I keep hearing a lot about ATL & BTL advertising/marketing campaigning. What exactly do there terms mean?

Thanks for A2A!First to define:-ATL: Above The Line, refers to conventional advertising techniques which are targeted for mass. Example; visual, audio and print media. Even Internet (ads).BTL: Below The Line, refers to advertising techniques tailored specifically for specific customers, region or preference. Examples; brouchers, phamplets, banners, kiosks, prmotional events like live demos of product (Have you seen a newly launched car at display at some famous place like mall, road. Or have you seen guys/girls preparing Tea and giving out to people to try/taste, yeah that as well!)When to go for ATL :- When you want to reach out to a large number of potential customers as ATL has deeper penetration if not specific. Ads are also designed to have a mass appeal. Print/Audio/Visual/Internet! You have a budget for this. As ATL is more expensive. TV spots, Newspaper sections, Radio spots and famous sites all cost dearly! When to go for BTL :- When you actually want to get the reviews for your product from specific audience. It's like testing the waters before jumping into it (Keeping in mind the next step would be ATL or large scale BTL). Like you must have seen door to door salesman, giving samples of product and asking for reviews. People giving demos/samples of products in malls or any place (the choice of place also matters!). When your budget is low. Many a times, it's the reason for BTL, as not all, have the money for ATL activities. When you have a specific type of audience defined in your mind. Just go and target them. Why waste money on a TV/Newspaper ad? Now, you must have witnessed yourself, something coming from both of the techniques, haven't you?There's another fancy term for that called TTL (Through The Line), which includes best of both worlds. It makes great sense, for any big brand to go this way, not only because they would have money for this but because this way not only they can reach out to a large number of potential customers but can also engage directly with them. Now agencies can find many creative ways to do this. Like engaging your audience through some contest through social media or what not. All of this in addition to print/tv/internet ads.I hope this helps :)

ATL - Above the line - Mass media like TV ads , newspaper and billboards BTL - Below the Line more one to one and direct customer connect like tradeshows , sampling ,events and sales promotions

Target audience ATL - Mass BTL - Targeted This is an excellent example of an BTL campaign This campaign talks about a free breakfast sampling campaign targeted only to the consumers (between 5AM - 9AM) of Cab service in cities. So here, target audience is early travelers making it a perfect choice for the Cab service as a partner. Generally BTL campaigns have a low budget than ATL and hence fuels innovation. Types ATL - Print, TV, OOH, Radio, Cinema BTL - Sampling, Discounts, Email With advent of , these days TTL (Thorught the Line) is also emerging. TTL is basically, involves both the strategies (ATL and BTL).

I think   has done a good job of answering (definition wise) below. Only one thing to add...people in marketing communications who still use these terms are definitely are outdated. Because when you add digital to BTL - it becomes ATL in today's era. There is only consumer engagement & consumer experience creation - not ATL or BTL anymore - that method of thinking will lead you no where.