Keith Borshak, Creative Director

Marketing vs. Advertising

Keith Borshak

Creative Director

Simply put, Marketers offer a product or service. Advertisers tell people about what the Marketer offers and help sell their offerings. The distinction is important because, when a business identifies a problem with sales, they will often look first to what message they are sending to their audience via print and online ads, Facebook posts, Instagram, outdoor advertising, etc. Most Marketers are eager to extol the virtues of their product or service, thinking that if people would just try them once, they’ll have a customer for life. Hence, they need to advertise their product or service to the masses any way they can.

Here’s where it gets sticky.

A good ad agency, when meeting with a client about sales, or lack thereof, will dig in immediately to find out everything they can about the client’s business. The product, the delivery chain, customer feedback, etc. They do this to identify any marketing failures BEFORE they formulate an advertising communication strategy.

Legendary ad man Bill Burnbach once said, “Nothing kills a bad product faster than good advertising.” We’ve all experienced the disappointment of a product not living up to the claims that the advertising has promised. When that happens, the purchaser decides immediately to never again buy your product or service and then tells friends about their experience.

So, before you commit to an ad agency to help you with sales, make sure they have as many questions as they do answers.