Case 2: Advertising

According to the integrated marketing communications (IMC) approach, a firm can maximize the impact of its promotional tools only when they're all working together, bearing a similar message, carrying a similar theme, and generally "integrated."

Boston Pizza kicked off its 51st year by bringing forward an IMC program that was not only committed to delighting its customers but also celebrated its sports bar roots and the transcendent nature of sports in Canadian culture. The "We'll Make You a Fan" positioning "gets at the heart of what Boston Pizza is all abouta place for Canadians to connect over two things they love: sports and food," said Steve Silverstone, executive vice-president of marketing for Boston Pizza International. "Nearly every Canadian has some kind of connection to sportswhether as spectators, participants, players, coaches, managers, or parents who drive their kids to and from practice. Boston Pizza is the restaurant where you can show up with a group of 20 kids wearing soccer cleats or with a buddy after a game of pickup hockey to watch a game in the sports bar."

"We looked at our company and we asked, 'What makes people want to come into Boston Pizza unprompted?'" explains CEO Mark Pacinda. When the long-awaited Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao boxing title fight finally occurred in April 2015, Pacinda recalls going to a Boston Pizza location with his son to watch the fight. "It was packed. There were 120 people on the patio looking in to see the fight, and then 10 minutes before the fight, there were 150 people in the parking lot who couldn't get into the restaurant because we were at capacity." That anecdote says a thing or two about BP's clientele and culture: There's a pretty deep passion for sports. "We have a saying," Pacinda remarks. "We don't line up for the Academy Awards, but we'll line up for sports!"

True to the principle of IMC, the "We'll Make You a Fan" campaign crossed all forms of advertising, direct and social media, public relations, sales promotions, and personal selling. If today's best brands are also the best storytellers, BP etched its logo into that category with "We'll Make You a Fan."

Question based on case 2:

1.Why is it important for marketing communications functions to be "integrated"?

2.Research Boston Pizza's "We'll Make You a Fan" campaign and list examples of the various IMC categories.

3.Did BP risk losing, or alienating, customers who weren't necessarily sports fans? Explain your response.