Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock recently, you’ll know there’s been a whole host of blog posts written about where next for PR and marketing (and, to a degree, advertising).
I’m guilty of discussing it, and there are some great points of view from a lot of great minds. I guess it’s only natural – we’re at a crossroads for information, after all, and the time is here to decide what path we want to take.
Yet instead of looking at how PR and marketing can evolve individually, isn’t it possible that they can evolve as a co-joined unit instead?
Both involve the art of telling stories (and when I say that, I mean attract via description and not telling stories as in lying). Both look to appeal to your want factor by providing the need solution. Both are aimed at making the potential become the possible.
You’ll have your purists that say marketing and PR are two different beasts and shouldn’t be in the same cage. But are they really that different when you strip them down to the bare essentials? I’m not too sure they are, and I say this as someone who works in both fields.
At their very simplest, both are trying to appeal to that mass market triple-A connection:
- Awareness
- Acknowledgment
- Approval
Many agencies are now combining their PR and marketing efforts into one because of this. If both are looking for a similar market and they’re so interconnected with each other, should we continue to keep PR and marketing apart?
How about market relations? Could that work? Too simple? Not enough? What’s your take on PR and marketing in today’s business climate?
photo credit: Harpersbizarre