The discipline of marketing communications is a key component of marketing, aiming to promote a company or brand and its services and products across various marketing and communications channels. This is achieved through above-the-line tactics like mass media advertising, through-the-line tactics such as direct marketing, and below-the-line tactics, including sales promotion and PR (Fill and Osmond, 2017). The rise of information technology in the 1990s, particularly with the internet becoming accessible to the masses, led businesses to reevaluate their promotional channels for effective brand message delivery (Friedman, 2005). This necessitated the integration of marketing communications mixes, ensuring brand messages and experiences are connected across channels and delivered to consumers at the right stage in their customer journey (Batra and Keller, 2016). These promotional activities are aligned with integrated marketing communications efforts, making the terms promotion and integrated marketing communications interchangeable in the context of the marketing mix promotion component (cf. Yeshin, 2008).

Traditionally, the marketing mix comprises four components: product, price, promotion, and place, known as the 4 Ps of marketing (Kotler and Keller, 2012). These were later expanded to include people, process, and physical evidence, forming the 7 Ps (Kotler et al., 2019). The marketing mix serves as a strategic tool for marketers “to devise a product or service which will be seen as different in the eyes of prospective customers, to the point where they will prefer it to all competing substitutes” (Baker, 2008, p. 247). The emphasis on two-way or many-to-many communications like relationship marketing, co-creation activities, or social marketing is increasingly relevant in modern marketing (Jackson and Ahuja, 2016). Therefore, one of the key tasks is the proper implementation and ongoing management of the promotion component, comprising all integrated marketing communication exchanges between the brand and its audience (Fetchko et al., 2019). Batra and Keller (2016) state, “Integrated marketing communications are the coordinated, consistent means by which firms attempt to inform, incentivise, persuade, and remind consumers—directly or indirectly— about the products and brands they sell” (p. 137). Marketers need to determine the suitability of their marketing and communication channels to reach their desired objectives or outcomes along the consumer journey. Research indicates that different communication channels and media have varying effects on their recipients, necessitating careful consideration of which channel to use for achieving specific goals (Batra and Keller, 2016; Fetcho et al., 2019).

This article will explore a mix of marketing and communication channels suitable for achieving desired objectives or outcomes along a brand’s consumer journey. It will provide content examples from the first team of Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), one of France’s most popular and successful football clubs in recent history. Where no suitable PSG examples are available, examples from other football brands may be used.

An integrated marketing communications mix

Traditionally, the marketing communications mix included five channels: advertising, sales promotion, direct marketing, personal selling, and public relations (Fill and Osmond, 2017). However, the range of channels and media available to marketers for disseminating information and engaging with potential customers has evolved significantly since the advent of mass communication. This evolution continues with the emergence of new technologies and the ongoing adaptation of communication behaviours (Herczeg, 2007; Lister et al., 2009). Academic literature does not converge on a single, specific contemporary integrated marketing communications mix, but rather presents a variety of possible mixes, as depicted in Figure 1.

A contemporary integrated marketing communications mix based upon the literature reviewed for Figure 1 is offered in Figure 2 and described in the following paragraphs.

Advertising

Fill and Osmond (2017) define advertising as “a non-personal form of mass communication that offers a high degree of control to those responsible for the design and delivery of advertising messages,” with television, radio, ambient, print, and cinema as its main media channels (p. 1/11). Another characteristic of advertising is the necessity of paying to place an advertisement on a third-party platform to gain access to the provider’s reach (Stanton, 1984). Communication platforms like TV and display advertising fall under this component, as both require payment for access to the provider’s audience (cf. Batra and Keller, 2016). In the context of digital marketing, any paid media campaign on search, social media, or mobile channels is also considered part of the advertising platform, following similar principles (Smith, 2011; Burcher, 2012). This includes Google AdWords, YouTube in-stream video ads, Facebook ads, and ads delivered through branded apps (Safko and Brake, 2009). Advertising messages typically provide a reason to buy a product or service (Kotler and Keller, 2012).

In sports marketing, there are two approaches to advertising: marketing of sports, which involves promoting a sports brand’s products (e.g., tickets for a PSG football game, PSG merchandise, PSG TV Premium access, etc.) directly to fans and potential customers, and marketing through sports, which means promoting non-sports products and services using a sports brand like PSG as a communication vehicle, such as through sponsorships, venue naming rights, or licensing (Fullerton, 2010). Figure 3 presents an example of marketing of sports: It shows a paid Facebook ad from Juventus FC explaining why football fans should subscribe to Juventus’ online TV channel. A similar approach could be applied to PSG’s marketing efforts.

