Evolution of Integrated Marketing Communication from Telecommunications Models to AI Frenzy

Abstract

The general objective pursued in the doctoral thesis ”Management of Marketing Communication in the Context of the Development of the Communication Industry and Post-pandemic Challenges” is to establish the impact that marketing communication can have on sustainable economic development at the national level and to validate a communication-based marketing model that would facilitate this process. To this end, we specifically aim to analyze the communication industry: its structure, constituent elements, dimensions, and trends; to develop through exploratory research, an Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) Model; to validate the IMC Model among representatives of the business environment and the academic community; and to develop, based on the obtained results, some practical recommendations and reference principles for the national economy decision-makers, for representatives of the academic field, and for marketing professionals within the business environment. The key findings are a Matrix of Integrated Marketing Communication Channels, Carriers & Vehicles which maps all current marketing communication tools and provides a classification of IMC vehicles and media; and a IMC communication model based on a flow of seven distinct processes which incorporate all nowadays practices and activities related to IMC. UDC: [339.138:654.1]:004.8; JEL: M31