The Marketing Book 5th Edition

ENVIRONMENTAL

ANALYSIS

Identify problems

and opportunities

INTERNAL

ANALYSIS

Resources,

capabilities and

corporate strategy

MARKETING

STRATEGY

SALES

PROMOTION

STRATEGY

SELLING

STRATEGY

PR

STRATEGY

ADVERTISING

COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGY

OBJECTIVES

BUDGET AND

STRATEGY

EVALUATION

AND

FEEDBACK

IMPLEMENTATION

Timing, Design

Delivery

Fulfilment

SALES PROMOTION

PLAN

Concept, Objectives

Targeting

Message and Media

'ABOVE-THE-LINE'

'BELOW-THE-LINE'

Sales promotion 465

each of which form a theme for the rest of this
chapter:

 Communication capabilities.
 Relationship building capabilities.
 Flexibility and manageability.

Sales promotion and advertising – the line and the pendulum

Communications budgets are often spoken of as
being invested ‘above the line’ and ‘below the

line’. This ‘line’ originally denoted whether or

not communications efforts were channelled

through advertising agencies. With sales and PR

often classified as separate functions, ‘below the

line’ has become synonymous with sales promo-

tion. The existence of this conceptual divide

casts advertising and sales promotion in the role

of rivals for the biggest share of a company’s

marketing communications budget.

During the 1980s and 1990s there was a

gradual shift in marketing communications

emphasis and expenditure away from tradi-

tional ‘brand sell’ advertising and towards sales

promotion. This shift of emphasis reflects

Figure 18.3 The sales promotion planning process