"Advertising is paid, one-way communication through a medium in which the sponsor is identified and the message is controlled. Variations include publicity, public relations, product placement, sponsorship, underwriting, and sales promotion. Every major medium is used to deliver these messages, including: television, radio, movies, magazines, newspapers, the Internet, and billboards. Advertisements can also be seen on the seats of grocery carts, on the walls of an airport walkway, on the sides of buses, heard in telephone hold messages and in-store PA systems. Advertisements are usually placed anywhere an audience can easily and/or frequently access visuals and/or audio, especially on clothing."
Corporate Advertising is the easiest and fastest option available for organizations to communicate their identity. It can be defined as paid use of media that seeks to benefit the image of the corporation as a whole rather than its products or services alone.
There are three categories of corporate advertising: image advertising, financial advertising, and issue advocacy. Image advertising has the aim to reinforce a company's identity and to enhance its reputation. Especially when structural changes occur within companies, they frequently use corporate advertising to strengthen their identities. Corporate advertising is an efficient tool for changing or establishing impressions about organizations if structural changes have taken place. Further, it allows companies to differentiate themselves from rivals. Companies arrange financial advertising campaigns to make them attractive as investment by enhancing their image in the financial community. Financial-relations advertising try to stimulate interest of potential investors in a company's stock. Many corporate advertisers claim that a strong financially oriented advertising campaign can increase a company's stock price. Issue or advocacy advertising is used by companies to respond to threads exposed by the government or special interest groups. In this case, companies try to communicate directly with consumers, competing with journalists who also try to influence readers with their stories about the companies. Companies dealing with environmental issues use advocacy advertising very often.
The three main reasons why an organization does corporate advertising are:
1) Increase Sales
2) Create a Stronger Reputation
3) Recruit and Retain Employees
CORPORATE ADVERTISEMENT EXAMPLE
"This is an example for a Corporate Ad. The concept of this print ad is based on runners and joggers head games. Mental fuel extracted from their surroundings is a common way for runners to push themselves is the main idea that the company is trying to portray. The purpose behind this ad is to create goodwill and enhance the reputation of Reebok thereby building credibility and inspiring confidence in the consumers towards the brand. Moreover, Reebok is trying to communicate its corporate vision of to the customer."
Product advertisements are not focused on the company, but on one special product. The advertisements are done to increase sales of a special product, to introduce a new product or to compete against competitor's products.
PRODUCT ADVERTISEMENT EXAMPLE
"This ad is an outdoor campaign and print ad for a men’s sneaker, the RBK Pump Causeway. The punch line reads 'The Shoe Fits', which expresses the idea that the sneaker not only fits everyone’s foot, but lifestyle as well. While each character is unique, the simplicity in the design of the illustration allows the viewer to see themselves in at least one of the characters. The main purpose behind this ad is to build product awareness on the shoe launched by Reebok i.e. making the customers know that such a product is available in the market. The advertisement also attempts to persuade or convince customers that the shoe fits perfectly with their lifestyle so that they can make the purchase and create a demand for the shoe."
When I was working at Tata Indicom, the company started using corporate advertising to change their corporate image from providing economic mobile phone services to aiming at changing lifestyles of mobile phone users and being trend setters.
If one looks into a magasine or a newspaper, most of the time there is a balance between both corporate and product ads in the magazines and newspapers unless the magazine/newspaper is a fashion based magazine (wherein there will be more product ads) or a business based magazine (there will be more corporate ads).
Since a company’s advertising contributes to its image, both product and corporate advertising should reflect a unified strategy. Here are some points to remember while advertising, corporate or product advertisements:
1] Good advertising doesn't rely on tricking, lying to or deceiving your target audience.
2] The consumer is smarter than you think, alternative marketing tactics must be genuine, authentic and in today's world, transparent.
3] Today's interest in brand politics means that everything you do will come under scrutiny from someone.
4] Involve your consumer in the brand conversation, give them the tools to do so and they will repay you four-fold.
5]Today's audience might forgive you once, but make the same mistake twice and many will hold the brand and company accountable for the mistakes other's make.
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