PR vs propaganda, publicity and advertisement

PUBLIC RELATIONS AND SOCIAL MARKETING 4(1+3)
Lesson 1 : Introduction to Public Relations

PR vs propaganda, publicity and advertisement

Distinction between propaganda and PR: Propaganda one of the earliest forms of communication is difference from publicity, public relations, or advertising because it attempts to achieve a response that furthers the desired intent of the propagandist.

Readers Digest Great Dictionary of the English language describes propaganda as “ information of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote a political causes or a point of view” but public relations which is a 20th century profession, has been described as the management of a two-way communication between an organization and its public.

Propaganda: Joseph Goebbels (1897-1945) defined propaganda as an instrument of politics, a power of social control. The function of propaganda is not essentially to convert; rather its function is to attract followers and keep them in line.
Propaganda is defined as a deliberate manipulation by means of symbols, words, gestures, images, flags, music-of other people’s thoughts, behavior, attitudes and beliefs.

Publicity:Publicity has graduated from propaganda. It is only intended to draw the attention of the audience and create awareness by any means that is both credible and relevant.

Scott M. Cutlip and Allen H. centre define publicity as ”the dissemination of information, making matters public from the point of view of one who wishes to inform others. It is also called a systematic distribution of public information about an institution, individual, and a product, an idea or a service.
Publicity involves conveying information to a mass or targeted audience about a product or a programme in the form of a news story, feature story, by-lined article or other kinds of non-paid media coverage.

PR and Publicity: Publicity is part of public relations. Both are free as they provide news of public interest. Publicity is one of the main stands of public relations described as term ‘press agentry’ which is public relations through news paper.

PR and publicity are not two independent disciplines, but two sides of the same coin. Public relations often used as a synonym for publicity.
Publicity is strictly a communication function whereas public relations involve a management function also. But publicity is not public relations. It is a tool used by the public relations practitioners.

Advertising
The word ‘advertising’ originates from the Latin word advertise which means ‘to turn to’. It is turning ones attention to the message of either a product or a service.
The American marketing association defined advertisement as “any paid form of non-personal presentation or promotion of ideas, goods or services by an identified sponsor”.

Advertising is the paid dissemination of information for the purpose of selling or helping to sell commodities and services or of gaining acceptance of ideas that may cause people think or act in a desired manner. – Subrata Benerjee

Advertising is a substitute for the human sales men. -Sydney Bernstein

Lobbying
The word lobby is a group of people who try to influence politicians on a particular issue. It is a process in which individuals or groups seek to influence those in power. It aims at directing attention to influence legislative and regulatory affairs in Government at a local, state and national level. A lobbyist is someone who acting on behalf of a special interest group, tries to influence various forms of Government regulations.

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Last modified: Tuesday, 13 December 2011, 6:27 AM