Advertising: Below-the-line

Advertising can be divided into two (sometimes three, but we’ll get to that later) categories.

Below-the-line advertising involves direct, one-to-one communication between the brand or company and its specific target audience. Examples include pamphlet distribution, handbills, stickers and promotions.

We were tasked with analysing five social media platforms and answering questions based on the way in which they advertised. I used Facebook as one of my examples.

Next we learned about guerilla advertising, a strategy whereby businesses aim to promote their businesses in an unconventional, eye-catching manner. Most guerilla marketing campaigns run on very little budget and therefore the strength usually lies in the simplicity and uniqueness of the executions, as well as the USP’s behind them.

We were then tasked with coming up with a guerilla advertisement of our own.

Upon reflection, my campaign could have been a lot stronger. However, I was finding that whenever I would come up with an idea, it would be based on something I had previously seen and therefore would not be unique enough to be powerful. A better understanding of my brand and target market would likely have been able to solve my problem.