UNIT TWO PUBLIC RELATIONS VERSUS OTHER RELATED DISCIPLINES

Objectives:
By the end of the lesson, you should be able to:
1. Distinguish Public relations from the following related terminologies:
a. Marketing
b. Publicity
c. Propaganda
d. Advertising
e. Journalism
Introduction
The nature of public relations is very broad and therefore includes a wide range of activities
referred to as the public relations network. Some of these activities are often confused as public
relations instead of elements of public relations. An examination of these related concepts will
enable you understand the proper relationship between them and public relations, and the role
and functions of the practitioners of public relations

PR and Marketing
Public Relations and marketing are essentially corporate functions but Public Relations is not the
same thing as marketing. PR is used both in the commercial and non-commercial organizations.
Marketing. Marketing deals with getting products or services to the customer. You learned
marketing as the “4 Ps”: product, price, placement and promotion. Marketing has become a lot
more sophisticated with the advent of databases, but the goals remains the same — to move
product through the pipeline. “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.”
PR is not a marketing strategy as advertising is but PR is involved in all marketing decision
made by any organization. Public Relations starts from innovation stage of any product. PR can
be used in marketing of any product since the product of any company is meant for a specific
market. PR can help in educating such a market. Marketing of the product will fail if the market
is not educated, if people do not know how to use the product. That is why PR helps to create a
product image for the product and equally a corporate identity for the company marketing or
producing the product.
A company like Nestle with a name for excellence in product has got an image to produce goods
relating to its line. At the same time the company will have to consolidate the position of the
product in the market by building image for the product. That is the function of public relations.
PR can help to introduce a new product into the market. Public relations are very much needed to
stage a good exhibition, press conference or market survey for that product. PR is also necessary
in the feedback system of the product. The producers must be able to get a feedback from the
consumers. A lot of people will buy a product that is guaranteed. They will buy a product that
they can get spare parts or that can be serviced easily in their environment. PR is very important
in positioning of a product in the market place and it helps in educating sales forces. The market
of any products can be educated by press releases; houses journals and work visit to plants by
consumers as well as the use of slides films and literature. In all the six stages in the product life
cycle, namely, development introduction, growth, maturity, saturation and decline, PR is very
important. PR supports marketing through sponsorships of certain types of sporting activity-
football, track and field events polo, golf, etc. Public relations support marketing by attracting
and getting third party endorsements of the product.

PR and Advertising
While advertising makes the product known, PR is to build an image for the products. PR can be
used in promoting the product. Nobody will buy a bad product twice and part of making the
product good and acceptable is the work of the public relations officer. Advertising is basically
commercial; advertising is paid for communicating to get publicity for the product or services.
PR is not paid for in order to get publicity. Advertising therefore is a marketing tool and a means
of achieving communication. Advertising is chiefly concerned with the sale of products or
services using paid media messages. Advertising is largely one-way communication aimed at
eliciting responses from members of the target audiences (though Web 2.0 is giving advertisers
interactive opportunities). Public relations practitioners sometimes use advertising to advocate
ideas or causes, or to build and/or reinforce an organization’s reputation.
Advertising helps to introduce a new product, to sustain an established product and to create flow
of traffic for a retail outlet, to secure sales leads, demarcate a service and to promote a public
cause. A public relations professional uses advertising for corporate institutional purpose. He
uses the expertise of the advertising agency for copy writing purposes and for media placement.
PR and Corporate Promotions
The public relations department will need research. The department will probably need corporate
institutional or advertising research to help it plan a marketing strategy for the organization.
Corporate promotions therefore provide a base for public relations department to draw its
research materials. Corporate promote is a joint work of everybody in all departments to enhance
the corporate image and promotions of the company.

PR and Journalism
Most practitioners of public relations enter the profession through journalism, but being a
journalist does not necessarily make you a good practitioner of public relations. In the day to day
operations of the public relations officers, he will need the journalist. The journalistic instinct
must therefore equally exist in the public relations practitioner. The PR practitioner will have to
write news releases. He will need to call press conferences; he will hold press briefings. A
practitioner cannot do all this without an in-depth knowledge of how they are being done. That is
the reason why the practitioners must be trained in the style of journalism. PR is beyond media
relations. Also, as public affairs are concerned with politics, it does not translate to mean public
relations.

PR and Propaganda
Propaganda, dissemination of information—facts, arguments, rumours, half-truths, or lies—to
influence public opinion. When public relations is misused, people equate it with propaganda.
One of the most common misconceptions is to think that public relations, means propaganda, the
manipulation of people’s minds by shady character (the Hidden Persuaders). PR and propaganda
are widely different while PR’s objective is to achieve consent true dialogue, complete openness,
understanding and collection of information through ethical fact finding methods respected
worldwide, the objective of propaganda is to build a movement, direct information to a people
already brainwashed, use and accept monologue, obscure facts or gives half truths; promote a
following whether or not the people understand the issue at stake. Propagandists obtain
information through questionable means.
Public Relations and Promotion.
Promotion is communication designed to create incremental sales of a product or service over a
short period of time. Promotion often is used to supplement regular brand advertising. Tools
typical of sales promotion are coupons, sweepstakes, special events, and “buy one/get one free”
offers. At times, a promotion will tie in with a public relations activity such as special events.

Public relations and Publicity.

The communication tool most often associated with public relations, publicity is factual
communication designed to gain favorable exposure for a client, product, or idea in the news
media. Publicity’s most common form is the press release, but staged events, interviews, fact
sheets, pitch letters, and talk show appearances are other tools used to generate positive media
coverage. Some marketers use the terms promotion and publicity interchangeably. They aren’t
the same thing. Publicity can be defined many ways, but it is most appropriate to view it from a
marketing perspective. In its simplest form, publicity involves conveying information and
generating awareness about products and services to the general public or target audiences
through various media. Publicity's primary purpose is to get specific information across to as
many people as possible within the shortest time frame. To record any sale of products or
services, customers have to be aware they exist, and they also have to know the attached
benefits. As the number of people aware of a product or service increases, the potential for
additional sales also increases.

Public relations and Media relations.

MR is a specialty of public relations that oversees the publicity function and works to sustain
positive relationships with media gatekeepers (which now includes bloggers). Because working
with and “pitching” media is one of the oldest public relations activities, it’s the one most
associated with our field by outsiders. And since media relations was the primary job of PR a
generation ago, many old-school managers still insist that former reporters make the most
effective PR practitioners. (This has not been my experience!)

Public relations and Public affairs.

When used in the context of government and military, public affairs is synonymous with public
relations. In the corporate world, however, public affairs is a subset of the public relations
function that deals with government relations and lobbying, plus social issues and policies.

Public Relations and Selling.

Selling involves direct contact with customers and prospective customers for the negotiation of a
purchase. Sales people often rely on tools developed by public relations people (brochures, fliers,
websites, etc.). Sales people often benefit from the good works of public relations people,
e.g.,publicity stories, customer service programs, research studies, special events, etc. And
because sales people are the organization’s front-line storytellers, it behooves PR to understand
their needs and to support them in their efforts.