All goods or services get a chance to be bought only when potential buyers have an idea about them. Advertising is used to inform people. Its task is sometimes much broader than it seems at first glance. It is multifaceted and multifunctional. There are also many ways to convey advertising. In a world where the number of advertisements and posters is simply impossible to calculate, more and more interesting solutions must be devised so that certain goods or services are seen.
What is advertising?
Advertising is an informational impact on a potential buyer in order to interest him in a particular service or product. It can be presented in various forms:
- radio advertising;
- television;
- newspaper and magazine ads;
- booklets;
- mailing list;
- product samples
- tastings, etc.
Advertising can be used to achieve different tactical and strategic goals:
- brand awareness;
- Presentation of a new product or a new product in the line of already manufactured products;
- new service;
- increased loyalty;
- notification of discounts and sales, etc.
From a functional point of view, advertising is one of the most widely used marketing tools. It can be combined with others or used as the only way to increase the recognition of a product or service.
Advertising is different
To understand such a thing as non-standard advertising, it is important to begin to understand what is called standard advertising. The classic advertisement is distributed through the usual channels: radio, newspapers and magazines, television. Such advertising is called ATL (literally above-the-line or "above the line"). Non-standard advertising is already BTL (below-the-line or "below the line"). This can be a whole range of different techniques and communications, which is aimed at achieving the same goals as ATL advertising, but through less traditional channels. It is generally accepted that such marketing communications more effectively achieve their goals.
Due to the increase in the number of people who prefer the Internet to newspapers and television, SMM, i.e. social media marketing or social media marketing, is becoming increasingly popular. It can be either ATL or BTL. For example, placing advertising articles in an online publication will still refer to traditional communications, but viral advertising in the form of unusual clips or even videos with product placement elements (product placement) will already be an example of BTL technology.
Custom Advertising Methods
What are BTL technologies and how can they be used? Most often, non-standard advertising is understood as advertising placed in unusual places, distributed through unexpected channels or characterized by its unusual shape. Slightly less often, this term is used to promote standard products.
As a rule, such advertising is developed individually for each need. When creating, all the nuances are taken into account: from sizes to placement. Although the price of such advertising may be higher than traditional (just because of complete exclusivity), but taking into account the possibilities of reaching a larger audience, the price for a single advertising contact may be several times lower.
The advantage of this approach is the ability to isolate an advertisement from the flow of others, and in some cases save money by filtering out an undesirable audience or, conversely, by drawing additional attention to the announcement of those who were not part of the target group, but for some reason has similar characteristics with her.
Custom ad example
Where can I place an ad so that a very large number of people see it. In a big city, this can be done in the subway. The number of people visiting this place every day is huge. Very often they have to stand and wait for the train, so they often look around to kill time. Many of them will pay attention to colorful and unusual advertisements on the wall, on the ceiling or floor at the station.
For advertising, you can also use travel documents, the interior inside the cars and even the cars themselves. In addition, inside you can set a board with a running line or plasma on which videos will be broadcast, advertise something through a speaker and so on.
The difficulty of placing such advertising (in addition to the cost of directly installing the necessary equipment) lies in the problems with determining the target audience. As you know, not all products can be advertised the same way. More expensive goods and services, the so-called luxury products, are not suitable for placement in this way. Therefore, before choosing this method of communication, you need to conduct advertising research.
Where can I place such an advertisement
There are many places to place BTL ads. This may be advertising in the subway, by car, air advertising, promotions in certain places, advertising on envelopes, checks, receipts, etc. Even asphalt advertising falls into this category.
The choice of place and method of placing non-standard solutions in advertising directly depends on the goals set by the organizers of communication. So, it depends on the target audience, its socio-economic, cultural and intellectual characteristics.
For example, you can place an advertisement on a park bench or on a playground if the advertisement itself is aimed at children and their parents.
No matter how strange it may sound, partisan advertising will also be a non-standard marketing solution. Taxi service ads painted on asphalt at a public transportation waiting area. This, of course, is not the most ethical, but one hundred percent effective move.
The effectiveness of such advertising
The results of surveys and tests speak in favor of non-standard methods of promotion. Some evidence suggests that such a feed can be up to 85% more effective than classic magazine or TV ads. Even prime time ads (the most popular time to watch TV) may be less successful than non-standard ads, such as metro ads.
Such advertising often makes it possible to see a product or service from a new angle, show its unusual side, attract a new target audience, and even better understand the advertised product itself.