What’s the difference between marketing and advertising?

Advertising is an aspect of marketing. It’s a ‘non-personal’ process where a product is put in front of the world through online ads or print media. Advertising only focuses on the paid promotion of the product.

Marketing on the other hand encompasses a lot of elements such as market research, advertising, campaigns to engage people so that they remember the brand and the message it conveys and the next time a product is released, they go and check it out. Check out the 7Ps of marketing:

For example, let’s take a look at Nike. The brand celebrates sportsmanship. See its Instagram posts for example, it’s full of posts commemorating legendary athletes. Now, this is marketing. Looking back into history, picking out the moments that defined sports and what can we learn from it, it’s all a form of marketing. Advertisements is a part of this process. Ultimately, brand is nothing but a way to tell how people feel about a particular company. Nike sell shoes, so does other shoe brands.

There is a reason why people relate to Nike. This can be attributed to David Ogilvy’s theory of brand image:

‘… every advertisement must be considered as a contribution to the complex symbol which is the brand image – as part of the long-term investment in the reputation of the brand’.

When a player sets a step on field, his shoes draw attention. When the products are used by the people, it’s advertising.

Michael Jordon is a legend and when he moves into the stadium wearing Nike shoes, it’s a big deal. The reason why the brand sponsor and make these people brand ambassadors to advertise for it.

Now, this is just one small part of the whole marketing process. Market research being an important part of the process will tell the brand about their target audience. For example, look at these posts and banners:

Instagram video by @nike • Jun 20, 2016 at 2:41am UTC

I hope you’re getting the demarcation I am trying to set up here.

Let’s see other examples:

APPLE

While the video featuring Taylor Swift clearly advertise the Apple Music but its a part of a marketing campaign that there is nothing like an Apple phone. A pure marketing tactic was “Think Different” video which conveyed the message of the brand as to what it stands for.

DOVE

Defining ‘beautiful’, the brands’ marketing campaign are full of videos that try to disrupt the conventional idea of beauty and this includes advertisements that tell them the same.

I hope I’ve answered your question. In case of query, feel free to ask! 🙂

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