Institutional Advertising vs. Product Advertising: What’s the Difference?

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Updated July 22, 2022

Marketing teams can use various advertising strategies when promoting their
organizations’ new and existing products. Institutional advertising and
product advertising represent two effective options these professionals can
use, depending on their marketing goals. Learning more about these
strategies, including their potential benefits, can help you determine which
represents a better choice for your team. In this article, we discuss
institutional advertising and product advertising and provide tips for using
these strategies and examples.

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What is institutional advertising vs. Product advertising?

The primary difference between these types of advertising is that

organizations use institutional advertising when marketing multiple products
at the same time and product advertising when focusing on a single product.
You can use product advertising to increase marketing efforts for a particular
item within a product line or if your organization only sells one product.
Meanwhile, if your organization has multiple products or services available
for sale, you may choose to use institutional advertising to promote your
brand and all its offerings. Organizations often use a combination of both
types of advertising within their marketing strategies.

Related: A Guide to Product Advertising

What is institutional advertising?

Institutional advertising is a strategy that promotes an organization and all

its offerings. Sometimes called corporate advertising, this strategy typically
focuses on increasing exposure to the company’s overall brand, image and
core message. These areas of focus aim to attract and keep customers:

Brand

Organizations using institutional advertising use their marketing efforts to

increase overall brand recognition and create positive consumer associations
with their offerings. These efforts may highlight the organization’s status in
its respective industry and the line of products or services it offers. For
example, a computer manufacturer may market itself as the leading provider
of cost-effective and high-quality computers. This strategy showcases its
positive reputation while encouraging consumers to purchase any of its
products rather than championing an individual item.

Related: Company vs. Brand: What Are the Differences?

Image

An image is an attitude, emotion or lifestyle that organizations attempt to

establish within their marketing campaigns. This image can be symbolic or
direct, often helping to inspire trust or otherwise influence consumers to
become loyal customers. In institutional advertising, this image extends to
an organization’s entire product line, as it is a component of the brand, not a
particular product. For example, a car company may create advertisements
that associate its brand with the concepts of confidence and charisma. It
uses these associations to appeal to customers’ interests or emotions and
inspire them to purchase something.

Core message

The core message of an institutional advertising campaign often addresses

consumer desires or needs, encouraging the purchase of the organization’s
offerings to fulfill them. For example, a cleaning product company may craft
a core message that shows how their products help make kitchen spaces
more sanitary. An organization may also develop a core message for its
advertisements that align with its brand or values. For example, the cleaning
product company may highlight its commitment to sustainability by
promoting customers’ ability to refill the products and create less waste.

Benefits of institutional advertising

Here are some of the typical benefits associated with institutional

advertising:
Increases loyalty: Marketing your organization’s overall brand can help create
loyal customers because you can align its core values and mission with their
interests or needs. Similarly, when customers know they can expect a high-
quality or otherwise beneficial product from you, it can convince them to
continue making purchases when you launch new offerings.

Boosts brand recognition: If your organization can create a recognizable

brand image or logo, it may help increase sales or awareness because
customers recognize your brand and associate it with positive qualities. For
example, a clothing company may print its logo on every piece of clothing to
maximize its exposure.

Promotes consumer referrals: Loyal customers can help bring new customers
to your business through word-of-mouth marketing. These customers can
share their support of your offerings with their friends, who may be more
likely to purchase something when advised by someone they trust.

Related: Brand Recognition: Definition and How It Works

Tips for institutional advertising

Here are some tips you can use for your institutional advertising efforts:

Tell a story. Use storytelling techniques to appeal to customers’ emotions and

illustrate what your company represents and the value of its products and
services. For example, an RV company may create advertisements about a
man traveling with his dog in a van to associate its product with feelings of
love and adventure.

Describe your overall benefits. Use institutional advertising efforts to

showcase the overall value of your brand and differentiate yourself from the
competitors. For example, you may highlight that your product line
represents a lower-cost option in the market to encourage customers to
purchase any of your offerings.

Incorporate your branding. Include your brand name or logo throughout

advertisements to help increase recognition with potential customers. When
individuals immediately recognize your brand elements, it may help your
products stand out in stores and encourage them to buy the items.

Example of institutional advertising

A new fan company, Wave Fan Co., sells four products: a ceiling fan, a desk
fan, an industrial fan and an office fan. The unique design of these fans helps
preserve electricity and produce a larger flow of cool air. The company’s
institutional advertising efforts include videos that showcase its design
approach and the benefits of the product line using a series of tests
comparing conventional fans to the Wave Fan Co. Fans. Rather than focusing
on individual products, this strategy highlights the company’s commitment
to innovation through its unique design and the efficiency that its offerings
provide to customers.

What is product advertising?

