To start with, Above-The-Line Promotion (ATL) is any form of paid-for promotional method through independent mass media sources used to promote a business, its brands or its products.
Above-The-Line Promotion (ATL) is mainly about advertising which includes television advertising, radio advertising, cinema advertising, print advertising, digital advertising and outdoor advertising.
1. Advertising = Above-The-Line Promotion
Advertising is directing communication about the business, brand or product towards customers in the appropriate target market. Potential customers are encouraged through the printed and visual media, such as television, radio, cinema, print, digital and outdoor.
The main aim of advertising is mainly to give information about the product to customer and persuade potential buyers to buy that product by selecting the right media. This form of promotion is undertaken by a business by paying for communication with the choice of advertising media often depending on the available budget.
Successful advertising campaigns should lead to substantial increases in consumer awareness and sales in the short-term. In the long-term, the effect of appropriate advertising will last for a considerable length of time increasing brand preference and establishing brand loyalty.
However, it is also possible that many people are unlikely to purchase the product after seeing the advertisements.
Consumer advertising vs. Trade advertising
Most advertising is consumer advertising which is aimed at the final individual customer like you and me. Consumer advertising usually takes place on television, in the radio and in the digital form.
In addition to consumer advertising, there is also trade advertising which is aimed at other businesses. Such as wholesalers and retailers to encourage them to stock up the product in preference to rival products. Trade advertising usually takes place in trade journals and trade magazines which are not available to retail consumers.
Main types of advertising
The main aim of Above-The-Line Promotion (ATL) is to inform and persuade consumers to buy a product. Therefore, the two main types of advertising include informative advertising and persuasive advertising.
1. Informative advertising. It aims to inform potential customers about the product. Advertisements do not try to persuade the potential customer to buy the product. But, give information to potential buyers what the product is to create product awareness and attract their interest. Specifically, this can include information about the price of the product, what the product can be used for, its main features, technical specifications, places where the product can be purchased, etc.
This form of advertising is often used when a new product is being launched into a new market. Specifically, when consumers are unlikely to be aware of the product. Or, when communicating a substantial change in price, design or specification.
2. Persuasive advertising. It aims to persuade potential customer to buy the product.Advertisements do not try to give any what the product is to potential buyers, but try to create distinctive image of the product or brand identity. The message may not contain any details at all about the product’s raw materials or ingredients used, prices or places where to buy the product.
Here, advertisers are trying to create a perceived difference in the minds of consumers in those markets where there might be little differentiation between products and where. The business uses this form of advertising when trying to convince consumers to buy the firm’s product rather than a competitor’s product. Specifically, to show them that the product is much better than competitors’ products.
In reality, while persuasive advertising is the most common form of modern advertising, there is not that much difference between these two styles of advertising. They are often used interchangeably by companies.
Main methods of advertising
There are six main methods of advertising including the following:
1. Television advertising
Television advertising offers the chance to combine moving images with sound to convey very powerful messages to millions of viewers around the world. It is by far the biggest of the mass media available to advertisers. Expenditure on TV advertising among companies worldwide is large that it exceeds spending on all other forms of advertising. TV companies sell advertising slots based on size of the audience which usually last 30 seconds. Hence, marketers must try to get their message across in a very short time frame.
What is more, the number of new TV channels available has been growing substantially with many new channels focusing on a particular market segment or niche which permits ads to be played to an audience which is more likely to be receptive to the message. That is why TV advertisements can be purposefully designed to meet specific needs and wants of the narrow audience, such as advertisements aimed at teenagers being aired during teenagers’ television programs.
✔️ Advantages of television advertising: Television advertising can reach a significant audience having high visual impact, if advertisements are well designed. High Definition and 3D technology has improved the impact of TV advertisements in recent years. It can be used to precisely convey nature of the product through demonstration, sound and vision. Television ownership worldwide has increased as incomes rise, which is why television advertising can be effective for raising awareness of the product as well as for brand development. Additionally, some targeting of specific market segments is possible through selective use of advertising time slots and using appropriate channels.
❌ Disadvantages of television advertising: Television advertising is much more expensive than other methods. It can usually only be afforded by large businesses such as a national companies or multinational corporation. Peak time advertising costs on television can be huge, especially during major cultural such as Christmas or Chinese New Year and worldwide sporting events such as Football World Cup. Also, the cost of producing professional broadcasting television advertisements is often very significant.