In the case of PSG, examples of marketing through sports include sponsorship deals such as a jersey sponsorship with multinational hotel chain Accor (Carp, 2019) and a premium partnership with Qatar Airways as the official airline partner (Qatar Airways, 2020). Furthermore, PSG utilised virtual advertising boards for geo-targeted advertising in 2018, which “to leverage additional advertising space on the LED screens around their home ground by allowing different brands to occupy the same space while advertising to different markets” (Holmes, 2018). Another contemporary example of marketing through sports for PSG is illustrated in Figure 4. When entering the term «psg jordan» into the Google search engine to search for PSG’s Jordan sportswear merchandise, ads from third-party retailers appear instead of the PSG online shop. This could be because PSG does not pay for advertisements on Google, or the retailers in the sponsored posts may be paying more than PSG is willing to pay for having ads displayed for the aforementioned search term (Google Ads, 2020).

Sales promotion

Sales promotion is a non-personal form of communication with significant capability to target smaller audiences and involves tactical marketing techniques designed to add value to an offering, with the goal of accelerating sales and gathering marketing information (Fill and Osmond, 2017). Such techniques can include consumer promotion, e.g., samples, coupons, free trials, warranties, etc.; trade promotion, e.g., price reductions, advertising and display allowances, etc.; and business and sales force promotion, e.g., trade shows and conventions, contests for sales representatives, etc. (Kotler and Keller, 2012). In digital marketing, common online sales promotion techniques include discounts, virtual coupons, gifts or free prizes, special status or membership offers, product tracking, and free delivery (Zikienė and Kalmakhelidze, 2016). Sales promotions aim to provide an incentive to purchase a product or service (Kotler and Keller, 2012). These incentives are typically used at a later stage of the customer journey, when the recipient of the promotional message is already aware of the product or service and requires additional motivation to make a purchase (Schwartz et al., 2013).

PSG utilises sales promotions on their official website shop, exemplifying two digital marketing strategies as outlined by Zikienė and Kalmakhelidze (2016): On their French website, customers in France are offered free delivery for purchases over €50, as shown in Figure 5; on their UK website, a 30% discount is available for the 19/20 third shirts, as depicted in Figure 6. Both these efforts act as incentives – i.e., triggers – to motivate and enable users to complete their purchases (Yocco, 2016).

Public relations (PR)

A company promotes and protects its image, products, and services through public relations (PR), which traditionally encompasses press/media relations, i.e., presenting positive news and information about the organisation; product publicity, i.e., sponsoring efforts to publicise specific products; corporate communications, i.e., promoting understanding of the organisation through internal and external communications; lobbying, i.e., dealing with legislators and government officials to promote or defeat legislation and regulation; and counselling, i.e., advising management about public issues, and company positions and image (Kotler and Keller, 2012). The objective for the company is to gain publicity from third-party media outlets that are perceived as unbiased and neutral sources (Schwartz et al., 2013). This facilitates mutual adaptation between the company and its stakeholders (Fetchko et al., 2019, p. 276).

Figure 6 presents a straightforward yet effective public relations example: The announcement of a new partnership between PSG and Qatar Airways on 1 February 2020 was disseminated through press releases from both companies’ media relations departments and was covered by SportsPro, an international sports industry publication, thereby spreading the news. PSG and Qatar Airways ‘earned the reach’ of SportsPro without having to pay for it, effectively leveraging their media relations.

A further example is illustrated in Figure 7. PSG has launched the #PSGengagé fundraising platform to benefit caregivers and people in need. This campaign employs corporate communications tactics by applying external communications to promote values and interests that the company wants the public to be aware of (Kotler and Keller, 2012).

Events can be regarded as a PR technique because, as Kotler and Keller (2012) state, “Companies can draw attention to new products or other company activities by arranging and publicizing special events such as news conferences, seminars, outings, trade shows, exhibits, contests and competitions, and anniversaries that will reach the target publics” (p. 529). An effective tactic for covering an event online is to provide a livestream of or about the event (Stewart, 2018). For instance, PSG utilises the Facebook Live feature to broadcast training sessions to fans and followers (cf. PSG Facebook, 2019) and to discuss upcoming matches (i.e., events) in order to give viewers a sense of immediate proximity to the team, the event, and ultimately to the brand (Stewart, 2018).

