Meaning and importance of integration in marketing

To integrate means to bring together parts into a whole. It means putting together the work of many diverse groups to produce a successful total effort. In that sense, integration assumes major importance in modern marketing, since it brings together, under one directing head, the work of many diverse, independent and even antagonistic groups. It unifies their work so as to produce successful and effective marketing action in the company.
Modern marketing has a dual task of integration:
(1)    to integrate the work of various groups in the reorganized, consolidated marketing department, and
(2)    to integrate the marketing effort with the management effort of the company as a whole. It must never be forgotten that marketing, although it is important today, is only one part of the total management activity of the company. Marketing must be coordinated with and integrated into the total management job.
From the germ of an idea for a new product to its ultimate consumption by the consumer, covering the many phases of planning, programming, selling, advertising, promoting and research, all the marketing activities of the company have to be brought together as parts of the whole. The task is not a simple one. We have already pointed out that different groups of people, previously not working together, are brought under one roof in the new marketing department. It is a novel experience for people in marketing research or product planning to work with those in advertising, or for people in sales training to work with those in public relations.
Furthermore, the very newness of the job of marketing calls for jobs that did not exist before, especially at the staff level. New job descriptions are called for. New relationships must be established among workers. And as the marketing department grows and expands, there is need for better communications, and better mutual understanding. The changed duties of many of the members of the department can lead to misunderstandings and conflicts unless everyone knows what his individual role is, and what the relationship of that role is to the total marketing effort.
There is further difficulty in integrating an expanded marketing department. Often the duties, objectives and responsibilities are not clear. In any new undertaking, there is always the temptation to get it done, to make haste, to show results when, in truth, there is need for making haste slowly.
Finally, in integrating a new and expanded marketing department, there is always the question of people.
People are the most important asset of a business organization. But they also create problems. The newness of the job of working together, the need for special training, for special kind of thinking, lead to conflicts and jealousies. Such problems call for patience, understanding and leadership.