Additionally, advertising on television is not appropriate for all companies, especially unsuitable for small firms where large demand could not be met. Also, large portions of the budget may be lost to inappropriate market segments. Television advertising may not be appropriate for conveying complex information or large amounts of information as ad time slots tend to be short. What is more, viewers cannot refer back to the advert unless they record it. While newer technologies incorporating a hard disk allow the viewer to both record and pause live television, this might be leading to adverts not even being watched.
2. Radio advertising
Radio advertising offers businesses to convey promotional messages via voice (auditory messages) to millions of listeners around the world. See, radio stations require a media license to broadcast with their activities being regulated by governmental agencies. The content of radio advertisements is regularly monitored in most countries therefore must be legal and truthful. There is a considerable number of radio stations available allowing the audience to listen to.
Radio broadcasting can be done through portable radio, car radio, online radio, radio found in other music systems, etc. Some consumer targeting is possible though analysis of the profile of listeners. Time slots are sold to businesses – similar to television advertising. The peak times for listening to the radio are early in the morning and evening during rush hour periods.
✔️ Advantages of radio advertising: Radio advertising is significantly cheaper than television advertising because audience size tends to be smaller. However, it can still reach a very large audience with adverts effectively targeting potential customers geographically through local radio stations. Radio commercials can be broadcast to almost anyone around the world thanks to advanced technology such as wireless broadband. Unlike TV advertising, radio ads do not rely on viewers having to be sit in front of a TV screen.
❌ Disadvantages of radio advertising: Radio advertising can only communicate audio messages as there is no visual impact, hence it is difficult to differentiate one product from another as there are no images of products. It might be less effective than TV advertising because people tend to retain oral messages better when there is a visual stimulus. Radio audience has lower attention levels compared with TV advertisements because listening to the radio is often an accompaniment to some other daily activity such as eating or driving the car. Hence, it can be difficult to catch people’s attention
3. Cinema advertising
Cinema advertising is targeting a captive audience in a movie theater with larger than life ads on the big screen. It mainly involves advertising in the theater playing movie shows either before the movie or during the interval periods. With growing visitor numbers at cinemas around the world, cinema advertising is attracted more marketers to use the cinema as an advertising medium. Additionally, the size of cinema screens can exert adverts huge in size making much bigger impact compared to other forms of promotion.
✔️ Advantages of cinema advertising: Cinema advertising offers direct targeting of a very specific audience (based on the movie genre and the cinema goers age), hence promotion can be tailored to the specific market segments. It is much harder for viewers to ignore or switch off the advertisements because the audience is not only immovable, but also perceives the advertisements as part of the overall cinema experience.
❌ Disadvantages of cinema advertising: Cinema advertising has rather limited audience size compared with that of television viewers or radio listeners. The cinema rooms can only accommodate a few hundred people for each particular move screening. A large part of the audience might be indifferent to the ads as they are basically interested in feature film than advertisements. Considering a lot of activities required to shoot the ad, screen advertising can be a costly affair, especially for smaller businesses.
4. Print advertising
Print advertising offers access to millions of loyal readers who represent the whole range of backgrounds, lifestyles and opinions within a population. See, print advertisements can be placed in newspapers and magazines both on national and local levels. That is why companies can advertise to a mass market or focus their advertising on particular market segments. While the print market is being challenged by the digital market, but nonetheless newspapers and magazines still hold the power to target different markets better with a significant amount of product information.
a.) Newspapers. Newspaper advertising can target specific target markets better than television advertisements by using specialist newspapers. This allows having a much wider reach and being more attractive. As newspaper advertising can be in local newspapers or national newspapers, small local businesses can advertise in local newspapers while a business that sells its products throughout a country can use national newspapers. However, newspaper advertising has the high cost as newspaper firms charge higher prices for color advertisements, pictures or photos. Businesses may need to spend a lot more money than their competitors to ensure that readers are drawn to their advertisement. Especially when newspapers have a very short shelf-life with people not willingly reading yesterday’s news.
b.) Magazines. Magazine advertising can utilize high photo-quality color images to attract the attention of readers. Magazines provide value added through quality glossy photographs and quality paper appealing to fashionable business organizations and their high-end customers. Advertisements in magazines can be referred back to at a later date that is why magazines also have a longer shelf-life than newspapers. Targeting the right market segment is possible through the use of specialist magazines.
However, magazine adverts are static and it is not very likely for a for a business to place several different advertisements in the same magazine. Readers are bombarded with many ads in one magazine causing advertising clutter leading to missing or ignoring the advertisements. There can be a long lead-time between submitting an ad and the actual publication. This time period may result in potentially lost sales unless other forms of promotion are used.
