Relationship between Integrated Marketing Communication Tools and Competitive Advantage: A Case Study of Safaricom

A Research Project Report submitted to the Chandaria School of Business, in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement of the Degree of Masters in Business Administration (MBA)The general objective of this research is to investigate the relationship between integrated marketing communication tools and competitive advantage for Safaricom in Nairobi County. The study is guided by the following specific research objectives: relationship between advertising and competitive advantage, relationship between public relations and competitive advantage and relationship between sales promotion and competitive advantage. A survey research design was adopted to measure the relationship between integrated marketing communication tools and competitive advantage with much emphasis placed on descriptive research design technique. The total population for the study comprised of 2463 Safaricom employees in Nairobi County. The sample size drawn constitutes of 97 Safaricom employees situated in Nairobi County. The study adopted probability sampling technique where stratified sampling technique was employed. Primary data was collected using a questionnaire. Data was then analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) program and presented using tables and figures to give a clear picture of the research findings at a glance. Summary of the research findings indicate that there is a positive moderate linear relationship between advertising and public relations. In addition, the study demonstrates existence of a linear correlation between advertising and sales promotion. Furthermore, the study designates an existence of a positive relationship between public relation and sales promotion. The linear regression model, Y= 2.612A +0.002PR +0.023SP at 95% level of confidence justifies existence of positive relationship between advertising, public relations and sales promotion in creating competitive advantage. Some of the recommendations drawn from the study concludes; use of appropriate marketing promotional mix including advertising, public relations and sales promotions. Placing a considerable attention to integrated marketing communications with a core purpose of creating synergy, use of marketing research and involving the primary stakeholders in the decision making process