Above the line (ATL) is an advertising technique using mass media to promote brands. Major above-the-line techniques include TV and radio advertising, print advertising and internet banner ads. This type of communication is conventional in nature and is considered impersonal to customers.

It differs from BTL (Below the line), that believes in unconventional brand-building strategies, such as direct mail. The ATL strategy makes use of current traditional media: television, newspapers, magazines, radio, outdoor, and internet.

The term comes from accountancy and is to do with the way in which P&G, one of the world’s biggest clients, were charged for their media. Advertising agencies made so much commission from booking media for clients that the creative generation and actual production costs of making TV ads was free - hence above the line. Everything else they paid for and was therefore below the line.

That was the model in the 50s and 60s and really doesn’t work like that any more. Clients aren’t charged for their media in that way so the term has changed.

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 way less likely to get millions of people watching the same side at the same time. Actually you are way more likely to get millions of people walking past the same communication in Wal Mart.

Obviously the internet is the one remaining mass communication channel. But when people engage with internet advertising it is usually because they are responding to highly targeted content-driven websites. But can these really be called mass media? Just because it’s on the internet doesn’t mean the whole world will look at it.

Increasingly, the skills learnt in below the line advertising such as specific targeting and specification of communication are being used in mass media, particularly the internet. But really, the terms above and below the line are becoming less and less relevant when we talk about advertising. Largely above the line is used as a qualitative statement rather than a strategic one. Agencies still often define themselves as above the line. These tend to be the ones that think that they still have a monopoly over brands and ideas but more and more they are finding that this is not the case.

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The customer retention process actually begins during acquisition, which creates customer expectations, including perceptions of product value and uniqueness. Initial product usage determines whether these expectations are met. Then other factors, such as ease of exit, ease of purchase, and customer service, come into play. Together these factors affect long-term customer behavior and determine the relationship between seller and buyer.

In this model, there are seven determinants of customer retention:
1. Customer expectations versus the delivered quality of the product or service
2. Value
3. Product uniqueness and suitability
4. Loyalty mechanisms
5. Ease of purchase
6. Customer service
7. Ease of exit (lock-out provisions)

The following subsections briefly explain how each variable affects cus¬tomer retention.

CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS VERSUS DELIVERED QUALITY
Customers do not simply evaluate a product or service on its own merits. They evaluate it relative to their expectations. This is a crucial issue, because through its market communications a firm sets customer expectations. When customer expectations are too high (though this can generate initial trial) and the delivered product does not meet those expectations, the customer will not repeat-purchase. Thus a critical factor in determining retention is the difference between the customer's expectations and the delivered quality of the product or service. Raising expectation levels generates trial, but overly high expectations contribute to low retention. A firm must strike the optimal bal¬ance between expectations and delivered quality.

VALUE
Here, we define value as quality divided by price. A firm can provide greater value either by offering higher quality and matching the competition on price or by offering the same quality at a lower price. Unfortunately, firms often try to justify higher prices by arguing that they provide greater quality. But quality is difficult to define and measure. From a customer equity perspective, firms should trade off the potential price premium against the risk of customer defection—and the resulting loss of substantial retention equity.

PRODUCT UNIQUENESS AND SUITABILITY
The more different (or less substitutable) a product is, the greater the retention rate. When a customer has access to almost identical products or services, the probability of purchasing any particular one decreases significantly.

In addition, it is critical that products remain relevant to customers. Just as the use of "acquisition products" is important in obtaining new customer assets, so too companies should ensure that their product portfolios contain "retention" offerings that customers can trade up to as they proceed through their life cycles.

LOYALTY MECHANISMS
Loyalty mechanisms can generate high retention rates even when competing products or services are almost identical. The airlines have used frequent-flyer programs to generate high degrees of loyalty even though their services are very similar. Retailers now use frequent-shopper cards or credit cards to induce customer loyalty. Neiman-Marcus has its In Circle card, which offers special services to its better customers. Target, a mass discounter, entices customers to use its credit card by donating 1 percent of their purchases to education. Such loyalty mechanisms, which link usage and rewards, can become very powerful generators of retention.

EASINESS OF PURCHASE
Some products and services are very difficult to find or purchase, which hurts preservation. For example, a customer will not regularly buy a specialty brand of stocking if it is not widely available, even if the product is highly differentiated.

Ease of purchase is not only a consideration for retail companies; manufacturers of specialty industrial components also need to make sure that their products are easily available to buyers. W.W. Grainger addresses this problem by widely distributing specialty suppliers' prod¬ucts to the construction industry. Aeroquip, a maker of specialty hoses and fittings, invested in retail stores because it found that customers needed its products quickly. Because of the emergency nature of fixing a broken hose, if their customers could not obtain Aeroquip's brand within a short time period, they changed brands.

CUSTOMER SERVICE
Clearly, customer service is an important factor in customer retention. In some recent studies, customer service was the most important determinant of whether or not a customer would defect from a firm. But defining customer service is not as easy for a company to do as it may seem.

