Ask April - The Difference Between Advertising and Marketing

"Half of my business colleagues say I need Marketing. The
other half say I need Advertising. What is the difference between
Advertising and Marketing?"

Most businesses utilize advertising and marketing. The
percentages vary in each business, although a small number of companies
use only marketing, and I can’t think of any that rely on advertising
alone.

When planning a business, marketing plans are usually created before
advertising. There is an overlap of services that can be defined as
both.

Marketing Defined

Marketing is the planning, development and implementation of taking
a product/service to market. Marketing communicates features and
benefits of your product/service in a way that makes your customer feel
you’ve made their life easier because of it. Marketing is also the
research that goes into finding those numbers and answers. In fact,
marketing has become so complex and sophisticated that businesses could
not survive without marketing at some level.

Other functions in the Marketing family:

Naming, branding, promotion, pricing, events, trade shows,
sponsorships, merchandising, budgeting, competition analysis, strategy,
public relations, direct mail, collateral materials, visual identity. 

Advertising Defined

Advertising is taking that information and strategizing a message:
the look and feel, and timing, budget and placement. Advertising is any
paid form of nonpersonal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods or
services by an identified company. Its task is to reinforce and assure
as opposed to convert. Its purpose is to persuade present users to buy
your brand more often, and to tell the story of new and upcoming
services/products in a compelling way.

Advertising does not create need. People buy because they want.
People don’t need CD’s, hair dryers and paper towels. Needs are
shelter, clothing, food and water. No one needs designer water and
clothes. We have become a world of wants.

Other functions in the Advertising family:

Media and media placement (radio, television, print, web) and copywriting.