Definition of Advertising
The Business Dictionary defines advertising as: paid, non-personal, public communication about causes, goods and services, ideas, organizations, people, and places, through means such as direct mail, telephone, print, radio, television, and internet. An integral part of marketing, advertisements are public notices designed to inform and motivate.
A part of any information feedback loop is the operating control reports in business. Depending on the nature and financial impact involved, these reports can be daily (Daily Operating Controls or DOC), weekly (Weekly Operating Controls or WOC) and/or monthly (Monthly Operating Controls or MOC) in management reporting. Their value is to inform management of business activity and identify any potential issues that could generate undue financial harm on the business or worse, create an unsafe product or work environment.
The number one tool for marketing is the handshake and a smile. It costs zero to extend the hand and use a few facial muscles. But the value it generates is priceless. Pretty much all business relationships begin this way. The handshake and smile is the most effective marketing tool available at all levels of business.
The simplest definition for these two misunderstood terms is that marketing involves customer interaction i.e. human contact, whereas advertising is a non-contact form of information transfer. You can read a multitude of professional definitions, academia literature and talk to just about any marketing graduate and you’ll get a lot of different definitions of these two terms.
You would think this is a simple question with an easy answer. But for most folks, they can’t identify their customer. It seems elusive or undefinable. If you are in business, you need to answer this one question. You need to know who is your customer.
