It’s easy to get tripped up over ambiguous terms, like “marketing” and “advertising.”
We hear these terms all the time. Are they really interchangeable? If you’re an employee with an ad agency, you’re apt to ignore “marketing.” Your job is advertising. If you’re in marketing, you’re liable to contact an ad agency to set something up.
They’re Obviously Related
Marketers decide when and where a product will be displayed. Advertising agencies determine how pretty the box will be.
Both marketing and advertising seek to inform consumers of a product or service and turn that knowledge for a profit, but for all practical purposes, would it not be fair to say that marketing is an umbrella, and advertising a single supporting spoke?
Marketing is a process by which a consumer and a provider are brought closer together. This entails everything from designing the product or service, to seeing into creation and branding. It also involves gathering important data on consumer demographics. Who is your target audience, and where do you want to set up shop to keep traffic consistent?
In light of all this research, all this planning, marketers then turn to the ad agency of their preference, and talk with them about how to introduce their product to the world in such a way as to get people talking, to get people buying and to get people smiling.
This comes at the end of a long list of chores that marketers must get through first. Ultimately, marketing, as a whole, is a process, of which advertising itself is a small, though very important part. It’s a tool to help you build your business.
Advertising is a seller’s interaction with consumers, with the ad agency in the background. How long will the ad air? Which magazine should it be placed in? Marketers rely upon the savvy of advertising agencies to present their product with utmost professionalism and in a way that turns a profit. Often, it’s not the product that sells, it’s the advertising. Marketing is really everything leading up to the point of sale, including advertising.
When business owners market a product, they do more than just advertise it. They compile massive amounts of data, analyze it, and release the product strategically to conform to the demands of the public. Not everyone looks at a pretty box with admiration. Some believe it’s an advertising ploy, and it may be. It may be that such a consumer is middle-aged. Would such a product be better suited for a mall, where teenagers are more liable to hang out?
Often, stores receive communications from the corporate office to lay out their store a certain way. The company is likely aware that products of more excitement sell better at night and on the weekends. Is this because more teenagers hang out at the mall in this time slot?