Monday, January 24, 2011

Marketing, advertising, and propaganda

Marketing, advertising, and propaganda are all words that are lumped in the same category.  Even though they words are close, there are still major differences.
According to the textbook marketing is, "The process of creating, distributing, promoting, and pricing goods, services, and ideas to facilitate satisfying exchange relationships with customers and to develop and maintain favorable relationships with stakeholders in a dynamic environment." In simpler words, a business will market a product or service in the hopes of making customers continuously satisfied in various economic situations. The textbook also uses the example of Wendy's and Burger King. These fast food restaurants rely on repeat customers whereas the customers rely on a consistent, tasty, inexpensive meal. When talking about marketing, it is important to mention demographics. Specific demographics are what businesses market to. For example, Life Alert is marketed towards senior citizens. The product is a safety device which alerts the police department when it is pushed. The Life Alert company has marketed their product so that senior citizens feel safe; period.
Advertising is, "Paid nonpersonal communication about an organization and its products transmitted to a target audience through mass media." More specifically, advertising is selling a product or service to a group of people via various forms of media. For example, billboards on the highway advertise mainly local restaurants or key businesses in the area. The difference to marketing is that advertisements are placed in general areas to hit as many demographics as possible. For large attractions like a famous museum, the museum may have a billboard to let tourists know that it is in the area.
The third area is propaganda. Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing an attitude towards a product or service. This differs from marketing and advertising because propaganda tells specific information that is chosen. For example, an infomercial is an example of propaganda. Infomercials use descriptive and select information to persuade the audience to purchase the item.
The three words are very specific to each other but have slightly different definitions. What is another example of propaganda that is used in today's society?

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