2. Institutional advertising is marketing designed to promote
a company rather than a specific service or good. It can
be used to make the public more aware of a company
or to improve the reputation and image of an existing
company already. Depending on the company, this can
be a form of brand advertising.
Many forms of advertising are about promoting
products. This can involve promoting a new product so
that the public is aware of its existence, or trying to
persuade the public to buy more of an existing product.
Institutional advertising instead promotes the company
itself. One example would be a grocery chain running
advertisements which stressed the general quality or low
prices of its food, rather than detailing specific offers it
was running
3. Some forms of institutional advertising are so towards
promoting a positive image that they effectively ignore sales
of a product to some extent.. Such commercials are usually
designed to improve the image of the company, making it
seem more trustworthy or responsible.
In some cases, institutional advertising is the same thing as
brand awareness advertising. This is where the advertising
promotes a particular brand rather than the product itself. For
example, a banking group might run commercials promoting
one of its banks as being dynamic and exciting, while
promoting a sister bank as being particularly helpful to
customers. In both cases this is different than promoting a
specific service, for example by advertising a low rate on
loans for new customers.
4. Institutional advertising can cause problems for marketing
analysis. Where a commercial is for a specific product,
marketers can track how it affects sales and see how effective
the advertising was. With institutional advertising, the link
between the advertising and the effect on business is much
weaker and may take longer to show any effects.
It is also possible for institutional advertising to promote an
industry rather than a particular company. This will usually be
carried out by an industry association. It happens most often in
industries where many of the companies are small firms
without the budgets to carry out major advertising, particularly
in national media.
