Above and Below the Line

While researching, I came across the idea of above and below the line advertising. For a non-marketing guy still trying to fully grasp the complexity of integrated marketing communications, my head was starting to spin. Somebody had moved the goalposts.

However after reading on I discovered where above and below the line came from. They did in fact grow out of different accountancy terms for agency payments. Advertising agencies were paid on commission, while other agencies were not - hence the distinction. Accountants used to draw the "line" between payments made to advertising agencies and payments made to other agencies. 

It is not logical for marketers to define marketing communications by the way the agency gets paid. This distinction has no value as it does not consider the purpose or objective of the communication. A better definition of marcoms would be based on what they are trying to achieve.The CIM (Chartered Institute of Marketing) MNP (Media-Neutral Planning) research group concluded that these terms were derogatory and meaningless.

In the age of social media and the Internet, these terms are especially redundant. There are many more vehicles now for reaching customers making it increasingly important to pick the right one to reach your target audience. In order to do this, you need to know how each of these vehicles will serve your purpose.

These distinctions may have been okay in the past, but a worthless distinction based on financial conventions adds no value for marketing practitioners and only seeks to blur the boundaries between the marketing communications disciplines in ways that limit creativity. I think it's time to draw the line!