BTL Promotions – The hero of Experiential Marketing

In a recent chat with one of the Directors of a Delhi based event management company, I was shocked to learn that companies which spent 5% of their marketing budget on below the line activities a decade ago are now spending 25% - 30% of the same. And industry experts say that this will soon reach 50% !!!. The dependence on mass media is gradually seen to be decreasing and more spends are seen on the experiential marketing side. The environmental forces seem to be forcing the brand managers to find more innovative ways to reach and communicate with the empowered customers.

This experiential marketing is coming handy to the brand managers. It is a concept that integrates elements of emotions, logic, and general thought processes to connect with the consumer. The goal of experiential marketing is to establish the connection in such a way that the consumer responds to a product offering based on both emotional and rational response levels. Appealing to a variety of senses, experiential marketing seeks to tap into that special place within consumers that has to do with inspiring thoughts about comfort and pleasure, as well as inspiring a sense of practicality. This means that the marketer needs to have a firm grasp on the mindset of the target audience he or she wishes to attract. By understanding what the consumer is likely to think and feel, it is possible to get an idea of how to steer the customer in a direction that will relate with the product, and entice individuals to act on that impulse to purchase¹.

Though loosely defined, a 'line' divides the communication mediums into two categories. 'Above the line' (ATL) promotion is done for mass audience and it aims at establishing brand identity or increase brand awareness. This type of communication is conventional in nature and is considered impersonal to customers. The mediums considered under this category include Television, Radio, Print Media (newspapers and magazines), Cinema, Internet and Out of Home (OOH) advertising.

'Below the line' (BTL) promotion refers to forms of non-media communication of advertising. Such promotions target specific individuals and involve them. It focuses on direct means of communication which are expected to induce transactions or lead to increase in sales,. BTL promotions include activities such as direct mails, exhibitions and events, sponsorship activities, public relations and sales promotions.

Broadly put, everything done prior to a customer's actual entry into an outlet is ATL and most of the activities performed inside the store are BTL activities. With increasing pressure on marketing teams to achieve communication objectives more efficiently and with a limited budget, there has been a need to find out more effective and cost efficient ways to communicate with the target consumers. This has further led to increasing shift from the regular media based advertising to target advertising². 

References

1.     http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-experiential-marketing.htm

2.     White paper - “Indian Advertising Industry – An Overview”, June 2011, www.upohan.com