Marketing Versus PR: Whats the Difference

Posted on March 9, 2012 by Heidi Cohen in PR | 7 Comments

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11 Communications Experts On Marketing, PR & MarCom
Theres a love-hate relationship
between marketingand PR. While both marketing and PR are at their best when used
together, many professionals feel that they need to choose one or the other.
To frame this conversation, marketing is defined by Dr. Phillip Kotler as: the science
and art of exploring, creating, and delivering value to satisfy the needs of a target market
at a profit. While the American Marketing Association (AMA) Board of Directors
defines marketing as 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.
By contrast, heres how PRSA (Public Relations Society of America) defines PR:
[Public relations] helps an organization and its publics adapt mutually to each
other. Public Relations broadly applies to organizations as a collective group, not just a
business; and publics encompass the variety of different stakeholders.
When asked what was the difference between Marketing, PR, and MarCom
(or Communications), heres what eleven communications-area experts said
Marketing supports sales; public relations supports sales, marketing and overall
company positioning internal and external; and MarCom is a function of marketing
and promoting products and services versus overall company. Lisa Buyer The
Buyer Group
To me, marketing is more proactive while PR tends to be a bit more reactive. PR
kicks in if there is news to report, a community that needs outreach, or a new product
to promote. Marketing can help create responses that PR can then respond
to. Marketing Communications to me seems more like a two-way conversation
while marketing in particular can sometimes seem like the company sending
information one-way to the audience. Marjorie Clayman Clayman
Advertising, Inc.
In line with the firms goals, marketing attracts consumers scarce resources,
attention and disposable income, to drive profitable revenues. Marketing is the
process of getting a product or service from a company to its end customers, from
product development through the final sale and post-purchase support. Marketing
extends across the customers entire purchase process including research,
engagement, purchase, post-purchase (including supplemental support and returns)
and advocacy.

While traditionally the art of getting a person, company or other organization
mentioned in the media, namely print, radio and television, PRs has evolved. In the
process, its been integrated into the overall marketing and communications plan. PR
crafts an organizations message(s) to its diverse publics including customers,
prospects, investors, employees, suppliers, distributors, media/journalists, social
media networks, the government and the public. These communications and their
distribution must be search-friendly. Heidi Cohen President, Riverside
Marketing Strategies
The difference lies in the final goal the end product of the activity:
The purpose of marketing is to create and bring to market a product or service that
people will buy. The 4Ps of marketing are product, price, promotion and
place. Product covers R&D and the development of the product or service. Price is all
about the market. Place is how and where you locate and distribute. Promotion is
everything from market research to advertising, special offers etc. When you make a
better mousetrap people will only beat a path to your door IF they know you have that
better mousetrap and they know where the door is.

The purpose of PR is to build relationships with all stakeholders not just current
and potential customers. PR smoothes the way. It creates a favorable operating
climate in which it is easier to market, expand and be viable. As marketing guru Al
Ries said, PR lights the fire, Marketing fans the flames

MarCom is that part of PR that supports the marketing function. It is the PR
function focused on product and sales support, rather than the broader PR vision of
image and reputation Sally Falkow Press-Feed
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. Public relations (PR) is the practice of
managing the flow of information between an organization and its publics.
Andmarketing communications (MarCom) are messages and related media
used to communicate with a market. In the twentieth century, when we created
campaigns the way Ford used assembly lines to build cars, it was important to
differentiate these things. But in the twenty-first century, we need to redefine all of
these activities, departments, processes, practices, messages and related media more
holistically. Otherwise, IT, not marketing, will be in charge of website optimization,
customer service, not PR, will be in charge of social media, and corporate
communications, not MarCom, will be in charge of online video. Greg Jarboe
SEO-PR
The lines are definitely blurry, but PR and MarCom fall under the
general Marketingumbrella. Marketing encompasses the full scope of brand
communication, ranging from advertising to sales support to PR and corporate social
responsibility. MarCom is narrower, but only slightly, than Marketing, and covers all
of the marketing function except the creative process of advertising. Once the
marketing message is developed by MarCom, the advertising team can develop it
visually and develop a media buying strategy to support it. PR manages the dialog
with consumers, whether they are your customers yet or not. That happens directly,
via social media, and through more traditional media channels. PR is the MarCom
group that doesnt get a budget to drive their goals. Advertising and MarCom can buy
media, while PRs key differentiator is that its media is earned. Corey Kronengold -
Eyeview
There should be no difference. All forms of communication should be integrated
together and that includes how you answer the phone, sign your email, post to
Twitter and Facebook, etc. Communication should involve all available tools.
Customer service also should be considered part of communications because if your
customer service sucks, nothing else that you say matters. B.L. Ochman Whats
Next Blog
Marketing is the overall mix of activities that you undertake to get your product or
service to market to actually purchase, use and evangelize. Successful marketing
rests on the best balance of levers within the mix, a deep and thorough understanding
of the market/audience you are trying to reach, and a genuine desire to improve that
market based on their wants and needs.

