Hi there!
I can't tell you how many times people have said to me either that marketing is advertising or that marketing and advertising are separate functions. On other occasions, I've seen advertising listed alongside marketing, suggesting they have equal status. None of these positions is correct.
Marketing is the business function that's concerned with selling. It covers every aspect of selling, amongst other things from: deciding what products or services to sell; who to sell them to; what prices to charge; the channels to the end user; and how you will sell your products and services.
Advertising comes into the last of these categories. Advertising is a selling strategy. And it's by no means the only selling strategy. Others include the likes of PR, sponsorship, trade shows and exhibitions, sales promotions, networking, personal (field) selling, direct mail, and so on.
What's more, there are various situations in which you would not even consider using advertising as one of your selling strategies. For more information on that, read my Complimentary White Paper: "When Advertising can be Bad News for the Small Business".
So, let's keep "advertising" in its marketing context.
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