It stands for above the line; an advertising or marketing technique in which promotional activities are carried out through mass media, such as television, cinema, radio, newspaper, world wide web (e.g. websites or search engines), etc. All marketing expenditures that are incurred and on which a commission is usually paid to an agency are considered above-the-line. This type of promotional marketing is conventional in nature and is deemed impersonal to customers, i.e. it doesn’t address named persons or institutions. In this sense, it differs from below-the-line (BTL) advertising, which is principally based on unconventional brand-building strategies, such as direct mail and printed media.