Don't Lump It - Marketing, Promotion, Advertising, Public Relations, Publicity And Sales

By Lisa Lundberg



Often the terms marketing, promotion, advertising, public relations, publicity and sales are lumped together and used interchangeably. In reality, each refers to different but on occasion overlapping activities.

The most common misconception is that a marketing plan is a promotion plan. Marketing is more than just promotion of a product. According to the American Marketing Association, marketing is the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion and distribution of ideas, goods and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational objectives. Marketing activities include positioning a new product or service, pricing your products and services, and promoting them through continued advertising, promotions, public relations and sales.

Promotion is a component of a marketing plan and is typically where the bulk of the marketing budget is spent. As such, this could explain why marketing and promotion are often confused. A promotion plan consists of tactics that keep your product in front of the minds of the customer motivating demand. Spreading the word about your product and explaining to prospects why they would want to buy the product. The promotional plan involves advertising, publicity, sales and public relations.

Advertising brings your product or service to the attention of future and current customers. It has been defined as salesmanship using tools other than an actual salesperson. Traditionally, advertising has been defined as purchased space or time used to sell goods or services. This is usually accomplished using signs, brochures, magazine space, billboards, commercials, direct mailings or e-mail messages to name a few. Since you're paying for the advertising you control the message, the method and the timing of delivery.

Publicity is what is communicated about an organization in the public news media. This is usually accomplished with a press release, holding news conferences and/or sponsoring an event. The downside of publicity is that, while attempts are made most of the time to generate positive publicity, organizations have little control over what is actually mentioned or even if it will be mentioned in the media. This decision is typically left to the reporters and writers. Generating publicity is an important promotional tactic and is used by public relations practitioners, so it is not surprising that some still confuse publicity with the broader mission of public relations. However, public relations is much more than developing a press release. It is not limited to certain media, and it is not focused on promoting products.

The Institute of Public Relations defines public relations as "the planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain goodwill and mutual understanding between an organization and its publics." So, while public relations can and should use any media to establish this goodwill and understanding, its overarching goal is to ensure that the company has a strong public image. For this reason it can be argued that public relations should be removed from the marketing promotional plan. Rather, public relations should be considered a management function that works independently yet in tandem with the marketing efforts. In this way, public opinion can be represented not only with respect to the products and services sold but also with respect to the policies, procedures and actions that can impact the public.

Consumers today are increasingly sophisticated and want to know about the company behind the products. They have growing ethical, social and environmental concerns, and they want to know that they are doing business with organizations that share their values and concerns. Public relations is the function that brings organizational goals and public opinion into harmony, ultimately having a positive impact on the organization and its business goals.

Last but definitely not least is sales. This involves most of the activities outlined above. It also includes cultivating prospective buyers (leads), conveying the features of the product, presenting the advantages and benefits of a product or service to the lead, coming to agreement on pricing and services and finally closing the sale. The sales person uses the arsenal of the promotional plan to sell the product. However, if any element of the promotional plan is out of step with the other elements, sales of the product or service are typically negatively impacted.

A quote from Promoting Issues and Ideas by M. Booth and Associates, Inc. published in the Reader's Digest helps to make the concepts of a promotional plan a little clearer: "... if the circus is coming to town and you paint a sign saying ÔCircus Coming to the Fairground Saturday,' that's advertising. If you put the sign on the back of an elephant and walk it into town, that's promotion. If the elephant walks through the mayor's flowerbed, that's publicity. And if you get the mayor to laugh about it, that's public relations." If the town's citizens go the gate, and you show them the entertainment booths, explain the fun, answer their questions, and they ultimately buy tickets to the circus, that's sales.



Lisa Lundberg, APR, is an accredited and award-winning public relations and marketing professional. She can be reached at 410-768-6814 or lislund@aol.com.