Know-How Exchange : Advertising/PR

I think that branding strategy is key because the foundations of a strategy will factor in PR, advertising, among other elements that will be key to getting the brand launched properly. An effective brand strategy is one that will factor in the need for brand credibility, and unbiased & third party sources are key outlets for establishing credibility. So,PR, if done right, can do a great job of saying good things about your brand without your brand having to be the "speaker". PR is can be a great tool that brings positive things to the consumer's mind when they see the brand's advertising - whether it's a billboard, website, print ad or whatever the medium may be. Of course the creative direction and copy included in the advertising should be strategically based on the target audience. This goes back to brand strategy because it should be shaped by research and insight on the target audience as well as other items such as industry-specific information, benchmarks, and best practices. So, I would have to say that, in my experience, I wouldn't necessarily label advertising as a "continuation" of PR. PR is one element of a marketing mix that should be part of your brand strategy. Advertising is another. I would say that makes advertising more of a complement to PR rather than a continuation.

With all that being said, I would start off with a PR-heavy launch, and then launch an advertising campaign that has well-planned timing with the PR tactics you use. The advertising element can complement the PR momentum that you build. PR can be instrumental in making a good first impression and building credibility, and it can affect the lens that consumers view your advertising through as a result.

The particular industry and product should be factored in as well, but based on my experience, a solid brand strategy will involve a research and creative process that will use both PR and advertising in the right ways and at the right times.

This concept makes a lot of sense to me in a world where there is so many information channels and little time to assimilate it. PR folks are used to weaving stories and influencing people to talk and write about brands. Much of the new media that is really working is build on community and social interactions. PR folks have been doing that from the beginning.

The answer lies in the coming together of both advertising and PR. I do think that it is more about PR being included in all aspects of marketing rather than just using it out the gate.

Now with this being said nothing is 100% for every brand so you have to evaluate the brand before jumping one way or the other. Just remember book titles, like blog titles, are created to gain interest so the Ries book title is a bit melodramatic as it should be. I don’t think this change will be as rapid as the title indicates.

Advertising deals with controlled space. You buy the space, and get exposure. As such, there it is easy to
aquire, and there is no expert, inherent value in it.

PR deals with uncontrolled space. It is more difficult
to get, and higher in perceived value. PR provides
an expert positiniong and third part endorsement.

There is stark difference betweem the two, and Ries, et
al make a valid argument: in today's over advertised,
ignored-message environment, PR can provide a
person or company expert positioning quickly.

And this can influence sales and profits.


Best,
A.C.
[URL deleted by staff]

As with everything else in branding and marketing, Al Ries represents just one idea. Its his opinion, he's entitled to have it, and he earned his stripes in this business, but:
He doesn't represent the absolute truth, this isn't a science.
Many brands were built beacuse of advertising, but had to be defended by PR...
Other brands never used advertising, used a lot of PR and word of mouth, and also built branded empires.
The title of the book "The fall of advertising and the rise of PR" is very dramatic, very bombastic,and makes you want to buy it, which is a very legitimate way of selling books.
If one has doubts in that declaration alone, there is no reason to buy the book.
If I were the CMO of McDonald's I would disagree right from the start, but as I said, its one man's opinion.
We are preaching for each brand to be different, to have its own soul, to be unique and so on, so we can't preach to all brands to abandon advertising and move to PR, because that will make all brands equal, or commodities.

Rachel,

I think anyone who has been doing this for a long time will still tell you that all communication channels still have to be utilized well to effectively build brand awareness and to mount truly successful campaigns. Also, it greatly depends what the product or service is that you are trying to market.

If you are talking about a traditional consumer brand product like laundry detergent, things like PR and 'social media' are only going to be marginally helpful and you will still rely heavily on advertising and direct marketing like coupons and in-store demos.

In other cases, you have seen amazing awareness built through nothing more than buzz marketing like 'Ginger' before we knew it was the Segue.

If anything, advertising is evolving. Will it still be 30-second ads on TV and 1/4 page print ads in newspapers in 15 or 20 years? Probably not. We can already see the chages happening.

The one thing that will keep advertising here forever is the ability to completely control the message -- which you can't do with PR and viral marketing.

Also, research continues to show that someone has to be exposed to a message from 6-10 times for it to truly sink in. You can do that multiple times with one channel, or preferably multiple times through a variety of channels.

The concept is no different than the way you look at your health. Despite all of the research, the best rule of thumb is still what your grandma always said -- everything in moderation. No extremes of any one thing.

As Ilan says, it makes for a great title, but not so great a strategy. Remember a while back when everyone said press releases were dead? What that really meant is that a lot of people gave up on them because they weren't working -- usually because they were badly written and the follow up was ham-fisted at best.

The biggest argument against a strictly PR approach is sustainability. Media doesn't have the impact it used to when there were fewer outlets. People get their news from so many different sources now, and there is such information overload, within hours or days people have moved on to the next thing.

Unless of course it is Paris Hilton.

Regards,

~Jason

I would do a beta campaign (shameless plug from my book "101 Ways to Brand your Business"). Just like software companies do. They put out a beta version and all the insiders get to preview it.

The Beta testers are the opinion makers and influencers, so when they like it, they talk about it, write about it, and are seen with it. It makes everyone else want it.

1. I suggest sending a beta version, sample, or product to the opinion makers and influencers for this category.

2. Then I would send the questions to the media in various forms (think of the movie "The Secret"). Have you heard about "The Secret"? What is the Secret? This will make the media start to search for the story.

3. Then answer the media questions with interviews and PR campaign.

4. Immediately after / over lapping the PR campaign - I would start the Advertising.