Advertising should change with the stage of business growth.
Advertising has stages: when company or product awareness is low, when trust is gradually emerging, and when the company is already chosen as a brand. Effective advertising differs at each stage.
DZ broadly divides advertising into three types: response advertising, response bridge advertising, and brand advertising. Using them appropriately is important for improving effectiveness and achieving long-term business growth.
Response Advertising
Response advertising aims to generate responses. It is effective when a corporate brand is not yet fully established or awareness of a product or service is low.
Prospects do not immediately trust products from an unfamiliar company. The advertisement therefore needs careful explanation. What is the product? Which concerns does it resolve? Why is it effective? How does it differ from competitors? What is its track record? How do purchasers feel about it? How can people apply? Clearly communicating these points eases concerns and leads to action.
Response Bridge Advertising
Response bridge advertising sits between response advertising and brand advertising.
Like response advertising, it communicates information needed to sell. At the same time, like brand advertising, it conveys trust, worldview, and impressions of the company or product. It bridges the two.
As a company grows, it cannot rely forever solely on information-heavy advertisements. Trust and impressions of the brand must also develop. But suddenly moving to image-centered brand advertising may reduce response. That is where response bridge advertising is needed.
Develop the brand while generating responses. Build trust while producing sales. This approach is at the heart of DZ's response branding theory.
Brand Advertising
Brand advertising is effective when sufficient trust in the company or product has already been established.
Without extensive explanation, the company or product name itself carries value. Images and worldview alone can increase purchase interest. That is brand advertising.
However, brand advertising is not effective for every company from the outset. When trust is not yet sufficiently established, image-only advertisements may struggle to generate responses. That is why identifying the company's current position matters.