Advertising and
Public Relations are both designed to create brand awareness in a positive
manner making it safe to say that Advertising and Public relations are similar in concept.
They are both
marketing tools that often go hand in hand but are two completely different
things with different goals.
International
humorist Stephen Leacock defined advertising as: "the science of
arresting the human intelligence long enough to get money from it”. Yes, Advertising
is exclusively focused on promoting products or services with the aim to encourage
or persuade target audience to purchase.
Public Relations is about the reputation of an organization or brand. It involves ongoing activities to ensure the overall organization/brand
has a positive public image. Public relations activities include building and
maintaining a strong and solid relationship with the public.
Let’s take
a look at some of the differences between Advertising and Public Relations;
Cost: Cost is one big
difference when advertising and PR is concern, while Advertising involves paying for space in
publications or airtime, then using that space or airtime to deliver a message
directly to consumers, usually focused on a targeted audience that will be
exposed to the advertisement or commercial and the demographics of the audience
but Public relations do not have fixed costs, it is not guaranteed that paying
a certain amount will achieve a specific result or goals.
Creative Control: Advertising gives
the company absolute power over the creativity of the message, since the
company is paying for the
space and time it will have virtually full creative control on what goes into
that ad, subject only to any
regulations or policies that restrict the content of commercials and ads. While
PR puts the media in charge, the media determine size, length,
word choice, format and which photos are used. The company may also not
have layout control or control over
how the media presents the information.
Shelf life: Since the company or organization pays for the
advert space or airtime, the media can run your ads over and over for as long
as your budget allows. An ad generally has a longer shelf life than one press
release. In Public Relations you only submit
a press release about a new product once or a news conference once. The PR
exposure you receive is only circulated once e.g. an editor won't publish your
same press release three or four times in their magazine or newspaper.
Branding and Presentation: Advertising involves introduction or
presentation of a brand and also product recall. Advertisements are often times
based on a brand or product and on a specific promotional message. While PR involves a mix of promoting
specific products, services and events and promoting the overall brand of an
organization e.g. promoting a message, reacting to events such as a scandal, or
giving a view to a journalist writing a story that didn’t generate from the
company's own publicity.
Writing Style: The
writing styles are different. With advertising,
you use “Call to Action” like Buy this product! Act now! Call today! etc. because
You want to motivate or persuade people to buy your product or brand. Advert
writing style is usually concise and creative while with PR you're strictly writing in a no-nonsense, serious and
most times lengthy news format.
If you are thinking of advertising in Nigeria, please
contact PoiseMedia Communications at www.poisemedianigeria.com or check our contact at the bottom of this blog. We can help you
identify your market and reach them. We apply both BTL and ATL strategies to
project our clients’ brands to the right audience. We can do same for you at
very affordable price.
Business Development Officer
PoiseMedia Communications Ltd
