PR and advertising are two completely different things with a completely different goal and overall effect. While advertising is exclusively focused on promotion of products or services with an aim to encourage target audience to buy, PR is specialised in communication with the public and media.
Difference Between PR and Advertising
Just like advertising, PR often helps increase the sales as well and may include elements of marketing. However, it is mainly focused in creating positive publicity about a particular company, organisation or individual and maintain a good reputation in the public. By doing so, PR helps create a relationship between let’s say a commercial company and its customers who are more likely to choose the products from a company they have a good opinion over those from a firm they have never heard off before or heard something negative about it.
The Effect on the Public
The public reacts very differently to an ad than to a newspapers article or a TV report. They know very well when they are reading/looking an ad and the information they are communicated is perceived with a certain degree of skepticism. They know that the ad wants to persuade them to buy a particular product or service and will either believe or disbelieve the information they are communicated. But when they are communicated news about a new product or service through a third party, for example a newspapers or online article they perceive it as informative and worthy of their attention. A press release for instance does not directly encourage them to buy but it often achieves just that by creating a positive image about the product/service or its manufacturer, or both.
Cost
PR is a lot less expensive than advertising. But it is also true that PR has a lot less control over the way their clients are presented by the media in comparison to paid adds that oblige the media to publish them unchanged. At the same time, a press release is published only once by a single media, while the ads can be published over and over again.
The Bottom Line
An article or TV cover of purely informative nature is more likely to lead the target audience believe the content of the ads. As a result, PR campaigns often accompany marketing campaigns or are an integral part of advertising strategy.
Read more: Public Relations Services, Tools and Techniques
Edited by: 浪子
Bibliography
PR vs Advertising. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.ipr.org.uk/pr-vs-advertising.html
Public Relations vs Advertising
Reviewed by 浪子
on
September 26, 2018
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Reviewed by 浪子
on
September 26, 2018
Rating:
