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The Difference between Public Relations and Marketing

By Darrell L. Browning

Many people confuse public relations and marketing, yet they are two very distinct things. Marketing connects products or services to a particular group or audience. This allows tailored approaches and makes it easier to measure results.

Public Relations are about building and maintaining relationships–truthful, honest connections between your organization’s internal and external stakeholders. Public relations should help set the tone of your company. Public Relations, like marketing, should be managed communication. At BrowningLaFrankie, we describe Public Relations as the art of identifying, establishing and maintaining mutually beneficial relationships with the media, the community, your customers, employees and others.

Ironically, Public Relations suffer from its own public relations image.

Although public relations professionals are often seen as simple party planners, Public Relations can–and should–play a central role in any organization. Public Relations should not simply be viewed as a tool to promote good things about the company–bad things happen too. The key is honesty.

Your company’s image should stem from reality. From that, develop powerful messages that resonate with all audiences. In today’s information age, organizations need to recognize Public Relations should be on the leadership team–not simply relegated to plan a ribbon cutting, write a press release or respond to a crisis when they haven’t been in the Boardroom.

Public relations professionals should also serve as opinion leaders when it comes to corporate communication–helping identify, create and direct strategic messages. Ideally, public relations professionals serve as a liaison between your company and those with a stake in your organization.

Tragically, many companies take an axe to Public Relations staff when budget problems arise. Big mistake. Studies have repeatedly shown that successful companies prepare to emerge from economic downturns—and Public Relations are an integral part of that process.  We recommend enhanced communication between company leaders and public relations personnel who will–you’ll see– earn the support of the leadership team.

For more information see http://www.browninglafrankie.com.

©BrowningLaFrankie 2009

Public relations is fundamentally the art and science of establishing relationships between an organization and its key audiences. Public relations plays a key role in helping business industries create strong relationships with customers.

Public relations involves supervising and assessing public attitudes, and maintaining mutual relations and understanding between an organization and its public. The function of public relations is to improve channels of communication and to institute new ways of setting up a two-way flow of information and understanding.

Public relations is effective in helping: * Corporations convey information about their products or services to potential customers * Corporations reach local government and legislators * Politicians attract votes and raise money, and craft their public image and legacy * Non-profit organizations, including schools, hospitals, social service agencies etc. boost support of their programs such as awareness programs, fund-raising programs, and to increase patronage of their services

Public relations in present times employs diverse techniques such as opinion polling and focus groups to evaluate public opinion, combined with a variety of high-tech techniques for distributing information on behalf of their clients, including the internet, satellite feeds, broadcast faxes, and database-driven phone banks.

As public image is important to all organizations and prominent personalities the role of public relations specialist becomes pertinent in crisis situations. Public relations agencies provide important and timely transmission of information that helps save the face of the organization. In the words of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), “Public relations helps an organization and its public adopt mutually to one another.”

Experienced public relations agencies have formulation press releases into which they can plug the company news, as well as a targeted list of publications for their industry. Truly good public relations agencies generally have a good working relationship with key reporters, boosting their chances of getting coverage. Some public relations agencies deal only with large, established clients, while smaller boutique public relations agencies specialize in certain areas.

At present public relations as a career option exists in private companies or government institutions that actively market their product, service and facilities. Public relations training courses are widespread in educational institutions. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 122,000 public relations specialists in the United States in 1998 and approximately 485,000 advertising, marketing, and public relations managers working in all industries.

Most public relations practitioners are recruited from the ranks of journalism. Public relations officers are highly trained professionals with expertise and knowledge in many areas, for example shareholder management during a crisis, the evolving role of the in-house public relations professional, account management skills for public relations, an introduction to financial public relations, an introduction to consumer public relations, an introduction to public relations software etc.

Public relations is something a lot of companies claim to do effectively but that few understand completely. It’s not just clever gimmicks or sending out press releases. Effective PR is characterized by a coherent strategy that has defined goals and measurable results. An effective public relations agency for UK businesses understands this and works hard to make the business environment work for them.

PR is not just an effort to persuade the public of the value of a company’s products or services. The most effective public relations firms are able to not only engage the public, but to improve the perception of the company in the eyes of its own employees. When the efforts of the public relations firm are successful, the company itself becomes more successful. The sales force is deployed into an environment where the name they represent carries with it a positive image, a huge asset to those trying to close the deal with new clients or pique the interest of prospective ones.

Some public relations agencies work outside the firm and some work within the firm. The best public relations agencies are willing to do both. Among public relations agencies in the UK, the flexibility to make such arrangements work tends to indicate that the firm is staffed by flexible, open-minded people who are willing to accommodate their client’s needs in a way that improves their overall success.

When working with a public relations agency, that agency should be more than willing to provide concrete evidence as to the effectiveness of their efforts. This is a basic component of any other service provider and public relations firms have a reasonable expectation to be held to the same standards of accountability. Good public relations firms keep detailed records of the measurable results of their work and are enthusiastic about sharing it with their clients. Businesses around the world expect this from any public relations agency. UK businesses have the right to expect the same.

Public relations has a great deal of useful applications aside from the obvious marketing of a product or service or client relations. A good public relations firm can keep a business in the public eye and control the nature of that image by emphasizing the positive aspects of the corporation. They don’t “fool” the public into believing something that is untrue. A good public relations agency simply makes sure the company’s products, services, people and relations with their community are presented in an interesting way that tends to lead to a positive impression of the company.

Choosing a public relations agency for UK businesses can present myriad options. Look for agencies that are serious about their client’s successes and who are willing to work within the most beneficial framework for the company toward a defined set of goals. Take a look at their client list and see how those companies fare in the public eye. The agency you hire should be staffed by people who are passionate about their work.