Publicity misinterpreted, Public relations misunderstood

According to Seth Godin (www.sethegodin.typepad.com/seths blog) most PR firms do publicity, not PR. Publicity is the act of getting ink. Publicity is getting unpaid media to pay attention, write you up, point to you, run a picture, and make a commotion. Sometimes publicity is helpful, and good publicity is always good for the ego... but it is not PR.

People often confuse PR with Publicity. It is important that companies understand what they specialise in, so that it can be easier for them to educate their clients about the difference between the two. The aim of public relations is to protect an organisations or individual’s reputation, it is also the long-term strategic planning that businesses and organizations undertake to build awareness and relationships with the public. On the other hand publicity is referred to as free media; the goal of publicity is to get attention in online and traditional media, news coverage, features articles and talk show interviews etc.

Publicity is useful for small businesses because it is focused on getting exposure while keeping costs down. Many companies (small businesses) hire publicity firms because they need to get exposure in order to grow or to be successful. People who work for publicity companies often have the task of “paying attention to the smallest detail, ” this is essential in publicity companies because if the wrong message is communicated, the client will not be happy and the public will have a different corporate image about your client  and about you. 

Clients never really know what they want and this becomes a problem for most publicity companies because they need to work on assumptions, however this is not the greatest step to take for the publicity companies because if you don’t do what they want, you are bound to work like a headless chicken, hence it is imperative that you MAKE your client know and understand what they want.

This industry is huge and is growing and ongoing. If you fail to deliver as a PR or Publicity company, you are bound to lose your client to your competitor; therefore as a publicity company you need to be creative, unique, you need to have a personal and professional relationship with your clients, the media and the public and you should never be too busy for your client.  Press releases should be more than just interesting. According to Seth Godin’s blog, if you send a boring press release, your publicity efforts will probably fail, but PR already. These are truly wise words from a wise man.

In conclusion, what is the difference between publicity and PR? Publicity is designed to keep you in the news and PR is designed to keep out.