The Big 4: Marketing, Public Relations, Advertising & Journalism
Hello Creatives!
When it comes to finding culture-driving careers, a few of the most powerful industries are marketing, public relations, advertising, and journalism. These industries cover a broad spectrum of career options that shape public opinion, disperse information (and disinformation) as well as shift cultural norms through a process called social engineering. Mind you, the man who coined this term was the nephew of Freud and the self-proclaimed Father of Modern PR, Marketing & Advertising.
Don’t just take my word for it. American culture is rife with internalized commercialization and consumerism brought to us on a silver platter through marketing, public relations, advertising, and journalism. Here are some examples:
Thanks to Edward Bernays and Doris Fleischman, bacon and eggs are an American breakfast staple because of their creatively crafted public relations campaign
Diamonds as a symbol of love came from a diamond mining company’s advertising campaign that Ad Age deemed one of the best of the 20th century
American coffee culture can be attributed to the success of an advertising campaign that proposed the notion of coffee breaks to relax in 1952 and then a mid-1990s marketing move that positioned ice coffee as a quintessential college drink by Pan-American Coffee Bureau (now dissolved into other organizations)
A more recent example to show you that the public is still easily persuaded is the epic rise of kale, documented and explained in the Blue Apron podcast episode entitled “The Search for Big Kale”
It’s quite incredible to think and wonder how much of our culture has been manufactured for the sake of company profits by finding a beneficial connection, however strong or weak, that helps the consumer:
bacon and eggs were recommended by doctors as a source of protein to boost pork producers’ sales
diamond manufacturers fell into hard times after the Great Depression and needed to be rebranded from elite status symbols to the middle-class symbol of undying love
coffee was positioned as a conversational drink, like the American version of tea time, which boosted the sales of international coffee growers
The exception seems to be the rise of kale, which became the superstar superfood after an elaborate and creative campaign purely to help raise awareness of healthy living.
Marketing, PR, Advertising & Journalism require a knack for writing that concisely tells a story and a message that moves people to action.
Whether those actions are to buy something or to challenge your point of view, the people behind the words wield a great deal of power and responsibility. As mentioned earlier, the Write. portion of the Read. Write. Play. blog will cover the question “What does it take to run a newspaper, blog, magazine, or social media page?”
When discussing Write. topics, we’ll dive into the world of digital marketing, social media strategists, internet advertising, influencers, and journalists. So it would help to understand the differences and similarities.
So here’s a breakdown of the definitions of each of these four industries and career paths:
Marketing: the processes involved with getting a product from an idea to the consumer
Public Relations: the process of building & maintaining mutually beneficial relationships between a company and its stakeholders
Advertising: the process involved with using a paid method of promoting a product, service or idea
Journalism: aggregating, writing, editing, and presenting of news or news articles for widespread distribution, typically for informing the audience
How do these career paths work in tandem to shape culture?
It starts with the business strategy found in the marketing functions within an organization. They have a product or service that answers a need –whether their own manufactured need or a true pain point in the average person’s life– and craft a plan to weave the functions of the other three professions for their (and hopefully the public’s) benefit.
Public relations is sometimes slated as part of marketing, but it really depends on how the organization is structured. Public relations builds events, experiences and relationships with key allies, celebrities and other organizations who can help shape the image and personality of the brand. This in turn, shapes the type of marketing efforts an organization will use.
For example, nonprofits that focus on wellness will seek out partnerships that are very different than companies that work in the oil industry. Wellness nonprofits may focus on partnering with local gyms and schools. Meanwhile, oil industry public relations departments will focus on preparing crisis plans and finding a way to greenwash their products.
A key aspect of public relations is working with journalists to gain organic and positive attention in the press. Press releases, press conferences, and special events (guerrilla marketing included) that are relevant to a journalist’s niche topics are all part of public relations.
Journalists are not paid to write about the organizations that issue these tactics and at the end of the day the journalist can refuse to write about it if something more newsworthy happens that day.
Examples of great public relations campaigns include the Fearless Girl statue in front of the Charging Bull on Wall Street to honor International Women’s Day, and the IHOb social media blitz. These campaigns “earned media” wherein people started talking about it quickly and sparked countless conversations online and in the news across the country.
While public relations values earned media, advertising is outright paid promotion. From Superbowl commercials to Youtube ads to billboards, advertising is the visual component that solidifies the personality of the brand. Progressive’s Flo is a perfect example of creative advertising that builds upon the marketing and public relations strategy of an organization.
And notice that the use of creative advertising gets journalists talking. Take Doritos’ logo-less ads that appeared not too long ago. It was a bold move that could only be pulled off by a brand as big and recognizable as Doritos.
Marketing, PR and Advertising gets people talking and when people are interested, journalists are, in some ways, forced to talk about it too. When the press picks it up, it reaches audiences that may not have heard of the organization’s strategies yet. And the cycle continues until the concept is replaced by something else to discuss.
Organizations leverage this process to slowly or abruptly get people to think about or purchase their products, programs, and whatever else. This leveraging of earned and paid media is called ‘staying top of mind’. Staying top of mind helps organizations remain in the subconscious of the public, which drives our decision making.
In other words, whether you’re a social media strategist, working with social media influencers, or writing the script to the next great advertising campaign or you’re a journalist criticizing the latest moves of a company, your words have immense power and influence. Don’t take that responsibility lightly.
Until next time,
Rochele
P.S. If you are a creative business looking for a fresh set of eyes to elevate your brand, feel free to fill out this form and I’ll be in touch to book a discovery call for a brand coaching session or my strategic planning consulting service.