IMC is consumer-centric. The whole process of planning and integration is anchored
on a deep consumer understanding, and all decision points have the consumer as
the hinge and constant reference point. Moreover, although academic literature more
explicitly indicates that IMC goes beyond focusing solely on the consumer and should
look at all relevant stakeholders of an organisation for integrated planning, industry
practitioners acknowledge and imply that, in fact, the integration process involves both
internal and external publics of a given brand or firm.