2.3 ADVERTISING 32 The terms ATL and BTL were coined in 1954 when Proctor & Gamble (P&G), an American multinational consumer goods corporation, began paying agencies at different rates depending on the type of promotion activities planned. See unit 2.1. ONLINE RESOURCES Consumerism and the consumer society to arouse: stimolare confidence: fiducia rebate: sconto to retain: mantenere to spur: spronare PROMOTION AND ADVERTISING Promotion is the element of the marketing mix which involves making customers aware of the existence of a certain brand and/or product by using a variety of different strategies. Promotional strategies are short-term initiatives used to make quick sales; advertising the most common form of promotion is a longer-term and more complicated activity which also aims at creating or developing a brand s identity and establishing or strengthening a relationship with that brand. An advertising campaign decides the best combination among all these options. Promotional strategies Promotional strategies include, among others: coupons, sponsorship, social media, contests, rebates, celebrity endorsements, direct mail, influencers, free samples, informational items (flyers, catalogues), public relations, special offers, product placement, merchandising, trade shows, personal selling, and advertising. Depending on how each promotion is targeted, we can talk about: Above the line marketing (ATL), when it is aimed at a mass audience; Below the line marketing (BTL), when it is aimed at specific groups of customers; Through the line marketing (TTL), when it integrates the two strategies. MediA COst AUdienCe FeedBACK ATL Radio, TV, Newspapers, Magazines High Brand awareness Not immediately BTL Press, Email, Coupon, PR, Direct marketing Quantifiable leads Response driven Instant TTL Social Media, Web marketing, Fairs & Events Average Brand awareness Response driven Instant Advertising Advertising is an explicit form of communication which aims to reach people in order to tell them about a product or a cause and influence them to buy it or take it up. It is an extremely powerful medium of information and persuasion which combines creativity and strategy in order to deliver a message. The AIDA/AIDCAS model To create a successful promotional message, companies analyse the marketing funnel of their product. In other words, they track all the stages of the decision-making process customers go through when making a purchase and use this data to effectively create, adapt, or change their advertising following the AIDA model. The aim of this model is to draw Attention to a product in order to generate Interest in it, arouse Desire for it, and spur people to Action (in other words, have people purchase it). Analysing how many customers companies progressively lose or retain in the purchase process (from the moment the product is seen to the moment it is purchased) and at what stage or touch point (any direct or indirect contact a customer has with a brand) helps businesses make their advertising strategy more effective. To respond to the contemporary needs of advertising psychology, the AIDA model has recently been integrated with another two key elements and has become the AIDCAS model: marketers should also aim at the Satisfaction a product brings to its customers and at boosting the Confidence (or trust) customers place on the brand.