Marketing vs.Advertising vs.Propaganda

On the surface, these three terms have a lot in common. They are all a way of presenting information, or an idea, to people. These techniques of information transmission are, however, very different in their specific purposes and in the way they use the information that is being transmitted.

In my view, marketing is the term used to describe a method that many institutions use to tailor their product or service to a certain sector of the market. Marketing means first identifying what the customers as a whole desire for a product or service, and then developing the product or service that fulfills that desire. This way, you are presenting an item that is already in demand with the customer base and the product can, almost literally, sell itself. The information is presented in a way that is tailored exactly for the customers it was intended for.

This is different from advertising in that advertising is the active selling of a product or idea. In other words, you have already developed a product, now you just need to convince people it is worth their money to buy it. The same applies to selling an idea to someone, you need to advertise its merits as something worthy to believe in.

Propaganda is different still because propaganda is the use of information in a way that it only supports a single idea or cause. I believe propaganda is not the information itself, but the way in which it is applied to make people believe something that isn't entirely true. This happens a lot when it comes to politics and the way that politicians spin facts to support their causes.

Obviously, things can be confusing when trying to distinguish between what method is being used to deliver the information you are being presented with. In other words, how do you know if someone is trying to advertise and not spread propaganda? One thing I look for is if someone is trying to pass off their opinion as fact. Someone's statement of opinion is different from a statement of fact. Always question things that are told to you and do some investigation of the validity of the facts that people present to you.

When asked if the "War on Terror" is an example of marketing or propaganda, I would say it is an example of marketing. Why do I say this? After September 11th, 2001, the American people demanded that we hurt the people who killed so many American citizens on that tragic day. Recognizing this demand by the American people and understanding the necessity to take some sort of action against the radical terrorist groups in response to their attack, the American Government took military action. I call this marketing because it was a fulfillment of a demand by the American people. Obviously not every one of the three hundred million people in this country wanted to go to war, but the vast majority did and to do nothing after three thousand Americans were killed would have been nonsense in my opinion.

Some people would argue that the "War on Terror" is an example of propaganda because we were told there were weapons of mass destruction (WMD's) in Iraq when it turned out there were none, or that the war is really about oil. To this I say that every war is a resource war, that is the whole origin of armed conflict. This war is no different, if you are surprised by the fact that a natural resource is involved in this war, then you should look at other wars in human history and take note that all of them were fought over some sort of resource. This explains the value of Iraq as a strategic ally in the Middle East due to their vast oil reserves. Now, don't get me wrong, they (the government) still didn't tell the whole truth, nor do they ever. Keeping the American people afraid of the masked terrorist in the Middle East is propaganda, not the war. This is the trouble with big government, they can do things without being held fully accountable by the people.

I believe that we should be more worried about the growth of the size and power of the government in this country and their encroachment on the individual rights of citizens. The passage of such things like the Patriot Act (which allows government agents to tap telephone calls and monitor e-mails), any type of restrictive "gun control" (which makes it more difficult for good, law-abiding citizens to defend themselves because criminals will have weapons no matter what laws are in place), and the increased government involvement in the private sector are the things we should be worried about.

My question now is this; What are the most successful advertising, marketing, or propaganda campaigns that you have noticed? Whether by a business (of any type) or other wise?

Thanks for reading.