ATL, BTL and TTL

Above the Line and Below the Line

These terms may have simple definitions as will be given below, but constantly one tends to misinterpret the different forms of promotions and advertising as above-the-line or below-the-line.

In an attempt to try and solve the confusion, let us look at a few different angles.

Above the line-advertising
is allocated to television, radio, press, outdoor and cinema advertising

Below the line-advertising
promotions, direct marketing, sponsorship and public relations

Origins of the term refer back to the balance sheet – Above the Line advertising costs are part of ‘costs of sales’ and are deducted before Gross Profit is determined, non-commission baring advertising is part of the operating expenses and is deducted before Net Profit is determined.

Another way to view it is 'concept' delivery versus 'tactile' delivery.

So a concept media is one where you transmit ideas but nothing concrete ever passes to your audience - radio, tv, billboards and even most newspaper ads.

Tactile delivery is giving the audience something they can actually touch - so coupons, direct mail, product samples.

ATL tends to be visual/auditory where as BTL usually excludes auditory but includes sight, smell, touch, and even taste.

Through the line (TTL) refers to an advertising strategy involving both above and below the line communications in which one form of advertising points the target to another form of advertising thereby crossing the 'line'. An example would be a TV commercial that says 'come into the store to sample XYZ product'. In this example, the TV commercial is a form of 'above the line' advertising and once in the store, the target customer is presented with 'below the line' promotional material such as store banners, competition entry forms etc.

PUSH AND PULL MARKETING

Push and Pull Marketing

What is pull marketing?

Pull marketing is where you develop advertising and promotional strategies that are meant to entice the prospect to buy your product or service. Some classic examples are "half off!" or "bring in this coupon to save 25%" or "buy one get one free", etc.

With pull marketing, you are trying to create a sense of increased, time limited value so that the customer will come into your store to buy.

An example of this is a perfume product. Women do not request to smell a fragrance they never smelled before; it is simply "pushed" at them, through the right advertisement.

• Applied to that portion of the supply chain where demand uncertainty is relatively small


• Production & distribution decisions are based on long term forecasts


• Based on past orders received from retailer’s warehouse (may lead to Bullwhip effect)


• Inability to meet changing demand patterns


• Large and variable production batches


• Unacceptable service levels


• Excessive inventories due to the need for large safety stocks

What is push marketing?

Push marketing is where you develop advertising and promotional strategies geared toward your marketing and distribution channels to entice them in promoting your product. As consumers, you rarely see this type of marketing when it is directed to the distributors. It might include wholesale discounts, kickbacks, bonuses, and other types of support. It's all designed to have the retailer promote your product to the end users over a different product.

In recent years, I've seen a nearly exponential increase in the past decade - another type of push marketing is taking over. It's the referral and word of mouth marketing. When companies encourage happy customers to spread the word to their friends and families, that's a type of push marketing. Or, when companies make ads that are controversial, cheeky, or downright shocking, they create a little buzz - that's another type of push marketing.

An example of this is the car manufacturing company Toyota. Toyota only produces cars when they have been ordered by the customers.

• Applied to that portion of the supply chain where demand uncertainty is high


• Production and distribution are demand driven


• No inventory, response to specific orders


• Point of sale (POS) data comes in handy when shared with supply chain partners


• Decrease in lead time


• Difficult to implement

UMBRELLA BRANDING

Umbrella Branding

As with all effective brand strategy, umbrella brands require a single message, an expression of a commonsense benefit grounded in human emotion that opens the way to own the conversation within a business category.


With an umbrella brand, the number of interactions the consumer has with the brand increase significantly, thereby reinforcing the brand values, and it helps transfer the goodwill to new products and categories. But the umbrella brand needs to be focused: It must stand for the same values across the category or range of products, and have the same emotional link.

Generally, consumer durables and services brands have used umbrella branding, while FMCGs have not, but even they have resorted to brand extensions rather than new launches.

