Marketing, Propoganda, and Advertising

In their book Marketing Express, William M. Pride and O. C. Ferrell define marketing as, 

      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.

Essentially, marketing covers all areas of making a product or service ready and available for sale, as well as, making them well known. I believe that propaganda and advertising fall under the promotional part of marketing. They both get the name of the product of a good or service out there, but in very different ways. Propaganda tends to be a more direct assault on the opposition or a tactic for personal benefit (Merriam-Webster.com). It can be as simple as an idea or complex as an elaborate rumor. Propaganda is usually seen in poor light because it is typically built upon lies or unproven facts. My first thoughts of propaganda are those of Hitler's during his reign. Usually we think of it as promoting a bad idea but this isn't always the case. Many times propaganda is used for the greater good but can still be built upon lies regardless of the motives. Advertising, on the other hand, is a marketing tactic that has grown tremendously over the years. There is a sickening amount of money spent on advertising each year. It is all around us. You can not go a day with out being subjected to some sort of advertising. Advertising basically shows off a product or service and tries to convince you to choose their product or service over someone else's. It is built on more truthful facts. Rather than trying to get you to think poorly about the opposition, they typically just flood you with immense amounts of cues leading to their product or service. Think of how many McDonald's or Dunkin Donut billboards you pass on a long stretch of highway. 

In the end, I believe that both propaganda and advertising fall in as part of marketing. They are two distinct tactics of promotion. Marketing is its own entity in its self.