Applying for a job for which I have the requisite skills, but which is technically in a field where I have no experience

I recently saw a job posting for a Data Analyst/Python Developer. The job ad says that you should be skilled with automated data analysis, web crawling, SQL, Python and Excel and have a basic knowledge of Machine Learning. You must also be fluent in English and be willing to take training to further knowledge of ML/AI.

The only caveat is that this is technically a marketing position, and it's under the marketing department at a company. It says that it requires 5+ years of marketing experience, of which I have none.

In this case, is it worth it to even apply for the job? According to LinkedIn, there's only one other candidate for the job. I've tried to address this in my cover letter, saying that although I don't have the marketing experience, I do meet the other requirements.

A friend of mine says that this might be one of those jobs which was created internally for someone who was in marketing and who wants to transition into ML. However, they're publically advertising it and interviewing external candidates just to make it look legitimate.

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