I spent few hours with the students of ISBM, Pune this Sunday. I was there to talk about online PR. I found few sparks within them, but unfortunately I could clearly see that, they have not been exposed to proper teaching methodologies, content and even proper teachers! The basics were missing and I am sure with a change in school’s management, we might see some change in the future. For now, I didn’t enjoy much and I am sure they must have not enjoyed the discussion either. I don’t prefer to use power points for teaching. I like it to be more interactive and collective learning process.

Anyways, the point we discussed there and I think it is relevant for most of you reading my posts regularly – Is PR a subset or Marketing? or they are two different things. In my personal opinion (which I have voiced many a times in the past as well), Marketing is and should be a subset of PR and not the other way round and I have my logical explanation ready for the same. Anybody, wants to take a challenge? The gauntlet is waiting…

I believe that doing marketing is much easier than doing PR. In marketing you have definitions and easier framework to play with. While, in PR there are no definitions and much complex framework to deal with. Let’s see…

Marketing:

• You can define your market
• You can control the market
• You can ignore the market
• Market is homogeneous
• You can enter and exit the market at your will

Public Relations

• You can not define public – public defines you
• You can not control public – you can try to influence them
• You can never ignore public
• Public is heterogeneous
• Public will never allow you to enter or exit at your own will – you are answerable to them

Now, here the public is ‘PUBLIC’ in ‘Public Relations’, which is not the aam Janta. ‘PUBLIC’ in ‘Public Relations’ is a term used for the target group – your stakeholders. Each and every person, who is impacted by your business or your existence is a ‘PUBLIC’ in ‘Public Relations.’

Look at the lists we have prepared above and any smarty pants would say, which one is difficult to handle and which one is easier. I don’t need to teach you that. So, if you are a marketer and talking to a PR pro, please give her the due respect as her job is much more difficult than what you have been doing. Will you please allow her to complete her sentences in the next meeting? Will you, Mr. Marketer?

Will write more soon, till then take care and enjoy.

Love.