Below the Line Advertising and the Changing Trends in Advertising by Shashank Srivastava & Sarbaswarup Mohanty, IIM Lucknow
In a market rapidly adjusting to changes in technology, available information and heightened consumer demand, traditional and brand oriented advertising is no longer the primary driver of customer behaviour. Its reflected in the dwindling print newspaper circulation and the stagnant market of network television commercials, focus of marketers has now shifted from an “above the line” focus on reaching a broad population with emotionally oriented appeals , to a “below the line” approach that stresses targeted customer centric communications and concrete returns on investment. Below-the-line methods are very specific, memorable activities focused on targeted groups of consumers. They are under the control of the organisation. For example Kia Motors uses these techniques to target clearly defined consumer groups rather than a mass audience like its above -the-line activity. The purpose of these activities has been to develop the brand by creating awareness and building a brand profile. Below-the-line methods include:
Sponsorship Sales Promotions Public Relations Personal Selling Direct Marketing.
CHANGING TRENDS IN ADVERTISING: Consumers are faced with a barrage of advertisements every day in their lives. People are starting to lose interest and even despise the mass advertising being followed through traditional channels of mass advertising like – TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, etc. Consumers are using technology to counter the entry of ads into their personal lives.
TV viewers are resorting to digital video recorders and on demand technologies to fast forward through advertisements.
Some people use mobile devices to download
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commercial free versions of popular television shows.
Internet users are using software to block spam and popup advertisements.
Marketers have been tempted to follow one to one advertising or targeting niche customers. But the practice of targeting “niche” customers can prove to be costly for organizations. Sometimes also the costs of advertising are more than the costs allocated in the budget for promotional purposes. Four specific techniques have been identified where marketers can reach broad segments of people without overshooting their advertising budget. Catching people in the bottlenecks: Though people can easily screen advertisements when they are in their homes but people every day spend time outside their homes where they lack the required control. The examples of bottlenecks can be – waiting in an airport lounge , travelling in elevator , going up in an escalator in a mall or it can be travelling in a taxi. In these bottlenecks of life, advertisers can reach people with acceptable messages. The purpose of advertising on taxis for advertisers can be many. The taxi owner gets revenues from space which could not have been utilized for a better purpose. And the advertiser gets better visibility since the taxi can roam from place to place with different customers aboard. This can prove to be beneficial for marketers than billboard ads which are fixed and whose effectiveness depends on the billboard location. Also on elevators, companies have installed a wireless digital screen which broadcasts short news and entertainment programs. The recall rate increases with frequent travel. Mastercard provided complimentary