Book excerpt: Strategies for binding customers to an organization--by determining the information they want and giving it to them In 1993, Don Schultz showed marketers how to coordinate their organizations' entire communications programs with the seminalIntegrated Marketing Communications. InIMC--The Next Generation, Schultz offers a refined and updated approach to the IMC model, one that goes beyond the messages an organization chooses to send to encompass the information that the customer wishes to receive or have access to. IMC--The Next Generation shows marketers how to build sustainable competitive advantage and ROI by combining and coordinating all methods through which buyers and sellers come together. Numerous cases and real-world examples reveal how to use today’s IMC model to: Integrate internal and external communications programs Influence customers at every contact point Build long-term brand relationships