In a recent article I read that “….aside from a few television spots and billboards here and there, Apple pretty much ignores marketing and advertising.”

This is simply not true. EVERYTHING Apple does, from the massive investment in package design that creates scissorless, video-worthy unboxing experiences, to product names, Genius training, years spent obsessing over every detail of a new product, glass staircases and Macbook screens angled so that you must touch them in order to interact with the product in store, is marketing.

Apple’s $1.2 billion spend on advertising (just 0.7% or their revenue) pales into insignificance when you consider the resources the company dedicates to creating meaningful products and experiences.

Marketing is neither medium or message, it’s how it feels to get close to your brand—which means everything that the customer sees, hears, tastes, smells and experiences (not just your advertising budget) is your marketing.

It really is time to stop confusing the two and to remember that now more than ever before, great advertising can’t and won’t rescue a mediocre product or experience.

Your brand story is not just something you say. It’s all that you do.

Image by Rob Boudon.