What is Marketing? What is PR?

Lisa Chapman

You’ve likely heard it before – in the digital world, “The lines have blurred between Marketing and PR.”

What does that mean? How have the lines blurred?

The OLD Rules of Marketing

The message was delivered ONE-WAY, and CREATIVITY was the secret sauce that commanded the audience’s attention. Among the fundamental concepts of the OLD marketing paradigm:

• Advertising was the core tool
• The advertising message was generally crafted to appeal to the masses
• Advertising INTERRUPTED the audience with a one-way message
• Advertising engaged campaigns for a defined time period
• Creators focused on creativity – and award-winning campaigns
• Advertising and PR were different specialties, run by different people

The OLD Rules of PR

The ultimate goal: Spin a press release to capture reporters’ attention, then get a clip of the story, to show that the message was viewed by the audience.

• Media comprised the toolbox, in order to get the message out
• A press release was the core tool
• Only significant news commanded the attention of the media
• It was all in “the spin” (or HYPE!)
• Quotes from third parties were an important element of a press release
• Press releases were meaningless unless a reporter decided that it was worthy of a story

The NEW Rules of Marketing and PR

Since the internet is now one huge publisher, ANYONE can learn how to create compelling messages and publish them. Getting found online is the science and art. A few of the new rules include:

• People don’t want “spin” – they want authenticity
• People don’t want to be interrupted anymore (it’s now called SPAM)
• People don’t want to be ‘told’ (push marketing), they want to be heard
• People want VALUE (content), which develops relationship and trust
• Marketing and PR can reach niche audiences online in a wider variety of ways
• Content is KING, and stays online, with no end to the campaign

The New TOOLS of Marketing and PR

It’s no longer TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, direct mail, etc. Meaningful, valuable CONTENT is the vehicle that captures audiences’ attention. It is now found on:

• Websites
• Blogs
• Microblogs (Tweets)
• Social Media platforms (Facebook.com, Myspace.com, etc)
• Article Directories
• Videos
• Podcasts
• Etc, etc etc!