Feature: The Blurring of the line

If asked to describe Sales Promotion, many would use the words “below the line”. However, times have changed and this phrase is now flippantly used and can often pigeonhole people’s perceptions of our industry. Where did the phrase come from and are we still restricted by the enigma that divides us and the ad agencies?

The birth of the line

Type it into various internet search engines and they will tell you that its origins lie in accountancy and are to do with the way in which P&G, one of the world’s biggest clients, were charged for their media. Ad agencies made so much commission from booking media for clients that the creative generation and production costs of making the ads was free - hence above the line. Everything else was paid for and was therefore below the line.

Ever since the 50s and 60s “the line” under various guises has divided the advertising community and those who work in other marketing disciplines. 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 far less likely to get millions of people watching the same channel at the same time. With many television channels these days, you’re just as likely to get more people walking past a communication point in different branches of Tescos.

Moving forward to integration

The line is rapidly going out of fashion, particularly with those who traditionally operated below it. The media choice is now so vast that you cannot rely on just TV or press - a good campaign has to be integrated into various channels. Some agencies still define themselves as above the line with ignorance telling they have a monopoly over brands and ideas.

Simon Mahoney, founding partner of SMP, agrees that things have changed for the SP agencies: “The line was much more apparent 10 years ago. It was rare for the Andrex puppy to be advertised above the line but we now have integrated campaigns for brands such as Microsoft, Andrex and Kleenex all using above the line media” Mahoney continues: “We’re not regimented anymore, there is no line and it shouldn’t have been there in the first place. Every campaign should be integrated”.

The old definition is holding back Sales Promotion in a media landscape that should allow it to prosper. Media choice is now far wider which will encourage the two way communication with consumers that it needs. If Sales Promotion is the message or call to action that is inside the media, it does not make sense that we use a definition that describes the actual type of media used, and not the content.

Simon Mahoney continues: “SP is all in the message and the media will vary from campaign to campaign. We must remain media neutral and think ‘Where do consumers consume media?’ and then target them”.

In an industry that is constantly changing and more than willing to embrace new euphemisms, let’s not sit back and let another “line” come along to hold us back in a time of real opportinity. Whether we need another description that truly represents what we do is not necessarily the point. The point is that we are not held back by the “line” anymore. SP is what is in the message, the call to action, not how it gets there.