Marketing is a concept that can be presented in endless ways, from telling a friend about a product that you really liked, an advertisement that you see on a billboard as you are driving to the countless social media posts that guarantee a product will not let you down.
No matter what the type of advertising may be, it is no secret that it is everywhere in all of our everyday lives. As simple as a marketing campaign may seem, there is lots of strategy and thought put into every last detail to what will attract the most attention. The goal of a marketing campaign is to attract and retain customers (Twin, A, 2025). Companies focus on the age group they are marketing to, the style of the campaign, the fonts and colours, the words that are displayed, etc., all these details do not go unconsidered in hopes that customers do not leave them unnoticed. Now, how does a company break down the widespread concept of marketing to target exactly who they are looking for?
Where does it all begin
For anyone who has taken any type of marketing course, you may be familiar with the 4 P’s of marketing: Product, Place, Price and Promotion (BDC, 2023). The businesses must primarily understand what product they are creating and who they would like to engage the most with their product. In other words, who is it targeted at? Once this is understood, the focus can be turned to the 4 P’s.
Starting with a product, it is crucial to understand the benefit of your own product as a business, what makes the product special, the quality of the product, and whether the product is useful for the long term, or simply just following a trend. With this core information about the product, with additional minor details, the breakdown of what you are selling can be used to decide who will most likely buy this item.
After this is decided, the business can move onto the next P, which is in place. Place is not only a physical area where you would see this product, but it must be taken into consideration where the customer may shop the most for this type of product, based on who you are marketing to. For example, if you are advertising a product to a member of Gen Z, it is more likely they will hear about the product digitally through social media, as the majority of Gen Z are social media users (Schaefer, A, 2026). It is not about promoting the product most traditionally, but about understanding your target niche to promote as widely as possible.
Following this, pricing must be a big consideration; if there is a company that is selling something similar, the goal is to understand the value of the product, but also have competitive prices to generate profit.
Lastly, the type of promotion is crucial to gather the positive attention and feedback you are searching for as a business. Going back to the example of Gen Z on social media, the type of promotion may vary for each product and the group you are aiming to target. It may be that the brand itself creates relatable content or they partner with an influencer to promote the product. When combining the Ps, you create the formula that is necessary to influence consumers to buy your product over any other competitors.
Marketing does not end with a campaign; it continues with the consumer
Now that marketing has been completed by the company to understand what works for their brand and the 4 P’s have been analyzed, it may seem that the company is ready to set their product into the world and market accordingly. This is not in fact true, as much as a company can prepare itself internally, it is only 50% of the work. The other half takes place in understanding consumers from all around and what is most effective. As market research can be conducted before setting out any marketing campaigns of marketing, the true form of receiving feedback is trial and error. A company can do as much research as possible to create the best possible promotion they believe they can create, but without reviewing the feedback and the metrics, the company may fail to grow.
Who creates these metrics? It would have to be the consumers themselves. Let's say that a company sets out an advertisement on Tik tok. The company can go into the statistics and understand who did it reach to the most, who interacted and engaged the most, which age group was the most impacted, how many website visits did the receive, how much did sales increase, etc. this information is all important to be considered as it shows what is the most effective, what worked, what did not work and can all be compiled to improve the future advertisements to have continuous growth within the company.
Another side of gaining back this information would be through direct feedback, not only can direct feedback be collected through surveys and customer reviews but social media provides direct feedback from the amount of comments, views, shares and likes a video has. Additionally, social media is a place where everyone has the right to comment their thoughts on any video that surfaces online. This can be used as a benefit for companies that are promoting through social media, as they gather honest feedback from these comments to use in the future.
What really captures attention?
From an outside perspective of marketing, it may seem easy to determine what promotions will catch more attention than others, but in reality, it is subjective and at the discretion of the consumer. As much as patterns can be generalized through different age groups and categories, not every strategy will work the same for everyone. In this case, what makes an ad stick out to not just a select group, but to everyone, if companies cannot personalize every advertisement to cater to every single client? There are a few key elements that tend to attract attention, no matter the type of audience.
First, emotions. Having emotions attached to a product will engage a client, as it seems more personal and opens the possibility of attachment to the product. If an advertisement creates emotions such as happiness, nostalgia, comfort or relief, a person is more likely to remember it and feel drawn to the product. This can also be found in the reliability of a product, where it is shown as trustworthy. Whether through a trusted celebrity or real-life proof, people feel more confident to buy the product if it is shown to be reliable. Customers can doubt opinions, but cannot argue with functionality.
With the trends changing day by day, across age groups and platforms, it may be difficult to always capture attention, but something that will never change is simplicity. An advertisement that is clear, easy to follow and visually pleasing will always be effective. This classic marketing idea gets to the point of the product while maintaining the simple but necessary appearance of why anyone would benefit from the product. While the trends are fun to follow, they do not always guarantee success. It is that the most successful forms of marketing are simple, clear and easy to remember.
Conclusion
Marketing can give off the impression that it is common knowledge, but it is easier said than done, as every single detail counts from the second a campaign is published, understanding the target market, all the way to the details of the font of a poster. All these details must be considered to create the perfect campaign for the time, to attract and retain new customers from all around. While each group reacts to different marketing styles in different ways, it is important for companies to understand their goal, understand their clients, take risks,s but also never fail to use the classics when necessary. Marketing presents itself in countless creative forms, reaching people in ways that words alone cannot explain. It is not only about selling the product but also about creating memories and feelings around it. Marketing is not only a business strategy but truly a work of art.
Sources
Schaefer, A. (2026, January 8). How Gen Z uses social media and what that means for brands. Sprout Social. https://sproutsocial.com/insights/gen-z-social-media/
The 4 PS of Marketing. BDC.ca. (2023, January 13).
https://www.bdc.ca/en/articles-tools/marketing-sales-export/marketing/4-ps-marketing
Twin, A. (2025, July 18). Understanding marketing in business: Key strategies and types. Investopedia.
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/marketing.asp#:~:text=What%20Is%20the%20Purpose%20of, with%20the%20product%20or%20service