Sir Richard Branson, billionaire owner of the Virgin Brand has been quoted as saying,
Publicity is absolutely critical. A good public relations story is infinitely more effective than a front page ad.
Sir Richard Branson
The reason for this is that an ad is something you pay for and it is a message you are putting out to the world. Publicity comes from someone else, so it has credibility. It’s what they call earned media.
It’s not you telling the world how great you are, it’s someone else telling the world about you.
PR vs Advertising
Do you too want to increase your brand awareness and visibility to grow your business but you aren’t able to choose between these two services. Don’t worry anymore because you’re at the ideal place. Let’s dive in and learn how Publicity is So Valuable in many ways.
- Definition
- The Myth
- What attracts, Advertising or PR?
- What creates a buzz; Advertising or PR?
- Are you investing your money at the right place?
- What leaves an impression; Advertising or PR?
- Which has more reach; Advertising or PR?
- Which is more personal; Advertising or PR?
- What do the audience prefer; Advertising or PR?
Definition
Advertising
Advertising is a paid space, helps a brand to introduce its products and services to the target audience, attract and influence them so that they become customers.
Definition of Advertising according to Wikipedia
Advertising is how a company encourages people to buy their products, services or ideas. Ads appear on television, as well as radio, newspapers, magazines and as billboards in streets and cities. Some stores simply advertise by placing signs showing a sales price beside the item.
PR
Public Relations is a practice of creative communication. The results of Public relations can be earned through pitching and providing promotional information in the form of Press Release to media.
Definition of PR according to Wikipedia –
“Public relations is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their public.” Public relations can also be defined as the practice of managing communication between an organization and its public.
The Myth
Many business have a misconception about advertising and PR. They believe both terms are the same. They feel advertising is not necessary if they resort to PR or vice versa. However, one needs to understand that PR and advertising have a completely different role for one’s business and should know to utilize the best of both worlds.
What attracts, Advertising or PR?
Get glowing & fair skin just in 15 days,’ do you remember those beauty ads? Cosmetic companies make huge profits by fooling customers. But time has changed now, No-one buys products on the basis of ‘beauty cream ads,’ but they prefer buying one by word of mouth. It is seen that very often people bypass good restaurants that are advertised and splashed across newspapers or pamphlets. Yet, people throng to a simple restaurant that doesn’t have much hype about it but, yes, has all the flavors infused in its food that satisfies the palate. They in a way publicity and in turn helps in increasing its sale value.
What creates a buzz; Advertising or PR?
You can’t create a buzz with advertising but with PR all you want is to create a buzz. Many Advertisements fail to convince the audience. But the audience never questions a journalist. They appreciate his little words and finds it more worthy and convincing than a full-page advertisement. They often search for a journalist’s reviews about a product or service before buying it. In other words, advertising has less credibility than the news gained by the practice of Public Relations. As the audience knows that advertisements are bought by someone to sell his products and services.
Are you investing your money at the right place?
Do you spend your money in a place that has no guarantee of success? Probably not. Then why would you spend on Advertising, a space that costs a lot of money, doesn’t give you assurance but instead a lot of question marks on credibility. For an audience these expensive ads are agendas of selling while on the other hand, news coverage by public relations firms create a huge impact on the target audience’s minds and results in an investment return for you.
What leaves an impression; Advertising or PR?
Sometimes you read or watch an advertisement but mostly you avoid it and that forces a client to publish it again and again so that it comes to your notice. It costs a lot of money for an individual but would one get success after spending all money and time is still a question? Where an impactful story always leaves its marks behind in one’s mind, it generates need and influences the audience to turn into a customer. It certainly proves that you can forget an ad where a good story is remembered, that’s proved that PR always leaves an impression where advertisement can’t.
Which has more reach; Advertising or PR?
If you put an ad in a newspaper or magazine which has 10000 subscribers, you get only 10000 impressions, and many of them forget it soon as it is just an ad. On the other hand, you can send a press release to many newspapers, portals, magazines, radio, blogs, TV stations. Target audiences won’t deny a useful story. They share it with others too if they find it worthy.
Which is more personal; Advertising or PR?
Advertising is a one-way communication, where only you can communicate without listening to the other’s point, that’s doesn’t give you clarity about the audience’s perspective. While on the other hand, Social media platform allows you to communicate with the target audience, your response to their questions make them feel special and connected.
What do the audience prefer; Advertising or PR?
Audiences are generally inactive to advertising as they switch the channel while advertisements are flashing, they purchase ad-free subscription packs to get rid of them, Printed ads go unnoticed too. While on the other hand, Good stories grab their attention. Companies such as Facebook, WhatsApp have established themselves without any advertising at all, which shows how effective good PR can be.