Independent brands only make sense when the product clearly has a different proposition from the company brand; like Lexus from Toyota and Swatch from Omega.

In the case of Asian Paints, there were so many sub-brands, there was a reduction of media weights for advertising each entity. Then, the company shifted to a brand-centric portfolio, which involved a change of logo, product names, packaging and advertising. But the response from the trade and consumers has been positive, overall brand synergy and shop presence have increased, and the advertising is more effective, he added.

So unless the product is clearly different in the mind of the consumer, umbrella branding is the way to go. NIVEA is a great international example of an Umbrella Brand.

CO-BRANDING

Co-branding

Co-branding is a marketing arrangement that associates a single product or service with more than one brand name, or otherwise associates a product with someone other than the principal producer. The typical co-branding agreement involves two or more companies acting in cooperation to associate any of various logos, color schemes, or brand identifiers to a specific product that is contractually designated for this purpose. The object for this is to combine the strength of two brands.

The marketing of Gillette M3 Power shaving equipment with Duracell batteries (both brands owned by Procter & Gamble).

Many online companies think they are pursuing co-branding when in fact they are pursuing strategic partnerships. Partnerships, which have different goals than co-brands, are a way of leveraging a corporation’s own strengths and softening its weaknesses via a joint effort with another firm.

THE 5 M’S OF ADVERTISING

Renown Advertising

AD EFFECTIVENESS

Increasing Ad Effectiveness

Magazines (Print Media)

Increase Readership of Your Message - Run Two Ads in the Same Issue.

Repetition is the foundation of communications.

Studies have shown that more readers see ads when they are repeated over time, but how do readers respond when an advertiser runs two different ads with the same sales message in the same issue?

Logic would say that adding a second advertisement to an issue would bring additional readers to the message. Some readers who read the first ad would pass on the second, and some who didn't read the first ad would stop and read the second. If the unduplicated readership of both ads is higher than the readership of the first ad, then the second ad brings incremental readers to the message.In the case above, taken from two 1-page, 4-color ads running in a single issue, 46% of respondents read the first ad and 38% read the second. The unduplicated readership though, shows that 63% of respondents read at least one of the ads. Running the second ad increased readership of the message by more than onethird over the first ad.

Running two ads in an issue can help maximize readership of a sales message (Assuming the Ad is ofcourse good by itself).

Utilizing this strategy is ideal for:
New product introductions (Dove, Zero Damage)
Immediate release information about product improvements or updates
To support a sales push or promotion (Airtel)

Indian Context: Billboards

The Dove "Zero Damage" campaign has been running throughout India, especially in the metros. It follows a similar concept to the magazine example given above.

Marine Drive in Mumbai is filled continuously at a space of about 100-200 m with repetitive, but different Dove ads. Each communicates the same product, yet is hits the consumer again and again. Thus the cumulative unduplicated viewing percentage among consumers would be very high.

BRAND BUILDING

THE BRAND EXPERIENCE & SUSTENANCE MODEL

This model has been built to better understand the various parameters that are involved in the road to the creation of brand sustenance. Every parameter is influenced by the consumers and their experience acts as the bridge between building a brand from inception to its sustenance through brand loyalty.

The variables influence each of the parameters and determine the success and future of the brand. The major drivers of the model; Brand Experience and Brand Ambassador are determined by brand usage, indirect experience, brand performance; and Viral Marketing, B2B-B2C-C2C, Relationships respectively. Relationships for instance are the collaborations and partnerships that firms have with their clients and other complementary businesses.

BRAND BUILDING

Brand Awareness

Points of Difference

Points of Parity

Competitive Advantage

Associations

Image

Identity

Brand Experience

Usage

Indirect

Performance

Brand Loyalty

Repeat Business

Recall

Resonance

Brand Ambassadors

B2B B2C & C2C

Relationships

Viral Marketing

Brand Sustenance

Continuous Augmentation

Equity

Consistency