ARE ADVERTISING AND PR A MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN?

I heard a small business owner utter these words the other day: 'We are meeting our targets with advertising so we don't need public relations'.

It got me thinking...can advertising and public relations work independently of each other and be successful or should every marketing plan incorporate a combination of both?

Many business owners seem to think that advertising can do all the hard work that is needed to build up the credibility and awareness of a brand. Maybe this is because advertising is so visual and obvious- we see it around us all day, everyday. Public relations is much more subtle and maybe these business owners think that subtle = ineffective.

There is no denying that advertising can do amazing things for a brand. For example, Absolut Vodka has run a highly successful print advertising campaign for the past twenty years and they are now one of the most profitable vodka producers in the world. However, Absolut also has PR that gets the brand noticed. An example is the much talked about 5 meter high ice sculpture of the Absolut Vodka bottle that is a feature piece in a well known ice hotel in Sweden.

In 2003, AT&T, a leading research company in the United States, looked into how advertising and public relations work together. The results showed that not only do advertising and public relations each contribute separate benefits, the two disciplines can be even more effective if managed together.

The results showed that:

'In periods of lighter advertising, public relations activity can compensate by supporting brand loyalty. In periods of heavy positive news coverage, less advertising may be needed.

Advertising and public relations activity each has its own impact on consumers, and these impacts interact to influence perceptions, attitudes and behaviour. More than anything else, an organisation’s news environment determines the impact of its advertising.'

Here are some other interesting blogs on the subject:

Advertising vs. PR- Elif's World

PR Squared

PR vs. Advertising- And the Winner is?

So what do you think? Can advertising work independently of public relations, and vice versa? If the answer is no, how do we convince those in charge of marketing budgets that these two tools work better together?

IS YOUR BRAND THE BEST THAT IT CAN BE?

Rebranding has become something of a global trend in recent years. Everybody has been jumping on to the bandwagon. In New Zealand, Carpet Court has just announced that it will be rebranding under the name 'The Floor Store', Multiplex is changing it's name to 'Brookfield Multiplex Ltd.' and Tower Insurance is also looking to update it's image. I have even seen articles on how to develop your own personal brand.

However, although people seem to get very excited about a change of name or a flash new logo, it has to be remembered that rebranding is about much more than simply changing the logo or altering the company website. As Dave Allen, CEO of global brand agency Enterprise IG says, 'It's the behaviours of your company and its people that form your reputation, and your reputation is your brand.'

When rebranding, business owners should take a long, hard and very honest look at their company and its position in the marketplace. You need to assess what your audiences think of your current brand, where your company stands in relation to other players in the marketplace and how you can position your brand to get where you want to go. It is also important that internal communications are up to scratch so that employees and stakeholders will buy into and understand the new brand.

This is where a good public relations company can prove invaluable. A skilled public relations consultant can help you get to grips with all of these points as well as making sure that your business strategy is well understood when rebranding becomes public. Having a PR company on board also means that all communications with your individual audiences will be as consistent and effective as possible.

PUBLIC RELATIONS GOES GREEN

This weekend I finally watched Al Gore's 'An Inconvenient Truth'. I had been putting it off for a while as I knew that Al would make me feel all kinds of guilt, fear and trepidation. However, seeing as the weather this weekend was dismal and I had become a soccer widow for the day, I decided to dig the DVD out from the back of the cupboard and face my fears.

My fears were confirmed. 'An Inconvenient Truth' left me feeling somewhat anxious and spurred me to race around the entire house frantically switching off lights.

It did have one other effect. It got me thinking about what we should be doing to help solve the ever-escalating global warming problem and what PR's role should be.

In my opinion, there are a number of things that public relations companies can do. Firstly, do not take on a client if you do not agree with how they run their company. If you disagree with their practices and think that they are unethical do not work with them. This is easier said than done if you are a mere account executive but is definitely a stand that owners/directors of PR companies should be taking.

Secondly, encourage your existing clients to take some steps towards becoming more environmentally friendly. Some things that businesses can do include using local products and services, recycling and becoming CarbonNeutral. Increasing numbers of people are deciding whether or not they use a company based on how eco-friendly they are so convince your clients to make environmentalism a part of their brands.

A number of 'green' PR companies, including Green Planet PR in the United Kingdom, have sprung up in recent years. These consultancies only take on green businesses as clients and focus primarily on making people aware of environmental issues. Other agencies, such as Intermediary Communications in New Zealand and MWW Group in the United States, make a special effort to incorporate green PR and corporate social responsibility services into all of their strategies.

I think more businesses should be following this lead. After all, without this planet there would be no business. There would be no public relations consultancies. All of those things that we take for granted would be gone.