What’s the Difference Between Public Relations and Marketing?

During spring break at my friend Aisha’s going-away party in Atlanta, I had the chance to have an interesting conversation with Aisha’s cousin who was a 20 something going on 30-year-old marketing businessman. We talked about his career in marketing for a U.S. government firm in Afghanistan and how being in the U.S. services can enlighten you in ways that you’ve never imagined. He suggested to Aisha that she learn the language of the land to survive and to have great credentials.


After the talk about being safe and how to work your way up the ladder in different businesses, he and I got into a conversation about my career of being a full-time student. I didn’t know that he was in marketing until he asked me what field I would soon be working in. When I told him PR, a smile as wide as Kool-Aid Man’s appeared across his face. He quickly replied, “I’m in marketing.” Then he proceeded to ask me what the difference between PR and marking was and which of the two is most important. I didn’t want to go into a drawn out conversation over PR vs. marketing and which one is better. I simply replied that PR practitioners are there to deliver a corporation’s messages to its publics (customers, stakeholders, employees, partners, media, etc.) and vice versa, and marketers create relationships that hold value with the corporation’s target audience in order to offer a product at a quality and price better than competitors'.


We discussed some different responsibilities that each position held in diverse business fields. The conversation lingered in my mind the whole night. A few days later, while doing some homework for my advertising class, I stumbled across a picture on the internet that explained everything that he and I discussed in four pictures.


Though at times there may be rivalry between the two, PR and marketing are two communications that compliment each other well and are very important to a business. Understanding the two is pertinent to a company’s survival as well as in the lives of individuals according to the picture from an Ads of the World blog.

Click Image to Enlarge
(Picture- http://adsoftheworld.com/blog/ivan/2007/apr/11/the_difference_between_marketing_pr_advertising_and_branding)

-Armegan