Corporate vs. Product Advertising

Corporate advertising is different from product advertising. Corporate advertising seeks to benefit the image of the corporation as a whole rather than its products and services alone as in product advertising. A major difference between corporate and product advertising is who pays for each of the two types of advertising. A company’s marketing department typically is responsible for all product-related advertising and pays for such ads. Corporate advertising, on the other hand, falls within the corporate communication area and either comes out of that budget or, in some cases, is paid for by the CEO’s office.

There are different types of corporate advertising such as advertising to reinforce identity or reputation, advertising to attract investors and advertising to influence opinions. When Coca-Cola was in between pesticide controversy in India, the company used well renowned actor for advertisement to reinforce corporate image. Companies use advertisements to attract investors. Issue advertising is used to respond to external threats such as environment, government etc. now-a-days it’s common to see these kinds of advertisements by all major corporations to establish good corporate citizenship image. A good corporate advertising program can clarify and enhance a company’s reputation, and the absence of one can hurt the company, especially during crisis.

The purpose of product advertisement is to increase awareness and selles. The relationship between corporate advertising and sales is less clear than that between product advertising and sales, because corporate advertising is meant to do things that eventually boost but likely won’t directly or immediately do so.