On, off, below, above…”line” marketing is dead
March 6th, 2007The old marketing (read advertising) paradigm thinks along lines:
Above the line – broadcast advertising, tv, print etc
Below the line – direct mail, one-to-one marketing, CRM
Online – any internet driven marketing activity or structure
Off-line – any marketing activity that is not using the internet
Its a redundant idea.
Customers see no lines. They don’t care. They are not aware. They simply want to have a good offer of a relevant product or service. They want to deal with you in whatever way they choose.
There is no “online” brand strategy and “off-line” brand strategy. There is only a brand strategy. Well, you hope there is.
May 30th, 2007 at 11:38 am
David,
Having recently jumped ship from client to agency side… I’m a bigger proponent of the benefits of integrated brand content then ever before. I firmly agree that “there is no line” and was wondering if you could provide some historical significance to the ATB and BTL terminology… I suspect it is routed in accounting practice
May 30th, 2007 at 3:43 pm
Peter, that’s a good question: I don’t have an answer to that, but whoever finds out first should post it here! Thanks for dropping by.
June 13th, 2007 at 7:19 pm
I’m a lawyer, but was looking into the terms. According to Wikipedia:
The term [above the line] comes from accountancy and is to do with the way in which Procter and Gamble, one of the world’s biggest clients, were charged for their media in the 1950s and 1960s. Advertising agencies made so much commission from booking media for clients that the creative generation and actual production costs of making TV ads was free - hence above the line. Everything else they paid for and was therefore below the line
June 13th, 2007 at 8:16 pm
Hi Justin, thanks for solving this riddle. Who would have thought to look it up on Wikipedia?
I have a question for you. I checked out your website and obviously you are a pretty web savvy firm. I have law clients who simply can’t see the value of a website for their business. What would you tell them? What value delivers your website to your business?
Cheers and thanks for stopping by.
David
September 16th, 2009 at 10:58 am
Totally agree with your line of thinking David. Coincidently I am currently writing a White Paper for the Australian Direct Marketing Association on “The line doesnt exist. An overview of above the line media becoming direct.” and have done a quick blog post as a precursor http://maloneyonmarketing.com/2009/04/28/the-future-of-direct-marketing-the-line-does-not-exist/
Would love to know your thoughts
September 16th, 2009 at 12:11 pm
Chris, thanks for stopping by. Excellent post, and I’m happy to give you my thoughts. How would you like to get them? Comment in your post? Or?