Two approaches to marketing

There are two ways to think about selling products:

1. The product is so good that it sells itself
2. It doesn't matter what the product is if the marketing behind it is phenomenal
   

I used to believe the first was always the way it was - as a consumer I was convinced that I was always purchasing a product not because of marketing but because of the great product. Now I realize that there are many great products that are poorly marketed that are completely out-competed by inferior products, only because the other product had better marketing.

Take the music industry, for example. Some of the largest and most successful pop-stars are not as talented as their less-fortunate counterparts, but it is in how they present themselves that they make their fortunes. Madonna, Cher, and Britney Spears are all marketed so well that we don't even question their talent - we just want to buy their songs and the magazines that talk about them.

The same goes for toasters and cameras and cell phones. Currently the i-phone and the Blackberry are all the rage, but I personally love palm products. Imagine if no-one had heard of any of these phone and when it was time to go and buy one you actually had to test them and learn about their features and then pick one based upon their merits? Perhaps you would purchase a different product because you weren't thinking about how cool you would look with the best phone that looked so good in the commercials.

One thing I do know is that in today's world if you have an idea, service or product that you want to sell, you have to pay for the marketing and the marketing has to be done right. The service itself is less relevant than ever.

What do you think?