Product advertising is when an organization develops marketing efforts

focused on a specific product, advertising it separately from other products
and the overall brand. When performing product advertising, organizations
often highlight the product’s features, uses and benefits to appeal to
customers. Here are three types of product advertising used by
organizations:

Competitive advertising

Organizations often use this advertising strategy when introducing a new

product into a competitive market. For example, a company within the
competitive automobile industry may introduce its latest model by
highlighting features that differentiate it from existing models from other
manufacturers. If other cars have similar features, the company may use
language that makes their model seem more valuable or beneficial than the
competitors, such as highlighting a recent award it won.

Comparative advertising

In comparative advertising, a company directly compares its product to its

competitor’s offerings. These advertisements typically aim to prove that your
organization offers a better product through specific comparisons, such as
performance, features or price. For example, a meal delivery service may
highlight that it offers more menu options than its primary competitor.

Read more: Best Practices for Comparative Advertising (With Examples)

Pioneering advertising

Organizations use this advertising strategy when entering a product into a

completely new market with no competitors. Companies often try to increase
exposure to the product by showing consumers how it solves a common
problem. For example, a company that invents a new device that cooks food
faster than any other method may publish demonstration videos that show
the time consumers can save by using the device.
Benefits of product advertising

Here are some of the typical benefits associated with product advertising:

Increases demand: When organizations use comparative or competitive

product advertising techniques, they can highlight what makes their product
the best. Beyond differentiating the product from competitors, these tactics
help prove the value customers can gain from this purchase.

Displays use cases: Product advertising allows organizations to show all the
uses for their product, enabling consumers to understand its functions. This
technique can also help reduce misconceptions about the product that may
deter customers with less awareness.

Targets specific audiences: Companies can research their target markets and
customers to understand their needs. They can then develop product
advertising strategies that address those needs or attract individuals
interested in similar products.

Tips for product advertising

Here are some tips you can use to support your product advertising efforts:

Focus on the product’s positive attributes. When advertising a product, you

want to appeal to customers’ interests or needs to prove that it offers them
value. Emphasizing a product’s positive attributes, such as those related to
features, functions or cost, can help convince them to buy it.

Show the product’s uses. Customers often look for products that solve a
particular problem, so depicting your product as a solution can lead to
purchases. Showing them how to use the product, such as a demonstration,
can also help them understand it more clearly and imagine how it may fit
into their daily lives.

Differentiate your product from competitors. You can convince customers to

choose your product over others in the market by illustrating the specific
differences it offers that make it better. When using this tactic, ensure you
have evidence to support your claims.

Related: 32 Effective Advertising Tactics

Example of product advertising

The SportYum sports drink company is releasing a new drink for dogs.
Because the company makes sports drinks for humans, it plans to advertise
this drink separately because it represents a different market. When
SportYum launches the marketing campaign, it partners with a national pet
supply retailer to display the product at the entrances of its stores. In
addition, SportYum advertises the product on pet-related videos hosted on
online platforms and uses targeted advertising to reach people who have
expressed interest in dogs on social media.

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Choosing between institutional and product advertising

When determining whether to use institutional or product advertising, you

may need to consider some of the following factors:

Your objectives

As mentioned, institutional advertising promotes your organization’s overall

brand while product advertising focuses on a specific offering. When
developing a marketing strategy, determine which of those concepts aligns
with your objectives. For example, if you want to increase brand recognition
within a target market or demographic group, you may use institutional
advertising strategies. If you want to promote a new product launch, then
product advertising strategies may better serve that goal.

Related: 10 Marketing Plan Objectives To Consider and the KPIs To Measure

Them

Your product line

Institutional advertising may provide many benefits when advertising a new

product or multiple products similar to previous ones your organization
already offers. Consumers may already associate your brand with the type of
product and consider it first when researching their options. For example, a
customer looking to upgrade their phone may look for the latest model from
the same company because they already recognize and trust the brand.

You can use product advertising to promote a new product offering, whether
it is unique or similar to your existing product line. This advertising type
focuses on increasing customers’ awareness of this product and convincing
them to purchase it. If the product fulfills a unique consumer need, product
advertising can help show this fulfillment thoroughly and clearly.

Your market
Organizations can use institutional marketing to differentiate their entire
product line from similar competitors. You may focus on illustrating your
organization’s unique image, brand or core message to appeal to customers’
emotions or interests. Otherwise, you can use reputable data and other
evidence to showcase why your offerings offer more value or benefits than
your competitors.

With product advertising, organizations can introduce a product into a new or

existing competitive market. To differentiate your specific product, you can
identify a customer pain point and focusing your marketing efforts on
showing how the product solves it. Because this advertising doesn’t focus on
your brand recognition, you need to showcase the specific features and
functions that prove your product is better than others.