How important is marketing?

I wonder if the Palm Pre electrical engineers and software developers ever see comments like the one in the article at https://www.engadget.com/2009/08/04/palms-ad-agency-loves-that-youre-creeped-out-by-new-tv-spots/ where Gary Koepke is quoted as saying, “The Pre is probably being talked about more than other phones right now because of the marketing and advertising, and that's a good thing.”

I have news for Gary.  Marketing is important to get the word out but ultimately the device needs to work well for the customer.  It has to feel good in the hand.  It’s has to have the features people are willing to pay for.  And it has to be reliable and have a decent battery life.

All the marketing in the world isn't going to help if the device doesn’t work, so lets not under estimate the value of good engineering and a solid product.  That’s true for Palm, Microsoft and anyone else.