✔️ Advantages of print advertising: Print advertising is cheaper compared to television advertising and radio advertising with reaching a wide audience. It is relatively cost-effective for potential advertisers to establish the demographics of the target market by knowing the socioeconomic profile of the readership of the particular newspaper or magazine. Then, as advertising in print newspapers and magazines has good coverage, the business can either advertise to a mass market or focus their advertising on particular local markets. With print advertising, readers can refer back to advertisements at a later date as they are likely to retain newspapers and magazines for long, so important information can be included.
❌ Disadvantages of print advertising: Print advertising usually includes adverts from many different companies; therefore it may be difficult for one business to catch attention in amongst extensive advertising from others. And with newspapers and magazines being overloaded with advertisements, this can lead to advertising clutter resulting in reader choosing to flick through and ignore them. Additionally, print advertising might be less competitive against digital advertising through smartphones and e-book readers.
5. Digital advertising
These days, firms are increasingly using online advertising to promote their brands. Digital advertising uses the Internet, social networks and apps to promote a firm’s products. The main intention of digital advertisements is to attract traffic to a website by linking to the website of the advertiser. Online advertising mainly includes web banners and search engines to promote brands.
Ads as web banners are embedded into a website. Web banners have the same purpose as traditional advertisements by informing consumers of products or services and then persuading them to buy. Advertisers pay their hosts only when their ads are clicked. With search engines, advertisers are buying a place to appear in search engines. Sponsored links on a search engine such as Google, Yahoo or Bing will appear at the top of a list of results for a particular search word or phrase.
✔️ Advantages of digital advertising: Digital advertising allows for easier monitoring of the results and effectiveness of web campaigns. Online advertising can target specific viewers as their interests and online behavior is recorded on the site. Online behavior of potential customers can be measured through the use of click tags which record how often consumers view a website. Pay Per Click (PPC) model is adopted on websites and in search engines where advertisers typically bid on keyword phrases relevant to their target market.
❌ Disadvantages of digital advertising: Digital advertising is often associated with unsolicited marketing messages and online publicity with unethical marketing opportunities. It is because junk E-Mails and pop-up advertisements are so widespread in daily life that majority of them are considered as SPAM. Any online ads are at risk of being considered by potential customers as annoying and wasting customers’ time. This can ultimately bring damages to corporate image and business reputation.
6. Outdoor advertising
Outdoor advertising is the use of commercial billboards, banners and posters to promote a business as well as its brands and products. It has existed in the public space for a very long time in many forms promoting local events, entertainment shows or important meetings. Outdoor ads are an excellent ways of informing and reminding customers of products and brands that is why they can often be seen at sporting games, in shopping malls, at the roadside and on vehicles such as buses, subways, trains and taxis. Companies selling daily consumer goods often use the outdoor spaces for high exposure using the same advertisement in many different business locations to reach out to a significant number of potential customers.
✔️ Advantages of outdoor advertising: Outdoor advertising is relatively inexpensive, can be made to be visually stimulating and allows for effective geographical targeting. When placed appropriately in public places, its high coverage can be effective at building awareness and reinforcing brand identity. Increasing use of technology makes outdoor advertising more dynamic. Ordinary outdoor advertisements can be transformed into more eye-catching, interactive and engaging form of promotion by combining movement with sound. For example, billboards can automatically rotate or roll the content, thereby increasing the number of advertisements that can be shown on each billboard. Moreover, posters allow many small businesses with small marketing budgets to access almost all the target market without much cost.
❌ Disadvantages of outdoor advertising: Outdoor advertising is very prone to damage caused by bad weather conditions and vandalism such as graffiti. There can be high levels of competition in terms of advertising clutter. Central business districts of world’s largest cities such as New York, Tokyo, Shanghai or London are swamped with billboard advertisements creating advertising pollution. Outdoor ads can not only be lost in amongst other elements of the urban landscape, but pressure groups might campaign against advertising clutter in the environment.
Also, it might be difficult to monitor the effectiveness and return on expenditure on outdoor advertising because targeting is very difficult making it only suitable for promoting mass market products. Therefore, it is hard to target specific market segments unless through carefully selected locations.
In summary, Above-The-Line Promotion (ATL) is any form of paid-for promotional method through independent mass media sources such as television, radio, cinema, print, digital and outdoor to promote a business, its brands or its products.
