2.2 Managing the communications process

The overriding objective of the communications process is to minimise the difference between the meaning that is encoded into the message and the meaning that is decoded by the receiver. As such, a great deal of attention will be placed on those elements that can help or hinder the way the message is received and interpreted. These include:

• The message itself

  The sender needs to ensure that the content, structure, form, etc. can be understood and decoded by the receiver. For example, is the writing on a motorway billboard big enough to be seen? Does the story in the advert make sense?

• The media

  In the contemporary media landscape with so many channels, it is important that an appropriate medium is chosen. For example, younger consumers are more likely to be found consuming digital media rather than many of the mass media channels preferred by the older generation.

• The sender

  The source of the message needs to be aligned with the receiver through overlapping fields of experience. The more they have in common, the greater the likelihood that the message will be interpreted in the way it was intended.

• Noise

  This is one of the greatest barriers to effective marketing communications. The more the sender can accommodate or overcome noise, the greater the potential impact the message will have.

By considering all of these elements, the marketing communicator can try to minimise the possibilities for miscommunication, failed communications or the message simply going unnoticed.