# Advertising glossary

> Plain definitions of the advertising terms used in India, from ATL and BTL to unipoles, release orders, INS accreditation and GRPs, written by our team in Lucknow.

URL: https://mmadvertising.org/insights/advertising-glossary/  
Updated: 2026-10-07

## Hindi terms you will hear

- **विज्ञापन (vigyapan)**: advertisement
- **प्रचार (prachar)**: publicity or promotion
- **होर्डिंग (hoarding)**: hoarding
- **पर्चा (parcha)**: leaflet
- **प्रचार वाहन (prachar vahan)**: publicity vehicle, such as an LED van

## Terms

- **ATL (above the line)**: Advertising in mass media such as television, radio, newspapers and cinema, reaching many people at once.
- **BTL (below the line)**: Marketing that reaches people directly and in person: activations, sampling, roadshows, in-store branding and events.
- **TTL (through the line)**: A campaign that combines ATL and BTL and links them, for example a newspaper ad that sends people to an activation.
- **360° campaign**: A campaign planned across every relevant medium at once, with one plan, one calendar and one message.
- **Activation**: An in-person brand experience in a market, mall, campus or society, where people can see, try or ask about a product.
- **Sampling**: Giving people a product to try, usually through trained promoters at activations or in stores.
- **Roadshow**: A campaign that moves from place to place on a planned route, often with an LED van or branded vehicle.
- **Canopy**: A branded tent or shade used as the base of an activation.
- **Kiosk**: A small branded stall used at activations, in malls or in stores.
- **Standee**: A free-standing printed display, often life-size, used in stores and at events.
- **POP / POS**: Point-of-purchase or point-of-sale material: displays and branding where people buy.
- **Dealer branding**: Shop boards, displays and signage installed at a brand’s dealers and retailers.
- **Haat**: A weekly market in a village or small town, a common place for rural activations.
- **Mela**: A fair, religious or seasonal, that draws large crowds.
- **OOH (out of home)**: Advertising people see outside the home: hoardings, transit, airports, malls and street furniture.
- **DOOH (digital out of home)**: Outdoor advertising on digital screens, which can show video and change creative by time of day.
- **Hoarding**: A large printed advertising board beside a road; called a billboard in some countries.
- **Unipole**: A hoarding mounted on one tall pole, visible from far away on highways and wide roads.
- **Gantry**: An advertising structure that spans the road, seen head-on by traffic.
- **Backlit**: A display lit from behind, through a translucent print.
- **Front-lit**: A display lit by lamps in front of it.
- **Flex**: Printed PVC sheet used for hoardings and banners.
- **Vinyl**: A printed adhesive film used for vehicles, glass and smooth surfaces.
- **LED van**: A vehicle fitted with a large LED screen and a sound system that carries video advertising on planned routes.
- **Airport media**: Advertising in airport terminals, at gates, in baggage halls, on trolleys and on approach roads.
- **Display ad**: A newspaper or magazine ad placed among the editorial pages, priced by area and position.
- **Classified ad**: A small newspaper ad grouped by category, as text or a small box.
- **Column centimetre**: A unit of newspaper space one column wide and one centimetre deep, used to price display ads.
- **Rate card**: A publisher’s or media owner’s published prices for its advertising.
- **Release order (RO)**: The agency’s written order to a publication or media owner to run an ad on given dates, at given rates.
- **Supplement**: A special section of a newspaper built around a theme, an event or an advertiser.
- **Advertorial**: Paid content written in the style of an article, marked as advertising.
- **Jacket**: A newspaper page that wraps the front of the paper, sold to one advertiser.
- **Insert**: A leaflet placed inside newspapers for chosen areas.
- **Tear sheet**: A copy of the published page, given as proof that a print ad ran.
- **INS**: The Indian Newspaper Society, the body of newspaper and periodical publishers in India, based in New Delhi, which accredits advertising agencies.
- **INS accreditation**: Recognition of an advertising agency by the Indian Newspaper Society, giving access to facilities such as credit from member publications under the Society’s rules.
- **CBC**: The Central Bureau of Communication, the Government of India’s media unit for government advertising, formed in 2017 from the Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP) and other units.
- **Telecast certificate**: A channel’s record of when an ad was broadcast, given as proof for television advertising.
- **Reach**: The number or share of people who see a campaign at least once.
- **Frequency**: How many times, on average, each person reached sees a campaign.
- **GRP (gross rating point)**: A measure of television weight: reach multiplied by frequency, expressed in rating points.
- **Impressions**: The number of times an ad is shown, counting repeat views.
- **CPM**: Cost per thousand impressions, a way to compare the price of media.
- **Lead**: A person who has shown interest and shared contact details.
- **QR code**: A square code a phone camera can scan to open a page or a chat, used to make print and outdoor ads measurable.
- **Proof of execution**: Evidence that booked advertising ran as agreed, such as dated photographs, published copies and broadcast logs.
- **Media plan**: The choice of media, formats, places, dates and budget for a campaign.

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MM Advertising, SF-8, ABC Complex, 6 Quinton Road, Lucknow 226001, Uttar Pradesh, India. Phone +91 93355 51113, +91 93362 22242. Email mm.advertising@gmail.com. https://mmadvertising.org/