Public relations is the sun. You cannot force the media to release your news; the announcement of information is entirely controlled by them. All you can do is smile and ensure that your public relations materials are as effective as possible.
You cannot forcefully enter the minds of potential consumers. Advertising is seen as an intrusion, an unwelcome invader that should be stopped. The harder the selling, the stronger the wind blows, and the more resistant potential consumers become to this sales message. Just open the newspapers and turn on the TV during the day, and you'll see advertisements everywhere! But what about the results? I don't see them being effective!
Advertisers talk about impact. Full-page ads in newspapers, insert ads, folded-page ads, and glossy printed ads; frantic actions, crazy methods; increased volume in radio advertisements. Yet, these very characteristics are telling potential consumers: "Don’t pay attention to me, I’m just an ad." Advertisements have been recognized by consumers as advertisements!
Faced with such an advertising environment—"whether or not to advertise, it's a dead end"—what can we do? We must break out of the narrow circle of advertising creativity and fully leverage the role of public relations. Public relations include using news, creating sensational effects, naming rights, sponsorships, organizing events that can attract widespread public attention, etc. Public relations can significantly reduce marketing costs and improve media effectiveness.
Whether or not to advertise is a dead end.
After successfully launching a brand or product, its newsworthiness as a new product or brand has faded, leaving less room for PR to play a significant role. However, brands still need maintenance. This is when advertising steps in to maintain the brand.
Chen Xingyi: Founder of the First-Class Marketing Theory and Practice, Core Expert of the Boiling Point Network Military Advisory Group. Currently serves as Planning Director and Market Director of the China Summit Marketing Planning Institution, and Corporate Market Implementation Specialist.
When launching a new product, using PR for promotion is much more cost-effective. New things naturally attract people’s attention and have the potential to create news. Therefore, when introducing a new product or brand, PR can be used more effectively, and PR is also the area that most requires creativity. Soft article advertising in pharmaceutical health products represents the early stage of PR!
Today, compared to 10 years ago, the number of media outlets in China has increased on average by tenfold, the pages or channels of media have expanded tenfold, the price of media has risen tenfold (advertising prices for the same page or time slot have not decreased but rather increased), and the number of advertisements has also increased tenfold. The effectiveness of advertisements has been diluted by ten thousand times, people’s attention and focus have also been diluted by ten thousand times. Spending the same amount of money on advertising now only achieves one ten-thousandth of the effect it did ten years ago! If our companies only focus on the creativity and production of print or video advertisements, then we are only working within the existing one ten-thousandth of our marketing environment. Even if the advertising effect doubles, it merely increases from one ten-thousandth to two ten-thousandths—a negligible improvement. It is impossible to increase the advertising effect by ten thousand times through such detailed planning and creativity because these details cannot break through the inherent one ten-thousandth marketing situation itself.
The ineffectiveness of advertising essentially stems from the fact that advertisements have been identified as such by consumers!
Introduction: In an era of excessive competition, advertising must be achieved through public relations to be efficient.
The harder advertising tries to forcibly enter people's minds, the less likely it is to achieve that goal. Sometimes, when potential consumers lower their guard, businesses might win, but this is not common.
Potential consumers will not find any coercion in a single piece of review information. On the contrary, potential consumers believe that the media is trying to inform them about another quality new product or service.
Conclusion from First-Class Marketing: Public relations ignite brands, while advertising maintains brands.
First-Class Marketing reminds us: Today, creating advertisements means doing so with one ten-thousandth of the intended effect.
Potential consumers will not detect any compulsion in a single piece of review information. On the contrary, potential consumers believe that the media is trying to alert them to yet another high-quality new product or new service.
This article comes from:
Pioneering Market Share - www.zp-nmg.com