Advertising and Public Relations · TEE · papers
Q6A · Differentiate between Public Relations and Marketing
2024-07-04 · Semester VI re-exam
Actual TEE paper · 100 marks · Q1 compulsory + any four complete Q2–Q7
2024-07-04 · Q6A · Previous-paper question. Differentiate between Public Relations and Marketing. [10 marks]
Answer
| Basis | Marketing | PR |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | Customer needs and exchanges | Relationships with multiple publics |
| Scope | Product, price, place and promotion | Listening, advice, issues and stakeholder communication |
| Audience | Customers and markets | Customers plus employees, communities, media and others |
| Evaluation | Business/customer outcomes | Understanding, trust and relationship outcomes |
Explain the comparison
- Marketing studies customer needs and coordinates an offering, its price, distribution and promotion. It is therefore broader than advertising or making sales messages.
- PR studies relationships with several publics. An employee, neighbour or journalist can be an important public without buying the product.
- A product launch may need marketing to define the offering and target market while PR listens to concerns and supplies accurate background. Coordination helps, but the functions retain different primary responsibilities.
- Neither function should be judged only by message volume. Marketing can examine relevant customer and business outcomes; PR can examine understanding, trust, cooperation and issues. Both need evidence appropriate to the objective.
Conclude that PR and marketing can support one another, but PR is not simply another name for selling and marketing is not simply another name for publicity.