Sponsorship is another marketing communications technique within the PR component. It aims to build awareness by creating and strengthening long-term, mutually beneficial associations between collaborating brands (Schwartz et al., 2013). Its effectiveness is partly due to the ability to target a specific audience with a specific message (Pickton and Broderick, 2005). Sponsorship was previously discussed in the advertising component from the perspective of marketing through sports (Fullerton, 2010). Regarding PSG and their PR efforts, sponsorship is considered from the club’s perspective. This could include PSG’s involvement in financially and socially contributing towards a good cause, such as fundraising and donating to hospitals and people in need in their community (PSG Website, 2020a). While this example may not strictly conform to the traditional definition of corporate sponsorship, it’s important to note that sports brands are often used as vehicles for other brands to convey a specific brand message, rather than the reverse (Fullerton, 2010). Nevertheless, this example illustrates how PSG can strengthen their image and demonstrate corporate social responsibility through philanthropy (Revilla-Camacho et al., 2016).

Social media

Safko and Brake (2009, p. 6) define social media as “activities, practices, and behaviors among communities of people who gather online to share information, knowledge, and opinions using conversational media.” This allows users to easily create and share various forms of content such as words, pictures, videos, and audios through digital devices. Kietzmann et al. (2011) present the social media framework as a honeycomb, identifying 7 functional building blocks upon which marketing and communication efforts are built: identity, conversations, sharing, presence, relationships, reputation, and groups. The effective implementation and management of these functional building blocks rely on carefully moderated consumer-to-consumer conversations, which are increasingly vital in an uncontrolled digital media landscape (Mangold and Faulds, 2009). PSG utilises various social media channels and ranks 8th in the Global Digital Football Benchmark with a total digital community of 79 million followers and fans as of January 2020 (Result Sports, 2020); see the following tweet. A comparison of recent figures with those from 2015 indicates an improvement in PSG’s social media efforts (cf. Sports Business Research, 2015).

Website and online search

Websites are considered a crucial interface for users accessing the internet (Palmer, 2002). Their effectiveness can be enhanced by creating a well-organised and easy-to-navigate virtual experience that offers visually appealing and value-adding content, thereby underlining the site’s purpose (Garett et al., 2016). Including detailed information about a product or service on the website can positively influence users’ cognition and, in turn, increase purchase intentions (Batra and Keller, 2016), which is particularly effective in an online shop. Figure 8 shows the PSG website (in French) featuring a prominent navigation bar with a home link and links to strategically important pages such as online shopping and brand initiatives. Additionally, there’s a hamburger menu (Hingorani et al., 2016) for quicker access to other, possibly less critical, pages (Garett et al., 2016).

Search engines like Google and Yahoo are among the primary interfaces through which users search for websites and content on the internet. Their main focus is on delivering “accurate, relevant, high-quality search results to their users” (Ryan, 2016, p. 66). Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) positively impacts the visibility of a brand’s website and content in organic search results. Thus, on-page optimisation practices, such as creating relevant content and using appropriate HTML coding, and off-page optimisation, such as attracting inbound links and building authority, should be employed (Giomelakis and Veglis, 2015). An example of PSG’s successful SEO is evident when searching for PSG match tickets. Entering the term «psg tickets» into Google results in the first search result leading directly to PSG’s official online ticket shop; see Figure 9. This is advantageous for the company, as it allows direct sales to the end consumer, bypassing a third party and avoiding commission fees.

Mobile marketing

Mobile phones and faster mobile connectivity have revolutionised how users access the internet, making all communication opportunities available to consumers anywhere, anytime (Friedman, 2005). When planning a mobile marketing experience, key characteristics to consider include the interest and location of the user (Ryan, 2016). Mobile users often prefer accessing information and content through a brand’s website or app rather than using a search engine. This highlights the importance of having a branded mobile app (Zhao and Balague, 2015; see Figure 10 for screenshots of the official PSG branded app) or a mobile-friendly website (Hingorani et al., 2016).

Figure 11 displays a screenshot of PSG’s official website on the left-hand side, demonstrating its design as mobile-friendly. However, the screenshot on the right-hand side, featuring the brand’s official online shop, does not appear to be optimised for mobile use. The navigation bar presents four columns, whereas, for mobile design, only one column should be offered (Kim, 2013).

