Whether we work with it or not, marketing became part of our lives. Wherever we go or whatever we watch or listen to, we are surrounded by ads and information about products. Besides trying to sell something, marketing is the process of understanding the customers, building and maintaining relationships with them.
Another interesting approach is marketing as a conversation: a conversation that starts between two people who don’t know each other well, explains Michael Brenner, a globally-recognized keynote speaker on marketing. “Great conversations lead to understanding needs. Great insights, lead to amazing products delivered through engaging customer experiences. This is marketing.” He adds that “the brands who win more customers are the ones who put their customers ahead of their desire to sell more stuff.”
Even though the words marketing and advertising may be used interchangeably by non-experts, there’s actually a difference. We can say that advertising is a component of marketing. Marketing refers to preparing a product for the marketplace, and includes consumer behavior and research. Advertising is making a product and service known to an audience or marketplace, and involves creative endeavors like design and multimedia production. TV commercials, for example, are advertisement that is broadcast on television or radio. The flip side of ads, as we know, is that they fuel consumerism and overconsumption.
Some companies are well-known for their interesting and compelling commercials, like Apple and Coca-Cola. And who doesn’t remember some famous slogans like “I'm lovin’ it” (Mc Donald's), “Just do it” (Nike), Keep walking (Johnnie Walker), Think different (Apple), "There are some things money can't buy. For everything else, there's MasterCard.", and “Have a break… Have a Kit Kat.” This catchy tagline or phrase that's used by a company for advertising is a short and sweet reminder of the value a brand offers their customers.
According to the Austrian management consultant Peter Drucker, “the aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product or service fits him and sells itself.” Many times, we get annoyed by it, as if there’s someone trying to sell us something everywhere we go. Other times, we feel happy when our needs are met. Either way, we can’t deny that marketing strategy plays an important role in any company’s success.
There are several tools used in marketing, digital and offline. Let’s take a look of what those are and, most importantly, how they’re called in English.
Billboards: those large outdoor boards that we see on the streets. In some cities like São Paulo, this kind of advertising is prohibited by law as a way of reducing the ‘visual pollution’.
Store window: also called shop window or display window, it’s a window in a shop displaying items for sale or designed to attract customers to the store. By the way, the activity of spending time looking at things on sale in shop windows without intending to buy anything is called window shopping.
In-store display: do you know that beautiful collection of products of your favorite character/artist/novel that immediately draws your attention? That’s called in-store display and is used to attract consumers through an innovative placement of products.
Flyer: featuring a dream house or apartment, delicious food or a party to have the time of your life, a flyer is a small piece of paper advertising a product or event that is handed out. Are you the kind of person who normally rejects it or gets it just to throw it away three minutes later?
Brochure: a type of small magazine that contains pictures and information on a product or a company.
Classified ads: one of the small advertisements in a newspaper, magazine, or on a website that offers a job or to sell or buy something (houses, apartments, used cars).
Bulk mail: advertising sent through the mail to large numbers of potential customers to advertise goods or services. It can be sent to people’s houses or by e-mail and it may consist of letters, newsletters, pamphlets, and other similar products.
Cold calling: calling (or visiting) a possible customer to try to sell them something without being asked by the customer to do so.
Word of mouth: telling people you know about a particular product or service, usually because you think it is good and want to encourage them to try it.
Product endorsement: involves a celebrity, a relevant professional or a business giving its approval for the virtue of a product and recommending it to customers as a good and safe product.
Banner ads: similar to a digital billboard, it’s placed in high-traffic locations on web pages (often at the top or on the side) to create brand awareness and generate clicks and purchases.
Pay-per-click ads: an internet advertising model in which advertisers pay only when somebody clicks on their ad.
Pre-roll ads: ads that automatically play before the content that the user has selected, for example, before a particular YouTube video.
Pop-up ads: an ad that is shown in a new window in front of the window that you are looking at on a website.
Commercials: an ad that is broadcast on television or radio between and during programs.
Product placement: a form of advertising in which a product appears or is mentioned as part of a film or TV program.
So, if you work in the area, or if you’re just curious, we hope this article brings a little more information about this marketing world we are living in and the vocabulary it involves.
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