Customer service has many components, and many parts of an organization provide it. Accounting provides customer service when it solves a customer's billing problems, logistics handles customer service problems when the product is not delivered, and engineering provides customer service when it shows a customer how to utilize the equipment more efficiently or how to increase production-line speed through a minor product modification. Customer service opportunities are pervasive in any organization.

The issue becomes how best to manage the process. No simple answer exists. Some companies have customer service representatives who are responsible for handling all customer problems. Other companies decentralize the process. For the customer equity-oriented manager, evaluating the range of service options comes down to three questions:

• What customers will this service approach retain, and for how long?
• What is the potential asset value of those customers?
• Does the retention equity created exceed the service cost?

EASE OF EXIT
Exit barriers offer one strategy for increasing retention. Examples of these barriers include programs that reward continued use based on historical usage; product-design characteristics that make it difficult to change suppliers; and product-learning curves that make it costly to switch to competing products.

Source of Reference:
Robert C. Blattberg, Gary Getz, and Jacquelyn S. Thomas, Customer Equity: Building and Managing Relationships As Valuable Assets, Harvard Business School Press.

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Now you don't need to shell out $4000 a day just to get an idea of how Jay Conrad Levinson's Seven Step Marketing Plan works. This is a must-have for every budding Internet marketer. These are things you have to think over and write down before you go about your business.

Purpose
What is the purpose of your business? This will be your guiding star when it comes to building your business. Your purpose is very important so that you will be able to anchor yourself effectively in the business. Most businesses are created to fill a need. What particular need will your business fill in this big world where purchases are being made left and right?

Benefits
What benefits will the people have in your business? If you were to put yourself in the place of your customer, what will he see from your business that will be most useful to him? Remember, you cannot expect to get people's attention unless they get to benefit from you.

Target Audience
This is also another important question you must ask yourself. Who is your target audience? You cannot just aim your arrows without the right target. In order to be very efficient in what you do, you need to focus your attention somewhere specific. You will not be able to get too many subscribers if your business is too general.

Marketing Weapons
What will you be using to be able to achieve your ends? Will it be heavily on affiliate marketing techniques, display ads, Ezine ads or the like? You can't have everything, especially when you are starting out. So the best way to maximize your resources is by means of naming which of the techniques you would choose to focus on for your business.

Niche or Sub-target
A target audience is a general group of people you want to give your services to. A sub-target or niche are the particular sub-group within the wide group you have chosen to cater to.

Identity
You are not the only one in the world who chose to aim your services at that particular target market you have pre-selected. So if you really want to stand out, you must have that trademark by which the people will remember you by. What will be your business identity? What will you be best known for in the business you have chosen to put up?

Budget
This caps off the seven steps to marketing. The budget aspect is the border which sets the scope of your marketing capabilities. How much are you willing to shell out for your marketing venture? If you are to market with higher degrees of scale and technology, you will be expected to give out as much.

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Part One- Market:
Objective: Identify and learn about the market segments you currently target and wish to target in the future– what motivates them to consider your products, what is their buying process, how do they consume media and how can we leverage former customer into longer term value for the business.

Steps to Accomplish:
* Learn Current Market Segmentation- Geographic, Demographic, Psychographic, Behaviorial
* Profile Market Segments- Revenue potential, Market share potential, Profitability potential, Lifetime customer value
* Market Research- Primary (research you've commissioned on your own) and Secondary (industry research)

Part Two-Product:
Objective: Learn about the current portfolio of products and new product introductions being planned, primary and secondary uses, usage differences by market, core product benefits, competitors and competitive differentiators, seasonality, historical offers and measurement, lifecycle plan, profitability, complementary products in portfolio or outside portfolio, pricing and profitability.

Steps to Accomplish:
o Product management presentations on above
o Sample analysis and review
o Competitive analysis and technology trends
o Usage and satisfaction research- primary, secondary

Part Three- Business Objectives:
Objective: Understand key business initiatives, market conditions and revenue goals that will guide decision making.

Steps to Accomplish:
+ This year's Business Plan – define objectives for the business in the short and long-term.

Part Four- Marketing budget, Prior efforts & results, other planned tactics & timing:
Objective: Learn the parameters of the marketing plan including budget, previous efforts and success measurements, planned tactics such as committed resources, major sales campaigns and tradeshow events.

Steps to Accomplish:
+ Marketing meeting to review information and develop calendar of know tactics and market touch points.

Market Plan recommendation will include:
At the completion of this four step process, you should assemble a complete integrated marketing plan based on your business objectives, market segments, market research, product offerings, competitive positioning, and history of marketing success. This document should contain:
+ An overview of learnings, challenges and trends
+ Customer and prospect constituent groups
+ Key market touch points and communications strategies
+ Tactical recommendations
+ Measurement
+ Budget, Return, ROI

It is highly recommended that the plan incorporate a certain level of flexibility at the tactical level. As with any marketing campaign strategy, tactics should incorporate split tests, review and rework of marketing tactics. Budget should be repositioned to support marketing campaigns that show the greatest success.

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