Advertising Primer 1: Marketing is not Advertising
Many business owners and nonprofit administrators misunderstand the term "marketing." Actually, most of us think of marketing as the promotional side of business, and that's not a bad definition. However, it's crucial to recognize that marketing encompasses much more than advertising a product or service.
Marketing students are taught the "four P's" of the marketing mix: Product, Price, Placement and Promotion. Marketing begins with the selection of a product or service to sell, then deciding how much to charge, how to distribute it, and finally—once all these factors are established—questions about how to advertise the product are considered.
It may seem like a technicality to emphasize this academic definition of marketing, but the fact is most organizations go about things backwards. They think about how they want to promote their product without first making critical decisions about what they're promoting, to whom, and at what cost.
As creative professionals, we start a given campaign with a discussion of the organization. We want to know the history, the people and the stories behind our clients. Then we talk about the products or services our clients plan to promote, who their audiences are, etc. A similar discussion should occur inside every organization on a periodic basis and especially when launching a new product.
It's imperative that businesses find the right product, price and placement before they begin promoting. Albert Lasker, considered the father of modern advertising said, "The product that will not sell without advertising will not sell profitably with advertising." Marketing has to start with selection of a sound product or service.
So with the first three P's out of the way, what then is Promotion? Simply put, promotion involves what we traditionally think of when we say "marketing." Promotion is advertising, public relations, direct marketing, telemarketing, personal selling, etc. It's anything and everything that goes into communicating with the target market about your product or service.
And it's important to note that these tools are simply that: just tools to an end. The end of advertising is to better connect a viable product with a viable audience. Just as you must select a sound product, price and placement, you must also make sure you advertise to an audience that can benefit from the product offered.
If more marketers understood the broader definition of marketing, we'd see more effective advertising campaigns. Because many do not, you can take advantage of the competition by focusing on WHAT you are marketing and not simply HOW you are marketing.
Marketing students are taught the "four P's" of the marketing mix: Product, Price, Placement and Promotion. Marketing begins with the selection of a product or service to sell, then deciding how much to charge, how to distribute it, and finally—once all these factors are established—questions about how to advertise the product are considered.
It may seem like a technicality to emphasize this academic definition of marketing, but the fact is most organizations go about things backwards. They think about how they want to promote their product without first making critical decisions about what they're promoting, to whom, and at what cost.
As creative professionals, we start a given campaign with a discussion of the organization. We want to know the history, the people and the stories behind our clients. Then we talk about the products or services our clients plan to promote, who their audiences are, etc. A similar discussion should occur inside every organization on a periodic basis and especially when launching a new product.
It's imperative that businesses find the right product, price and placement before they begin promoting. Albert Lasker, considered the father of modern advertising said, "The product that will not sell without advertising will not sell profitably with advertising." Marketing has to start with selection of a sound product or service.
So with the first three P's out of the way, what then is Promotion? Simply put, promotion involves what we traditionally think of when we say "marketing." Promotion is advertising, public relations, direct marketing, telemarketing, personal selling, etc. It's anything and everything that goes into communicating with the target market about your product or service.
And it's important to note that these tools are simply that: just tools to an end. The end of advertising is to better connect a viable product with a viable audience. Just as you must select a sound product, price and placement, you must also make sure you advertise to an audience that can benefit from the product offered.
If more marketers understood the broader definition of marketing, we'd see more effective advertising campaigns. Because many do not, you can take advantage of the competition by focusing on WHAT you are marketing and not simply HOW you are marketing.
posted by David Board at
11:55 PM
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