Published March 11, 2015
The seventh edition of “Integrated Advertising, Promotion, and Marketing Communications,”
penned by primary author Dr. Kenneth Clow—the Biedenharn Endowed Chair of Business
at the University of Louisiana at Monroe—was recently released by Pearson Publishing.
The book was coauthored by Donald Baack, a professor at Pittsburg State University
where Clow began his academic career.
According to Clow, the concept of the text is that all communications generated by
a company or brand should convey a single, unified message. Called integrated marketing
communications, or IMC, the concept was used in the business world in the latter part
of the 20th century, but Clow and Baack were the first to write a college textbook
promoting the concept.
“The first couple of editions were pioneers in the IMC concept because professors
taught classes in advertising, not IMC,” said Clow. “It wasn’t until the third edition
that universities began modifying their advertising courses to the IMC concept.”
Each edition has gained greater acceptance and is now used in over 400 universities
and colleges in the United States and is printed in several languages. Clow says many
who work in the advertising and marketing field learned basic concepts from his textbook.
“In writing the textbook, the goal was to reflect current practices in the advertising
and marketing fields,” said Clow. “For instance, past editions mentioned digital marketing
and social media, but it was not until the sixth edition that an entire chapter was
devoted to the topic. With the seventh edition, a new chapter was introduced that
focused entirely on social media and how brands use it for marketing and customer
engagement.”
“The chapter on digital marketing was expanded to include modern practices, such as
mobile marketing and geo-targeting of ads based on a person’s location. It is essential
that students studying marketing understand the way brands use digital and social
media. Many of the future jobs in advertising and marketing involve the digital and
social media sphere.”
Clow does not only write about social media, he actively utilizes it for textbooks
as well as his digital marketing class. Clow authors a blog with regular posts with
links to videos and articles about advertising and marketing. The blog is designed
for professors using his textbook to keep them current with what is happening.
“Every day news articles and videos are produced that relate to advertising and marketing,”
he said. “The blog allows me a venue where this information can be posted. Professors
using the textbook can utilize the blog to enhance their classroom lectures or for
student assignments.”
Clow is an avid believer in digital and social media marketing. He requires students
to develop websites and to become active users of various social media platforms.
“Reading about social media is not nearly as effective as actively learning through
using it,” he said.
In addition to two class websites, Clow maintains a number of other websites for non-profit
organizations, authors three blogs, and actively posts to various social media platforms.
Clow obtained a Ph.D. from the University of Arkansas in 1992.
