The Concept: What Does It All Mean? #000019
Q: “I've got one... how about the differences and roles between/for PR and Marketing? Uses and time/place for each? Just a thought from a reader! Keep up the great work in '25.”
A: Over the years, prospective clients have called wanting PR, others have wanted marketing, others advertising, which emerged from a need for PR. Let's break it down.
Key Takeaways:
PR gets people talking, marketing gets people buying.
Publicity is meant to create a buzz. Marketing is intended to create awareness. Advertising supports both.
You can access guidance through all three when you hire an agency like Trampoline.
What is PR:
According to the Public Relations Association of America, "Public relations is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics."
What is marketing:
As defined by the American Marketing Association, Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.
Chances are you have heard a publicity stunt or a marketing ploy; both phrases are likely coming from people who might undervalue or dismiss the efforts and expertise of people in marketing and public relations. Publicity is meant to create a buzz. Marketing is intended to create awareness, usually of a brand, but the message can also be combined with education, making it useful for sales and spreading a positive message.
An example of a publicity stunt could be the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. It was a simple idea, easy for people to replicate anywhere, and in some ways, an impossible challenge not to accept for the cause and its virality.
The Dove Real Beauty Sketches campaign was a hugely successful marketing push that brought real people's perceptions of their image through illustrations of them. It connected the Dove brand and all its products with embracing natural beauty.
PR can be instrumental as a business takes off, shifts course, or has a significant change, good or bad. PR focuses on relationships and media, and talking points often come into play.
Marketing centers on products and services, often using campaigns to build on the brand or extend it. This means that over time, or according to new goals for audience engagement, marketing may take liberties with a brand to push an offering for a set period.
Ok, but can you explain it to me as if I am someone who has never hired an agency of any kind before?
Scenario 1: I have a surplus of inventory and need to liquidate before new stock arrives
Solution: Marketing
Create an ad campaign around the unexpected value of the products thanks to unusual savings.
Scenario 2: A portion of my product needs to be destroyed for quality control purposes
Solution: PR
Deploy communication explaining that due to an abundance of caution and commitment to quality thresholds, your company will replace products with more thoroughly refined replacements to continue the service and caliber of product your customers have come to know you for.
Scenario 3: An industry competitor received lousy press for staffing issues
Solution: PR and Marketing
Now is the time to effectively communicate with PR help how and why your company is working proactively to keep adequate staffing for customer experience and company morale. Through marketing, launch a campaign that promotes attention to detail for customer experience and company-wide gratitude and pride for being able to serve the region.
Scenario 4 - 6: Business grand opening OR Expanded offerings or a new location OR Renaming
Solutions for 4-6 are a blend of PR and marketing. PR will help you be seen and understood by the general public and beyond. Marketing can help you reach who you want to sell to with the most compelling message for those people.
In a nutshell, PR gets people talking, marketing gets people buying. Advertising supports both.
– TRAMPOLINE DESIGN • 1/22/2025
