Advertising can be broken up into two categories: product advertising and brand advertising.  Both types of advertising have their uses and inherent strengths and weaknesses.  Brand advertising can pave way for a new product release, and product advertising can enhance existing brand marketing strategies.

Brand advertising is a powerful tool in marketing.  Like product advertising, brand advertising is a great way to communicate the features and comparative advantages of your brand to your customers.  Unlike product advertising, brand promotions fail to mention specific products or services.  They just highlight what makes the brand superior to the competition and pave the way for future communications.

A great example is the mLife campaign from a few years ago.  Rather than explaining what mLife was, AT&T threw out advertisements for a few months that built market anticipation for a new product launch.  This was an excellent example of brand advertising and buzz marketing.

What other recent examples can you think of from your own business?