[XCSme]

I don't despise marketing in general, just marketing done for the sake of marketing. For example I hate blog posts that are create purely for SEO purposes.

Personally I just can't start marketing my product, even though I think it's one of the best in its space (analytics). The reason: I want to be sure it's the best, otherwise I would feel that I am just tricking people into buying an inferior product (which is what most marketing does nowdays, trick people into buying lower quality products for more money).

I think product should precede marketing. First make something great, then let people know about it. Build something truly better and only after that let the world know. Don't trick people into buying shitty products.

[vbrandl]

In general there is nothing wrong with marketing an interior product. It may be cheaper or more promising than the market leader but the customer is still able to decide for themselves. That said, it gets bad as soon as you market something your product doesn't offer (e.g. lie)

[XCSme]

Well, just look at all the teleshopping ads. They do all the dramatization, with complex stories and inventing problems you don't actually have, and then comes the amazing product that efficiently solves this horrendous problem. They are not lying about what the product does, but they are lying about how it will actually affect your life. This also happens to most of the "self-improvement" books that promise you that you will get rich in 7 days, out of which the last 3 you can just spend to get a 6-pack. The idea is that a product "could" affect your life in a specific way, but it most likely won't in the way it's advertised.

[vbrandl]

I agree that advertisement should show why a product is good for the problem it solves and not why the problem should be solved.

My previous comment was meant as a motivation to you, to market your (presumably good) product, even if it is not the best in its problem domain, even if it is not the best and let the customer decide. And if you do so, never lie about the actual properties of your product.