Literally Advertising and Promotion Budget, sometimes also referred to as ANP, Advertising ‘n’ Promotion. This is the amount of money a brand will allocate for its advertising and promotions in a year. It is defined at various levels, global brand, per country, per channel, all the way down to how much they will spend in your account.

Example of use: ‘The A&P Budget may increase next year for a brand because there is an opportunity to invest in a new brand innovation.’

Indie Bartender understanding: The pot of money which brands use to pay marketing activities like those we bartenders conduct – financing cocktail lists, brand ambassador fees, perfect serves …

A brand financed activity designed to reach defined objectives required by the brand.

Example of use: ‘Activation are the projects that marketing bring to life to support the brand and they may come in many shapes and forms to communicate brand product specifics, brand origin, brand image, or also to push innovation or sales or a brand launch.’

Indie Bartender understanding: ‘An activation is what the brand manager spends part of their money on.’

Literally Above-the-Line – The line is the theoretical median above which marketing activities create desire and build on image. An ATL strategy develops brand image which then has an effect on sales because people feel good about it … but it takes a long time.

Example of Use: ‘Advertising on TV is a big part of our ATL strategy. ‘

Indie Bartender understanding: There’s this ficticious line in marketing above which anything brands do is supposed to drive long term brand image development and then growth. No-one’s ever seen the line but marketeers and brands can talk about it all day!