Submitted by: Judi_Wax
I’ve been in PR for 25 years, and the question I’m most often asked is, “What’s the difference between advertising and PR?” which usually means “What’s the difference between advertising and publicity?”
It’s simple. Advertising is a paid placement in a newspaper, magazine, online or on radio or TV that’s entirely under your control. Publicity is an unpaid story in a newspaper, magazine, online or on radio or TV that’s not under your control – although you can influence its content.
Most people would admit that they perceive advertising and PR differently – most likely because they view one as paid for by a company and the other as the unpaid point of view of a third party.
In a perfect world, companies use both advertising and PR as part of an integrated program to build and sustain their brands because they complement and support each other. There’s nothing like advertising to build awareness, and we often say that advertising is the headline and PR tells the rest of the story. Publicity that precedes an ad campaign can seed the market before a campaign runs. A good example is the publicity that Super Bowl ads receive long before the big game. Publicity builds our interest in seeing the latest ads so we don’t get up and take a break during the commercials. Publicity and PR’s other components make us more receptive to advertising’s impact and message.
PR also is the discipline that protects a company’s reputation by helping to establish and maintain goodwill and mutual understanding between a company and its stakeholders – and managing communications when things go wrong.
Many people have said that advertising and PR differ in three main ways:
Credibility – Regardless of how compelling it is, advertising for a product or service is sometimes viewed as promotion. Publicity about the same product or service may be viewed as more credible because it’s told by an unbiased third party.
Clarity – Advertising uses creativity, humor, drama and other techniques to engage and persuade people. PR uses straightforward information to tell a story in a newsworthy way. Advertising usually tells a story in column inches, 30-second spots or Web banners. PR has more time and space to tell a story.
Control – Advertising offers complete control of a message. With an ad, you know exactly what it will say and when and where it will run. PR offers less control. With PR, however, developing key messages and learning how to deliver them allow you to influence the end result.
It’s important to remember that PR includes many more tactics than publicity, such as events, cause marketing, issues and crisis management, and more. PR can introduce a new product or service, invigorate a mature brand, engage a target audience, launch an ad campaign or promotion, inform or educate a target audience, build brand loyalty, clear up misinformation, polish an image or just keep your brand top of mind. In the end, we always recommend starting with what you’re trying to accomplish and considering every tactic at your disposal, from advertising to PR to marketing to new media for the best results.
