Trying to do PR in a marketing vacuum can be very challenging. Being at an agency and working with clients that combine their branding, marketing programs, web strategy, and advertising together with their communications strategy, I am able to see firsthand how all the marketing processes can fit together and build on one another towards a common goal. It makes a world of difference. I am now a firm believer that a public relations campaign that includes other aspects of marketing will help maximize its effectiveness. Plus it’s fun to work on “both sides of the house” so to speak. Public Relations is so much more than just pitching traditional media. Creating a brand identity and maintaining it in the press is just as important. Sitting in as creative briefs are being prepared, and watching the client pick logos and banner ads gives you a much better sense of the direction the CEO is trying to take the brand. For instance, perhaps pitching a quirky consumer pub isn’t quite right if the company is trying to create a more serious, old school image. This kind of information is not as readily available when the marketing is being handled by numerous firms. Teaming up with media buyers is also a great way to maximize outreach potential. Advertorials are a great way to leverage messaging. PR pros and media gurus can split up demographics and make sure each target vertical has a little bit of editorial, and a little bit of paid media. Again, this kind of planning and strategy is much more difficult when two or more firms are being used in the overall marketing campaign.

This entry was posted on Friday, September 14th, 2007 at 2:46 pm and is filed under Advertising, Marketing, Public Relations. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.