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“Advertising is the price you pay for having an unremarkable product or service.”
-Jeff Bezos
Really???
A few thoughts:
* Why is Amazon one of the biggest paid advertisers in the world today? Does that mean they are suddenly unremarkable?
* Almost every seller on Amazon has always advertised their products, even if Amazon themselves didn’t invest in paid advertising once upon a time.
* Amazon created its own sub-category, like Netflix, Uber, and Airbnb. These brands are the extremely rare exception, not the rule. The rest of us have to compete in sub-categories with hundreds of competitors at least. Once Amazon, Netflix, Uber, and Airbnb succeeded without paid advertising, Walmart online, Hulu, Lyft, and Vrbo came along and spoiled their fun. So now they have no choice but to invest heavily in paid advertising to maintain their market share.
* This quote completely ignores the fact that marketing involves much more than advertising. Amazon might not have paid for advertising early on. Still, they certainly paid to widen their distribution and broaden their services, invest in distinctive packaging, dramatically reduce their pricing to outcompete every other retailer (without even being profitable for over 20 years by wooing the stock market), and make the customer experience as smooth and convenient as possible. All of these are tactics and strategies that fall under marketing (Product, Place, Price, and Promotion).
Stef and Austin discuss Amazon, Tesla, Tony’s Chocolonely, Apple, Chris Do, Seth Godin, Gary Vee, and other examples of brands and people who have found success through paid marketing. Even while simultaneously preaching that brands can grow without.
For more from Austin Franke, visit brandingbullshit.com & woopunch.com. For more from Stef Hamerlink, visit letstalkbranding.com.
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