4. According to Text 3 are the following statements true or false? If they are false, say why.

1. James B.Meadow works for a public relations agency.

2. The materials received from public relations firms are carefully done.

3. James B.Meadow tries to publish as many prereleases as possible in his column.

4. The PR people who send him invitations are very creative and imaginative.

5. Meadow reads the most original invitations first.

6. If the invitation is presentable, Meadow writes about the forthcoming event.

7. Meadow always attends events sponsored by minority groups.

5. Comment on the quotations from Text 3:

1. “The motives behind the diligence of these PR agency people and publicity chairs is to generate mention of the event in my column”.

2. “Invitations are grist for my mill”.

Over to you

1. Go through newspapers and magazines and cut out examples of publicity. Discuss their effectiveness with the class.

2. Would you like to become a publicity agent? Why?

3. In small groups, write a publicity story or a script for a publicity event.

Section 2. Advertising

Advertising you pay for, PR you pray for.

Donald H.Higgins

Starting up

1. What is advertising?

2. What do you know about public relations advertising?

3. Do you see any differences between advertising and publicity?

Read Text 1 and define the problems the text deals with.

Text 1

advertising

Whereas publicity is uncontrolled by the source, advertising content, placement, and timing are controlled by the sponsor identified as having paid for the time or space in the media. Like publicity, advertising is mediated — not interpersonal face-to-face communication. One text defines it as follows:

Advertising is paid, nonpersonal communication through various media by business firms, nonprofit organisations, and individuals who are in some way identified in the advertising message and who hope to inform or persuade members of a particular audience.

Most of us associate advertising with selling goods and services as part of the marketing function, but it is not limited to this purpose. Viewed as simply a controlled means of placing messages in the mass media, advertising becomes a strategy option for nonmarketing purposes. The job openings advertised in the newspaper classified section and the Sunday business section illustrate the use of advertising by the personnel function. Advertising serves public relations purposes when it is designed to affect how particular audiences perceive or act toward the sponsor in other than a marketing exchange relationship.

The range of such public relations advertising includes a steel company's plea for magazine readers to write to the President calling for a national energy policy. It also includes a television spot that explains how a union serves both its members and consumers. In fact, public relations advertising — sometimes called "institutional," "public service," or "controversy" advertising — typically attempts to increase understanding and goodwill, or to motivate members of the audience to take some action. Institutional advertising is designed to create an attractive image for an organization rather than for a product. “We Care about You” at Giant Food is an example. “Virginia Is for Lovers” and “I (heart) New York” are two institutional campaigns by government agencies. These uses of advertising occur when an organization is not satisfied with what is being said in the editorial sections of media, when it feels that its publics do not understand an issue or are apathetic, or when it is trying to add its voice to a cause it supports. In the final analysis, however, organizations turn to advertising only when access to the editorial sections is limited or when control over message content, placement, and timing is too important to be left to chance.

Publicity and advertising are used in both marketing and public relations programs. Just as product publicity announcing a new model or improvement is part of the marketing effort, so is advertising often used as part of the communication strategy in a public relations program.

In the case of publicity, the source does not pay for media time or space, as the information is carried in the editorial content based on its perceived relevance and news value. The originator of the message does not control what is said, how it is said, or when it is said. If such control is important and the originator has the budget required to purchase time and space in the mass media, then advertising can be used to deliver messages to target publics. The point, of course, is that these two strategies are not equivalent to the larger organizational functions — public relations and marketing — in which they are used. Rather, publicity and advertising are alternative methods of placing marketing and public relations messages in the mass media.