News
 Will
Direct Marketing Spending Grow?
Marketers are spending more on direct response
efforts, which include database marketing, direct
mail, interactive marketing, insert media and
promotional marketing. How much more will it grow?
According to a recent report by consulting firm
Winterberry Group, there’s been a shift from what it
terms as “above-the-line” (ATL) marketing to
“below-the-line” (BTL) marketing channels. The
Winterberry Group defines ATL marketing channels as
brand building efforts such as television, radio and
print ads, as well as outdoor advertising and the
yellow pages. BTL marketing is defined by the
company as database marketing, direct mail,
interactive marketing, insert media and promotional
marketing.
Here are some of the findings from the report:
• BTL spending is expected to grow at 7.8 percent
annually, from 2003 to 2007, while ATL advertising
is expected to increase by an average of 5.5 percent
each year.
• Annual growth for the whole industry is predicted
at 6.9 percent.
The report also reveals why the shift is going
towards the direction of BTL marketing. Here’s a
list of seven key trends directly affecting the
shift in marketing budgets:
• Changing consumer demographics decrease the
influence of traditional mass-media marketing
messages.
• Growing consumer sophistication heightens the
demand for channel-agnostic communications.
• Widespread marketing “clutter” decreases the
impact of commercial messages that don’t address
specific and individually relevant consumer needs.
• Enhanced information availability empowers both
marketers and consumers with insight that allows for
precise customer targeting and intelligent purchase
decisions.
• Heightened client pressure to deliver quantifiable
value forces marketing service providers to
re-evaluate services platforms.
• Growing effectiveness of multichannel campaigns
reinforce demand for tactics that establish
one-to-one relationships between marketers and
consumers.
• Rapid technological advances allow for
consumer/marketer interactions that are frequent,
easier and more relevant than previously possible.
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