The Difference between Advertising, Marketing and PR

I’ve scoured the Internet for a good, succinct article that tells me the difference between advertising, marketing and PR. They seem so similar that I think certain functions of each overlap each other’s categories. As I write this, I haven’t done any research yet, but I think of marketing as a broad category under which advertising and PR reside.

I’m going to present the definitions here for myself and anyone else who is confused about the terms. I’m going to try to write them so that the differences are self-evident. I’m going to choose the best explanations on the Web and word them in language I can understand because I think that’s also part of the problem – explaining jargon with jargon. I’d like to note that I got most of this info from About.com – it’s the best guide I could find among many with convoluted messages.

Advertising
A paid announcement of a persuasive message by a sponsor, usually showcasing the sponsor’s own product(s). Advertising is not a process and it doesn’t take a lot of time – it’s something that can be done fairly quickly. Advertising is getting the word out about what you have to sell. Selling to a target audience. Brochures, TV commercials, and magazine and newspaper ads are best examples.

Marketing
The planning and implementation of activities that create a relationship that’s good for both the seller and buyer. Marketing takes time. Marketing affects how people perceive your company. Planning with a target audience in mind. Business cards, logos and anything else that you hand out to consumers that doesn’t include a direct selling message are best examples.

Public Relations
Getting free publicity, often focusing on media exposure. Gains more credibility than advertising or marketing because the audience doesn’t know that they’re reading a story that resulted from a press release. Or, if they do know that, they at least know you didn’t pay for the story. Public relations is what comes into play when your brand has a crisis – if your brand doesn’t do what it says, it’s the PR that saves it by either settling the crisis or building up your brand after the crisis. Planning with editors in mind – not talking directly to the target audience. More visible with the media. Press releases and speeches by spokespeople (PR people) are best examples.

Marketing is a Pie
It looks like my thinking was along the right lines, according to Laura Lake, About.com’s Marketing guide. She says, “The best way to distinguish between advertising and marketing is to think of marketing as a pie, inside that pie you have slices of advertising, market research, media planning, public relations, product pricing, distribution, customer support, sales strategy, and community involvement. Advertising only equals one piece of the pie in the strategy.”

So, marketing is the all-encompassing process that has the goal of creating a relationship between a company and consumers.