it is a new way of looking at the whole, where once we saw only parts such as advertising,
public relations, sales promotion, purchasing, employee communication, and so forth, to look
at it the way the consumer sees it – as a flow of information from indistinguishable sources. 4
It is the integration of specialised communications functions that previously operated with
varying degrees of autonomy. It is seamless, through-the-line communications. 5 Th e American
Association of Advertising Agencies uses the following defi nition of IMC: