Integrated marketing communication and tourism: a case study of Icehotel AB

Abstract: The increasing communication options in recent years have contributed to the clutter the world is experiencing today. This has made it important for marketers to integrate their marketing communication and break through the barrier of noise to reach the target market. Furthermore, the heavy competition within the tourism industry has made it necessary for organizations to focus more on marketing and in particular communication. In 1993 a new concept called Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) was introduced. This new concept has generated a great interest among academics and practitioners, although research concerning its implementation is limited. The purpose of this thesis is to gain a better understanding of Integrated Marketing Communication in the Swedish Tourism Industry. A case study of Icehotel has been conducted to investigate how the IMC strategy and use of communication tools can be described. Furthermore, this study shows that Icehotel is successful with the integrated communication strategy, as the message is kept consistent throughout all the communication, reflecting the image of Icehotel. This study also shows that in the use of the communication tools, traditional advertising has been replaced to a great extent and emphasis lies mainly on public relations and product placement. To let the product, ice, speak for it has lead to a lot of publicity for Icehotel all over the world. The ice follows as a read thread throughout all of the communication of Icehotel. Finally, Icehotel has built a strong brand identity and image through their choices of cooperators with similar brand images.