Opinions are divided on whether advertising is still needed given that the quality of products and services can satisfy their customers’ demands. I believe that answer depends on each specific type of products and also the stage of their development.

This point of view holds water in certain circumstances where the word-of-mouth strategy is effective. One of them is in the education sector, in which the likelihood of acquaintances in one’s social circle having the same demand is typically high, while the market is already saturated with clichés and promises. Around the world, most university education institutions, for example, devote relatively little funding to marketing but still attract applications from the brightest talents, mostly thanks to their teaching quality. The medical industry is another example in which service providers attract customers in large part due to their outstanding services. Advertising often plays a minor role in convincing patients to choose a certain hospital over others, as the decision is so important that they tend to prioritize reviews of those who have experienced such services firsthand.

However, there are several other scenarios in which advertising campaigns play a vital role in ensuring the success of a business. A project in its early phase, when a product is first tested on the market, has yet to establish a trustworthy reputation, and desperately needs clever promotion strategies to win over its first consumers. This initial revenue could provide crucial funds for the company to further develop and improve their products, thus attracting more customers down the line. In addition, in case aggressive expansion is deemed necessary, marketing is a useful way to quickly saturate the media with images of the company. It is a matter of fact that word-of-mouth typically elevates a business at a slower pace; so when a business owner is under pressure to quickly grow his market share, advertising is indispensable. 

In conclusion, there are no one-size-fits-all answers for the question regarding the necessity of advertising. For industries in which word-of-mouth is favoured, advertisements seem to be redundant, yet they are vital for products in their early life cycle and when rapid growth is required.