Public Relations...Is it a Substitute for Advertising?
On a recent new business call, a VP of Sales and Marketing posed the following question to us: “Why should I spend a lot of money running ads when I can get more bang for my buck from PR?” A perfectly legitimate question in this day and age of shrinking promotional budgets and increased focus on results.
It seems the VP had also met with a public relations firm that had stressed over and over that PR was really “free advertising.” The PR people had told him if he hired them, they could promote his company’s products entirely with PR and save the cost of ads in trade publications.
Our response?
- We believe firmly in public relations — the kind geared toward selling products.
- We agree that PR is an extremely cost-effective way of building awareness and credibility for a company and its products.
- We include PR as a vital component in the integrated promotional programs we recommend.
But, here’s where we differ with most PR agencies. PR is neither free, nor is it advertising. PR can perform certain promotional tasks very well, but not all of them. PR is a component in any well-balanced promotional program, but not the entire program.
PR can stretch advertising dollars by increasing a company’s exposure in the trade press. It can help build awareness of new products or services and even promote a company’s willingness to assist customers in the product selection process — all at a relatively low cost.
But, what PR cannot do is present a competitive sales argument — the basic information most buyers want and need to help them decide between your products and those of a competitor.
Why not? Because like it or not, editors control the content and even the timing of press releases and application stories that run in their publications. Sure, you can present factual information on your products or services in a press release, but the minute you begin to make competitive claims — even ones you can substantiate — most editors will exercise their prerogative and edit them out.
While good editors recognize they have a responsibility to provide their readers with information on new products and technologies, they take great pains to avoid any bias toward a particular product or company. They recognize that any hint of partiality could jeopardize their credibility with readers and that the appearance of bias could also adversely affect ad revenues. Editors also do not have the staffs or the time to verify competitive claims, so they shy away from printing them.
Sure, PR can help get your company recognized and your products considered, but it cannot help you convince prospects that they should choose your product instead of a competitor’s. For this, you’ll need expertly crafted ads that present convincing arguments in a logical manner — ads that appear where you want and when you want. And, if these ads are done well, they’ll be far more biased and self-serving than any PR could ever be.
Norris & Company is a full-service agency with complete public relations capabilities. We include PR as part of integrated promotional programs that not only build awareness and credibility, but help sell our clients’ products competitively.
Related Articles
