Week 5 EOC: What My Classmates Think About Advertising vs. Marketing

“…marketing and advertising complement each other. Although they are fairly different, both are needed in creating a successful business.” (Shantay Reaze: http://fashionistafyi.blogspot.com/)

“It’s a sign of the times when a company with as strong of a marketing strategy as Starbucks is having financial difficulty.” (Lana Cunningham: http://lulucunning.blogspot.com/)

“Marketing can make you come back for more and more. They want to continue to keep you satisfied and keep coming back to their product.” (Cierra Esparza: http://ccmarieproductions.blogspot.com/)

What do these three quotes have in common? I think the major take away is this: Your business will fail without a solid marketing program in place. Lana’s point is well-made. If a company like Starbucks is having trouble (with their strong marketing strategy), what chance does your business have without one? I think what my classmates are trying to say is that marketing will determine the success or failure of your company.

How many of us have thought that an amazing product alone could draw the masses? I know that I have fallen into that mentality on occasion. While this is a nice thought, it simply isn’t realistic. Strong marketing and advertising need to be in place before a product can take off. My classmates and I agree that these concepts go hand in hand. In one of my fashion classes, we discussed the fashion cycle which was based on five key steps: introduction/growth of a product, the acceleration and saturation of the product, the decline, and finally the obsolescence. Without the right combination of marketing and advertising, your product may never get past the introduction phase much less saturating the market. Just like Cierra said, “Marketing can make you come back for more and more.” A product, no matter how great, will simply not be successful without a successful (and realistic) marketing plan. Just ask the ambitious CEO of Webvan or the creators of Virtual Boy. Don’t recognize these names? There is a reason behind that. Learn from it.