The rules of the game are changing. The trend to integrate communication functions at organizations today pits public relations and marketing in ongoing turf wars to determine ownership of new communication frontiers, including digital and social media (Delaria, Kane, Porter, & Strong, 2010; Kiley, 2011) . This phenomenon, known as integrated marketing communication (IMC), prescribes that effective communication hinges on building consistent messaging around stakeholder needs through

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... on between public relations, marketing, advertising, and other communication functions (Kliatchko, 2008) . However, recent studies show that marketing and public relations professionals remain entrenched in structural barriers and functional silos that hinder the effectiveness of integration (Delaria, Kane, Porter & Strong, 2010) . This functional singularity has also plagued public relations research. Scholars have been reluctant to validate IMC as a research topic (some have even rejected it) based on the assumption that integration would lead to public relations sublimation to marketing-an assumption that has not been validated in research (Hallahan, 2007) . At the center of this debate is the concept of power. Some argue public relations has already lost power to marketing (Hutton, 2010), while others claim integration stands to increase public relations power and earn the function a seat at the table (Caywood, 1997). A recent study suggested that public relations practitioners earn power in IMC through expertise in digital and social media (Smith & Place, 2013). Despite this study, few, if any, other studies have identified the supposed power imbalance in IMC, or the influence of IMC on public relations power. This study builds on the exploratory research by Delaria, et al. (2010) and Vol. 10, No. 1 (Summer 2016) 3 Smith and Place (2013) to evaluate public relations power in IMC, and the role of social media expertise on that power. Findings suggest that public relations influence in IMC may be tied to practitioners' participation in the organization's top decision-making body, social media expertise and perceived public relations expertise. Literature IMC and Public Relations The rise of integrated marketing communication (IMC) has been attributed to several developments, including economic constraints, public relations and advertising agency mergers, proliferation of media, and the imperative to cut through media clutter (Arens, Weigold, & Arens, 2013; Blakeman, 2009) . However, at the heart of integration, and its consequent emergence, is the influence of communication technology that has granted publics more access to media channels, and greater influence over the conversations that determine the success or failure of an organization. Rather than a tactical move for communication efficiency, IMC is a strategic move for garnering stakeholder involvement and support. IMC's strategic and tactical imperatives revolve around stakeholder interest, as communication strategy is built from the outside in and based on stakeholder perspectives (Duncan, 2005; Schultz, 2007) . Kliatchko (2008) defines IMC as "an audience-driven business process" (p. 140). IMC addresses the influence of all stakeholders (including employees, community members, opinion leaders, the media, etc.) on the consumer decision-making process, and coordinates messaging through the various channels through which stakeholders Vol. 10, No. 1 (Summer 2016) 4 interact with consumers toward a purchase decision (Gronstedt, 1996) . As such, IMC is a media matching process whereby communication activities from functions like advertising, public relations, and sales promotion, among others, are considered a tool in the marketing toolbox for targeting stakeholders based on specific needs (Gronstedt, 1996) . IMC's stakeholder first orientation reverberates through the theoretical foundation of the discipline-that an organization should build around a core message that reflects stakeholder needs in order to build long-term relationships. The development of IMC as a process was born of marketing efforts to build profitability through relationships, first known as frequency or loyalty marketing, and later known as relationship marketing (Blakeman, 2009). Relationship cultivation and management are at the foundation of the IMC assertion that to reach "the heart and mind" of consumers, firms must integrate all communications (Debreceny