Publicity and advertising, what’s the difference?

IN my line of work, I always encounter people who still confuse publicity with advertising. It is this confusion that usually creates misunderstandings and it would take some time to educate them on the differences between the two. I have summarized a few general yet crucial differences.

Advertising is pictures. Publicity is words.

“A picture is worth a thousand words.” Such mantra moves the world of advertising. Advertisements are mostly visual and words are there simply to reinforce it. In publicity, it’s the opposite. Publicity is achieved through verbalization, in news articles, features, essays.

Advertising goes full blast. Publicity builds up slowly.

Most advertising experts prefer a barrage of advertisements over a short period of time to achieve name recall. In print advertisements, the least frequency would probably be three times a week. In radio, at least eight spots per day daily.

This is done somewhere within a week to a month up to three months before a launching of a product or service. In publicity, build-up is slow. New brands are introduced piece-meal with some success in public acceptance gained in at least three years of consistent, well-planned publicity.

Advertising is massive. Publicity is personal.

Advertisements hit the public in general with the focus centered on reaching as many people as often as you can.

Publicity has the more personal approach, searching to hit a more direct target––a niche market, a specific audience. Publicity relies hardly on the classic word-of-mouth. After successfully reaching one viable person, this person relates the message to his family and friends.

Advertising is paid. Publicity is free.

Placing an advertisement in print or broadcast or even the internet is paid. Newspapers base ad rates per column inch or centimeter; broadcast per second or per spot; internet dependent on the site carrying the ad.

Advertisements are the life-blood of the media industry with most media outfits solely relying on ad sales for its existence. Publicity on the other hand is free. You rely on the editors’ and news managers’ discretion on whether your articles or media releases do come out, when they come out and how they come out.

Publicists are there mainly to supply a news reporter’s need for finding news, or to serve as a source good for interesting features and human interest stories. The advantage of publicity is its credibility with people preferring to believe news stories more than paid ads.

Publicity and advertising can work together. In fact they should. Advertisements gain more meaning with words and ideas previously established in the mind through publicity. That’s why it’s important for companies to let their advertisements correlate with their publicity efforts.