Well, not always anyway. To clarify, all advertising is marketing, but not all marketing is advertising.
A Common Misconception
I was introduced to an academic from a polytechnic at an event sometime in 2018 and the older gentleman made it quite clear that he did not like the idea of marketing. This was quite an interesting thing to bring up, but it does highlight the common misconception between marketing and advertising.
Given his age, it is safe to assume that he comes from a time of above the line, mass media advertising where there were not many television channels and audiences like himself were force fed advertisements.
Advertising Is Often Ignored
Even if you do not come from such a time, it is easy to be confused. After all, advertising is the most overt form of marketing. The biggest difference in this day and age is that the power is back to the consumer. They don’t just have a handful of television channels to choose from. They have hundreds! Some have even abandoned the television altogether and use streaming services like Netflix.
But it’s also the fact that we’re simply bombarded with so many advertisements these days, that we have learnt to filter them out automatically.
Sure, you can still force your advertising down the consumer’s throats via unskippable 5 second ads on Youtube and mid-video ads in Facebook, but that will just leave a bad taste in their mouths. In fact, it’s been found that 40% of internet users in Singapore use ad blockers. This means they don’t see ads on Youtube and even the Google Ads words.
Other Forms of Marketing
Coming back to the polytechnic lecturer who didn’t like marketing. There could be some ego involved, where he may not feel the need to have to market his courses because it’s such a great course. “Build it and they will come” as they say. Just like Tesla, they built an amazing product and don’t run any ads! But what some don’t realise is that in his bid to get publicity, Elon Musk is constantly making bold claims and organizing product launch events that would make Tony Stark proud.
Word of Mouth
Attention grabbing headlines and over the top product launches garner word of mouth. This is a form of marketing, and usually an effective one. From an education institute’s perspective, you’d want to engage your alumni and make them your spokespeople. Having your graduates share the word on how great they found their course to be. How it was one of the factors that helped them secure a job, etc. Or even to build the polytechnic lecturer’s personal brand as an inspirational or incredibly great teacher, so every course that is designed and taught by him will have long wait lists, very much like the superstar tuition teachers in Hong Kong.
Putting It All Together
Marketing encompasses many aspects, from product design (course development), pricing strategies, competitor & research, positioning and of course advertising. All these needs to be used together for marketing to be effective. Just like how Tesla didn’t try to compete with the Toyota Prius. The company positioned itself as a luxury electric car manufacturer and made cool looking electric cars that appealed to car lovers unlike the Prius.
If you or your organisation still thinks that the marketing department’s job is to simply come up with ad campaigns, it’s probably time to re-calibrate that thinking to ensure your organisation’s survival. Don’t limit yourselves to just one aspect of marketing!