PR is the set of activities, usually earned (but often triggered by a paid campaign),
that are meant to drive the top of the funnel. Use of media traditional and non-
traditional are optimized using key messages, delivered in the right markets, via
engagement methods. The ultimate goals are to drive awareness, consideration and
intent and also to reinforce the value and decision of doing business with
you.MarCom is essentially the creative element the design and application, the
execution of the Marketing strategy (which is infused through PR as well). Judith
Samuels - Fairmont Hotels & Resorts (Note some of you may know Judy by her
Twitter handle@ChiefLemonhead.)
Effective marketing never forgets that its purpose is to generate revenue with
current and new customers. Effective marketing is marshalling all available resources
to deliver constantly on the fundamental principle that its not what you want to sell,
but what customers are looking to buy. Put another way, marketing Is the ability to
have what the customer wants, while sales is the ability to motivate the customer to
want what you have. Too often the pursuit of revenue forgets that sales will fail
without the marketing foundation.
Effective marketing focuses on delivering solutions, not products and/or
services. It engages and maintains a partnership with the customers encouraging
them to engage in purchasing the product/services portfolio and then making them
feel good about having done so after the purchase.
Effective marketing earns trust through every contact and transaction, and
addresses the full array of constituents both outside and inside the organization.
Demotivated employees cripple effective marketing.
Effective marketers constantly think from the customers viewpoint and
constantly ask, Whats in it for them? and then listen with respect to what the
customers say. Thats true for a commercial marketer as well as for the nonprofit
sector, which is where one of us operates, and where the question would be: Why
should someone support your mission with money or in-kind support or promote
your message or buy your products and services?
The best definition of PR comes from the master, Harold Burson, who wrote it a year
ago at age 90. He says, Public relations is an applied social science that influences
behavior and policy, when communicated effectively, motivates an individual or
group to a specific course of action by creating, changing or reinforcing opinions and
attitudes. Coincidentally the Public Relations Society of America is right now
considering three new definitions of PR. All are awful. They sound like they come out
of a Dilbert cartoon. None of the three comes close to the precision and clarity of
Harolds.
MarCom done right is the well-coordinated integration of all communications
resources to achieve the marketing objectives. Jim Siegel HealthCare
Chaplaincy and Rob Swadosh The Dilenschneider Group
Marketing is everything a brand, business or organization does to sell its goods,
services and values. This ranges from establishing the brand identity/position;
creating/tweaking new and existing products; setting price-points and promotions;
briefing, motivating and inspiring the sales force, brand directors and customers; and
creating promotional, consumer-facing strategies that build awareness, acceptance,
affiliation and sales.
MarCom is the myriad tools and tactics used to fulfill the brand marketing
goal/vision and strategy. MarCom includes all the internal and external
communications and activities undertaken to meet marketing objectives and build,
maintain and protect brand share, perception and reputation in the marketplace.
MarCom disciplines include and are not limited to advertising and public relations,
social, digital, promo, experiential, direct and so on.
Public Relations, with its P2P (person-to-person), two-way dialogue and human
approach builds honest, open and transparent bridges of communication between a
brand, business or organization and its constituent communities be they clients,
customers, consumers, employees, the media, stakeholders, government and key
influencers, and/ or all of the above. PR achieves this by community-building and
tapping the power of positive third party, word-of-mouth, endorsement/ testimony/
tribute to create affiliation, loyalty and advocacy for your goods, services and/ or
ideas.Deborah Weinstein Strategic Objectives
While all of these professionals make distinctions between marketing, PR and MarCom
and how theyre implemented, they all see them as related and using them together as
the most effective way to engage and build audience.
How do you define marketing, PR and marcom? Please engage in the conversation and
add your insights in the comment section below.
Happy marketing,
Heidi Cohen