Above the Line vs Below the Line
Above the line and below the line are marketing strategies used by companies to promote their products. Often the phrases like these are enough to confuse an outsider or for those who have just joined the industry. Communication with customers is a process that is taken up by companies at all levels to deal with customers of all hues, ages and genders. If you too cannot appreciate the differences between above the line and below the line, this article will make it clear for you.
What is above the line marketing?
To communicate with customers, when traditional media is used, it is described as above the line communication strategy. This communication can be to make customers aware of the brand or to boost sales by bringing to their knowledge various schemes and promotional offers.
What is below the line marketing?
This is another communication strategy that is at a more personal level and seeks to achieve the same results as are sought with ATL. What is great is that the effects of BTL can be easily measured; that is, they are quantifiable. Media is not utilized for communication with the intended audience in BTL. Distributing leaflets close to the sale point, organizing PR events, and indulging in non conventional methods of promoting are some of the popular methods reflecting BTL.
Speaking frankly; there is no need to bifurcate communication strategies into hypothetical categories as with advancement of technology and passage of time, these boundaries are giving way and, in fact, it has become increasingly difficult to tell strictly the strategy used for communication with customers. This is because even press releases and consumer promotions are these days done in heavy media glare, to blur the difference between BTL and ATL. For example, a video on YouTube that is seen by millions around the world that does not make use of TV or print media is hard to classify between ATL and BTL but still becomes viral and more successful than any of either ATL or BTL strategies.
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What is the difference between Above the Line and Below the Line? • Communicating with customers using mass media to promote products and create brand awareness is above the line marketing strategy. • One the other hand, trying to achieve the same results without using mass media in the shape of PR and sales promotion at the point of sale is called below the line marketing strategy.
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