Question

In your opinion, what are the key differences between public relations and advertising? From a marketing standpoint (4Ps - Promotion), which tool (advertising or PR) do you believe is most effective? Explain your rationale

Answer 1

Followings are the main differences between advertising and public relations;

Basis	Advertising	Public relations
1. Meaning	It refers to sum of various paid tools of drawing public attention about the product and services of a firm & company.	It refers to strategic communication made by a firm & company to build a mutual strong realtionship between a company and public.
2. Purchased or earned	Advertising is a paid source of promotion.	Public relations is an eraned source of promotion.
3. Objective	Main objective of advertsing is to spread information about the product & service so that sales can be increased.	Main objective of public relations is to build a long-term positive relationship with public so that image of the company can be made for long-term.
4. Impact	Advertising have low impact in compare to public relations.	Public relations have higher impact in compare to advertising.
5. Control	A company & firm can fully control materials & contents of advertising	A company & firm can not fully control materials & content.
6. Paid or free	A company & firm has to pay for advertisement as much as a firm or company want.	A company & firm can get free publicity through press realease & journals.
7. Tools	Followings are the main tools of advertising; Newspaper, magazines, television, radio, outdoor advertising, mail, blogs and messeges etc.	Followings are the main tools of public relations; Press Conferences, Press releases, Annual Reports, Speech, PR Events, Pitches etc.

As we know that both advertising and public relations are the parts of promotion but when we talk about the more significance of advertising or public relations then public relations is more effective because with the help of public relations a company or firm will be in the position to build a long-term relationship with its customers hence public relations is more effective.

Image of a company & firm can be made for a long-time with the help of public relations because advertising have very short-term impact in the minds of cutomers or prospective customers. Apart from this if a company or firm want to make contact to the limited group of audiences then no doubt public relations will be more effective & worthy for an organization.