The Difference Between Marketing and Advertising (and Why It Matters)
In his 1923 book “Scientific Advertising,” Claude Hopkins said, “Advertising is multiplied salesmanship.” But in the modern day, I’ve more often seen a tight comparison (and even confusion) between marketing and advertising.
On the other hand, marketing and advertising are distinct majors in college. Most agencies are advertising agencies, and most departments inside companies that promote the sale of products are marketing departments.
Why the distinction? Are these two words synonyms, or is there a real difference?
A high-level, ephemeral topic like this isn’t something marketers spend most of their time thinking about. They’re too heads down, focused on budgets and marketing automation and copywriting. I know I am.
But I came across that quote from Hopkins when I took MMC 5435: Messaging Strategy and the Centrality of the Value Proposition, part of the Communicating Value and Web Conversion graduate certificate created by MECLABS Institute in partnership with the University of Florida.
And so I started pondering the bigger, more existential topics of marketing, such as this one. Marketing philosophy, if you will.
photo courtesy: “cVillain Sponsor Post” Creative Commons, Spicy Bear, Flickr
More than just nomenclature
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