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.