INTRODUCTIONThe term 'below the line' is used in marketing promotion and refers to all promotional activities that do not include mass media communications or advertising such as television, radio, newspapers etc. 'Below the line' means using promotional activities such as special discounts, money back coupons, competitions, trade discounts, reduced price, etc. to promote or advertise a product or company. Use of below the line activities is becoming more frequent in the marketing mix of the big companies and not only for those producing fast moving consumer good (fmcg) products but also for companies who produce industrial goods etc. Pressure on marketing teams to achieve communications objective on limited budgets effectively have forced them to adapt below the line activities because it is efficient, cost effective, more personal than impersonal and targets the appropriate market. A lot of below the line activities are also seen as sales promotions.
RANGE OF OBJECTIVESThere are a range of objectives likely to be set in using 'below the line' activities.
Thos. H. Corpe, Director, Advertising and Sales Pr...
English: Swiss parking disk (early 70s). Selected ...
English: Promotional action "Buy Croatian" 2011 in...A company could be looking to increase the company's share of the market, expand into new geographical markets, introduce new products, attract new users, increase sales performance and increase the awareness of a brand. But a company can only meet these objectives by getting the products out there to the right consumer at the right time via the right methods and the right place. A good place to start is with a below the line marketing tool known as sales promotion. According to the Institute of Sales Promotion (ISP); "sales promotion is a range of technical marketing techniques, designed within a strategic marketing framework, to add value to a product or, in order to achieve a specific sales and marketing objective." The below the line activity of sales promotion is normally only short term and...