Basic advertising is important in that you cannot sell a product without letting people know it exists.
However, I think the advertising industry grossly exaggerates the importance of advertising.
The trouble is, it's impossible to ask, "Does advertising work?" and get a conclusive scientific answer. There are usually far too many other factors in play to be able to look at a company or product and say, "X failed/succeeded because they didn't/did advertise." Is X successful because they advertise? Could they have been more successful if they'd invested their ad-campaign funding elsewhere? Did Y fail because of lack of advertising or simply because they tried to sell a rubbish product? Did they even fail because they devoted too much of their budget to advertising, not leaving enough to properly develop their product?
However, I think the advertising industry grossly exaggerates the importance of advertising.
The trouble is, it's impossible to ask, "Does advertising work?" and get a conclusive scientific answer. There are usually far too many other factors in play to be able to look at a company or product and say, "X failed/succeeded because they didn't/did advertise." Is X successful because they advertise? Could they have been more successful if they'd invested their ad-campaign funding elsewhere? Did Y fail because of lack of advertising or simply because they tried to sell a rubbish product? Did they even fail because they devoted too much of their budget to advertising, not leaving enough to properly develop their product?