Advertising and public relations are often confused with each other, but although similar they are not the same.

Advertising and public relations are two quite different careers, although they are very often confused. Whilst advertising can play a very large role in public relations campaigns, we’ll take a look at some of the noticeable differences. Both things aim to get you noticed, but all is not the same!

Paid Adverts or Freebies

• Advertising – The advertising company pays for the ads, and knows exactly when and where the ad will be published/screened.
• PR – Public Relations companies aim to get free publicity for their campaign, and focus on free exposure rather than paid ads.

Creativity and Control

• Advertising – Okay, you pay for the ads, you write the ads and you know exactly what the ad will look like.
• PR – You don’t really have any control over how your information is presented, if at all. Just because you send some information, it doesn’t mean that they have to publish it.

Shelf Life

• Advertising – You can run your advertisement for as long as you like, or as long as your budget will stretch. An advertisement will generally run for much longer than one press release
• PR – You can only submit each press release once, whether it’s about a new product, a news conference or whatever. No editor will ever publish the same press release more than once, so it’s strictly a one shot go.

Canny Consumers

• Advertising – Consumers choose whether or not to read the advertisements, but they know that they are adverts and are well aware that you’re trying to sell them something.
• PR – Now this is where it gets clever! Good, effective public relations can persuade consumers that something is better or worth trying, without them really knowing that was your intention in the first place. Very often, by generating a third party endorsement it creates credibility for the products or services offered. Subtle, don’t you think?

Special Events

• Advertising – If you or your company are sponsoring some kind of special event, it would look a bit like bragging if you advertised that fact now wouldn’t it? Talk about blowing your own trumpet.
• PR – Now then, if you or your company are sponsoring an event, you need a PR firm to send out a press release to the local media, and hope that they run with it. The chances are that they will, and your event will get free advertising, and your firm will be recognized for its charitable sponsorship.

Writing Style

• Advertising – The writing style for advertising is generally to the point, with loads of ‘buzz words’ thrown in to create a media frenzy. We’ve all heard about the ‘power of three’ haven’t we?
• PR – Press releases need to be written in a no-nonsense fashion. You are, in effect, reporting the news. Any blatant commercialism will be instantly disregarded by the media (and probably by the editor before it is even published).

So there you have it, some of the subtle (and not so subtle) differences which exist between advertising and public relations. Of course, there is definitely room for both in the commercial world, and many times they work hand in hand, but they are not the same!