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Publicity Or Advertising?

Written by: Riley Cardwell

Article Overview: Which is better - publicity or advertising? Learn why you don't always need a big ad budget to create buzz about your product or service. Learn which to use and most importantly, the difference between the two.

Publicity Or Advertising?

Which is better, publicity or advertising?

Is there a difference?

And how do you know which to use and when?

Before we can answer these questions, let’s take a look at something called branding.

Branding is a function of marketing that educates the public on your specific kind of product or service. An example would be soda. If cola is the category, Pepsi is the brand.

Once some degree of category awareness has been achieved, the opportunity exists for elevating your particular brand of product or service to rise above the rest.

This is where publicity comes in.

One of the definitions of publicity is simply what others are saying about your product or service instead of what you are.

Way too many business people think they must buy advertising to become known when in fact all they need is a little publicity.

Advertising often is very expensive. Publicity, properly done, is not. And publicity properly done won’t even appear as publicity. It should appear as news.

So what are some of the key ingredients to successful publicity that will help build your brand?

Being first – This way you don’t beat the competition, because there isn’t any yet. 100% of the market is yours. And even if there are others out there, you can appear as though there aren’t because they can’t even compare to yours.


Stir basic emotions – Aim for the heart, and not the head in your publicity campaign. Try to associate yourself with positive images. Remember that people buy based on their emotions and justify the purchase afterward with logic. Play to people’s emotions. Forget logic.

Make it appear as though everyone desires your product or service – Start a chain reaction. We see this a lot with campaigns for teen’s clothing, cosmetics, and automobiles, even foods. Create and use slogans, logos and images where people are using and enjoying your product.

Position your product or service as the cool and hip thing to have – Make it look as though the “in” crowd already posses your item. Create exclusitivity. This is not in conflict with the rule above at all. Rather, it enforces a desire in nearly everyone to want to be hip by being seen with your product or service.

And remember, there’s a difference between people being hip and what you’re offering as hip. One of the key secrets to how tobacco companies market tobacco products is this – smoking isn’t cool, but smokers are.

Help define people’s self image – Rather than arguing with people, tell them who they are and watch their defenses come down. It’s the difference between telling people that they need what you’re selling versus showing them they can’t live without it.

Appear as the leader – Everyone wants the best. Those that appear to lead the way either have or are the best. Or so people think. Position your product or service out in front of the crowd and people will automatically respond as though you are.

Once a brand is established, then and only then does advertising come.

Advertising, properly used, helps a brand to perpetuate itself over time.

Publicity versus advertising. Know the difference and win.

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  Publicity Versus Advertising -- What’s the Difference?
  Why You Might Not be Ready for Publicity
  Budgeting for publicity and keeping within limits

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