Final answer:
New Belgium has effectively used integrated marketing communications by ensuring brand message consistency across platforms, establishing a recognizable visual identity, and leveraging substantial advertising budgets to fortify its brand and discourage competition.
Step-by-step explanation:
The use of integrated marketing communications by New Belgium has played a significant role in enhancing its brand image. Taking a page from the synergistic practices highlighted in Naomi Klein's 'No Logo', New Belgium's advertising campaigns exhibit consistency and repetition across multiple platforms. An effective campaign emulates the example of Miller beer's presence in and around stadiums, where the message is reinforced through billboards, commercials, and product placement — all leading to a unified brand experience.
Recognized logos and graphic images have become essential to a brand's visual identity, allowing companies to communicate with their audience in a visually saturated world. National brands like Coca-Cola and Quaker Oats have historically relied on brand consistency to build their national reputation. New Belgium’s campaigns follow this effect by ensuring that their branding is not diluted or misrepresented by their sales network.
In a competitive landscape, large advertising budgets can act both as a method for brand establishment and a barrier to entry for competitors — a strategy adopted by giants like Coca-Cola and Pepsi Cola. A well-established brand such as New Belgium can leverage this strategy to maintain a stronghold in the marketplace.