Why Above The Line Advertising will stay

By Philip De Meulemeester

Above The Line Advertising

Above-the-line promotions use mass media methods. This type of promotion focuses on advertising to a large audience. It includes print, online media, television, and cinema advertising.

Source: Business Case Studies

“The death of the 30 sec TV Spot” – Joseph Jaffe (2005) + Trevor Beattie (2013)

“Brand Marketing is no longer one-dimensional. It’s now a two-way process, with the company and consumer

in constant dialogue” – Razorfish

“Can We Kill Off 'Above the Line,' Please?” – Kevin DiLorenzo

“Advertising is dead” – Tony Uphoff

Why have we blindly accepted this?

1. We have been too obsessed with the NEW, instead of the NOW

2. We constantly overestimate our own lives and situations

1. We have been too obsessed with the NEW, instead of the NOW

2. We constantly overestimate our own lives and situations

New Media brought new opportunities

New Media brought new business jargon

Unresearched and invalid business jargon

It brought the idea we’re dealing with an active participating consumer who knows his brands, wants to

engage with those brands and will grow more loyal when the brand “talks” more to him.

HOWEVER...

Average Click Through Rate

Average Fans talking about the brands

Source 1: Shea Bennett / Media Bistro, 2012 Source 2: Karen Nelson Field + Jennifer Taylor, 2012

1.64% 0.5%

The more Twitter Followers we collect, the less likely we will reach those people

Source: Shea Bennett / Media Bistro, 2012

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

50-1000 Followers 1k-5k Followers 5k-10k Followers >10k Followers

% Cl

ick Th

rough

Rate

Source: European Commission – Media Use in the European Union, 2012

• In Europe, TV is still by far the most watched medium. • Even Radio is still higher than the Internet.

% pe

ople

every

day +

2-3/w

eek

0102030405060708090

100

WatchTelevision on aTV set + via the

Internet

WatchTelevision on a

TV set

Listen to theRadio

Read theWritten Press

Use the Internet Use onlineSocial

Networks

WatchTelevision via

the Internet

• The average American spent about six times more time watching live TV than on the web.

• 97% of all video was viewed on a television. Less than 3% was viewed online. • About 0.5% of video viewing was done on a mobile phone. • Average live TV viewing increased by more than 1.5 hours a month compared to

last year. • 92% of TV viewing was done live. 8% was time-shifted (DVR.) • TV viewing remains at record high levels.

Source: Nielsen – Cross-Platform Report, 2013

In 2013,

“Of Course!” They say...

... “We reach less people yet talk to the ones that matter”

Source: TNS data for UK, 2005

More than 30% of all buyers buy Coca-Cola less than once a year.

The “ones that matter” don’t make up for your business sales

I’m a Facebook Fan I’m on their Newsletter list I read and watch their content I have never bought anything from them

Brand Sales Volume

Buyer Group % of Sample

Buying Frequency in Year 1

Year 1 Year 2

Non-Buyers 44 0 0 14

Light Buyers 22 1 14 16

Moderate Buyers 25 2-4 43 36

Heavy Buyers 9 5+ 43 34

Total 100 100 100

Source: Anschuetz, 2002; US IRI panel data

• 14% of the sales came from people not buying the previous year • 9% less sales from the heavy or “loyal” buyers, which accounted only for one third

of total sales in the second year

Sales of Tomato Sauce brand in the US:

Only talking to your “loyal” consumers will kill your business

“Your brand’s health depends on lots people who don’t know you well, don’t think of you much and don’t buy you often, if at all.”

- Martin Weigel, W+K

The market is like a big auditorium, where bigger brands own more seats

and where people sit in slighty different seats each time, influenced by where their acquaintances sit at that moment

Reference: Mark Earls – Herd, 2009

We’ve been obsessed with the NEW so we could grow our own advertising / media business

While the numbers are crystal clear: Mass reach is still the most effective method for a brand to grow

Reference: Byron Sharp – How Brands Grow, 2010

We are not Silicon Valley, We are in the business to make our clients money.

And to do so in the most effective and creative ways.

So let us please focus less on the NEW And more on the NOW

Above The Line Advertising reaches as many people as possbile, no matter

what medium

More than often, the ones that didn’t care about us at all

We assumed those people did care about what we do

and who we are because:

1. We have been too obsessed with the NEW, instead of the NOW

2. We constantly overestimate our own lives and situations

0

20

40

60

80

100

Sky Freeview Virgin Media

Ad People

Normal People

Advertising people vs. normal people:

Similar TV platform use...

Source: TV Nation, Ipsos Media CT/Thinkbox, 2013

% of

peop

le

Advertising people vs. normal people:

but not technology ownership...

Source: TV Nation, Ipsos Media CT/Thinkbox, 2013

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Laptop/PC Smartphone Tablet Game Console

Ad People

Normal People% of

peop

le

Advertising people vs normal people:

and definitely not social media usage.

Source: TV Nation, Ipsos Media CT/Thinkbox, 2013

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Facebook YouTube Twitter LinkedIn Instagram Pinterest

Ad People

Normal People% of

peop

le

We as marketers see the world in brands and media, just like doctors see the world in diseases

Our career bias and jargon overestimates the real world in terms of brands and culture on a daily basis and it

infiltrates our objectives, KPI’s and creativity

73% Most people worldwide would not care if more than

of brands disappeared tomorrow

Source: Havas Media – Meaningful Brands, 2013

1/5 Only

brands are perceived as making a meaningful difference in people's lives

Source: Havas Media – Meaningful Brands, 2013

“If anyone here is in advertising or marketing... Kill yourself”

- Bill Hicks

The advertising profession has always been one of the least favoured by people,

and the modern ways by which we are bothering them again have only nurtured and grown that annoyance

How can we make sure our work aims to be meaningful, valuable and effective again?

I Embrace the fact that

passive consumption is far from dead

II Get to the business objective first

before thinking How and Who to reach

III Be at the front of everything New but work with what works Now

IV Accept that barely anybody cares about what you do or who you are

V Try to understand culture and people,

rather than devices and technology

VI Fight for people’s attention

instead of assuming they’re listening to you

Thank You.

philipdemeulemeester@gmail.com http://philipdm.wordpress.com