More Friends than Foes.
The debate is an old one and provokes the mind almost always. In recent times, the discussion around the two has become more pronounced. For one, the sweep of digitization has overwhelmed both professions and secondly, the almost year long pandemic has changed the way professionals are beginning to address the path to be followed.
But for academic purposes, let us look at the basic definition of the two important modes of communication.
Advertising typically deals with a type of communication which attempts to lure the potential customers to acquire or use a certain brand of product or a service. Technological development, mass production and modernization of both processes of manufacturing or production and human attention to the market place, has thrust advertising in to a more prominent position. Evidently, the skillful and aesthetically proficient people are stalking the contours iof their brains to evolve advertisement strategies and generate its content depending on the medium through which the communication must be made. In any case, the communication is often expansive panning the entire range of media such as television, radio, print media, internet, billboards and mobile vans, etc
Advertising can be different types. In the media, purely for commercial purposes, may have many forms like wall paintings, billboards, printed flyers, cinema and TV advertisements, web pop-ups, bus stop benches, in-flight advertisements, etc. The idea of course is to engage the consumer mind at all times.
In the last decade or so, the advertising world have taken the help of covert means – endorsement by social icons, public figures, well known personalities from the entertainment industry and lately sports icons. The value of such endorsements is found to be immense because of the mass appeal these people enjoy over a vast audience at the same time. The digital disruption has created a bigger and wider avenue for advertising. Internet, mobile phones, infomercials or direct response TV commercials are very much sought after.
But, advertising alone cannot be effective if there is no public relations mechanism. Public relations often have the power to influence media. A convincing argument by the media in favour of any company or product enhances credibility. There lies the strength of effective public relations.
Public Relations (PR) is a process of managing the flow of information between the company and its customers. This is a clear indication of how important content is. Very carefully crafted communication strategies through PR channels can end up on the winning side.
Traditionally PR has meant offering content to the media and engaging in a relationship with media persons. People to people contact are always the best method to reach out. Even in a pandemic situation that we are in today, the importance of people to people contact is hardly over emphasized. Of course, the content, the manner of delivery, may have to be tweaked to become more effective. In fact, in the current situation, PR professionals have managed to perform better as most companies have reduced the advertisement budgets concentrating largely on the basic business processes.
Public Relations as an exercise is often found to come handy in situation where companies need to build a rapport with different stakeholders, either employees or customers.
Fundamentally, PR offers a third-party legitimacy, which is lacking in advertising. Advertisements can be imposing and alluring. In comparison PR is perhaps more organized and it makes sure that the product or the event information reaches the media. The onus after that is on the media. It is here the capability to influence is of paramount importance.
In the eventual analysis, advertising and public relations and not contenders and can be very effective collaborators when it comes to generating publicity for a brand. If used intelligently and made to complement each other, advertising and public relations can catapult a company or a brand to the top.
