Let’s come to terms on some marketing and advertising words.

We’re often asked, “what’s the difference between marketing and advertising?”. In fact, there are several terms in the advertising and marketing world that many of our food and beverage clients have asked us to clarify. We’ve found that we can better serve our clients needs if we’re all talking the same “language”. So, let’s come to terms with some commonly used words in advertising and marketing speak.

Marketing vs Advertising

These two terms are often used interchangeably, but they have very different meanings.

Marketing: the process of developing, distributing, promoting, and selling products and services.

Advertising: One of many communication tools used to persuade a target audience to buy.

Types of media

Advertising is placed or appears in three types of media:

Paid Media: Time and space that is purchased for the advertiser’s message, and includes media such as print, broadcast, social media (ads, not mentions in posts, tweets, etc.), paid search engine advertising, and sponsorships.

Owned Media: Communication channels and content that are completely controlled by the advertiser  such as websites, blogs, newsletters, and social media pages.

Earned Media: Messaging that promotes companies, products, and services that is generated through public and media relations, consumer/customer reviews, and social media chatter and posts. Earned media does not have a direct dollar cost to a company.

The “brand” word

Terms derived from the “brand” word often need some clarification:

Brand: The complete set of attributes that describe the unique value a company, product, or service brings to its customers, consumers, and stakeholders. A brand establishes the points of differentiation of a company, product, or service from its competitors.

Branding: The development of a logo symbol, often accompanied with a tagline, that is used to visually convey the unique identity of a company, product, or service.

Brand Building: All of the advertising and promotional efforts used to develop a brand’s identity, increase awareness of the brand, and build brand equity.