The terms Marketing and Advertising are NOT interchangeable terms.  They aren’t even close to describing the same thing.  This is perfectly illustrated by Businessdictionary.com. The term marketing yields a large paragraph of definitions; it’s basically everything from concept to consumer, including all the touchy-feely stuff like values, creating need, satisfaction levels, and the lovely-yet-elusive notion called branding.  Advertising is defined in just five words — “marketing tool that uses advertisements.”  So efficient.  Advertising is simply the actual ad (print, commercial, soundbyte, coupon, etc) and the medium in which it is placed.

When you advertise a product, you create awareness (or, in other more smarty-pants-marketer words: exposures or impressions).  You get the word out.  Most importantly, you educate (and if you aren’t educating your market in your ads, you should stop advertising immediately and just start throwing $100 bills out your store window…it may be more effective).  You create a small message and show it off in a variety of mass communication media outlets.  Advertising is basically just a small (necessary) part of your overall marketing plan.

Marketing, however, is much more complex.  It’s everything about your product and it’s distribution–it is what you named your business, how you came up with your product, where you have your products manufactured, what your store looks like, where your store is located, how much your product sells for, where it is sold, how you promote it, where you advertise, what you advertise, what makes it different, what makes it special, how much does it cost, how is it packaged, and what is the overall feel of your product?  (It’s everything, basically.) Is it fun, family-friendly, quirky, practical, unusual, etc?  Is it competitively priced?  Is it attractive or eye-catching while on display?  How can it be pitched to the consumer in order to entice them to want to buy it?  ….And here’s where advertising comes in….  It’s then followed by product improvements, larger distribution channels, accessories and other complementary product ideas.  A shrewd marketer comes up with a solid idea, packages it in the most attractive way, and creates a reason for people to want to buy it.  A shrewd advertiser just creates the most clear message about the product and gets it in the right place.

Please, for the love, stop confusing the two.