Advertisment/PR ?

I was about to do a mini 'advert' for http://myurbancouture.livejournal.com/ when i wasnt sure to title it as Advertisement / Public Relations. And so for the sake of my dental mates (? solely kellylogy cuz carrie and the others are either lost or unaware of whats cooking in here), i present to u a lil article bout the differences between advertising and PR.

ˆThe key word is credibility!

Advertising is a biased message paid for by a company with a selfish interest in what the consumer consumes. Nothing wrong with that in itself. But do you believe what you read or hear in an advertisement?

Conversely, do you believe what you read in the editorial sections of the newspaper or the radio and television news reports? Generally, the answer is an emphatic YES.

Research shows that PR has six times more credibility and understanding than advertising. Until a new brand has some credentials in your mind, the impact of advertising will be limited. You can't build a brand if you can't win the battle for the mind.

Advertising does not build brands, it defends them.

How do people make decisions about new services or products? Most people determine what is best by finding out what other people think is best - and the two major sources for making that determination are the media and word of mouth.

PR is not a panacea. There are side effects.

you can't control the content, timing, visual appearance of your message,
you can't even be assured your message will be delivered
you can't rush the process

But the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages.

Advertising is incredible; PR is credible
Advertising is expensive; PR is inexpensive
Advertising is short term; PR is long term

So, next time you're about to dig deep in your advertising pockets, spare a thought for public relations - at the start of your campaign. PR should be an integral part of your pre-planning, not an add on.

You decide if its advertising or PR.

Upnext, if a-d-v-e-r-t-i-s-e-m-e-n-t is pronounced as "ad-ver-tahyz-muhnt" or "ad-vur-tis-muhnt". From what i know, the former's an American way of pronounciation, while the latter's British. :)