My goodness, a visitor from a planet where leaked product shots and rumors count as 'marketing'. Have you been on Earth for very long?
Well, long enough to understand that marketing stretches a lot further than running the occasional advert.
For the past several months, the online community has been obsessed with this thing. Every little screw and connector has been the subject of the most bizarre speculation. The first shots of the body produced a storm of hatred:
"It's too long!"
"The screen isn't as big as my head!"
"This would never have been released if Steve was still alive!"
A few more weeks, a few more rumours, a few more shots; and people are starting to warm to it. Design experts are writing articles about it; tech pundits are seeing how the screen size is possibly tied to the mythical AppleTV (currently being built by a factory staffed by unicorns). This will carry on up until the release, by which time folk will be falling over themselves to hand Apple the money.
That, my obviously young friend, is marketing. Hard to recognise, but marketing nonetheless.
This is not to say that every leak is Apple's doing. But I think the screen is down to them. They're managing expectations. Exhaust the naysayers early, and get people used to the idea that the screen is not going to be the size of a patio door.
When I go to buy a phone, I always ask "Does this look at the same as a previous product? If it does, I won't buy it. Money doesn't grow on trees and I have my priorities straight, you know."
Then I have a tip for you. Don't buy a real phone. Just buy a really flashy shell with no internal parts. It would be dirt cheap and you could still show off with it.