A further, and arguably the simplest, mobile marketing technique is the execution of text messaging through either Short Message Service (SMS) or messaging apps like WhatsApp, WeChat, Facebook Messenger, or others (Shankara and Balasubramanian, 2009). Customising mobile ads and coupons to align with users’ interests or locations can be an effective tactic for converting interested users into buying customers (Batra and Keller, 2016). Text messaging can also be categorised as direct marketing; therefore, it will be discussed in the respective section.

Direct and database marketing 

Direct and database marketing communications are interactive, immediate, and trackable. This means that brand messages delivered through these channels aim for a direct response from recipients, which can be traced back to the specific communication (Fetcko et al., 2019). Walle (1996) describes direct marketing as “a viable option when a significant segment of the market is willing to forgo whatever benefits the traditional intermediaries provide in order to gain the resulting convenience and/or savings” (p. 72). While direct mailings may be perceived as the most utilised direct marketing channels, especially prominent in the post-World War 2 era until the rise of email and email marketing (Walle, 1996), other avenues aiming at reinforcing a purchase also fall into this category (Batra and Keller, 2016). A significant contemporary direct marketing technique to encourage consumption and strengthen loyalty is email marketing; in its simplest form, it aims to deliver relevant information about a product or service with a dedicated call-to-action to encourage a desired response (Ryan, 2016). The marketing email shown as an example in Figure 12 promotes indoor and outdoor merchandise for the upcoming spring season and provides direct links to the PSG online shop.

Telemarketing is another method of direct marketing that “provides for interaction, is flexible, and permits immediate feedback and the opportunity to overcome objections, all within the same communication event” (Fill and Osmond, 2017, p. 15/11). Text messaging, whether through SMS or other messenger apps, can also be utilised as a direct and database marketing technique (Fetchko et al., 2019). Text messages that are entertaining, informative, and credible tend to positively influence recipients, while messages perceived as irritating can have a negative impact (Pickton and Broderick, 2005; Shankara and Balasubramanian, 2009).

Personal selling and personal contact

According to Fill and Osmond (2017, p. 1/12), “Personal selling is traditionally perceived as an interpersonal communication tool that involves face-to-face activities undertaken by individuals, often representing an organisation, in order to inform, persuade or remind an individual or group to take appropriate action, as required by the sponsor’s representative.” The main objectives include building and maintaining relationships with people interested in the product or service and converting them into paying customers (Fetchko et al., 2019). In a brick-and-mortar setting, personal selling typically involves salespeople providing advice to potential customers based on their needs and wants. In digital media, personal selling might manifest as a requested live video to discuss a potential product or service purchase (Stewart, 2018), a consultation with a sales representative on a social media site (Kietzmann et al., 2011), or a conversation with an AI-driven chatbot (Balasudarsun et al., 2018).

In sports marketing, the term ‘personal contact’ is more suitable for the marketing communications component of personal selling, as community relations and socialization are key drivers and employ a less sales-oriented approach. This involves players and staff of a sports organisation fostering goodwill in the community and building relationships with individuals and fans by ‘giving back’ (Schwartz et al., 2013). Philanthropic examples include popular players dressing up as Santa Claus and management giving children tours of the prestigious PSG facilities under the “Paris Saint-Germain Foundation – Children First” initiative (PSG Website, 2019), and young PSG players visiting children at the Poissy-Saint-Germain Hospital (PSG Website, 2020b). While these examples could be viewed as PR tactics aiming to positively promote the brand and company (Batra and Keller, 2016), they also illustrate that PR is merely the channel through which the message of personal contact between the brand and the community is conveyed.

Conclusion

This article has detailed the parallels between the promotional component of the marketing mix and the integrated marketing communications mix. Drawing from a review of seminal literature, a framework encompassing eight distinct marketing and communications channels was proposed. These channels include advertising, sales promotion, public relations, social media, website and online search, mobile marketing, direct marketing, and personal selling. The application of these channels by the football brand Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) was examined, leading to the conclusion that PSG is generally successful in utilising its marketing communications channels in line with main theoretical concepts. It is also noticeable that PSG integrates its communication by linking content across various channels. For instance, its partnership with sportswear manufacturer Jordan (i.e., Nike) is cohesively presented through advertising, sales promotions (see Figure 5), PR (see link), social media (see link), and direct marketing (see Figure 12). The next step would involve evaluating how these channels are employed to achieve specific communication objectives. Batra and Keller (2016) proposed a framework offering guidance on which channels exert the most significant influence in achieving particular goals. This would certainly be a compelling exercise to follow up on this article.

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