part of every marketers job. But remembering that every single communication about a company from every employee is part of IMC as word-of-mouth advertising and PR is important. Whether it is conversations over heard in the check out line between two cashiers, or Uncle Bob venting about his job at a family BBQ, each make an impact on what we think about their companies. Truly they may be neither positive or negative, but their is an impression that is made even if it only scratches the surface. The first scratch may not mean much, but how many scratches does it take before the pain of of those impressions are too much to bear. Screening employees is difficult, and of course you can't exactly control what your employees say, especially on their own time, so how do you add strategy to those parts of IMC. Understand human nature, keep your employees happy, and let them know when exciting new products/services are coming before the outside world knows. How many employees will then go home with the exciting news and tell their friends and families the positive news. Consider adding a little strategy to your entire IMC plan, instead of just part of it.