Above the line (advertising)

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See Above the line for other meanings and uses of the phrase.

Above the line (ATL) is an advertising technique using mass media to promote brands. Major above-the-line techniques include TV and radio advertising, print advertising and internet banner ads. This type of communication is conventional in nature and is considered impersonal to customers. It differs from BTL (Below the line), that believes in unconventional brand-building strategies, such as direct mail. The ATL strategy makes use of current traditional media: television, newspapers, magazines, radio, outdoor, and internet.

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The term comes from accountancy and is to do with the way in which P&G, one of the world’s biggest clients, were charged for their media. 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.

That was the model in the 50s and 60s and really doesn’t work like that any more. Clients aren’t charged for their media in that way so the term has changed.

Loosely, above the line still means mass media. However the media landscape has shifted so dramatically that advertisers have reconsidered the definitions of mass media.

For example, the proliferation of TV channels means that you are way less likely to get millions of people watching the same side at the same time. Actually you are way more likely to get millions of people walking past the same communication in Wal Mart.

Obviously the internet is the one remaining mass communication channel. But when people engage with internet advertising it is usually because they are responding to highly targeted content-driven websites. But can these really be called mass media? Just because it’s on the internet doesn’t mean the whole world will look at it.

Increasingly, the skills learnt in below the line advertising such as specific targeting and specification of communication are being used in mass media, particularly the internet. But really, the terms above and below the line are becoming less and less relevant when we talk about advertising. Largely above the line is used as a qualitative statement rather than a strategic one. Agencies still often define themselves as above the line. These tend to be the ones that think that they still have a monopoly over brands and ideas but more and more they are finding that this is not the case.