this post was submitted on 16 May 2026
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Christ I hate these people. I work with a guy who constantly says “You gonna tell me marketing and branding doesn’t matter? Apple is the most valuable company in the world!”
Like that makes ANY sense…
I'm sorry, is your coworker Jerry from Rick and Morty?
Well, it is important, but not as much as these people think it is
It exists. I’m unconvinced that it’s “important.”
Internet advertising has taught us a lot. Every single part of it is trackable so you can see what value you’re getting from it. And that value is tiny. This is why internet ads are a mess. It’s a fuck-shit stack of deceptive trash because that’s the only thing that can actually bring home a fraction of a penny. Display ads are like chemical suits: they do nothing!
That's not necessarily how ads work though. Who clicks on an ad anyway? But a few months after seeing it, you're looking into buying something and you remember the brand or website from the ad you saw. Or heard on the radio.
Incidentally, I know someone who quintupled a company's sales in a foreign country subsidiary in a few months by increasing ad spend. The upper leadership in the home country was against it since "we have a strategy and it works" but since he took control of the subsidiary, he could take the risk and disobey orders. Back home it's a known brand already, but nobody knew it in that particular target market.
then there's Huy Fung foods.. they didn't advertise for shit, made sriracha sauce and sold like crazy because his product wasn't a pile of hot garbage.. he didn't needs to rely on lies (marketing) and advertising (more lies). make something good, and consistent and people will buy it
also don't treat your farmer like an idiot if you wanna stay in business but ya know.. another story
I don’t doubt that in some situations, when everything else is primed - the product is good, the market is there, and awareness is the only thing lacking - advertising can make a difference.
For every anecdote like your friend’s, though, I can produce a hundred where millions just went into a hole for absolutely nothing.
I can't really give much detail on that particular instance without doxxing myself or the person, but the product was something where, for the most part, it doesn't matter who you buy from, the quality is (supposed to be) the same. There's always a market for it, too, even if demand isn't always high.
Google ad spend is what made the difference. When you've got several companies offering more or less the same product or service and the user just types in "where to buy x", you want to be among the first. They were in that market for YEARS and nobody had heard of them.
But that's just direct advertising mostly to people who are already searching for that product. Indirect marketing works too, even if it's more subtle and harder to measure short term. Several times have I gone to a store when thirsty and craving sugar and grabbed a Coca-Cola or even Pepsi, but I think the last time I got RC Cola was 20 years ago. It's those fucking Christmas ads, you see them every year growing up and then as an adult you no longer watch TV, have adblock on everything, and you STILL instinctively grab one.
Then there's the branding itself as part of marketing. There's a reason energy drinks are shit like red bull, monster, rockstar... They know who they're marketing to.
Sure, transactional SEM either works or it doesn’t and you know if it does. Brand marketing and advertising is a completely different ballgame. Being at the top of the searches when people are buying your product type is one thing. Buying a Super Bowl ad is another.
The thing about marketing, and branding is, it's less about selling the product immediately, and more about keeping the brand identity in peoples minds.
There used to be a time in the 1960s when Howard Johnson was one of the most dominant brands of hotels in America. They existed at the height of family road trips. The boomers were anywhere between 5 years old and 20 years old. So mostly at an age when they're kids/teens. So they became the brand of ice cream at the hotels for the kids, good nights rest for the parents. But they never evolved as the boomers grew up, and the family road trip died off. Today, the brand is totally dead. It's the Ask Jeeves of hotel brands.
But now look at Coke. Their ads don't ever entice you to drink coke. They don't really advertise the product. They advertise the brand. You see polar bears telling a short story, in 15 seconds. Followed by the coke logo. You don't get "HEY EVERYBODY!!! DRINK COKE!!! IT'S DELICIOUS!!!"
They don't do that. They don't advertise a product, they advertise firmiliarity with a brand so when you're in a store, and see soft drinks, you recognize the coke logo. Eventually you start seeking it out. And now those ads are no longer about advertising. They're about conditioning. And it works. When's the last time you had Jerrys old time cola? Or RC Cola? Maybe pepsi. But there's a reason "Is Pepsi ok?" Is the meme, and the answer is no.
'so why aren't you the CEO of the world's most profitable company? you know so much!'
'well uhh you see uhhhhhh'