Marketing vs. Advertising
Marketing vs. Advertising
All too often, people mistake every post for an ad. Update: It’s not! Every post is marketing!
Let me break it down!
My favourite definition of comes from our friends at Vistaprint and their recent campaign. It goes like this: "Notice you, remember you, and fall in love with you."
That’s marketing in a nutshell.
What’s the Difference Been the Two?
In simple terms, marketing is identifying customer needs and figuring out the best way to meet them through consistently showing up for your audience. Advertising, on the other hand, is just a part of the marketing puzzle. It’s all about promoting your company or product through paid channels usually for a specific need or goal. Let’s dive into it.
Advertising much like marketing has several element: Campaigns, goals, budgets, and mediums often blur the lines, which is why the distinction between marketing and advertising can get fuzzy. However advertising serves a localized, specific purpose. A great example of this is a billboard!
Take this McDonald’s ad below, specifically about beverages. They use a clever, culturally relevant approach that resonates with the local audience. This billboard wouldn’t work for Canada in the winter! The billboard features classic brand colours, bold imagery, and notice how the McDonald's logo isn’t just slapped in the middle. Instead, it’s strategically placed off to the side.
The messaging is what truly stands out.
This is a consistent message delivered through a medium to achieve a specific result.
Photo Credits: https://www.designerpeople.com/blog/billboard-design/
Slogans (marketing) vs. Taglines (advertising).
While slogans are often seen in ads, taglines are used in marketing for broader purposes. Slogans are typically part of consistent marketing efforts, representing the core message of a brand—whether it's describing a product, service, or the feeling it evokes. Take OOFOS, for example, with their tagline "Feel the OO." This tagline is the main message they push across their social media marketing efforts.
Photo credits: https://www.instagram.com/oofos/
A slogan is that catchy phrase that screams "brand recognition" – think "Just Do It" (You know it’s Nike, right?). A tagline, on the other hand, is short and specific to a campaign. My favorite example? The "Nose Blind" campaign from Febreze. "You’ve gone nose blind." Genius.
One of my favourite ad campaigns comes from Redbull.
You might be thinking, “Trista, that’s a slogan, not an ad campaign!” Well, aren’t you clever? It started as an advertising campaign and worked so well that it evolved into their brand identity. Talk about an advertising win!
Moral of the Story:
Marketing is about consistency—showing up for your audience through newsletters, social media, blogging, and more. It’s happening all the time in many places.
Advertising has a clear start and end—specific purpose, budget, and campaign focus.
Marketing can take both organic and paid routes.
Advertising is a paid route.
Marketing helps with consumer research and touchpoints after seeing an ad.
Marketing amplifies your message and values, often through strategic content buckets that work towards building a bigger picture for various audiences.
Marketing builds rapport and trust over time.
Marketing serves both current and prospective clients, especially in real estate.
Advertising is traditionally focused on prospecting and has little to do with maintaining satisfaction among current clients.
Both advertising and marketing share overlapping platforms, such as social media, newsletters, and keywords. However, their intent and execution differ depending on whether it's advertising or marketing.
Interesting Side-Bar You Should Read: With The Right Strategy, You Can Create Your Own Luck!
As one of the co-founders of OOFOS puts it, luck can be strategized. Marketing is a way to strategize it. James Clear author of Atomic Habits, talks about the impact of consistent inputs and outputs that lead to natural reactions. If you're doing nothing, your luck is no better than winning the lottery—everyone has the same odds. But if you change your input, your output will be different. It’s a lagging measure of your efforts. Meaning, if you’re marketing and creating awareness for your brand, the natural result of your doing so will follow.
It’s not rocket science with the right marketing, you can create your own version of luck.
So, remember: marketing is the big picture, and advertising is just one piece of the puzzle. Both are important, but marketing will help you win the game.
Want to start today reach out to trista@ftlom.ca
