Above the line marketing
DESCRIPTION
Marketing comprised of activity that, traditionally, entails commission charges by advertising agencies which, mainly, comprises mass media advertising.
KEY INSIGHTS
Above-the-line activity in marketing refers to marketing practices making use of the mass media where, given a firm’s use of an advertising agency, the agency would make a commission on advertisements which are placed in media including television, newspapers, billboards, radio, magazines, and cinema, and where the commission charged by the advertising agency typically appears ‘above-the-line’ on the ad agency’s bill to the firm. Above-the-line marketing activity can be contrasted with ‘below the- line’ marketing activity, which typically is that where an ad agency would charge a firm a fixed fee. (See below-the-line marketing.) Through the- line marketing refers to a marketing approach that makes use of both above-the-line marketing and below-the-line marketing. Above-the-line marketing is generally associated with classic and traditional approaches to marketing where advertising is used to build a brand’s image. As such, to some marketers, the approach has been considered one of marketing’s ‘necessary evils,’ but, in some industries (e.g. tobacco), below-the-line marketing approaches have gained momentum, or even overtaken above the- line marketing in importance, particularly as a result of increased regulatory scrutiny of mass media advertising.
KEY WORDS Advertising, mass media advertising, commissions
IMPLICATIONS
In order to be in a position to evaluate the potential benefits and costs of above-the-line marketing approaches, marketers should seek to understand carefully their competitive and regulatory environments in addition to consumer buying behavior. While there may be clear benefits to above-the-line approaches including that of brand image building, below the- line approaches may also be beneficial (as when there is considerable advertising clutter in the marketplace), either alone or in being selectively integrated with above-the-line marketing approaches.
APPLICATION AREAS AND FURTHER READINGS
Marketing Strategy
Kim, W. Chan, and Mauborgne, Renee (2005). Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Business School Press.
Services Marketing
Clark, R. (1997). ‘Looking after Business: Linking Existing Customers to Profitability,’
Managing Service Quality, 7(3), 146–149.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Carter S. M. (2003). ‘Going below the Line: Creating Transportable Brands for Australia’s Dark Market,’ Tobacco Control, 2 (suppl III), 87–94. Smith, P. R., and Taylor, Jonathan (2002). Marketing Communications: An Integrated Approach. London: Kogan Page.