Marketing and Advertising

Partners in Promotion - Marketing and Advertising

Marketing and advertising are industries that work together in order to promote a product or service. Advertising spreads the word about a product while marketing helps to find the customer-base for it. In order for a product to be marketed and advertised successfully, the team of creatives needs to understand the product, relate it to the marketplace and find methods for introducing the product to that marketplace in the most appealing manner possible.

Marketing is the first step when it comes to promoting a product. Marketers must understand the target market in order to create appealing strategies for promoting the product. Traditional marketing thought follows the “Four Ps” of marketing – product, pricing, promotion and placement. Each of these is a critical step in the overall presentation of what goods are for sale.

Advertising and branding go hand-in-hand with establishing an image for a particular product based on the market need. While branding includes the symbolic associations of a product (the logo, themed colors and symbols) advertising uses graphics and words to draw the public’s attention to the product through a variety of platforms (newspapers, Internet, TV, radio).

Marketing and Advertising is directly associated with each other. Therefore, once the marketers have researched their Four Ps, advertisers create ad campaigns to respond to those Ps. Here is some more in-depth explanation of the Four Ps:

Product

The product is the item that is being marketed and advertised. Ideally, the product responds to a unique consumer need that has been established through marketing efforts. Its form, composition and validity of use are at the foundation of its potential success. Once the product is constructed and its appeal is defined, advertisers then have the task of ensuring that the product use is communicated with the public.

Pricing

Once a product has been created, a price or value of the product must be set. Depending on the particular product, the price will generally fall into a pricing bracket that is in-line to similar products on the market. However, if the product is being advertised as having a significant benefit that no other similar product can provide, it may be priced significantly higher than the competition.

Promotion

Promoting a product is essential to letting people know that the product is available. TV, radio, newspaper, billboard and magazines are traditional forms of advertising. Grass-roots and digital forms of advertising include: the distribution of fliers, Web sites, blogging, viral marketing and multimedia packages. Some products are also promoted through aggressive campaigns in which the product is given away as free gifts or samples.

Placement

Where a product is sold is as much a part of the marketing strategy as the other three Ps. Product placement pertains to the geography, industry or even demographics in which the product is sold. For example, a fiber drink would not sell well at a cosmetics counter in the mall, while snow shovels would do poorly in warm states like Florida and Texas. Marketing and advertising depends upon a keen understanding of these conditions, as they are integral to the successful marketing and advertising campaign for a product.